oh boy.....feral kitten

when i was married a zillion years ago...my ex brought home a cat which he named bill. bill the cat. :m10: i always liked that name. otis hated him...he had to go back to the squadron where my ex found him. (lol...bill did, not otis)

bob is a good name too i think. i had a newt named bob once. he ran away after only twenty four hours. gone...just like that. they TOLD me he wouldnt get out of his bowl. he was a firebelly newt. poor bob... [-X

then.....one day.....

about a year later......

i was vacuuming and saw something....something behind the chest in my living room...wedged between the chest and the wall. at first i thought the leg to the chest had split.

:shock:

no.....

it was bob.

 

:shock: byw...he's still there...bob...wedged back in there. couldnt bear to move him. kinda like that hes there....sort of a part of the household. and then i had a fighting beta fish named frank. frank the fish. hes buried in a shell in the back yard...two shells actually. i like the name frank too. frank the cat.

 

Yikes Lynn. Don't you think Bob wants to be properly buried? :m13: :shock: :0016: :0017: :m39:

Nern, I know you already have Steven. How about Stevie or Steve or Stephano? He's come a long way and he's one lucky furbaby! :y_the_best:

 

*reads Lynns thing* =D> :0017: too funny! (in another post... "by the way he's still back there..." ) LMAO

poor bob. whos bob? he likes doritos.. *coughs* ok i'm done

i'm sure whatever name u choose nern he'll warm up to it

 

Sounds like you've done an amazing job with the little guy - he's a lucky kitty to have found his way into a loving home.

 

well...vene...then you come over and get him out of there...i aint touchin him...hes as stiff as a board....uh hem...THAT'S why i thought he was part of the wood. kinda like a tomb...i like to think....bob is in a tomb . :shock: :roll:

how about peanut? thats a cute name....

 

Ok Lynn. I'm going over this Friday, with Rene as a stowaway. 8) How can you stand to have a mummy in the house? :0011: :0023: :m20:

Nern, how about Sam, Sneaky, Spunky, or Sidney?

 

Thanks for all the name suggestions. :wink:

Lynn: Your stories always crack me up. :mrgreen:

The black on his nose is mostly gone now. It was'nt his nose color it was actually dried discharge that was dirty. LOL. His nose is mostly pink now.

 

Here is a newer picture of him...I've got to get some more when he's out and playing with me. I keep forgeting to bring my camera in the hall and I know once I go back in to get it he will return to his hiding spot and it will be hard to get him back out and playing again.




I talked to a woman that socializes ferals the other day and she recommended that I get a cage and keep him in the cage in the house so he gets used to seeing people come and go and he can't hide all the time. I'm still deciding if I want to try that....I'm worried that all my cats and dogs will be too much for him at one time. I can't buy one for a few more weeks anyway so I still have time to decide.

 

Hi Nern. I'm no expert on socializing ferals at all. However, I do have a personal experience I could share with you. I'm almost certain Juliet was a feral kitten. The people at the shelter let me know that she wasn't social at all. When I first got her and Romeo, she wouldn't ever let me pet her. She would hiss and run away. I decided I would just ignore her and go about my business. Of course she was watching me play with Romeo and pet him and so on. I decided I wasn't going to take baby steps with her after the first two weeks had passed (after they were no longer ill) and she felt at home. I always had people over, so that she would get used to them and realize that none of them would harm her. I let people know, that they were not to approach her, unless she came to them. I also took them to work with me and to other people's houses all the time. In my opinion had I not exposed her to so many people and different safe situations, she would still be a lot more reserved than she is now. She can still be a bit shy with new people she has never met, but she's come such a long way. She won't run and hide like she used to. I'm not implying that my method for socializing Juliet is right or wrong, I'm just saying that it did work wonders for her. She's just a sweetie. I suppose the only difference with her and another feral, is that she always had Romeo to make her feel safe. They have been in love since day one. He takes very good care of his Juliet.

Anyway, my point is that in my opinion the cage may be too much for your kitten (as you mentioned). Since the kitten has tested negative for all of the scary diseases, is there a possibility that this kitten could just be apart of your entire home? He may be scared and run and hide for some time, but eventually he'll realize that it's okay to be out and about in the house (assuming your other cats don't try and attack him). I suppose each cat is different and some cats can be socialized rather quickly, while others take much longer. Let us know what you decide to do and keep us posted on his socialization process.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience Chessmind. I'm going to wait until my next vet visit which is this Saturday before I do anything yet because he is still on the antibiotics and his wound is still healing. Maybe after the vet visit I will bring him into the living room to get started on the slow introduction to my other cats....they will be able to sniff each other under the french doors. I am actually really anxious to introduce him to Bean because Bean (good ol' mamma Bean) always takes such good care of the newbies. He really seems to be good at making them feel more comfortable here. I'm pretty sure that all of my cats, with the exception of Rhiannon, will be great when I introduce them to each other. Rhiannon will probably hiss and hide for a few days like she did when I brought Chieve and Bella in but I'm sure she'll adjust quickly. Hopefully the kitten will be good about it too. I have no idea how he is going to react but I think that as long as mine are sweet and gentle it will be pretty easy on him. I'm more worried about how he is going to react to my dogs. I'll keep you posted. :wink:

The kitten played with me for 1 1/2hrs tonight. :y_the_best:
I took a couple pictures of him too but the lighting in my hallway is not so great so the pictures did'nt come out that good but I will post them soon.

