I finally caught me feral

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WWG1WGA

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Hi Master, I opend the crate door, because he was peeing in the crate on the towels and he was very upset...but he stayed in their all day until a little bit ago, he was hiding behind the desk. I brought in one of his shelters he used to spend all his time in outside and put it in there, along with a box, for hiding, cover over the crate and a little carpeted cat house I just got him. He came out of the crate and was hiding behind the desk. He is quiet, until I come in the room, or he hears my voice. As soon as he hears me he starts talking to me., we used to talk everyday when I would feed him and sit with him outside-for more than 3 years,, If I would go outside to feed him and didnt see him, I would call him and he would come running out of the woods or wherever he was so I think he knows me pretty good, if that helps, I dont know.He didnt eat yet tho,maybe hes waiting for dark. The other cats know something is up but seem ok as I shower them with extra attention,, I would like him not to be behind the desk,not the best place for him,. Thanks for staying with me on this.
 
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The doctor just called and said Bud has Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia & Thrombocytopenia ..I have to pick up steroids tomorrow. I was a little concerned and forgot to ask key questions. should I be worried? I hope its not contagious...Should I leave a light on in his room??
 

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bigbadbass

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Allow him plenty of time to re-acclimate. Coming indoors is a huge change for an outdoor kitty.

Bug became a recluse while first put in his room, hiding out there for weeks...... don't feel bad, he's having a perfectly normal reaction.

I'm not familiar with med conditions you refer to......I'll defer to others for detail.
 

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Thanks for staying with me on this.
Sounds like he's pretty attached to you and from the description you gave when he was outside, it seems you are his only best friend.

Good to hear that he's out of the crate. Maybe you can use the shelter and block up the part where he can go into behind the desk. At this point, you want him to gain confidence while out of the crate and feel safe and also you need to do some adjustment to certain stuffs in this room so that there's no other place for him to hide except for the box or shelter. It is natural for him to hide behind the desk as it could be snuggly and no one can see him.

Try not to feed him when it's dark, start feeding him and get him to eat in your presence. You can either sit near him and feed him from a spoon or place the plate near him and coax him to eat. Also call out his name like before when he's outside before coming indoors. Just refresh his memory that you are the one feeding him the past years. He'll eat eventually just that he's not quite settle yet. That's why you have to spend time with him to make him really feel at home and build up his confidence and put his trust totally in you.

Scent is very important and have more of his scent around the room by using the clean towels that he slept on before and place them around the room. Same goes for yours, clean, unwashed and non perfumed garments. Also have one or two toys without the scents of your other cats and let him play or play with him. By playing, you make him move around so that he gets braver and not always find a spot to hide.
 

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The doctor just called and said Bud has Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia & Thrombocytopenia ..I have to pick up steroids tomorrow. I was a little concerned and forgot to ask key questions. should I be worried? I hope its not contagious...Should I leave a light on in his room??
I don't know whether it's contagious or not. Ask the vet when you pick up the steroids tomorrow. Jot down whatever questions you need to ask so that tomorrow you can ask the vet and jot down the answers given.

It is good to leave a night light in the room for Bud. Play some soft classical music for him too.
 
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WWG1WGA

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Sounds like he's pretty attached to you and from the description you gave when he was outside, it seems you are his only best friend.

Good to hear that he's out of the crate. Maybe you can use the shelter and block up the part where he can go into behind the desk. At this point, you want him to gain confidence while out of the crate and feel safe and also you need to do some adjustment to certain stuffs in this room so that there's no other place for him to hide except for the box or shelter. It is natural for him to hide behind the desk as it could be snuggly and no one can see him.

Try not to feed him when it's dark, start feeding him and get him to eat in your presence. You can either sit near him and feed him from a spoon or place the plate near him and coax him to eat. Also call out his name like before when he's outside before coming indoors. Just refresh his memory that you are the one feeding him the past years. He'll eat eventually just that he's not quite settle yet. That's why you have to spend time with him to make him really feel at home and build up his confidence and put his trust totally in you.

