Inky! yay! he is coming around quicker than I thought, because he went through so much stress.
you mean you want to keep him? not selfish
He seems to be food motivated, trust me this is a good thing!!
get some delicious treats too, some people get stage 2 baby food, no garlic/onions, My Feral is not food motivated, but she is a bit treat motivated.
get him even more excited to see you, things are going well!!
This is progress!Now when he hears the sound of a can opening he will come out and stand right next to me. Sometimes, if I am real lucky, he will come out and sit by me as I brush my teeth or comb my hair.
No, I haven't but I probably should get him something to play with. Sometimes toys are a great stress buster for cats and sometimes they can make a nervous cat even more agitated. I will try him on toys and see where it goes.He will! being food motivated is a good sign!
He will come around, but loving you for the food at first is ok!
did you get him some toys?
Have you considered re-homing him on your own once you are done taming and socializing him?
There are a lot of threads on here about ways to rehome, and there are plenty of members with substantial experience with this who would be happy to help guide you when the time comes! Sounds like that would be a much better solution than going back to that vet...That's a great idea, I hadn't thought of that.
As for the vet and the dogs....this morning I had to drop off one of my cats at the vet's without an appointment; something is going on but nothing determined yet. The place was a madhouse with people dropping off dogs for boarding over the holiday and the local humane society bringing in an injured dog. BUT as the vet tech took Eve from me he said that I did not need to worry that she would be near the dogs as the cat kennels were at another part of the hospital, as I always suspected, where the cats would not be traumatized by the dogs. Who did that make me think of? Inky and his miserable experience.
There are a lot of threads on here about ways to rehome, and there are plenty of members with substantial experience with this who would be happy to help guide you when the time comes! Sounds like that would be a much better solution than going back to that vet...
As far as socializing, if he really is food or treat motivated, it makes the taming process a lot more efficient! If you're willing to put the work in, you can also utilize clicker training fairly easily with a cat who is food motivated, as well.
When both of you are ready, be sure to incorporate play therapy (interactive play) - I have the best luck with the Go Cat wand toys like da bird, da mouse, da bee, etc., and if he's more into ribbons and strings, then the Cat Dancer is better for that (all of these can be found on Amazon). Takes them a while to figure out the toy isn't a threat, what it is. and what to do with it, but they get it eventually!
Also - again, when you are both ready - try to find a way to sleep/nap in front of him/in the same room as him; it's a sign of trust that they often respond to. And along the same line of thinking, when you do spend time with him, sit with your back to him. This also shows that you trust him, and are not a threat.
Progress can seem agonizingly slow and inconsistent in the beginning, but eventually, it'll seem like you're making strides on a near-daily basis. At that point, you'll start seeing a full, dimensional, unique personality take shape right before your very eyes as kitty starts opening up and coming into his own.
It's the best part of the process and a very rewarding feeling. Don't give up, and you'll get there!
This is a good sign as he knows you are not a threat but he is still in a defensive mode as his trust in you is not 100% yet so that's why he stood his ground but hiss at you.Ink is now no longer running away from me, in fact is actually coming to me- just a'hissing all the way.
I am so glad to hear that you are making such progress. He is definitely becoming your friend and is learning to trust you.
I have also tried to assist rodents who got in harms way, but after a point you have to accept that it is the way of things. The mouse entered his bathroom and he did what he is genetically programmed to do. There is no connection with food in most cases and has nothing to do with the fact that he is not eating enough.