I Got My Feral In The House Today!

rubysmama

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Sorry Walli has taken a step backwards. She really is doing the "one step forward, two steps back", isn't she. :sigh:
 
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walli

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Thank you! Needed that, I will continue to open the door to Joey.
I am a bit calmer today, I think she is calming a bit too.
I think the stress was coming from the way I was closing her in at night.
I would force her in and have to go into her room and close the window, but she was on to me she was going back out to the catio before I could get in the room.
so I was going in the catio and reaching in to close the window.

I am just going to leave her access to the catio for now, I know she comes in at night, I will open the baby gates and just chill for awhile.
I have put plastic flaps on either side of the entrance to the catio, so the cold is not really a factor anymore, I will fix the problem come spring.
thank you for reminding me she is better off and my stress is stressing her out!

Another thing I did is clean her room during all this because I found the flea on Joey and then this weekend cleaned her catio, I removed all the styrofoam sheets from when she was living outside, It was just a total mess, she was using them for scratching posts, styrofoam everywhere!!!
So this was my bad I put stress on top of stress.

She seemed a bit calmer this morning, I will leave her alone for awhile and open the door to the baby gates every night and do this routinely for awhile.
you are right about the routine!!!

As far as the harness, I do want to try this, I think I will wait awhile tho,
I am trying to find someone, I do believe Joey needs a cat behaviorist
He is pretty friendly but has an edge to him.
Thank you so much I'm feeling better!
 

shadowsrescue

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You want to start the harness training a bit before you bring Joey into the room. Cats sometimes can have a hard time adjusting to a harness and it also may take a few different harnesses to find one he will wear. One of my cats does very well on the harness. I used to take him outside for a short walk. I am also using it on another cat. I am on my 3rd harness with him. He does not like it, but with some training and using lots of treats, he is doing much better. Learning to walk with one can be comical to watch. My boy will flop over and acts as though he cannot get up. Yet, once I get him up and we walk around and he gets a few treats, he forgets all about it.

A behaviorist might be a good idea to help with Joey. Remember than play therapy is a great way to help cats. It allows them to hunt, catch and kill. I find that daily play that really gets a cat moving, improves their mood and behavior. Since Joey is young he may need this a few times a day. It also tires a cat out. Most importantly after a play session, offer a special special treat or small meal. This will satisfy the eating of the kill.

You are doing great! Just deep breaths. Walli will settle again.
 
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walli

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I am playing with Joey everyday, prolly need more tho, thanks for the tip for special treat, I do give him treats but not always after playing.
We bought a harness for him, I will start practicing! and get a different one if needed.
Great tips! thanks!

So weird Joey is just like Walli when it comes to meat, I've only seen them want it a couple times, and for Walli it was outside, she ate some pieces of steak and neither one eats much chicken so weird! My Tigger use to sit by the BBQ waiting for his pieces!

If anyone knows any delicious treats that are not meat let me know
they both love the bagged treats tho!

Thanks so much for helping me!!!
 
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walli

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Aha! your ears were burning! :lol:
Lots going on, been waiting to post, was going to post today!
I had a cat behaviorist come to the house, she had lots of good info for us.
She suggested Walli go on Buspirone and Joey on Fluoxetine.
Walli has been on the Buspirone for a few days, It's a med to make her less fearful, I wasn't expecting any results for 4 weeks, I can see a change in her already, she is moving around differently and in her room more and not staying cowered in the catio. Not totally happy about Joey being on Fluoxetine but it is needed for socializing the 2, If it wasn't for that Joey is ok the way he is.
but I'm sure He will be a friendlier cat after this!
I'm so hopeful about the med for Walli! sheesh!
We have a plan we need to follow, I think this weekend I need to start it
and stick to it, I need to focus and make this my priority.
I wasn't expecting Walli to respond so quickly, she has a long way to go but
I was worried it wasn't going to work.

I found a compound pharmacy that makes her med into a soft chew treat form.
I cut it into 2 pieces and put it in her dry food, (sometimes Walli won't eat her canned food)

It was quite an ordeal pleading with the vet to give me the prescription, my vet told me I should never socialize these 2 because Walli has FIV, I told her I rescued both cats from the streets and told her the whole story, and the story about TNRing the cats on my street, told her it's a huge problem in our town, she actually should know this, so the next time Walli has to go to a vet, I'm taking her to a vet that deals with Ferals more.

