my poor cat

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Hello Everyone,

I have a situation and I don't know where to post this, and this topic seemed most fitting so here we go.

My mom rescued a ferile cat about 2 months ago. She got him neutered and had good intentions of saving his life, as he was most likely not going to survive the winter where he was.

The vet told us to keep him in a small room for a few months and to go in there twice a day to feed him and talk to him etc.

The problem is, he is absolutely terrified of us. He's a wild cat and is NOT domesticated yet. He won't let us go near him, and when we do he just swats at us and hisses. A month ago we had to catch him in the room as we had to take him to the vet to get a second shot of vaccine needle. It was a horribly traumatic experience for us and especially him (in trying to get him into the cage)

We have been told by a few people that it will take years of working with him and there is a chance he may never like humans or domesticate. We have been told if we let him outside he'll get eaten by racoons (as we live on a mountain) and if we bring him back to where we found him he will not survive at all. We've been told to either keep him and know he may never 'come around' or we should just put him out of his misery and put him down.

He is clearly unhappy. He sits in a corner all day long, but he eats and sleeps and uses his box. He plays with his toys through the night (as we've noticed hes ripped apart a toy mouse). We have a cat that we've had for years, and we are terrified to introduce them to each other as they may attack and who knows what else!

I'm going to try to call around to places that may take him in (but we found out from a woman who works at a cat society that they no longer take in ferile cats.

I DO NOT want to put him down and to me that is NOT an option....but I don't know what to do with him. We caught him when he was 8 months old and he's now 10.

My mom should have never taken him from the wild and she regrets it now, as she sees we can't help him and its harder than she thought it would be.

Do any of you have any suggestions? Would sending him healing thoughts help?

I just want this cat to have a happy life, and know that we love him and are sorry for taking him from his habitat.

My mother really did have the best intentions to save him, but where do we go from here?

There must be a reason he was brought into our lives! Something good has to come out of this??

[Arcturus]

memories of the neutering and vaccine shots probably aren't helping. personally i wouldn't vaccinate anyone or thing but that's another matter. i've seen reiki used with great success on animals, so that might help if you're able to keep him still long enough. you can also get flower essences for animals too, that may help and you could get that in it's diet or water, good luck

I'm glad that you are not ending his physical life!

Ok - I had a beautiful pussy cat some time ago that someone was after shooting with a rifle (they bought it especially for the job). So I cat-napped her and took her home (a story in itself) She was ferral like your little fella and about 2yrs old I'd guess. She too had the vax's and so on. Man alive she would maul you for just picking her up at first. She was the biggest cat I had ever seen. People used to say "bluddy hell, look at that cat" (Lioness)
A very serious creature was she. A trip to the vets was traumatic for everyone involved. I used to pull up at the vets and I'd see these faces peering out of the window. The staff.. they were terrified of her. "OMG she's here. Quick everyone she's back" Claws like razors and teeth like a sharks. Try examining that!
I kept her in a spare room for a few weeks to acclimatise her to being indoors and eating tinned cat-food, and getting used to her new homes smells. She calmed down after a while compared to when she first arrived home.
This is how I brought her down to earth..
I used to spend as much time as possible in the room, whilst all the time talking softly to her, telling her how beautiful she was. Number one rule is to lay on the floor. Get a pillow and a book and lay there propped on one arm and read it. Do this as often as you can. If you fall asleep then so much the better. From time to time take a few shelled and cooked prawns or shrimps say, and offer him one. His taste buds will do a little dance and he will soon find that they become his favourits Right, now you are becoming a calm and non threatening companion who has fantastic little treats to hand out from time to time. Not all of the time mind, else the power of the prawn will be lost. All this could go on for quite a while but you'll be making headway even if you think that you are not. Laying on the floor with him is an absolute must. I'll put money on it that after a while whilst laying there, and maybe falling asleep, you'll wake to find him curled up on your chest. A small piece of prawn will also have a stroke on the head, neck, or ear to go with it. Stroking my little (big) girl on her back earned me a swipe or attempted bite at first. Dunno why it just did (they're funny) Keep this going for as long as you feel is necessary. The next stage is closing all the doors and windows and letting him out to explore. Leave him to it but keep an eye on him obviously. If you are able to pick him up at any stage do it momentarilly only or else he'll think that it's game on and be fighting for his life.
I shall send absent healing to the little fella as soon as I stop typing this. Please do so yourself. Relax, become quiet and 'send out' a loving, soothing, and calming vibe with him in your mind. Do this as often as you can and slowly he will come round because he is young enough to respond to all the 'treatments' that you are giving.
My little/big girl did eventually come round to being less of a horror movie feline to a more cool and chilled cat but it took a long time because she was years old. Though she did have her mad moments like going down the road in the back of my neighbours pick-up truck sitting there like the Queen and taking it all in. My mate and me are were sitting in the kitchen having a cuppa when he says to me "I have just seen Willow going down the road in a pick-up truck". WHATTTT!!!!
The stories I could tell about the most amazing pussy cat that I have ever known. And I have known a few over the years whilst being deeply involved in pussy cat welfare and having many many myself over many years. As for your other pusskins, they may never become great friends or they may but either way they will tolerate eachother I dare say. They'll box each other at feeding time but that's all to the good as hopefully no real claws will be out. And if they do have a dust up don't worry that's felines for ya. They have their natural ways too

Good luck!