Scent is very important and have more of his scent around the room by using the clean towels that he slept on before and place them around the room. Same goes for yours, clean, unwashed and non perfumed garments. Also have one or two toys without the scents of your other cats and let him play or play with him. By playing, you make him move around so that he gets braver and not always find a spot to hide.
Hes eating, not using litter box yet... He wont eat food with antibiotic mixed in so I skipped it, because he needs to eat. My bedroom/office is next to Bud so, everytime he hears me, or I leave my room he calls me and he hears me walking by he calls me. I think thats good. I have to pick up the steroids for the autoimune anemia today, hope he will take it with his food, because he isnt about to let me pill him yet, as much as it seems he is connected to me, he isnt big on me petting him.. I always give him the same call I would give him outside, I used to pop my head out the window and talk to him so that seems to have carried indoors. A plus!! I blocked off the spot behind the desk as best I could, when I went to bring him food at 5 am he was on top of his crate..on the blanket covering it..He has a shirt of mine with him and I do hang out in there with him, he ate in front of me at dinner last night. He isnt hiding from, although he seems sad.
 
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tabbytom

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It's good that he's calling you. I think he's attached to you and that's why when he hears you, he calls you. Keep having such conversation with him.

Sitting on top of the crate? That's cool! Looks like he's warming up to the place. Good that you did not keep him in the crate else he'll take a longer time to pick up courage and explore. Great that he's eating in front of you. Is he eating wet food? Wet food is good for him as wet food keeps him hydrated. You can also leave a water dish for him but make sure the water is changed 2/3 times a day or the other way is each time you feed him, add some filtered water to his wet food. Not too much as some cats don't like soup and furthermore if you add too much water and he does not finish the food, it'll be a waste because the vitamins and minerals are diluted with the water and he'll not have the daily requirements for it. Just around 3/4 teaspoon per serving will be good. Again, he's showing his trust in you. I think he's putting all his money on you.

As he's not using the litterbox yet could be due to not enough water intake but adult cats and hold their pee for a longer time. For male cats, it's better to get them to drink more.

As for the medication, you have to find ways to get him have it. Maybe you can see if you can find pill pockets. I have not use this before and therefore I cannot advise you on this.

Remember, love, patience and routine. I think both of you are doing great!
 
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WWG1WGA

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It's good that he's calling you. I think he's attached to you and that's why when he hears you, he calls you. Keep having such conversation with him.

Sitting on top of the crate? That's cool! Looks like he's warming up to the place. Good that you did not keep him in the crate else he'll take a longer time to pick up courage and explore. Great that he's eating in front of you. Is he eating wet food? Wet food is good for him as wet food keeps him hydrated. You can also leave a water dish for him but make sure the water is changed 2/3 times a day or the other way is each time you feed him, add some filtered water to his wet food. Not too much as some cats don't like soup and furthermore if you add too much water and he does not finish the food, it'll be a waste because the vitamins and minerals are diluted with the water and he'll not have the daily requirements for it. Just around 3/4 teaspoon per serving will be good. Again, he's showing his trust in you. I think he's putting all his money on you.

As he's not using the litterbox yet could be due to not enough water intake but adult cats and hold their pee for a longer time. For male cats, it's better to get them to drink more.

As for the medication, you have to find ways to get him have it. Maybe you can see if you can find pill pockets. I have not use this before and therefore I cannot advise you on this.

Remember, love, patience and routine. I think both of you are doing great!
Actually I have basically had to make him soup for the last 4 months I have had to add water and puree his food because he had stopped eating. I couldn't catch him and it took me a few days to figure out I had to start turning his food into smoothies after I tried baby food and he ate it. So every day I have been putting his food through the blender, while he would sit at back door and watch. He had to have 4 teeth pulled on Monday, he doesnt seem ready for regular food, I tried last night and he refused. I had boiled some chicken which I keep on hand to supplement my other cats food with, so I put some broth and pieces of chicken (boneless) into the blender and whipped it up for him, which he appreciated. I did the same this morning and he only ate a little. He did go to bathroom, but he peed on one of his towels and seems like he has no idea what the litter box is for. He used to go to the bathroom on my landscaping rocks, I was thinking of grabbing some of them and putting the rocks with the litter, and then slowly removing them just to perhaps give him a little clue, I would prefer not doing laundry at 5AM daily, which has been the last 2 days. I keep trying different places to put his food and litter because although we interact and he talks to me a lot, he seems miserable. He is very sweet, allows me to get very close, by not to close, he hissed at me when i tried to feed him with a spoon. He is settling in to the shelter I brought in from the yard and I was thinking of buying a cat tree for that room so he can climb, and look outside It was very cold the last 2 nights and I was thinking, in my mind its better he is indoors, but I dont know if his spirit and heart are breaking from being inside..he hasnt really played or explored..I dont know, its very time consuming thank God I am blessed to have the time right now. .Happy Thanksgiving all.
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tabbytom

