- Joined
- Feb 22, 2022
- Messages
- 28
- Purraise
- 28
Hi! I'll start with the backstory first. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of these stories of socialization hope.
I started working from home in 2020 during the pandemic and got to discover all of the community cats in my neighborhood. I started feeding a cute torti cat in the fall of 2020. She would come to my door regularly for food and I eventually was able to pet her a bit while feeding her. She would see me turn the lights on every morning and would meow loudly for me to come to the door to feed her.
On 1/31/22 she gave birth to a kitten on my doorstep. It was 18° outside with snow on the ground. I quickly picked her and the kitten up and brought them inside. She had 2 more kittens and they have all been living in a small bathroom in my basement since then. The kittens are 7.5 weeks old.
She was uncooperative with a mobile vet but was treated for lung worm and coccidia after a stool sample was given. She had no issues using a litter box. I don't know yet if she has any other health issues.
Directly after she gave birth she let me pet her and rub her belly. She would roll over for me and purr. She seemed to love all of my petting. This was daily attention I gave her. She started to peak out of the bathroom when we started to let the kittens come out around 5 weeks of age. She seemed to get more comfortable every day coming out and momming her babies when they started to really run around and go wild.
We had a relapse a few days ago. One of the kittens turned on one of my son's loud toys by accident. (It was a toy lawnmower bubble machine).
Momma cat got spooked. She stayed spooked and was investigating everything in the room. At one point it seemed like she thought a ghost was hiding under a blanket. She watched it and inspected it from all angles and then jumped 3 feet in the air over nothing. I didn't know what to do other than trying to reassure her with a soft voice. Now she doesn't want me to pet her and is back hiding behind the toilet in her bathroom. She hasn't come out again. She also doesn't want me petting her. She has hissed and swatted to me. No bites or claws- hopefully that's a good sign.
Do I continue to try to socialize her? Do I let her live outside again after spaying? At some point soon I'll get her a full vet appt. and spayed. My plan was to keep her and one kitten. My brother is taking the other two.
Taking all suggestions!
I started working from home in 2020 during the pandemic and got to discover all of the community cats in my neighborhood. I started feeding a cute torti cat in the fall of 2020. She would come to my door regularly for food and I eventually was able to pet her a bit while feeding her. She would see me turn the lights on every morning and would meow loudly for me to come to the door to feed her.
On 1/31/22 she gave birth to a kitten on my doorstep. It was 18° outside with snow on the ground. I quickly picked her and the kitten up and brought them inside. She had 2 more kittens and they have all been living in a small bathroom in my basement since then. The kittens are 7.5 weeks old.
She was uncooperative with a mobile vet but was treated for lung worm and coccidia after a stool sample was given. She had no issues using a litter box. I don't know yet if she has any other health issues.
Directly after she gave birth she let me pet her and rub her belly. She would roll over for me and purr. She seemed to love all of my petting. This was daily attention I gave her. She started to peak out of the bathroom when we started to let the kittens come out around 5 weeks of age. She seemed to get more comfortable every day coming out and momming her babies when they started to really run around and go wild.
We had a relapse a few days ago. One of the kittens turned on one of my son's loud toys by accident. (It was a toy lawnmower bubble machine).
Momma cat got spooked. She stayed spooked and was investigating everything in the room. At one point it seemed like she thought a ghost was hiding under a blanket. She watched it and inspected it from all angles and then jumped 3 feet in the air over nothing. I didn't know what to do other than trying to reassure her with a soft voice. Now she doesn't want me to pet her and is back hiding behind the toilet in her bathroom. She hasn't come out again. She also doesn't want me petting her. She has hissed and swatted to me. No bites or claws- hopefully that's a good sign.
Do I continue to try to socialize her? Do I let her live outside again after spaying? At some point soon I'll get her a full vet appt. and spayed. My plan was to keep her and one kitten. My brother is taking the other two.
Taking all suggestions!