For those of you following my feral world, we recently had Xerox and Junior spayed and Mason neutered. It turned out that Junior, who has poor vision, sight, and if you ask me smell too, also had a very advanced middle ear infection. So she is on Clavamox, and while recovering stayed with the woman upstairs (who has a 6 yr old female cat).
Mason recovered with us because we wanted to adopt him. He was the friendliest feral out there - whenever he saw my husband, he rolled on his back and wanted belly rubs. If you go to the link in my sig and see my Yahoo photos, you will see my hand rubbing Mason as a tiny kitten. He loved human contact, but we already had 2 male brothers, and had never thought about bringing him in.
Mason was adapting well to living with us. He is larger but younger than our 2 males. They've been hissing a bit, but he is cool about it. He's still a bit afraid of our small dog even though he can keep her back with vocal cues (growling, hissing). She respects him at least that much! But he was crying a lot and looking for his sisters. Junior is not just his big sister - he drank her milk for almost 5 months after she let her babies die to care for him and his sister (Dixon) when they were 2.5 months old. So it's really quite the bond.
After a few days of crying especially at meal time, my husband and I decided that we should take in a sister, either Junior or Xerox. Junior needed a home anyway. She'd never make it in the wild/suburbs
with bad sight, bad hearing, and possibly also a bad sense of smell PLUS she needs meds and attention for her infection. We checked with the woman upstairs, and since she had decided NOT to keep Junior, we said we would. Then we'd know that Junior was cared for, in a home, and Mason has his sister/Mom.
I brought Mason an 8x10 colour pic I had printed of Junior on glossy paper, and he couldn't take his eyes off it. I knew he'd know her by sight, even if she won't know him at first from neutering and he won't know her at first from her being spayed. He came over and smelled the pic, and then he looked REALLY depressed. He was crying and chirping. But Junior was on her way...
Well what a day Friday was! After dinner, Barbara caught Junior and brought her downstairs. Right now, Mason is set up in the basement, which is the only place in the house the dog won't go. He is confident enough to walk around the main level, which is GREAT, but if the pup walks up to him, he tends to run down the steps. Anyway, upon seeing Junior, Mason rubbed up against her. I'm sure he knew who it was. She hissed and swatted at first, but over time, she seems to have figured it out. I haven't seen them cuddling like the old days, but she's not rejecting him. When she walked over to their food tonight (separate bowls since hers had meds in it), he walked away so she could eat. What a sweetie. But I had to get him to his food and her to hers. Once her medication is through, I'll certainly not care who eats what when!
The difference in Mason's behaviour was immediate. He wanted to take a nap, which means to me that he felt protected and comfortable and trusting. He had been sleeping with his head up and he was between two boxes in our basement, kinda hiding. But with Junior there, he laid down on his side in the clear open area. He let us rub him again - he had been running away from us more and more as time went on since I think we were losing his trust. So now we can cuddle with him all the time. And his confidence is way up... today, I played with a teaser with our 2 males and Mason in a little triangle. They are getting to be friends though our dominant cat still hisses at him.
Mason is very interested in these males. He's 9 months old and Mickey and Luke are 2.5 yrs old. He watches them closely when they come down to use their litter boxes. Tonight, he jumped on a ledge over Mickey's box and watched him cover over his poo. I really think Mason is trying to learn from them. He's had no real males in his life - he was the only boy born who was still around. And yes, both Mason and Junior took to litter boxes IMMEDIATELY, and they are using them perfectly. I think Mason stays only in his, and Junior goes in whichever one she's wandered into.
Anyway, I've just been accused by my husband of writing a book and not a post, so I'll end for now. I just wanted everybody to know that we took in the 2 ferals, Barbara upstairs may take in a third from this family (Xerox the 6-month-old), and it's SO easy. Even Junior Cat, who we thought was grumpy and not friendly, LOVES rubs. She seems really happy, and I don't know if it's the meds clearing her problem, being in a home, or both!!! It can be done, and it's easier than I thought it would be.
Lots of love, and pics soon.
Deb
Mason recovered with us because we wanted to adopt him. He was the friendliest feral out there - whenever he saw my husband, he rolled on his back and wanted belly rubs. If you go to the link in my sig and see my Yahoo photos, you will see my hand rubbing Mason as a tiny kitten. He loved human contact, but we already had 2 male brothers, and had never thought about bringing him in.
Mason was adapting well to living with us. He is larger but younger than our 2 males. They've been hissing a bit, but he is cool about it. He's still a bit afraid of our small dog even though he can keep her back with vocal cues (growling, hissing). She respects him at least that much! But he was crying a lot and looking for his sisters. Junior is not just his big sister - he drank her milk for almost 5 months after she let her babies die to care for him and his sister (Dixon) when they were 2.5 months old. So it's really quite the bond.
After a few days of crying especially at meal time, my husband and I decided that we should take in a sister, either Junior or Xerox. Junior needed a home anyway. She'd never make it in the wild/suburbs
I brought Mason an 8x10 colour pic I had printed of Junior on glossy paper, and he couldn't take his eyes off it. I knew he'd know her by sight, even if she won't know him at first from neutering and he won't know her at first from her being spayed. He came over and smelled the pic, and then he looked REALLY depressed. He was crying and chirping. But Junior was on her way...
Well what a day Friday was! After dinner, Barbara caught Junior and brought her downstairs. Right now, Mason is set up in the basement, which is the only place in the house the dog won't go. He is confident enough to walk around the main level, which is GREAT, but if the pup walks up to him, he tends to run down the steps. Anyway, upon seeing Junior, Mason rubbed up against her. I'm sure he knew who it was. She hissed and swatted at first, but over time, she seems to have figured it out. I haven't seen them cuddling like the old days, but she's not rejecting him. When she walked over to their food tonight (separate bowls since hers had meds in it), he walked away so she could eat. What a sweetie. But I had to get him to his food and her to hers. Once her medication is through, I'll certainly not care who eats what when!
The difference in Mason's behaviour was immediate. He wanted to take a nap, which means to me that he felt protected and comfortable and trusting. He had been sleeping with his head up and he was between two boxes in our basement, kinda hiding. But with Junior there, he laid down on his side in the clear open area. He let us rub him again - he had been running away from us more and more as time went on since I think we were losing his trust. So now we can cuddle with him all the time. And his confidence is way up... today, I played with a teaser with our 2 males and Mason in a little triangle. They are getting to be friends though our dominant cat still hisses at him.
Mason is very interested in these males. He's 9 months old and Mickey and Luke are 2.5 yrs old. He watches them closely when they come down to use their litter boxes. Tonight, he jumped on a ledge over Mickey's box and watched him cover over his poo. I really think Mason is trying to learn from them. He's had no real males in his life - he was the only boy born who was still around. And yes, both Mason and Junior took to litter boxes IMMEDIATELY, and they are using them perfectly. I think Mason stays only in his, and Junior goes in whichever one she's wandered into.
Anyway, I've just been accused by my husband of writing a book and not a post, so I'll end for now. I just wanted everybody to know that we took in the 2 ferals, Barbara upstairs may take in a third from this family (Xerox the 6-month-old), and it's SO easy. Even Junior Cat, who we thought was grumpy and not friendly, LOVES rubs. She seems really happy, and I don't know if it's the meds clearing her problem, being in a home, or both!!! It can be done, and it's easier than I thought it would be.
Lots of love, and pics soon.
Deb
