New Community Cat Mom Looking For Advice

[Panther’s Mom]

Good afternoon! I have a young male cat, approximately 1 yr old who adopted me in May 2018. In June I had him neutered, vaccinationed, ear tipped & chipped. I am now trying to decide which is best for him, retrap & try to socialize or let him stay outdoors. Now this is all brand new to me & I have an indoor/outdoor female, Elly, who was brought home by my son when she was a 6 week old feral kitten(now 4 yrs old). She had limited socialization & started peeing in the house, so at 8 months old, she became a garage(brought in at dusk, heated garage) & outdoor cat, which has been her preference since. She is spayed, chipped, & vaccinated. My problem is she’s very territorial & will chase Panther away. He does have his feeding area by my deck, also another area in the front of my house, a tarp building & I’ve also seen him at the edge of my neighbors property. Sometimes he’ll sleep in the shed, under the deck, or my neighbors shed. I don’t know how to proceed as far as supplying him with a shelter that will protect him & do I create another outdoor shelter for Elly, where to place them....etc. Panther does respond to his name if he’s in the area & I call him, but I want him to regularly eat. So also has anyone tried clicker training for mealtimes? I’m very sorry for the long post but I just don’t know how to proceed. Thank you all for suggestions & advice & I look forward to participating in this forum. Panther’s Mom

 

[fionasmom]

There is a TNR group out here that I try to support when I can, The TNR Project. The founder absolutely does clicker training even with very untamed ferals who need to be trapped and swears that it works. She clicks, leaves the food out for one hour, then picks it back up if it is eaten, partially eaten, or not eaten. Those who don't eat within the hour learn that the sound signals food and no one has starved. She has a tremendous success rate with TNRing ferals this way. You may not want to remove food or may want to alter how she does this, since this boy is more or less your pet, but she swears it works. The TNR Project transports cats once a week to Los Angeles where they are fixed; if you want to use their services you have to be on board that day, so the clicker reinforces that you will probably be able to catch the cat on time.

 

[Panther’s Mom]

There is a TNR group out here that I try to support when I can, The TNR Project. The founder absolutely does clicker training even with very untamed ferals who need to be trapped and swears that it works. She clicks, leaves the food out for one hour, then picks it back up if it is eaten, partially eaten, or not eaten. Those who don't eat within the hour learn that the sound signals food and no one has starved. She has a tremendous success rate with TNRing ferals this way. You may not want to remove food or may want to alter how she does this, since this boy is more or less your pet, but she swears it works. The TNR Project transports cats once a week to Los Angeles where they are fixed; if you want to use their services you have to be on board that day, so the clicker reinforces that you will probably be able to catch the cat on time.[

Thank you so much for your advice.

 

[Panther’s Mom]

Thank so much for your advice.