Socializing My New Semi-feral

[rosegold]

Okay so it's still a bit away. Since Chai will be staying at the vet for a few days, just keep in mind of non-recognition with the two.

How To Deal With Non-recognition Aggression In Cats

Yes, thank you! This has crossed my mind as a possibility and I meant to look up more about it. Even today going to the vet I wondered if Chilli might react when Chai got back, since she HATES the vet, but on the contrary she has been abnormally sweet to her and keeps doing nose-touches. Hopefully we have a similar situation after the surgery, but it's good to plan ahead in case not.

 

[Tobermory]

There are several kitties without teeth at the place I volunteer. They’re all FIV+ and had to have teeth removed because of stomatitis. It doesn’t seem to slow them down one bit. They do get pâté although I’ve see them swallow small kibble as a treat. One guy, who has been adopted, also was missing one of his back legs. Someone had found him by the side of the road where he’d been thrown after being hit by a car. It took a long time before anyone could touch him, but by the time he left for his new home, he was the biggest love bug! You’d walk into the room, sit on the floor, and here would come Thor to climb into your lap, purr like a motorboat, and drool all over you. Sound familiar? I predict that will be Chai.

 

[FrankieNMurphy]

I am so happy about Chai's progress!! I have a formerly feral cat that is now happy, lazy and a love-bug. I just let him be, with 5-10 sitting by him sessions, and he finally came around. he was 3 years old, but started acting like a kitten after a while!

 

[white shadow]

.
rosegold, there are two specialized online communities for folks who are dealing with Stomatitis in their kitties. One is the original Yahoo group (active 14 years with 1400 members) and the other is a FB group, obviously without that same history/experience. Either/both might be helpful for info/advice.......

• Feline Stomatitis - Yahoo Group
• Feline Stomatitis/Calicivirus

.

 

[dustydiamond1]

Well, just had our vet appointment and unfortunately the situation is about as I expected. Her mouth condition is about the same as before she started the meds. I also was able to confirm that she indeed has the beginnings of stomatitis rather than some generic gum disease (my vet’s English is good, but there are occasionally translation issues like this). So it’s not going to be reversible.

The options are to remove all teeth or to give her steroids for pain all her life. He said that in the end it is my choice, but if it were his cat he would remove her teeth. His clinic cat had the same issue and now lives pain-free with no teeth and doesn’t require regular meds. So I basically decided that we should go through with the surgery and remove all her teeth... I’m of course worried and stressed out of my mind regardless, but it just seems like the right choice to me.

So I am likely going to schedule the surgery for sometime in the next few weeks. It’s quite expensive—the vet quoted $1,200 for the whole thing—but I should be able to make it work. In the meantime she has more meds for pain, and she’s been vaccinated and had another basic checkover to make sure she’d be ready for surgery.

I love this little cat... I’m feeling upset but the vet said the prognosis was good if her teeth were removed.

 

[rosegold]

You’d walk into the room, sit on the floor, and here would come Thor to climb into your lap, purr like a motorboat, and drool all over you. Sound familiar? I predict that will be Chai.

Awwww. Thor sounds so sweet. Chai has recently started giving very gentle love-bites--can't wait for drooly, gummy nibbles all over my hands!

I am so happy about Chai's progress!! I have a formerly feral cat that is now happy, lazy and a love-bug. I just let him be, with 5-10 sitting by him sessions, and he finally came around. he was 3 years old, but started acting like a kitten after a while!

That's wonderful! I absolutely love hearing former feral stories.

.
rosegold, there are two specialized online communities for folks who are dealing with Stomatitis in their kitties. One is the original Yahoo group (active 14 years with 1400 members) and the other is a FB group, obviously without that same history/experience. Either/both might be helpful for info/advice.......

• Feline Stomatitis - Yahoo Group
• Feline Stomatitis/Calicivirus

.

Thank you so much! I will check these out.

 

[rosegold]

In the midst of all this stomatitis stuff, Chai is still improving every day with petting and overall confidence.

Funnily enough, Chai already seems to love affection and petting more than Chilli. Chilli is a sweet, friendly, awesome cat, but she isn't really a cuddly lap cat. She loves playing and hanging out next to me and is very tolerant of my pets and kisses, but only occasionally purrs and rubs on me, usually at nighttime in bed. Chai, on the other hand, seems happy to get pets anytime, and purrs and rubs all over me while I do it. She hasn't yet crawled in my lap but I have a feeling she might become a lap cat in the future--we'll see!

I can now touch her basically anywhere on her body except her feet, which she's a little skittish about. I've briefly pet her belly and she seemed totally fine with it. She's also a bit head-shy if I approach from above with an open hand, but if I use a fist she is very happy to get the top of her head rubbed. Several times a day now, if I wiggle my fingers at her from across the room, she will hop over and head-butt my hand. And if I gently reach out to her, she will let me pet her and usually starts purring. If she's not in the mood, she just takes a calm step back and sits down again, and I respect it and let her be.

