Feral To Domesticat!

[Momgoose56]

This is Patches. She was a feral catch/spay/release cat who ended up in an adoption center at about 18 months. We inherited her from our elderly parents who couldn't take care of her properly. She ended up getting Valley Fever and had to have her eye removed but is now enjoying the life of a spoiled domestic! Over the years she has evolved from reclusive, aggressive clawing biter to a social lap cat love bug!


On the scale at the vet.
We used to have to have her anesthetized just for a thorough examination-she's come a LONG way.

Lap cat thing

Making new friends was the hard part!

 

[Iverg1]

Awww she looks so cute,whose the other cat?

 

[Momgoose56]

Awww she looks so cute,whose the other cat?

He's Rocket. He was found as a ~4 month old, on the back seat of a car that had been parked outside at a mechanic shop and my daughter adopted him his first day in prison. He's huge. And has been a good friend and teacher of 'all things domestic' for Patches. Patches was very aggressive and antisocial when we first got her. She had bitten my mother in law a few times-seriously enough to require hospitalization and IV antibiotics for an infection! Rocket helped her realize humans are "friends, not foes" lol!

 

[Iverg1]

Glad Patches had such a great teacher!

 

[AZL]

Aw she's lovely! That belief that feral cats will not settle if taken in after 3 months of age is complete nonsense. We have three former ferals who joined us at 4 months, 2 years, and 4 years of age. The first was Amum who was dropped in the window by her mum who was 3rd or 4th generation feral and a regular visitor but completely wild, we think as she was runty and had flu so her mum decided she was better off with us. We moved about 6 doors down and when she was 2 her sister Persephone turned up. We brought her in as she had medical issues expecting to spay and release and she settled. The sisters were happy to be reunited and Perspehone has gone from being very frightened and aggressive to a big cuddly teddy bear of a cat. Their Mum, Nephilim, left her territory and found us while expecting another litter which she had here. Three went to good homes with friends, we kept NephilI'm and two kittens, Baal and Samedi. she allowed us to handle the kittens from day one and while I'm still the only person who can pet her NephilI'm is friendly and interactive now. We also have our original domestic rescue, Nyx and sadly lost the other domestic, Ishtar to a genetic disorder last year. The 6 are very happy together and very good about the fish!

 

[Amynnas]

My feral adopted me about a month ago. So far vaccinated and next on the list is having him neutered once we get his stomach issues under control. Vet isn't sure if its stress related or from the change in food so has him on meds. Can't wait to get him neutered cause he thinks i'm his mate. LOL . Its a nightly thing him trying to latch on and bite me while yowling his fool head off. I have taught him not to bite but that yowling makes you feel so bad for him.

 

[AZL]

My feral adopted me about a month ago. So far vaccinated and next on the list is having him neutered once we get his stomach issues under control. Vet isn't sure if its stress related or from the change in food so has him on meds. Can't wait to get him neutered cause he thinks i'm his mate. LOL . Its a nightly thing him trying to latch on and bite me while yowling his fool head off. I have taught him not to bite but that yowling makes you feel so bad for him.

Aw he'll calm down, it's good he is friendly straight away although that might be a little TOO friendly, Lol believe it or not I had that issue with a feral dog that turned out be mostly if not all wolf years ago in the States. He was taken in by a guy with loads of land who then had to work out of the country for nearly a year so boarded him at the kennel I worked at. We got on really well but he would initially try to turn rough play into mounting me - learning to communicate that we would be having a platonic friendship as two alphas despite me being female took some doing and really prepared me well for setting the same boundaries with human males going forward

 

[Amynnas]

Thankyou for the encouragement AZL. I can handle him trying it on me and correcting him but my poor little shih Tzu mix doesn't understand when the cat tried it on him. LOL. Yeah Demon wasn't having it and chased him off the bed. They get along really well, which is another amazing thing cause usually my dog hates cats but this one he allowed to waltz into the apartment and just start eating his food. I decided then and there to keep him. Caramel is very smart, too smart for his own good cause darn if I can get his pills into him for his upset belly. Any thoughts or ideas on that? I tried crushing it up and putting it in his food, I've tried just putting it into his mouth and holding it shut. I got the marks all over my hands to show for that fruitless endeavor. I need new ideas on how to get his pills into him so I can get him well enough to be neutered.