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I was thinking, in my mind its better he is indoors, but I dont know if his spirit and heart are breaking from being inside..he hasnt really played or explored.
It has only been 3 days that he's indoors. Much time is needed for him as he is still making changes. As mentioned before, make him feel at home and as comfortable as possible. Once the love and comfort sets into him, he won't feel restless. And once more settled down, he'll eat more normally and also not to worry so much that he has lost 4 teeth. He'll still be able to eat. The teeth are used for shredding meat apart and not so much on chewing the meat. Cats swallow whole and not much chewing. So Bud can still eat bigger chunks of food.

Have you thrown or washed the towel that has his pee? If its still not washed, take some of the litter from the litterbox and place it on the towel to soak up the scent of the pee and place the litter inside, maybe at the side of the litterbox so that his pee scents are in the litterbox. The other way is to gather the soil or dried leaves where you think he does his business when he was outside before coming in, bring some of those soil and place it in his litterbox.

Remember, don't rush things, one step at a time. He is still in a slightly confused state of mind. Love, patience and routine is the way to go.
 
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It has only been 3 days that he's indoors. Much time is needed for him as he is still making changes. As mentioned before, make him feel at home and as comfortable as possible. Once the love and comfort sets into him, he won't feel restless. And once more settled down, he'll eat more normally and also not to worry so much that he has lost 4 teeth. He'll still be able to eat. The teeth are used for shredding meat apart and not so much on chewing the meat. Cats swallow whole and not much chewing. So Bud can still eat bigger chunks of food.

Have you thrown or washed the towel that has his pee? If its still not washed, take some of the litter from the litterbox and place it on the towel to soak up the scent of the pee and place the litter inside, maybe at the side of the litterbox so that his pee scents are in the litterbox. The other way is to gather the soil or dried leaves where you think he does his business when he was outside before coming in, bring some of those soil and place it in his litterbox.

Remember, don't rush things, one step at a time. He is still in a slightly confused state of mind. Love, patience and routine is the way to go.
Thank you. I put a brand new litter box in which makes 2. I had gathered some rocks from outside where I know he did his business, to no avail yet. The pee already soaked into the towel, I washed it and he peed on a cat blanket I got him, same thing already soaked, it smells, but I havent washed it yet and would be willing to throw it near the litter box if its helpful..... My concern is I dont see any poop yet. The shelter I brought in from outside smells really bad, I dont know if I didnt realise it when I brought it in or something else is going on, but thats his safe spot. He is in it right now, and when I go in there very early in morning he is hanging out on top of it. I would like to get it out of there and clean it but dont want to upset him further. He seems very very unhappy or not feeling well. His eating is very sporadic. He does seem to be more comfortable with me getting closer to him, to close gets me a hiss. I am worried, although I know this is a long haul effort and I am not expecting instant results by any means. I am committed to improving his life, even he doesnt know it yet. I will check back later or tomorrow. Thank you again. Master. lol
 
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Thank you. I put a brand new litter box in which makes 2. I had gathered some rocks from outside where I know he did his business, to no avail yet. The pee already soaked into the towel, I washed it and he peed on a cat blanket I got him, same thing already soaked, it smells, but I havent washed it yet and would be willing to throw it near the litter box if its helpful..... My concern is I dont see any poop yet. The shelter I brought in from outside smells really bad, I dont know if I didnt realise it when I brought it in or something else is going on, but thats his safe spot. He is in it right now, and when I go in there very early in morning he is hanging out on top of it. I would like to get it out of there and clean it but dont want to upset him further. He seems very very unhappy or not feeling well. His eating is very sporadic. He does seem to be more comfortable with me getting closer to him, to close gets me a hiss. I am worried, although I know this is a long haul effort and I am not expecting instant results by any means. I am committed to improving his life, even he doesnt know it yet. I will check back later or tomorrow. Thank you again. Master. lol
UPDATE- I was just sitting with him and he moved from his kittie house to the crate, Inside the kittie house under his bed was pee, and in the bed was poop. I took the pee and poop and poured the pee in each litter box, and put some poop in each litter box. At least I know he is moving his bowels. I think was a positive thing although stinky. He must be very scared?
 