And yes something good will come from this.. you'll have a wonderful pussy cat that adores you, and he will know what it feels like to recieve LOVE.

G

I've rescued feral kittens. I trapped the mom to get her fixed so she wouldn't have to have any more. I bought a special spring type trap as Mama Cat wouldn't let me anywhere near her. She was used to me as I kept gave her and her first two kittens food on an almost daily basis. She would even seek me out in the winter time when she got pregnant again and was hungry.

I wasn't able to go win her trust, but with the help of a neighbor, we got her fixed and she recuperated in my neighbor's spare room for about 10 days and then her husband some how managed to corral Momma Cat in a crate to take her outside where she quickly vanished when the door was opened. She survived and I saw her around now and then until we moved.

Since your little guy is probably full grown, it's going to take a while for him to get used to his surroundings. Like Glenos suggested, spend a lot of time in the room, reading softly to him so he can get used to your voice is something I read in Cat Fancy. Hanging out on the floor is a good idea too. Don't approach him though, let him come to you. Don't initiate contact. If he rubs up against you, don't try to touch him. Let him set the pace. Offering tasty bits of food can help too. Cooked chicken livers is something, I've never seen a cat turn down. Play soft music can help too. Bach's rescue remedy (a drop or two) in his water bowl whenever you change it can help his anxiety. Search online for the best price. You should be able to pick up a bottle for about $10. You can also put a few drops in a water bottle and spritz the air in the room. Don't spritz toward him though. The room should have a scratching post and a catnip, wheat grass or spider plant for nibbling. Also, give him a dresser or table under the window so he can look out.

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Thank you all for all your lovely advice and stories!!!

I have faith that over time we will bring this cat 'back to life'!

I have contacted 3 or 4 different cat 'experts' and animal reiki workers in my city and online.

One just emailed me back and was so touched by my story that she has asked I send her photos of Sammy (she is an animal communicater) and will try to see what she can get from the photos FOR FREE!!!

I feel this is a start and I am thankful for everyone giving me their effort, energy and advice!!

I also plan on purchasing flower essence in the next few days in hopes that will help ease his anxiety.

We have had guests over the past 2 days and with a family member sleeping in the living room (above the den where sammy is) the noises through the night have scared him and we've noticed he hasn't eaten or used his litter box in 2 days. Luckily our guests leave tomorrow so things should go back to normal.

I will keep you all posted!

Love and Light to you all!

About 6 years ago I had moved into a big house out in the country. Needless to say, there was a stray cat hanging around - fully grown - and she was wild!! At first I couldn't go within 20 feet of her without her running away. However, I kept putting food & water out for her every day. Over several months' time, I was slowly able to start approaching her without her running away.
Then she would come up and eat & drink - as long as I didn't move! If I so much as twitched, she was off!! Again, over another 5-6 months, I was finally able to move around, and she would not run. It took about a year before I was able to bend down and pet her without her running away....
Add another few months, and I was able to finally pick her up without her turning wild again (again, as long as I stood still while holding her - moving was still not an option, lol!)
In the course of 2-3 years, she would not even step foot inside the house- even in the middle of the coldest winter, when she could have come in out of 30-below weather...trust was still not there. She had two litters of kittens - out of the second litter, two survived, and I started letting them come inside for the night. Slowly, over more months, mama cat noticed that her little ones were emerging safe & sound each morning - but she still wouldn't come in!
Finally, when she was pregnant with her third litter, I was finally able to get her to come inside the sunporch - but as soon as I closed the door, she went crazy, and I had to let her back out. A bit more time passed and, when she was almost ready to give birth....she finally came in, and stayed in :)
By the time I finally moved this past November, she was a very calm, happy cat - more content to be inside than outside! I found her a new home (as I was not able to take all of my cats with me...) and when the lady came to get her, the cat was letting her new owner pet her, and she was purring :)
So - you can tame a wild cat - it just takes time and patience and love....don't give up on yours - he'll come around :)

[Illumine]

My nan started feeding a stray cat years ago that someone abandoned. This encouraged other strays to eat the food she was leaving and they started breeding til at one point she was feeding about 30 cats! We got in touch with a cat welfare agency who helped us catch all these cats and neuter them. A lot were taken to be rehomed but about 5 were returned for my nan to feed. One of them started to trust her so much that she kept following my nan home and started hanging about the house. She took to sleeping in the wheelbarrow and after many years she actually moved in.

Now she is completely tame and domesticated, she loves being indoors so much that she spends almost all day inside sleeping! If it wasn't for her clipped ear (they do that when they neuter strays here), you would never know she had been stray.

Just wanted to share that story like the others to give you hope that things will improve with this little cat! All of the suggestions people have give you are really good ideas, good luck! Keep us updated on your progress

He'll come round - I remember 2 black feral 6 month olds that we had come into the rescue centre that I volunteered at, both were literally rigid with fear every time anyone went near their cage, we all worked with them to bring them out of their shell by just sitting near them and talking to them at first, then we started gently stroking them when they allowed it and gradually they relaxed enough to be safely allowed into new homes

Sheesta, Illumine and beautydylan..

Thanks for sharing. I love hearing animal rescue stories -- especially cat rescues!

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Here is a picture of Sammy (this was taken the day we brought him home)

Hopefully the picture loaded