Impossible Cat

[susieqz]

at what point do they stop being feral?
drifter is less civilized than barn cats i've known,
but she is in n out of the house half a dozen times/day.
i doubt she could tolerate any other people or cats tho.
can't carry her around, but you guys say that you can't carry around all normal cats.

by the way, i love clumping litter. i found a big clump for the first time. so she's using her box.
of course. i'm stuck with a litter box in the middle of the hall, for the rest of my life.
mostly, i'm letting her out at 7 n bringing her back in after 9 to reduce litter box cleaning.
come spring, we will discuss how much indoor time she needs.
usually, she's happy with an hour or 2 indoors.at a time.

 

[maggiedemi]

I think my cats will always still be a little feral, at least with strangers. They love other cats though. I don't think any cats like being picked up, but my cats growing up would let you without scratching. That's great that you found a clump! Orange was right, to put the litterbox in the hall! I keep the litter deep and dump & scrub once a month. I use a 40 pound box per litterbox per month.

 

[rubysmama]

Drifter's using the litterbox. Good girl. Once she is using it consistently, you can try moving it a few inches every day until you get it to where you want to keep a permanent litter box.

Did I understand that you now do not get up to feed yourself if Drifter is lying on your legs. Yep, sounds like Drifter is training you well.

Not all cats like being picked up. My Ruby, totally non-feral, HATES being picked up or restrained in any way. But she loves napping on my lap, and snuggling beside me in bed. Everything on her terms.

 

[maggiedemi]

The hallway might actually be a better place for it. We have one in the bedroom and there is dust from the litter all over the dresser. I need to find a better place for it, maybe in a corner, but all the corners have stuff in them right now. The other one is out in the garage, but probably going to move it down cellar soon.

 

[orange&white]

Drifter peed in the box!!! Yes, you can move it a few inches a day to wherever you want it.

I don't consider Farrell a feral anymore. She is a little bit shy, but so are a lot of domestic cats. I can trim her nails, pick her up like a baby, carry her around. She sleeps at the foot of the bed, and comes to lick my face and purr when I'm supposed to be up feeding her. She behaved beautifully at her 1-year vet check up (first time she'd been to a clinic since her TNR at the shelter). If you get to a point where you keep forgetting that they started out feral, then I think you've got a domesticated cat.

 

[maggiedemi]

Wow Orange, you did a really good job with Farrell if she's not even afraid of the vet! My cats still act like the world is coming to an end even if a child walks down the road, and our windows are pretty far from the road. How old was Farrell when you took her in? Demi was probably 4 or 5 weeks old, he was really tiny, but he could eat pate & Kitten Chow. Maggie was older, at least 6 months, that's probably why she's more feral than Demi.

 

[orange&white]

She got in my work warehouse last winter after a storm. My boss bought a humane trap and she was spayed at the end of January. I brought her home February 3rd. She still had her baby canine teeth, but they fell out that first week...so I "assigned" her 4 months old.

She was amazing at the vet. I warned and warned that she was very tame with me, but I wasn't sure how she would act with strangers and could revert to acting totally feral. The vet tech reached in the carrier and pulled her out with his bare hands. She was scared from the look in her eyes, but did not offer to squirm, much less hiss, growl, swat or bite. They took blood, gave her injections (vaccines) and the vet palpated her from head to toe. Not even a mew. I was very proud of her.

 

[maggiedemi]

That's amazing. Hopefully I'll make progress like that with Maggie. Their scratching post just got here, I have to set it up. I think the command I'm going to give her is "Go Scratch Your Post", or something like that. She does better if I give her a command that she can remember. I should have done this a long time ago before she wrecked the furniture, but better late than never I guess.

 

[susieqz]

everybody is moving along splendidly.
i lucked out n have a non destructive cat.
she still sharpens claws on the rugs, but less often.
her outside scratching logs seem nicer to her.
she has the run of the house.
when she's not on the couch with me, she's doing cat stuff, unsupervised.

how do i tell when litter is used up?
i can't go by your experience because she mostly goes outside.
inside only when she's in for 8 or 10 hours.
i let her out at 4am, after 7 hours inside n as far as i can tell, she didn't go anywhere..

 

[maggiedemi]

You just add a little clean litter once a day after you scoop, so it stays deep. I usually just dump it on the first of the month, wash with dish soap, fill back up with new litter. I would still wash it once a month if you can, but maybe you can go longer if you keep it deep. You might not use the whole box of litter like I do.