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UPDATE- I was just sitting with him and he moved from his kittie house to the crate, Inside the kittie house under his bed was pee, and in the bed was poop. I took the pee and poop and poured the pee in each litter box, and put some poop in each litter box. At least I know he is moving his bowels. I think was a positive thing although stinky. He must be very scared?
I'm skipping replying to your previous message since this one seems to have answered your questions.

Good that he finally poop. I guess pooping and peeing in the shelter gave him some safety in that sense that it has his scent. It's good that you took the pee and poop into the litterbox. Guess you have to cover them a little because when he's outside, he'll cover up his business and also by covering them, the room won't smell that bad.

As mentioned earlier, give him breathing space and let him absorb the reality at his own timing and at the same time, make him as comfortable as you can.

If you can, clean up the shelter, air it and make sure it's clean again before bringing it in.

I guess from this point on, you have to anticipate his actions before he does any mistakes, meaning try to get him to do the right thing. Make sure he uses the litterbox and also clean out his litterbox so that he always have a clean litterbox to go to. I'm sure he checked out the litterbox when there's no one around and sniffed his own pee and poop in the litterbox. He could have the idea already but just keep observing. Clean up and spills on the floor or outside the litterbox so that he knows the only place to do his business is in the litterbox and no where else, but of course, expect accidents to happen. Rome was not built in a day.
 
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I'm skipping replying to your previous message since this one seems to have answered your questions.

Good that he finally poop. I guess pooping and peeing in the shelter gave him some safety in that sense that it has his scent. It's good that you took the pee and poop into the litterbox. Guess you have to cover them a little because when he's outside, he'll cover up his business and also by covering them, the room won't smell that bad.

As mentioned earlier, give him breathing space and let him absorb the reality at his own timing and at the same time, make him as comfortable as you can.

If you can, clean up the shelter, air it and make sure it's clean again before bringing it in.

I guess from this point on, you have to anticipate his actions before he does any mistakes, meaning try to get him to do the right thing. Make sure he uses the litterbox and also clean out his litterbox so that he always have a clean litterbox to go to. I'm sure he checked out the litterbox when there's no one around and sniffed his own pee and poop in the litterbox. He could have the idea already but just keep observing. Clean up and spills on the floor or outside the litterbox so that he knows the only place to do his business is in the litterbox and no where else, but of course, expect accidents to happen. Rome was not built in a day.
Thank you for all of your help. I am still working with him on the litterbox. Yesterday was a big day for him very active, lots of interaction with him, very hungry he has started to chew some solid food, he seemed happy, I had been whipping his food in the blender for months since his teeth started to bother him. Today he is laying low, but I wanted to thank you and will check back if anything major happens. Thank you so much.
 

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Thank you for all of your help. I am still working with him on the litterbox. Yesterday was a big day for him very active, lots of interaction with him, very hungry he has started to chew some solid food, he seemed happy, I had been whipping his food in the blender for months since his teeth started to bother him. Today he is laying low, but I wanted to thank you and will check back if anything major happens. Thank you so much.
That's very good to hear that he seems happy :clapcat: and there's interactions going on. Slowly build this up and once he knows you are not a threat to him, he'll also open up. Give him lots of assurance and shower him with lots of love and
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He isnt into playing yet. Hes just starting to explore on his own .still in his own room, using litter box like a pro, his kitty tree/condo arrives today and I think it going to help him acclimate and hope he likes it. he still hisses at me at times so I back off. He has made progress, but its slow. Where i try to play with a string or a ball or toys, he looks at me like im nuts, 1639161755347.png
 
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Hi. Buddy doesn't want to eat since yesterday. He was eating quite a bit and it kinda trailed off the last few days. He's stopped eating the freeze dried 1st and dry food 2nd and yesterday he stopped eating the wet food. He seems depressed to me but I don't know. I allowed one of my cats to come into his room and then went really well and seemed to perk him up a little, I just wanted to let you know. He has done this in the past outside but that was before he had his bad teeth pulled. Even then he would seem interested in eating but would have pain. Now it just seems he disinterested and withdrawn. He hasn't played and or gone near his new cat tree I got him. Thanks for help 😢
 
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I wanted to update he was in his cage and I was able to get him to eat pieces of chicken if I fed through the cage. I felt like a lion trainer at the zoo. He will eat if I feed him that way. I am guessing he is afraid, the Feliway ran out the same day his tree arrived, and I guess that stuff was helping because that was about the time he started to become food shy? I got a refill yesterday so I hope it helps. Otherwise any tips on training a tiger?
 
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