It's been quite a stressful time, I chased coyotes down the street twice, so I'm worried about the cats on the street.
 
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walli

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One of the Feral ladies told me about a vet here in town.
plus there is another vet that does TNR clinics so that might be good too!
It would have to be a total emergency for me to take Walli to the Vet.
Hopefully someday it won't be such an issue, but I see people sedate ferals to take to vets, my vet doesn't like cats sedated for the visit?
They gassed her once she was there tho. I think they had a hard time too.
 
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walli

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Going ok, I have decided to open the door to the baby gate first week of April
because it will be warmer, and my husband goes back to work, he had foot surgery so has been home for 3 months.

The behaviorist recommended putting a board between them and remove it so they can see each other and then give treats.
Not happening, that would freak out Walli more than seeing Joey.

I have been scent swapping occasionally, Joey isn't so aggressive to her scent anymore, Walli seems a bit different.

So the plan is to reveal the baby gates while we are at work, so they can socialize while we are not home, I think this is best, so Walli only has to deal with Joey and not us at the same time, I will put the camera back up, so I can see what's going on.

Walli is such an extreme case of a Feral, I think it was a mistake bringing her in, but I won't give up!

I will build a much larger Catio someday, I hope they can both enjoy it together!
Worst case will be Walli gets a bigger catio so her world can be bigger!
 

shadowsrescue

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I wouldn't look at it as a mistake to bring her inside. She is safe from predators, the elements, humans, cars and other dangers. She may never ever be a lap kitty and may always spook easily. Yet I bet in time she will soften.

If you need to have her in a catio then that is ok too. She is still safe.

I know how hard it all is. Just keep moving forward!
 

rubysmama

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Walli is such an extreme case of a Feral, I think it was a mistake bringing her in, but I won't give up!
Not a mistake. She's safe. She's warm. She's well fed. She's loved. :hearthrob:
Someday, she'll let down her guard and realize life is good on the inside.

So the plan is to reveal the baby gates while we are at work, so they can socialize while we are not home, I think this is best, so Walli only has to deal with Joey and not us at the same time, I will put the camera back up, so I can see what's going on.
You know your cats better than we do, but are you sure you shouldn't do a short trial run when you're home, just so you can be sure Walli doesn't totally freak out if Joey keeps staring at her.
 
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walli

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Good point! and yes Joey will be staring at her
She will run out to the Catio if she doesn't like it.
That's why I'm waiting for warmer weather, I don't want her running out there
when it's cold!
I'm thinking I may just open the door a crack for the first couple days.
I know this is going to take some time, but I will have to be patient.
Time is what it takes with Walli, she doesn't like anything new!
When I opened the door in the winter and closed her in the room, it was awful for her. So I'm thinking this is a good plan! You always find out later if it was good or not tho!
Thanks Rubysmama! I have been racking my brain about the first step!
 

rubysmama

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So her catio is closed off right now? Is she just staying in the one room, then? Do you ever put Joey in another closed room for a while and see if Walli might venture out to investigate other parts of the house?

How is she around you and your family now?

Got any new pics of her? :camera:
 
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walli

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She has access to the catio at all times.
She is still fearful of us but she is showing some improvement since being on the Buspirone, she is moving around a bit differently and I can see her sleeping on her big queen size bed pretty comfortable, so she is exposing herself a bit more..
sometimes when I go in her room she is in her hiding spot and I can sit with her for a bit, but most times she will run out to the catio when I come in.

I have been scent swapping and I think that is going better than it ever has
I don't do it as often as I'm suppose to tho!
Joey isn't attacking her scent, he is alert but not attacking it anymore!

She could have access to the Living room and kitchen and our office, I have Baby gates on hinges in the hallway, that's what I thought we would be doing.
but she didn't come out of her room when I opened that door (she has 2 doors to her room) so hoping once she get's a little comfortable with Joey she can venture out to the rest of the house.

Before Joey came to us, she was moving around the house and things were looking good, Joey is maturing he is about 1.5 years now.

I sit with her outside in the morning for a bit and when I get home (her in her catio)
I think she likes it when I'm outside with her, I will get blinkys sometimes when we are outside.
She is very Feral!
 
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