 

You might even want to go to www.alleycat.org - they've got a ton of resource materials you can look at and I found alot of them quite helpful - for anyone, really. They have this article called "Congratulations! You're a the proud owner of a formerly feral cat and she's hiding under the bed" that came from the Forgotten Felines organization that was such a good article we actually sought (and got) permission to reprint so that our local SPCA could give it out to new owners of socialized cats. It gives you ideas about different things to try. Don't even ASK me how many times I've laid on the floor in that cat room with ferals, over-dramatically yawning, stretching, and licking my own hands pretending I was cleaning my face! :m9:

 

Thanks for the link Karen! I will check it out. :y_the_best:

 

Bean and the kitten went to the vet today. The kitten has doubled his weight since 2wks ago! He is now 4.7 lbs. The vet said he looks great and I can schedule his neuter and hernia operation anytime now. I will get $100 off the cost from the Animal Emergency Fund. :y_the_best:
Bean has also gained more weight and is now up to 18 lbs :shock: ....the vet gave me Hills W/D for him.
I think the kitten was somewhat calmer with Bean present. All the way to the vet they both whined (I had their crates next to each other) and looked at each other. At the vet they accidently got to meet for the first time because the vet tech took Bean out of the crate and let him wonder around. When the vet came in she tried to get the kitten out of the crate but was having a hard time...meanwhile, Bean jumped up and went into the crate with the kitten who then started swatting and hissing at him. My vet pulled Bean out of the kittens crate but Bean tried to go back in again. LOL. He is such a big friendly dufus....I don't think he understood why the kitten was hissing. I opened my french doors when I got home and most of the cats immediately began sniffing under the front door where the kitten is. Hopefully, this will help them get used to each others scents. I'm going to introduce him to Bean first in a few days and see how that goes. Things may be smoother since the kitten will not be all stressed out in the vets office like he was for their very first meeting.
Wish me luck. :wink:

 

:wink: bean is such a good kitty. i love that name. i think it is my favorite kitty name. even more than bob or frank :lol:

and karen...you sound like me. here i am on a regular basis crawling around my house following my kitties wherever they go so i can "bond" with them. mikey absolutely loves it. max is a little oblivious...i wonder if max has some learning disabilities or something.... :shock:

 

Bean is the best! :y_the_best: :m10:

 

Hehehehehe....I have to wonder sometimes if it's actually working (the 'pretending to be a real big cat with a major case of alopecia'), or if they just think I'm weird. :?

 

Well, yesterday I decided to bring Bean into the hallway with me while I played with the kitten (I'm pretty sure his name is going to be Ritchie). Ritchie stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of Bean and then just stared at him for a few minutes. Then he began coming up the stairs and as he did Bean met him halfway. They sniffed each others faces for a second and then Ritchie started hissing so Bean backed up and came back up the stairs. I played with him for a bit and he took breaks to watch Bean...after playing for a while he snuck up close to Bean but each time he got too close Ritchie would hiss. Today I did the same thing again and after playing for a while and getting really hyper he ran up behind me where Bean was and flopped on the floor near him....then he went to bat him and hissed, poor Bean looked upset. I think he really wanted to play with Bean but got scared when he was so close. He stared at Bean today but blinked this time while he did it and he yawned alot. I think thats a good sign. I'm going to bring Bean out there everyday with me until Ritchie gets used to him and then I will start introducing him to some of the others. Chieve, Bella and Rhiannon were all sticking their paws under the door while I was out there...it was really cute. Chieve rolled against the door and made goofy noises which caused Ritchie to run up near the door and turn his head sideways....so cute.

I made an appointment for Ritchie's hernia operation and neuter for October 13th. Once thats over and he's all healed up and feeling well I'm going to make a habit of picking him up and holding him for a least a few mintues each day. Right now I always feel like I'm hurting him (because of the hernia) when I pick him up so I don't anymore unless I really have to. I definately don't need him to start associating me with discomfort.

Just wanted to give an update.

 

LOL. That is so funny when they do this! Romeo and Juliet do this a lot when people are using one of the bathrooms. I can hear people laughing while they are in there and I just roll my eyes and think, "Oh jeez....Romeo and Juliet are probably sticking their paws under the door. "

Now, as for the Hills Science (fiction) Diet, Nern you are so smart and know so much, please don't give your kitty this food! LOL. Anyway, let me share another personal experience story with you. My best pal Handsome (rest in peace) was always quite the glutton. Boy, did he ever love to eat! He ended up weighing 14.5 lb. As soon as I put him on the Wellness hard and soft food, he lost 2 lb. I didn't give him less food or anything. Is there any chance you could try this diet instead of the Science Fiction Diet? Just a thought.

 

LOL! It is pretty funny when you see those cute little paws sticking out from under the door. :mrgreen:

Thanks for sharing your food experience. My main problem is that I have too many cats to feed them seperately or to really even keep track of how much each one is eating. If I could there would'nt be any weight issues at all. It was so much easier with my dog. :|
I was using Wellness for a little while but it was really a little over my budget @ around $28 for 12 lbs. and the canned Wellness has gone up from $0.89 to $1.29.
Right now I'm feeding Natural Balance and instead of measuring out the food and leaving it out all day I started feeding them 1/8 cup, 3x a day. This way all of them are hungry when I put out the food and they usually all eat at the same time out of their own bowls. I'm hoping this will help....eventually, I would like to put them on 2 meals daily with a small amount of dry food in the AM and canned food in the PM. I also bought a pet scale and plan to weigh them each weekly.
I was disappointed to find out at my last vet visit that my vet seems to be against canned food and told me that you are mostly paying for water. Of course, I completely disagree with her....If I remember to, I'm going to print her the Zoran article "Timely Topics in Nutrition: The Carnivore Connection" and see what she says about it.
Sorry for rambling.....