 

[susieqz]

i used the whole bag of litter but it was too hard to move,
is it fair to say you dump it after 30 uses?
that should be about 2 months, in good weather.
if she wakes me at 4am every day, i can just never clean it.

 

[orange&white]

I hardly ever dump mine and start fresh. Only if the clumps got broken up and the box starts to smell. If you clean every time she uses it, the litter will last longer. Both my cats have and empty "spare" box, so I do move the litter over and scrub the box they been using once in a while. Like Maggie said, if you take out a clump, replace that same size clump with some fresh litter. Your nose will tell you when it's time to dump the whole thing.

 

[orange&white]

That's amazing. Hopefully I'll make progress like that with Maggie. Their scratching post just got here, I have to set it up. I think the command I'm going to give her is "Go Scratch Your Post", or something like that. She does better if I give her a command that she can remember. I should have done this a long time ago before she wrecked the furniture, but better late than never I guess.

Rub a little catnip on the post.

I got very lucky to get a great cat with Farrell. When I called to check on her the day I picked her up, someone at the shelter had moved her to the "free barn cat" adoption area. I had told them I'd pick her up to release her back to the feral colony next door to my office, but I thought she was older. The shelter said release-to-colony was preferred to relocating to a barn.

When I saw her baby teeth, I was a goner. Plus, she just never was aggressive with swatting or biting...ever. I got an easy one with her.

 

[maggiedemi]

You don't have to put the whole 40 pound box in at once. I fill the litterbox a little more than half way full. I try to push the litter back a little at the entrance, so it doesn't fly out when they dig. Yeah, I guess about 30 uses, or something like that.

 

[susieqz]

thanks for te tips.
in general, i'd just as soon she uses the great outdoors for her litter box.
i jus got this for bad weather.

i can now report that 7 days of heat, together with a couple lead up days, exhaust a person.
it's a nice day, but she's just going outside to go potty.
the rest of the time, she's sleeping. on me or on the floor.
this is unusual, because she mostly just visits during the day.

 

[susieqz]

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!
IT CAN'T BE TRUE!
BUT, IT IS!
I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES!
there is a GIANT CAT out there!
drifter n i are hiding in the house, from the huge beast.
if drifter is 10 lbs, this monster is over 20!
big enow to wreck a coyote!
this is very bad. i was sure the heat was over, while she remained a maiden.
but, if she has been getting laid, why all the fussing?
why is she now hiding in the house?
yeah, i don't object to a litter, but this thing is the biggest domestic cat i've ever seen.
the kittens will be too big for her to pass.
i had just taken a nap. as i arose i saw this giant animal looking in the window. drifter saw it at the same time. we both froze n stared.
she showed no emotion, but she understands glass , knew she was safe.
only when he jumped down did we return to normal

i don't suppose there's a day after pill?
a litter is one thing. dying in childbirth is something else.

i suppose i should feed the evil monster, but if i go out to leave food while collecting my laundry, drifter might get out.

 

[rubysmama]

Oh boy... literally. You've become a cat magnet. Or more likely, Drifter has.

 

[susieqz]

well, drifter is hiding inside. that's not to say he hasn't had his way with her.
she refuses to see him, now.
but, i wasn''t kidding you guys. the nearest house or paved road is 3 miles away.
this place must be swarming with unseen cats, coyotes or no.

 

[susieqz]

ALL OBVIOUS SIGNS OF HEAT ARE GONE
drifter wants to go out to go potty.
but that boy is out there waiting to pounce.
does keeping her in make any sense?
if so, for how long.?
do i feed the male or shoot it?

 

[orange&white]

Ok Susie, do not shoot the cat.

Drifter is probably pregnant. You should keep her inside just in case she isn't.

As much as Misfit does not like other animals, she did manage to get pregnant while she was still a kitten. No surprise with dozens and dozens of ferals around here.

Whether she is pregnant or not, you need to find Drifter a veterinarian so that she is a "client" somewhere. Also, I would get in touch with animal shelters or rescues who can help you through her pregnancy and nursing...and foster/adopt the kittens to good homes.

It'll be good if this is a false alarm, but it wouldn't hurt for you to make all the connections now in case she is pregnant or gets pregnant in the near future.

If you don't want the big tom around, see if you can find a shelter to neuter him and then keep him as a barn cat, or have the shelter place him as a barn cat elsewhere. I'm assuming he's feral?