She also is letting me brush her, though doesn't like it quite as much as petting, so we have to alternate between the two. The vet cut out her mats for me and now I'm using a comb to try to keep them from happening again. He said her coat overall looked really good, just the top of her back is a bit oily/dandruffy right now from the mats. There's already new tangles there. While she does groom herself, he said she might be having a hard time with some areas because her mouth hurts. So I'm trying to help her out.

 

[rosegold]

The vet got back to me on the culture he had taken of Chai's mouth. The lab said her stomatitis has likely been caused by calicivirus and a pasteurella overgrowth. So while luckily she's negative for FIV and FELV, this poor girl has calicivirus, stomatitis, [past] coronavirus, and pasteurella (pasteurellosis?) all fighting against her immune system. He said her "condition"--I guess he means immune condition--is consequently very weak, but that it should improve after her teeth are gone and as she continues to spend time in a peaceful home environment.

Poor girl. She's very quiet today, and not eating a whole lot, but still wants to play so I hope she's not feeling too bad. It's only her second day of being back on steroids so I hope she improves over next few days. I assumed her not-eating may have been from mouth pain, so I blended up her wet food into a pate so she could lick it more easily, but she turned up her nose at that and instead only wants kibbles. She gets to eat any kind of food she wants right now, I guess, as long as she eats!

 

[rubysmama]

Poor sweetie Chai. She's so lucky she stuck her claws into your heart last December and wouldn't let go. Hopefully once she gets her teeth extracted, she can finally live a pain-free life with her mom and sister Chilli.

 

[rosegold]

Poor sweetie Chai. She's so lucky she stuck her claws into your heart last December and wouldn't let go.

She certainly did! And I feel so lucky and grateful to finally have her, despite all the costs and stresses, and I have no regrets. I just hope I can help her towards the life she deserves.

 

[dustydiamond1]

She certainly did! And I feel so lucky and grateful to finally have her, despite all the costs and stresses, and I have no regrets. I just hope I can help her towards the life she deserves.

You will. You have already made a great start.

 

[rosegold]

I’m so grateful for this site and everyone who follows Chai’s little story, by the way. Thank you all! I live alone in a foreign country, AND I’m a first time cat owner, so having this online support is such a great relief for me.

Anyway, in lighter news... why do both of my cats have the most ridiculous, dorky, deer-in-the-headlights expressions?

 

[rubysmama]

She certainly did! And I feel so lucky and grateful to finally have her, despite all the costs and stresses, and I have no regrets. I just hope I can help her towards the life she deserves.

You already are !!!!

You will. You have already made a great start.

Anyway, in lighter news... why do both of my cats have the most ridiculous, dorky, deer-in-the-headlights expressions?

They don't look like enemies anymore. They look more like co-conspirators.

 

[rosegold]

They don't look like enemies anymore. They look more like co-conspirators.

They are getting along great! Chilli’s annoyed swipes are rare and the nose-touches between them are a lot more frequent. They love zooming around together at night. This morning they both cuddled with me in bed.

 

[rosegold]

A little bit closer to lap-sitting

 

[rubysmama]

I'm so happy for Chilli and Chai. And you.

 

[Avery]

Rosegold, it is hard to believe that you are a first-time cat owner because you are doing SO GREAT with Chai and Chilli!! It is wonderful to hear how well they are getting along -- so cute that they are zooming around together at night!

I'm sorry to hear about Chai's teeth condition, but it sounds like you are making the right decision about the treatment and you have a vet you can trust. She is such a lucky girl to be with you and Chilli!

 

[rosegold]

It's funny, when I started this thread, I figured it would be a looooong, gradual process of socialization over months and maybe years--but at this point, Chai is almost a 'normal' cat. It's getting hard for me to even pinpoint any remaining major socialization issues with her, at least ones that aren't wildly different from any other typical cat (e.g. still would be difficult although not impossible to pick her up, trim her claws, pill her, etc). Compared to some cats, and even compared to Chilli, I'd venture to say she is pretty confident and affectionate. I could never have imagined such fast progress but it's certainly lovely to see!

The only slight issue right now is her "love bites." She loves to rub on my hand very firmly, but has also started gently munching on my fingers as well. It seems to happen only when I pet her on her cheeks/face. I am forgiving of the love bites, but I don't really want them to escalate... although soon she'll have no teeth anyway! I usually just stop petting her and say "no" as soon as she does it. She acts a bit confused and neurotic and wants more pets, but I keep ignoring her until she's calm. I figure she's possibly just overstimulated, even though I pet very gently and minimally (this petting thing is still brand new to her!), and/or that's her way of being affectionate, and/or she's still figuring it out and what is and isn't acceptable in this human-cat-petting-phenomenon. If anyone has any tips besides just stopping petting when she does it, I'd love to hear them!

As I type this she is sitting next to me purring up a storm and meowing at me when I stop petting her.

 

[rubysmama]

You're probably read this, but in case you haven't ...
How To Deal With Cat "love Bites"?

 

[rosegold]

A typical day in their relationship... Chai being incredibly ridiculous and Chilli being incredibly longsuffering...