 

[Fishcat]

Do you have a pill gun? They take a little practice to use effectively, but at least they get your hands away from the Mouth of Bitey Death. And (little trick here) you can start by putting your cat’s favorite treats in the pill gun. When he has come to expect good things from it, slip in the pill in the middle of a series of treats. If you can shoot the pill right to the back of the throat, it should go down fairly easily.
Many people have luck with pill pockets/pill wrap, but they need to be introduced the right way. Start, again, with some favorite treats - an assortment if possible. Offer treat, treat, bit of pill pocket, treat, bit of pill pocket. Never put a pill in a pill pocket until they’ve been firmly established as a high-value treat.
If it’s metronidazole, pill gun is your best bet. That stuff tastes horrible.

 

[WinterSoldier.]

Glad she found a good home!!!

 

[Momgoose56]

Thankyou for the encouragement AZL. I can handle him trying it on me and correcting him but my poor little shih Tzu mix doesn't understand when the cat tried it on him. LOL. Yeah Demon wasn't having it and chased him off the bed. They get along really well, which is another amazing thing cause usually my dog hates cats but this one he allowed to waltz into the apartment and just start eating his food. I decided then and there to keep him. Caramel is very smart, too smart for his own good cause darn if I can get his pills into him for his upset belly. Any thoughts or ideas on that? I tried crushing it up and putting it in his food, I've tried just putting it into his mouth and holding it shut. I got the marks all over my hands to show for that fruitless endeavor. I need new ideas on how to get his pills into him so I can get him well enough to be neutered.

Try this stuff

 

[AZL]

Thankyou for the encouragement AZL. I can handle him trying it on me and correcting him but my poor little shih Tzu mix doesn't understand when the cat tried it on him. LOL. Yeah Demon wasn't having it and chased him off the bed. They get along really well, which is another amazing thing cause usually my dog hates cats but this one he allowed to waltz into the apartment and just start eating his food. I decided then and there to keep him. Caramel is very smart, too smart for his own good cause darn if I can get his pills into him for his upset belly. Any thoughts or ideas on that? I tried crushing it up and putting it in his food, I've tried just putting it into his mouth and holding it shut. I got the marks all over my hands to show for that fruitless endeavor. I need new ideas on how to get his pills into him so I can get him well enough to be neutered.

Arg yes that can be a nightmare. I've not personally found hiding pills in food to work. Most of ours will let me give them a pill but it's stressful for them. With our two most recent former ferals it's not feasible at all, I can handle them well enough to manage it but it would completely undo the hard won trust they have with me as both were completely wild when they arrived. If any of the cats need antibiotics I ask the vet to give them a long acting injection form, that may be possible with other medications. the pill gun sounds like a good idea and the suggestion of using it to dispense treats then slipping in a pill is brilliant.

 

[Momgoose56]

Patches gets food after pills. She knows this now and reluctantly allows pills (covered with thin layer of pill masker) to be poked in her mouth,swallows them, then rushes to her 'magic' food dish that only opens for her! (She's a grazer and the electronic dish keeps the dog (Oddie) and the big cat (Rocket) from eating her food during the day.
Relaxing with Oddie (the 'calico dog') on the sun porch.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Patches gets food after pills. She knows this now and reluctantly allows pills (covered with thin layer of pill masker) to be poked in her mouth,swallows them, then rushes to her 'magic' food dish that only opens for her! (She's a grazer and the electronic dish keeps the dog (Oddie) and the big cat (Rocket) from eating her food during the day.View attachment 540984
Relaxing with Oddie (the 'calico dog') on the sun porch.

Such a great pic

 

[Fishcat]

Beautiful picture. Beautiful animals.
I thought up the treats-in-the-pill-gun thing when one of our cats, one of the two who gets daily meds, got picky about her pill pockets. I can pill a cat. But if I was away, and she wouldn’t eat her plls in a pill pocket, my husband wouldn’t have been able to. He needed a training cat, so I gave him the pill gun and a handful of treats and told him to go “pill” our large garbage disposal cat to get his confidence up. It worked. I’m thinking of renting out Ricky for other people to practice with.

 

[Amynnas]

Those are both great ideas and I already talked to the vet and they have a pill gun waiting for me tomorrow when I pick up caramels rabies tag. I've also heard wrapping them in a towel works and that would help keep very sharp claws out of my skin. Luckily he doesn't bite but man his claw hurt. since i'm out I'll get some pill pockets and give them a go with the pill gun and maybe he'll learn to tolerate it at least. This is my first feral so its a learn as I go and i'm finding that even though he is super friendly and loving he does have his wild side because he was already a year old when he adopted me from the apartment complex world he was living in.