Sally Update

[sweet sally2]

Good News!  Sally is speaking to me!  I went in to feed her, showed her a nice fresh bowl of food.  She started purring up on her perch so I put the food down and sat on the floor.  It took her a few minutes, but down she came and we are back to head butt pets!  Well, she let's me pet her completely!  We did fine until her big brother showed up and then she ran to hide.  There was no hissing or growling, however, she is just very timid.  All in good time.  At least I can let her know that she is ok now and she is beginning to trust me again.

 

[feralvr]

WOW excellent update!!!!!!! I think you are on your way to having a very special relationship with Sweet Sally :heart3: :cross:

p.s. I would suggest to make it easier for everyone to keep up with Sally's story to keep all of her updates on one thread instead of starting a few on Sally. That way people will be able to read from the beginning of your story about Sweet Sally. :nod: IF you would like..... I could ask a Mod to combine the three thread together? It is your call though. Or pull up your original thread on Sally and start posting in that thread instead . This is a wonderful story and people will want the whole story in one thread

 

[sweet sally2]

Thanks Feralvr!  I will go back to my original and post.  It is pretty exciting!  She is just so affectionate I know she wanted to be rescued!

 

[feralvr]

Thanks Feralvr!  I will go back to my original and post.  It is pretty exciting!  She is just so affectionate I know she wanted to be rescued!

GREAT~!!!! Good idea. Just let this thread - well - disappear :lol3: Keep you updates to the original thread, hun :heart3: :bigthumb:

 

[sweet sally2]

Sally, aka as Asha Bosely, is adapting very well.  She is upstairs more and more and she has become very affectionate.  In the middle of the night, if I get up to use the restroom, there's Asah waiting for me.  Often, even though I am half asleep, I walk over to the rug at the top of stairs and sit down.  Then, Asha and I spend 10 minutes or so in a sweet petting session.  She usually lies down next to me, and I just sit there an pet her. 

I also am able to approach her when she is on her perch downstairs and pet her.  I honestly believe she knows that I will not hurt her.

Here is my advise:  take your time, new stray owners, these are fragile little beings that need our patience, but they will come around.  It has been close to 7 months now and Asha is still feeling her oats.  Thanks to her older brother, Flaco, she is doing pretty good, but it will probably be a few more months before she is up here all the time.  She is so sweet, so soft and so affectionate. 
 

 

[feralvr]

You just gave the BEST advice!!!!!!!!! I tell people this till I am blue in the face. Patience is truly a virtue when it comes to socializing cats. The slower the better, the less you expect, the better. Thank you for the update on Asha. VERY happy for her and for you. I will add that your Flaco has to take some credit here for Asha as well. What a great guy Flaco is. :rub: :heart3:

 

[sweet sally2]

I agree!  Big brother has his moments, especially since Asha is still a kitten (maybe 18months old) but, if she is not around, he will go looking for her.  She has now brought one of her favorite toys upstairs and plays in the alcove while we watch TV.  She also spends more and more time just looking at us thinking, I imagine, "Man those are two big ugly cats!"  She took to her litter box with no problem, has put on weight nicely, and seems to feel more and more like this is her house too.

The best part for me is now that it is getting cooler, I do not have to worry about her as I did last year.  Plus, when I hear those bone chilling animal screams outside, I know my kitties are safe. 

So, if you do adopt a feral, give yourself and him or her a lot of time, a lot of time.  I say equal time.  Asha was outside for a year, so I am not expecting much for the first year, although she seems to be doing really well. Someday, I tell myself, I will be complaining about how I can't keep her off of my lap.
 

 

[feralvr]

The best part for me is now that it is getting cooler, I do not have to worry about her as I did last year.  Plus, when I hear those bone chilling animal screams outside, I know my kitties are safe. 

So, if you do adopt a feral, give yourself and him or her a lot of time, a lot of time.  I say equal time.  Asha was outside for a year, so I am not expecting much for the first year, although she seems to be doing really well. Someday, I tell myself, I will be complaining about how I can't keep her off of my lap.

 

Your success story in the making just brings such joy to me !!! What you say is so very true also and I think the way you put your words hit the nail on the head. :nod: I love your perspective on feral cats too. It does and can take so very long for them to come around but eventually they will and let's DO hope for her to be a lap cat someday. :cross: THAT might take years :lol3: OR it could be a matter of months. FLACO will teach her???!!!!!

 

[sweet sally2]

Well, it has been a month since I last reported on Asha's progress and it continues by leaps and bounds, literally.  When we go to bed at night, we can hear her running through the house, up and down the stairs, playing with her toys in the front room.  Flaco must play with her a bit, but at 14 and arthritic, he isn't doing a lot.  Whenever she hears me get up in the night, boom!  there she is, peeking around the corner, looking for a few pets which, of course, she gets.  I realized the other day that she is easily twice the size she was when we rescued her (she is a veritable little butter ball) and I swear, she is getting bigger (after a year I don't know if that is possible).

She and Flaco are getting along much better (they have an occasional little spat) and they are especially happy to lie next to me and both get pets at the same time.  She is spending more and more time upstairs (sits and watches us in the kitchen).  The only time she cries at all is when Flaco is in the bedroom and she is alone, she can come in, of course, but she is not quite ready.

