Need Advice From the Feral Colony Experts

[vyger]

I just watched Misfit spray (as in marking territory) the side of my house.

Isn't that unusual behavior for 1) female cats in general, and 2) spayed female cats in particular???

Did she actually manage to leave something? I have several females who will vibrate their tail, just like a male does, but they don't actually do anything. It is a happy, excited response. I can get one of them to do it just by rubbing her back by her tail. She likes it so much that she vibrates but it is just a response like being tickled. She never wets anything.

 

[vyger]

I've only seen the unsprayed boy cats do that. I hope she doesn't have a urinary tract infection or something. The little boys who just moved in close to me are chasing my colony cats and dumping out their food and water right in front of their mother. I'm pissed.

OK, so these are human boys? There is some room for doubt in your wording ---- Don't get upset ---- Smile---

Ask them how they would feel if you snuck into their house some morning when they were having breakfast and dumped out their cereal bowls on the floor and then ran away so their mom would yell at them for it.
Sometimes childish logic works on childish brains. Don't actually threaten to do it though. Just how they would feel.

 

[surya]

No, seriously start a thread on it. Don't worry about hijacking...it's just that not many people are likely to read about it on page 7 of this "novel".

Maybe I will later. Thanks. I have seen cats spray their pee when they are straining to pee with a urinary tract infection. Hopefully that is not the case.

 

[surya]

OK, so these are human boys? There is some room for doubt in your wording ---- Don't get upset ---- Smile---

Ask them how they would feel if you snuck into their house some morning when they were having breakfast and dumped out their cereal bowls on the floor and then ran away so their mom would yell at them for it.
Sometimes childish logic works on childish brains. Don't actually threaten to do it though. Just how they would feel.

I tried, one of the little boys is a little monster who nocks things over and chases the cats with sticks. He would not talk to me and was a little brat. I talked to the little girl who speaks English, she denied the kids did it, even though I saw them do it. And then there is a little toddler who nocks over the food and water bowl on a regular basis right in front of the mother. The mother does not speak English.

 

[orange&white]

Did she actually manage to leave something? I have several females who will vibrate their tail, just like a male does, but they don't actually do anything. It is a happy, excited response. I can get one of them to do it just by rubbing her back by her tail. She likes it so much that she vibrates but it is just a response like being tickled. She never wets anything.

Yes, after she was "done" I walked over for a closer look and there was pee (or whatever stinky hormones they spray) running down the wall. I don't know if she's telling the other neighborhood ferals to "Stay away" or saying, "Hey come over everyone and join me...the food's great".

There have been more and more cats hanging out that I've never seen before. shadowsrescue told me to expect that early on. I always supervise Misfit's meals though and never leave extra food out.

 

[maggiedemi]

Do you know if she's peeing okay, not in really small amounts? Some cats spray when they have UTI.

 

[orange&white]

I think she's peeing ok, but I don't really have a way to be sure. I've seen her pottying further out in the yard where I didn't try to walk over and watch. I'm inclined to think that it's something her mother or other ferals taught her?...or a holdover from before she was spayed? It would have been normal for her to spray when she went into heat and got pregnant, right? I just really don't know. I've only owned one female housecat (two now with this year's adoptee), and she was spayed way before she ever thought about going into heat.

 

[maggiedemi]

Maybe next time she pees, try to sneak over and look and see how big a puddle it is. If it's just the size of a quarter, she's got problems.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Two of my male neutered feral boys spray. They are marking their territory. I can see the pee come out. It doesn't have a strong odor at all. Both of them just back up to the tree they are mark and squirt away. They will do this at various places in the yard.

 

[orange&white]

Misfit jumped up on my lap for the first time yesterday. I "cheated" by holding a bowl of food and she jumped down as soon as the food was gone. For about a week, I had been putting one piece of food at a time on my knee, which she would stand up and take with her front paws. Yesterday, she jumped all the way onto my lap.

The only other update I have is that the dog training is going well. Charlie is starting to ignore her. He'll glance at her and look away instead of doing the stare-down like she is prey. It's been about a week since he tried to lunge at Misfit. He's lunging about once a week the last 2 weeks, so we're not "there" yet, but eventually I should be able to let him go potty in the backyard off-leash again.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Little Miss Misfit is just opening up like a flower. It has been such a joy to watch her transformation and all you have done for her.

 

[orange&white]

She is doing well. I haven't been reporting much on her "dark side". lol I have quite a few scratches on my hands from her swatting at me out of the blue. No serious damage though.

 

[maggiedemi]

The worst is when they scratch you on the palm side of your hand, it's really hard to heal for some reason.

 

[orange&white]

Yes, inside you palm hurts more! Misfit isn't being "mean" when she bats me. I don't remember her ever hissing at me (except when I first trapped her). She doesn't put her ears back either. It's more like when my domestic cat or the feral I adopted as an indoor cat paw at me for attention or playing...except that their claws are retracted when they do it. Misfit always has her claws fully extended and they are long and they're as sharp as needles!

 

[maggiedemi]

Is there a way we can teach them to retract their claws, like the mother would teach them?

 

[orange&white]

I don't know. I think that she may not ever understand that her claws hurt. But she has surprised me many times before! When she bats at me, I say "Oh no! Don't bat me," and I walk away from her. Sometimes I can catch her before she swipes. She puts one paw in the air and looks at me to "test" my reaction. I say, "Don't bat me," and she'll put her paw back down. She is an adolescent cat in her "teen years", so maybe she's trainable.

 

[susieqz]

it's great that misfit jumped in your lap. that's a big deal.
i'm not real happy to learn that i have to worry about females spraying to mark their territory.
i don't need drifter thinking my stuff is her territory.

 

[orange&white]

it's great that misfit jumped in your lap. that's a big deal.
i'm not real happy to learn that i have to worry about females spraying to mark their territory.
i don't need drifter thinking my stuff is her territory.

Thank you!

I wouldn't worry about Drifter marking (unless you see her do it, of course). I read that only 1 out of 20 female cats actually pee standing up and mark territory. I just got lucky with Misfit. She's a 5-percenter.

There are a lot of other cats in the neighborhood, plus my two indoor cats. I think she's marking to communicate to the other cats. Not sure she'd be so inclined if she were the only cat for miles, like your Drifter.

 

[susieqz]

good to hear. no other cats for miles. it's important since she is now coming inside to look around.
without invite.

 

[surya]

Most of the semi ferals in my colony who clawed me have stopped doing it. I would do the ouch thing and ignore them. There is another neighbor who plays with the cats too, so maybe she was the one who trained them not to do it.