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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / November 2003trapping ferals
There is a feral cat at the local waste disposal site that I use. I have been feeding it in the hope that I will be able to bring it home. Progress has been slow but steady until another person decided to feed it. He just dumps kibble on the ground 2lbs at a time. Needless to say the cat is no longer hungry and my progress has halted completely. I think that I may be able to trap the cat by cleaning up the kible before the cat can get to it. Assuming that I can trap this cat what is the best way to domesticate it. We currently have a neutered male that is approching 2 years. I realize that no cat is ever really domesticated but I would like to get it as close as possible. As iI see it there are three problems. Training to use the litter box, Having each cat tolerate each other and last geting the new cat to at least tolerate my wife and I Any and all ideas and suggestions will be carefully considered. Ed Christie To reply via email change junk1 to ed I would put up a sign for the other person, and then rent a trap. Or, I would call a rescue agency with expertise in this area and get them to help you catch it, for the price of a donation and the adoption of the cat. > There is a feral cat at the local waste disposal site that I use. > I have been feeding it in the hope that I will be able to bring it [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > To reply via email change junk1 to ed Rent a have a heart trap. Put a smelly fish in the trap (ie tuna). Bring the feral inside in a room of its own with food, water, litter, and a bed. Gradually sit in the room where he is while he is eating. Taming a feral takes much time and patience. After months (maybe) you can gradually expose him to your cat if he has been medically cleared by a vet. One of my four cats was feral and I love her to death. It literally took years to tame her and she is still shy and runs from people other than my spouse and myself. Cats will instinctively use a litter box. Use clumping unscented litter with no hood on the box. Gail > There is a feral cat at the local waste disposal site that I use. > I have been feeding it in the hope that I will be able to bring it [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > To reply via email change junk1 to ed > Rent a have a heart trap. Put a smelly fish in the trap (ie tuna). > Bring the feral inside in a room of its own with food, water, [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > litter with no hood on the box. > Gail Ed, I agree with Gail but I think you should take the cat straight to the vet *in* the trap the same day, or next day if trapped overnight. The cat should be neutered (if it isn't already), given shots and dewormer, advantage or frontline for parasites and checked over thoroughly. From there with that out of the way, the socialization can begin. Good luck to you, and it is really rewarding! My feral was exposed to my resident cats in a cage, and while I thought it was inhumane at the time (because I'd never done it before), it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. She's only been in my household since May but she has fit in with my other cats for months now. Though still timid and wary, she is a lovebug and has started coming out of hiding with only certain visitors. >>Rent a have a heart trap. Put a smelly fish in the trap (ie tuna). >>Bring the feral inside in a room of its own with food, water, [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > now. Though still timid and wary, she is a lovebug and has started > coming out of hiding with only certain visitors. Ed, I agree with Gail and Cheryl. :) Always best to be safe than sorry. Good luck with your feral, hope it all works out! :) > Ed, I agree with Gail and Cheryl. :) Always best to be safe than > sorry. Good luck with your feral, hope it all works out! :) You'd think with my cat household I'd have remembered to say to get the FeLV/FIV test done right away.... sheesh. >Ed, I agree with Gail but I think you should take the cat straight to >the vet *in* the trap the same day, or next day if trapped overnight. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >now. Though still timid and wary, she is a lovebug and has started >coming out of hiding with only certain visitors. Agreeing here, too. And I also had my former feral in a cage for a time, which I believe speeded up the "taming" tremendously and made him feel a lot safer. It took two months from trapping to being a part of our household, and he is the most loving big guy I could ever have imagined. Best of luck to you! Ginger-lyn I hope you manage to trap him quickly. That food exposed to sun (UV), air and rain might kill the cat pretty soon. If I were you, I'd try to either remove that food (if the person dumps 21 lbs at a time, the person probably doesn't come around that often) or spoil it for the cat by throwing some water with kitchen soap over it and mixing it up with dirt. That food will also attract rats (or allow the rats already present to reproduce like crazy) and that's going to be a problem for the neighborhood. Thanks for taking the cat in. I have some ex-ferals myself and they are as sweet as the cats that were born here (all of them from ex-feral moms). >There is a feral cat at the local waste disposal site that I use. >I have been feeding it in the hope that I will be able to bring it [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >To reply via email change junk1 to ed Put out a trap for the cat yesterday evening about 5 pm. Went back this morning ane he was in it. Yes the vet said that it was a male. Everything checked out positive. Will need some booster shots in about 3 weeks. I'll Have him get a rabies shot and have him neutered then too. The cat in residence (BJ) took a long look at him and his been under the bed since. Francis the new addition has been lying in the cage since coming home from the vet. At the vets, the tech held and petted him and I joined in. Ipicked him up once since he came home and he just layed in my arms and let me pet him. I think things are going ok. He just seems somewhat inactive but I am sure that as he becomes more accustomed to his new environment he will become more active. He was very active at the dump site, but that was mostly trying to stay away from people. Ed Christie To send e-mail change junk1 to ed How wonderful. Obviously this kitty was a pet that was dumped. You and he are two lucky fellas, and you deserve a big pat on the back for saving his life! > >There is a feral cat at the local waste disposal site that I use. > >I have been feeding it in the hope that I will be able to bring it [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > To send e-mail change junk1 to ed Good work! Another homeless animal brought to safety. I am a little concerned that he is already mixing with your other cats, but all will most likely be fine. I am assuming the vet combo-tested this guy for possible FIV/FeLV. I am so glad you took a chance and trapped him. Those abandoned pets can fool you into assuming they are feral-born or otherwise "wild." And just as often, those feral-born cats can quickly (or eventually) prove themselves to be lapcats. Keep us posted. Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus (feral) Cats www.campuscats.org Unless the cat is really a kitten under 1 year old, I would suggest you leave it alone. Once cats have grown up being feral/wild, you really can't domesticate them to anywhere near the way a normal housecat is. Best thing to do is just check on the cat and make sure it's not injured or sick or anything, and let him be. You could trap him and have him/her spayed or neutered so he/she doesn't reproduce, but there's no reason to remove him/her from his home. >There is a feral cat at the local waste disposal site that I use. >I have been feeding it in the hope that I will be able to bring it [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >To reply via email change junk1 to ed > Unless the cat is really a kitten under 1 year old, I would suggest you leave it alone. Once cats > have grown up being feral/wild, you really can't domesticate them to anywhere near the way a normal > housecat is. Best thing to do is just check on the cat and make sure it's not injured or sick or > anything, and let him be. Wrong, for the most part. And totally wrong in this case, as the animal turned out to be a homeless pet. Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus (feral) Cats www.campuscats.org > Unless the cat is really a kitten under 1 year old, I would suggest you leave it alone. Once cats > have grown up being feral/wild, you really can't domesticate them to anywhere near the way a normal > housecat is. ... Hello, This is not necessarily so. First, the cat may appear to be feral, but is really a stray who has learned, out of necessity, how to live on its own. Once back in a home environment, the cat could turn around. I'm no expert on cats who are born and grow up homeless, but I can speak from experience about Rosie, who was born and lived the first seven months of her life wild and untouchable until I trapped her. It took some doing to tame her, but now she is a sweet, loving purr machine. I will concede that she was younger than your 1 year old cut-off taming age, but I think she would have turned out the same even if I had not gotten her until her first birthday. I wish the original poster success in getting this cat off the street and tamed. It sounds like progress already has been made. Annie |
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