Looking for advice on socialization during quarantine

areyouferal

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I recently asked about health risks of interacting with a feral and my concern that the cat may be bringing ticks into our apartment in .

We are now planning to start a more focused plan to socialize the cat with the ideal outcome being that the cat becomes an indoor cat. At the very least we would like for the cat to spend significantly less time outside.

Given that we are both spending most of our time home now due to the coronavirus, we think it would be an especially good time to try this since we will be around in case something happens that would need our attention.

What kind of plan would you advise for this? As I mentioned in the Reddit post, the cat is pretty comfortable around us. He has slept next to both of us, likes to be petted, lets us carry him, lets us close him inside the apartment, does not hiss, bite, scratch, or show other signs of aggression, except a couple of times he has scratched my girlfriend when she was close to him because he got a little spooked. He comes by virtually every morning and evening, and spends between 15 minutes to multiple hours inside each day. We usually let him out when he stands by the porch door for a certain amount of time. Usually he just stands there for a while seemingly to indicate he wants to go back outside. Sometimes he meows a bit to be more vocal about it but nothing that sounds like he's very stressed or anything -- just seems a little restless. Our main concern is currently that he has not ever used a litter box in our apartment (nor has he peed or pooped anywhere else in our apartment), so we are not sure what to expect if we don’t let him out for a day or more. We suspect that part of the reason he may want to leave the apartment sometimes is pee or poop.

Should we keep him inside indefinitely and hope that he uses a litter box when necessary? Or should we get him to use a litter box before trying to keep him inside indefinitely?

Given the cat's behavior thus far, as described before, which has been his behavior for at least 6 months now, what else should our plan consist of? As in, what should we try this week? And then the next? Etc

We do have an indoor cat, but they don’t really interact, negatively or positively. The feral expresses interest in our indoor cat and sometimes approaches, but our indoor cat generally likes to keep a distance and the feral seems to respect that.

Also, the feral cat has a notched ear and is apparently neutered, although we have never taken it to a vet so are not sure exactly what vaccinations or treatments it has received. We have been applying vet-prescribed flea medicine (Revolution?) for the last 2 or 3 months.
 

Katerday

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First of, thank you for your kindness in taking in a stray. It sounds like that cat was a TNR (Trap N Return) cat. Normally they have microchips in their body and once scanned, they can show what vaccinations have been given and information on who and where he’s been trapped. He may already have an owner or previous owner and he doesn’t seem feral at all. You can check with any veterinarian since most have a scanner for microchipped pets.

Regarding the litter box, has he tried to go to the same litter box as your indoor pet? If not, maybe you should try putting his own litter box close to the door if possible. Maybe he can get accustomed to it and not have to go out anymore. Our cat usually stand on the door if he needs to pee or do his business outside and we let him out. But we slowly restrict him from going out later on so he had no choice but to use the litter. Once your stray has used the litter box, give him a few more days and then try to limit him going out so he gets used to staying indoors more. Hope that helps.
 
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areyouferal

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First of, thank you for your kindness in taking in a stray. It sounds like that cat was a TNR (Trap N Return) cat. Normally they have microchips in their body and once scanned, they can show what vaccinations have been given and information on who and where he’s been trapped. He may already have an owner or previous owner and he doesn’t seem feral at all. You can check with any veterinarian since most have a scanner for microchipped pets.

Regarding the litter box, has he tried to go to the same litter box as your indoor pet? If not, maybe you should try putting his own litter box close to the door if possible. Maybe he can get accustomed to it and not have to go out anymore. Our cat usually stand on the door if he needs to pee or do his business outside and we let him out. But we slowly restrict him from going out later on so he had no choice but to use the litter. Once your stray has used the litter box, give him a few more days and then try to limit him going out so he gets used to staying indoors more. Hope that helps.
Thank you for the advice and information!

Out of curiosity, why do you say he doesn't seem feral at all? Well I suppose I did paint a nice picture of his good behaviors, which is accurate. But it is also true that he spends most of his time outdoors and apparently prefers that still. Also he doesn't use the litter box.

As far as we know, he has never tried to use the same litter boxes as our indoor cat (she has 2). We did recently purchase a new litter box just for the outdoor cat. I think putting it by the door where he waits is a great idea. We will start trying that. We will also try limiting him from going out longer and longer.

Thanks again!
 

Katerday

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Thank you for the advice and information!

Out of curiosity, why do you say he doesn't seem feral at all? Well I suppose I did paint a nice picture of his good behaviors, which is accurate. But it is also true that he spends most of his time outdoors and apparently prefers that still. Also he doesn't use the litter box.

As far as we know, he has never tried to use the same litter boxes as our indoor cat (she has 2). We did recently purchase a new litter box just for the outdoor cat. I think putting it by the door where he waits is a great idea. We will start trying that. We will also try limiting him from going out longer and longer.

Thanks again!
I used to think that stray and feral is the same. :)

But as I go and learn online on how to care for them, I came across some topics on the difference:


He may actually have been feral before, but getting some contact with humans have actually socialized him a bit, so he's no longer feral but became a stray. Atleast that's what I think of the outdoor colony i've been taking care of. :)

Regarding the litter, since he may not be used to it, I read somewhere that maybe you can sprinkle some soil on top of it initially so he knows it's a potty.
 
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