So, today's advice:  if you take in a feral, don't worry, it will work out.  All you need is time, love and lots and lots of patience.  These are dear little creatures who have lived by their wits for so long, that they are also smart enough to realize that life is getting better. 
 

 

[sweet sally2]

I cannot believe it has been a year since we rescued little Asha (aka Sally) from our backyard.  She was about a year old and it is true that it is taking a bit more time to help her socialize, but her big brother Flaco is a great help and, little by little, things are getting better.  She now spends most of her time upstairs with us, peeking through the French doors at times, coming in others.  She will hang with us in the kitchen and will let me pet her there.  She loves to play with balled up pieces of paper.  We get up in the morning and it looks like a rat's nest!  She also loves to run up and down the stairs.  She is still skitterish at times, maybe she always will be, but she can also be quite sweet when I sit next to her.  All I know is, even if she never sits on my lap, I am just so happy to have her in our home where she is safe, secure and loved no matter what. 

 

[mani]

What a lovely 'success story'. 

She was blessed to have found you (and you, her)

 

[sweet sally2]

For all who are worried about rescuing that older feral cat in your yard, here is proof that it can pay off.  Asha Bhosley (aka Sally) a year and a half later is up and about, all over the house.  She loves to stop by when I am getting ready in the morning, and she runs up and down the stairs like a crazy cat. She is still shy, won't let DH pet her, but she is so much better and getting better every day.  I honestly believe that she is thankful to be inside. For the first six months, she hid in the basement now, she is upstairs as often as she can get there.  She is also a very good kitty.  We love her very much.

Asha b.jpg

• sweet sally2
• Sep 4, 2013

 

[vball91]

What a great success story of adopting a feral. She is a lovely cat.

 

[Ms. Freya]

What a pretty girl she is!

Thank you. Hearing from someone who successfully tamed a feral stray and integrated her is really what I needed to hear tonight.

 

[sweet sally2]

picture007.jpg

• sweet sally2
• Sep 4, 2013

And, after care and time, Asha and our dear old 15 Flaco have become good friends.  He is so happy to have a little sister.

 

[shadowsrescue]

What a great story.  How old was Sally thought to be when you brought her inside?  It gives us all hope.

 

[sweet sally2]

Hi Shadows.    She was about a year old.  I remember the first time I saw her in our backyard, she was probably about 6 or 7 months old and had two kittens!  I tried my darnedest to catch her and the little ones, but I could not.  Sadly, the kittens disappeared shortly after that.  I took me about another 3 months to gain her trust and finally trap her.  She was pregnant when we caught her, so we took the pro-choice option.  

It took several months and I am still certain that Steph's advice from this site was right.  After a month of adjustment, I introduced her to dear old Flaco and, little by little, he took her under his furry wing.  

It does take a lot of patience, quiet and care, but she is so sweet.  I loved a quote I saw about how rescuing a stray is an act of unconditional love.  It has to be.  You just have to be patient.

 

[shadowsrescue]

What a beautiful story.  I have a feral I did TNR with when he was about 7 months old.  He is now just under 4 years old.  He lives outside on my deck and has a wonderful winter shelter.  He was my first rescue.  I have since trapped 3 more.  One of them was a stray turned feral who is about 3.  He is currently living in my house and adjusting to life as an indoor cat.  I have an indoor cat that was rescued from the humane society has a kitten.  He is not so sure about this invader in his home.  I moved the stray into the house on May 30. He was in a safe room for the first two and a half months.  He is now out and about during the day, but still needs to go into his room at night.  The inside boys still need supervision.  Progress is being made, but it is slow.  The other 2 rescues are both still outside.  I had a tomcat who had evaded the trap for months.  I finally caught him in March and he has rarely returned.  He may show back up when it's winter.  My last rescue was done in mid July.  He too is a stray and around a year old.  I did TNR with him in July.  He is hanging out on the deck loving life with my feral.  I hope to some day have them all inside my house.  Yet for now this is the best I can do.

I hope to have a wonderful story like yours someday.

 

[sweet sally2]

It's that unconditional love part that makes it worth it.  Sally's (aka Asha) big brother, Flaco Jimenez, was a tiny little kitten when he tumbled through my front door when I was living in Trinidad and Tobago.  He was so thin you could see his ribs, that is why we called him "Flaco" which mean skinny in Spanish.  He was covered in fleas, his whiskers had been singed and he was jaundiced.  I did not think he was going to make it, but I wanted him to have some human love in the meantime.  Within a week of daily doses of cod liver oil, good food and a flea bath, he was doing great.  He has been, by far, the sweetest cat I have ever had.  If he could, he would spend all his time on our laps.  He is also very social, loves other cats, so it was a no-brainer.  He used to be an indoor/outdoor cat, but since his arthritis started getting worse, we just go for walks outside together, but I do not leave him unattended.  Here is one of my favorite Flaco pictures of late:  

Sweet flaco.jpg

• sweet sally2
• Sep 5, 2013

 

[feralvr]

HELLO!!!!! I am beaming with smiles over this update!! HOW beautiful Sally is!! I am so thrilled that all of your hard work, love and patience has paid off. I think your story is just another true testament of how not to ever give up on winning over a feral kitty. Look how you have been rewarded for your great effort. AWWWW Flaco looks incredible too. I am so happy for all of you. :happy3: :high5: :heart3: