The "what's On Your Mind?" Thread -2019

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kashmir64

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Happy New Year everyone.
Well, I'm officially snowed in. Not as much snow as let's say...Fargo, but enough that's it's over the drive of the vehicles. Which means 'high center' and they aren't going anywhere. And it's 100% today and tomorrow also with a high of 20° F. On the up side, it's really pretty. I took my dog out and lost him. Good thing he was on a leash. :biggrin:

It sure is pretty.
IMG_20190101_072940.jpg
 
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m3rma1d

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What's on my mind? Wondering if can actually manage to get this feral foster kitten socialized.
This was from trying to pick her up for her antibiotics (both fosters have URIs)
20190101_093358.jpg
I'm nowhere near giving up, but this is certainly gonna be a huge challenge.
You can follow along with the adventure in my thread:
My Kitten Foster Adventure..

Thank gawd her sister is a sweetheart...
20190101_084731.jpg

And they are very bonded with each other.
:hearthrob::hearthrob:
 
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kashmir64

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What's on my mind? Wondering if can actually manage to get this feral foster kitten socialized.
This was from trying to pick her up for her antibiotics (both fosters have URIs)
View attachment 269069
I'm nowhere near giving up, but this is certainly gonna be a huge challenge.
You can follow along with the adventure in my thread:
My Kitten Foster Adventure..

Thank gawd her sister is a sweetheart...
View attachment 269067

And they are very bonded with each other.
:hearthrob::hearthrob:
Sit down with your legs stretched out. Put her between your legs with her head facing your feet and close your legs. Just enough so they are holding her tightly taught, not too tight. Come at her from behind with the syringe and slip it into her mouth.
This is how I've had to do all my reluctant ones.

Edit: If you put your opposite hand holding her chest, it helps.
 
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m3rma1d

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Sit down with your legs stretched out. Put her between your legs with her head facing your feet and close your legs. Just enough so they are holding her tightly taught, not too tight. Come at her from behind with the syringe and slip it into her mouth.
This is how I've had to do all my reluctant ones.

Edit: If you put your opposite hand holding her chest, it helps.
She's feral, dude. It wasn't the meds that made her freak out, it was me trying to pick her up. :(
 

NY cat man

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I hate to break the news to you, but with some cats, especially ferals, you may never be able to pick them up. With 3 out of our 5, to attempt it is to get teeth and claws deployed. Stretch, for instance, will curl up in my lap, or cuddle up next to me in bed, but I can't pick him up without bloodshed, and we have had him for over 5 years now. Prancer and Bashful are the same, but Burdock and Digger can be picked up and held without issue. All were ferals we took in as 3-4 month old kittens. Maybe, in time, your cat will come around, but again, maybe not.
 

m3rma1d

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I hate to break the news to you, but with some cats, especially ferals, you may never be able to pick them up. With 3 out of our 5, to attempt it is to get teeth and claws deployed. Stretch, for instance, will curl up in my lap, or cuddle up next to me in bed, but I can't pick him up without bloodshed, and we have had him for over 5 years now. Prancer and Bashful are the same, but Burdock and Digger can be picked up and held without issue. All were ferals we took in as 3-4 month old kittens. Maybe, in time, your cat will come around, but again, maybe not.
She's a 5 month old kitten. Foster, not mine.

We (shelter) wanna at least *try* to get her socialized to increase her chances of adoption.
So I'm fostering her and her very sweet littermate sister.
I was chosen to foster her specifically because I'm part of a small team who does socialization work with our unique feral cat room at the shelter.
I'm in familiar territory, just never worked with a feral this young before.
But, it's only been two days. I'm not giving up.

Sorry if I sound cranky..

As Bartles & James used to say...
"Thank you for your support."

:)
 

NY cat man

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She's a 5 month old kitten. Foster, not mine.

We (shelter) wanna at least *try* to get her socialized to increase her chances of adoption.
So I'm fostering her and her very sweet littermate sister.
I was chosen to foster her specifically because I'm part of a small team who does socialization work with our unique feral cat room at the shelter.
I'm in familiar territory, just never worked with a feral this young before.
But, it's only been two days. I'm not giving up.

Sorry if I sound cranky..

As Bartles & James used to say...
"Thank you for your support."

:)
With time, and attention, I'm sure she can be socialized. I know it took quite a while for us to win the trust of our cats, and bring them inside. It CAN be done, however, as I'm sure you know. And, BTW, I'm too old to be bothered by 'cranky'.
 

Alicia88

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Marcy wasn't exactly feral when we found her, but she wasn't exactly socialized, either. John found her in August of 2017. She was very skittish; he lured her to our car with a can of soft food. She was afraid, but not to the point of attacking if we went near her. She allowed pets, very reluctantly. We had her until May when we moved here and gave her to my good friend. Kirby (the friend) says she still won't allow people to pick her up, but she will climb on laps and demand pets.
 

foxxycat

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The first few days are usually the hardest...give a week or two and things should calm down..my Pumps was feral and it wasnt until her 10th birthday that she tolerated me picking her up. She was afraid of strangers....it would have been easy to hide her if I had to.

Most people who come over say where's the cats? Bee sleeps in the bedroom and pumps would be hiding under the bed. My Floey was the only one that liked strangers. She would come up to anyone and beg for food.

I found sitting on the floor or bed and ignored said cat usually helps socialize them faster....kind of the ignore them and they come around faster....
 

NY cat man

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The first few days are usually the hardest...give a week or two and things should calm down..my Pumps was feral and it wasnt until her 10th birthday that she tolerated me picking her up. She was afraid of strangers....it would have been easy to hide her if I had to.

Most people who come over say where's the cats? Bee sleeps in the bedroom and pumps would be hiding under the bed. My Floey was the only one that liked strangers. She would come up to anyone and beg for food.

I found sitting on the floor or bed and ignored said cat usually helps socialize them faster....kind of the ignore them and they come around faster....
Burdock is going on 8, and has always been laid back. Digger is a littermate to Stretch and Bashful, but is more gregarious, and also more laid back. Prancer is almost 7, and retains more of the feral than the others. It took from 2 to 4 months of exposure to us before each one followed us into the house, with each one being different, and Prancer taking the longest.
 

Mamanyt1953

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Utterly changing the subject, I'm leaving on Friday to visit my son in Chattanooga. Before then, I have to do monthly shopping, clean the house, do the laundry, get Hekitty's caretaker up to speed, CLEAN THE LITTER BOX, iron, put together this:


and pack. I may be a bit conspicuous by my absence!
 
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