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- Jun 20, 2022
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How do things work after a feral cat is spayed at a shelter? I assumed the shelter looks after her for a day, or two tops, and then we release her back outside to recover on her own. (Continuing to feed/water/have outdoor sheltering options open to her of course).
This cat will NOT accept coming into our house. Not gonna happen. She's terrified of us even when she sees us outside. She might observe us, but she's doing that from several yards away and hiding behind something. I've never even heard her make a sound. Not one time. She just runs like the wind.
Her kittens are even more terrified of us than she is. One saw me today, while it was in the main part of the barn, and it literally tried clawing a hole in the wall in the corner to escape from me. I'd never seen anything like it in my life. It was absolutely awful to witness.
But even the Mom cat is so feral that the sounds in a house alone - even silence - would terrify her. Does anyone know, from experience, how it works in some shelters? Will they look after a feral for 1 or 2 days after a spay if you make an extra donation to the shelter or something like that? I really want this cat cared for after her surgery, but I know we're not the ones to do it. We don't have the experience and she's VERY feral. We can't keep her incision clean or anything like that, and her preferred space right now is lying in the dirt, beneath our storage building. It's VERY hot and humid right now, too. Summers are so awful here.
The shelter has been really great so far by the way. They agreed to take in all 5 kittens once we shared that we have no problem with the Mom Cat being returned to us as a barn cat. (The same goes for the other adult ferals that come and go around our house, too. We don't really like it, but we're willing to care for them as barn cats should they decide to return. If they show up again, they're getting spayed/neutered for sure).
I wanted to call the shelter today and ask about the protocol for the aftermath of a VERY Feral's spay, but they have their hands full even more right now because the cats at their shelter are spreading an illness around and they have no isolation room to separate the sick cats from the healthy ones. Because of that, they aren't accepting any cats until further notice. It's lousy timing for us, and a real hardship for them.
This cat will NOT accept coming into our house. Not gonna happen. She's terrified of us even when she sees us outside. She might observe us, but she's doing that from several yards away and hiding behind something. I've never even heard her make a sound. Not one time. She just runs like the wind.
Her kittens are even more terrified of us than she is. One saw me today, while it was in the main part of the barn, and it literally tried clawing a hole in the wall in the corner to escape from me. I'd never seen anything like it in my life. It was absolutely awful to witness.
But even the Mom cat is so feral that the sounds in a house alone - even silence - would terrify her. Does anyone know, from experience, how it works in some shelters? Will they look after a feral for 1 or 2 days after a spay if you make an extra donation to the shelter or something like that? I really want this cat cared for after her surgery, but I know we're not the ones to do it. We don't have the experience and she's VERY feral. We can't keep her incision clean or anything like that, and her preferred space right now is lying in the dirt, beneath our storage building. It's VERY hot and humid right now, too. Summers are so awful here.
The shelter has been really great so far by the way. They agreed to take in all 5 kittens once we shared that we have no problem with the Mom Cat being returned to us as a barn cat. (The same goes for the other adult ferals that come and go around our house, too. We don't really like it, but we're willing to care for them as barn cats should they decide to return. If they show up again, they're getting spayed/neutered for sure).
I wanted to call the shelter today and ask about the protocol for the aftermath of a VERY Feral's spay, but they have their hands full even more right now because the cats at their shelter are spreading an illness around and they have no isolation room to separate the sick cats from the healthy ones. Because of that, they aren't accepting any cats until further notice. It's lousy timing for us, and a real hardship for them.