My Feral brought me a ..... gift ..... not sure what to do.

[fastnoc]

I put some catnip out so i could get a couple pics of my new little friend. She LOVES catnip and rolls all over in it.

But today she showed up with a dead mouse, and put it right by the door.

what should I do with it? I don't want to bum her out?

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• fastnoc
• Nov 14, 2012

 

[ritz]

Praise her to  high heaven, tell her what a good mouser she is, take it in with you (the mouse) and then freeze it until garbage day.

And, maybe think about adopting her:  she sounds like a sweetie and trusts you

 

[fastnoc]

Oh she is a sweet heart. but I can't adopt her.

she showed up and I started feeding her. But her breath was AWFUL, so i took her to the vet. she has stomatitis. so i got her a shot, along with rabies shot, dewormer and flea medicine. that was a week ago and she's way better now.

But the problem is I came up to stay with my mother and I now take care of her full time. She's allergic to cats. I already have two, and I had to quarantine them to the office/bedroom. there is NO WAY i could introduce another cat right now.

But I did buy her a heated cat house and feed her 3 times a day. she now lives on my patio, and rarely leaves.

 

[fastnoc]

uh oh. i just went outside to pick it up, and she's gone and so it the mouse. did I hurt her feelings?

 

[ritz]

Maybe she got hungry or some other cat got it or she has a boyfriend...

 

[fastnoc]

nah, I have surveilance cameras and i always watch her. she strutted off, and I actually just fed her a can of wet food.

hope i didn't hurt her feelings

 

[fastnoc]

so here we are, days later.

Every day now she leaves in the early afternoon, and returns just before it gets dark...... with another mouse. last night the one she brought was still slightly alive.

WIll she probably keep doing this? I've been letting her see me pick it up and go inside, then i go directly the back door and to the garbage .

The live one though, I don't think she was actually quite done with it. When I picked it up and came back outside she was looking around all over the place.

Is there anything special I should be doing now? i praise her a lot, but that just prompts her to go get more, right?

 

[fastnoc]

by the way, let me add this. i've done a lot of rescue work in the last few years. I've just never dealt with a feral cat, and taking one in that lives outside if that makes sense.

 

[crystalkitty]

I'm no expert, but standard advice says that she's bringing you mice to "feed" you, and now she's bringing you half-dead ones to teach you to hunt on your own, as she would a kitten. Maybe she adopted you?

I think it's sweet. Do you have any problems with collecting them and disposing of them? As long as she's doing it, I'd just appreciate it. Although, how you're going to deal with half-alive ones ... is up to you. 

My guess is that she will continue for at least a while, since she's been doing it regularly. She sounds like a great cat. 

Hehe, mine caught a mouse in the garage. Well, more than one. I think she has learned that when she kills them, they cease to be fun toys. So ... she picks them up, runs around with them, and lets them go so she can chase them again. Wash, rinse, repeat. I'm scared to death she's going to hop into my lap with one someday. Or come and drop it down on my shoulder while I'm typing on the couch, the way she does with toy mice. 

 

[Willowy]

Generally I just tell them that they did a good job , oh mighty hunter, and now they should go eat it. I don't take it away, ew. If they leave it on the porch I guess I'd have to find a dustpan and dispose of it but fortunately they always take it away so I don't have to.

Is she really feral, if you were able to smell her breath and take her to the vet? I can't get that close to my ferals! :tongue2: I she's not fully feral it may be easier to find her another home if you can't keep her. And remember that if she isn't spayed she'll be bringing you "presents" of a different kind next spring :/.

 

[minka]

Yup, praise her to high heaven, keep some gloves by the door so you can pick it up and wiggle it around happily or something (xD) and then take it inside and throw it away :tongue2:

 

[fastnoc]

So it looks like today's dinner wasn't quite dead when she got home.....

 

[fastnoc]

Generally I just tell them that they did a good job , oh mighty hunter, and now they should go eat it. I don't take it away, ew. If they leave it on the porch I guess I'd have to find a dustpan and dispose of it but fortunately they always take it away so I don't have to.

Is she really feral, if you were able to smell her breath and take her to the vet? I can't get that close to my ferals!

I she's not fully feral it may be easier to find her another home if you can't keep her. And remember that if she isn't spayed she'll be bringing you "presents" of a different kind next spring :/.

Well, i thought she was feral. it took quite a while to get her comfortable enough to pet her. and the way she would shoot in lightning fast to eat then run away made me think so.

I can pick her up now, but she still won't let me walk even close to her. I have to sit down, and after 10 to 15 minutes she'll get close enough for me to pet her. Then i can pick her up, but she meows when i do. i set her in my lap and she crawls up my chest and burries her nose under my chin, purring so loud she's squeaking, and kneading her feet

honestly it's hard to tell. I've never gotten close to a feral this fast though

 

[ktlynn]

A kitty who allows you to pick her up, crawls up your chest, buries her nose under your chin and loudly purrs is definitely not feral!  More than likely she was abandoned by someone or is a lost cat.

It's great that you're taking the best care of her that you can considering you can't bring her indoors.  As another member has mentioned though, I wish you had gotten her spayed when you brought her to the vet.   Please spay her ASAP - cats breed all year round and she could become pregnant at anytime.   

PS - She's a beauty!  Thanks so much for taking care of her!

 

[fastnoc]

She is spayed, the vets here tattoo cats that are spayed using the TNR program (for about the last 5 years). they shaved her tummy and verified it.

 

[ktlynn]

Very glad to hear she is spayed!   Great idea for vets to use tattoos to I.D. cats who've been neutered.  

Have you given her a name yet?

 

[pariscat]

LOL !! Kitty is having the time of her life ! The rodent not.........
 

20 years ago when we were young, we lived in a thawed, halftimbered house wayyyy out in the countryside, with fields all around.  Sometimes whe we came out in the morning in the summer, the terrace and backyard were STREWN with the little grey shrews, which our cats looooved to kill, but never ate. Shrews appear to taste bad. So I'm told.......

Cats are predators. They hunt mice and birds, that's what cats do. But it can be quite a mess sometimes. Anyone ever had a blackbird torn apart in your livingroom ??