Kudos on all your good work.After our last 2 kittens, we decided we needed a foster break. Then 3 more came in, and we couldn't turn them away. After a month getting them big and strong, we finally fostered out the last of those 3 yesterday. Technically, he is staying the weekend just to test out and make sure he gets along with existing animals in the home, but so far, they are all doing fine. Once again, I need a break, but a friend told me a nearby neighbor has 3 kittens living under the porch he has been seeing the last few days. And it is getting to be about 15-20 degrees out at night. So, last night my wife went and asked around the area to see if anyone claimed ownership, and no one did, but they were all aware of the kittens. One of them said she opens her garage door a peep at 9 AM and leaves out food, and every morning the kittens walk across the street from said porch and eat. Now here is the dilemma. There are 3 kittens, but they are with mommy. I hate taking these kittens in if they have mom still taking care of them, but...it's getting so damn cold out, and I don't know when cold is too cold. And we can't take in a mom cat. We max out at 3 kittens for what we can fit here. In the end, I just want what is best for them all.
Debating whether we catch them all, foster the kittens, and bring the mom in to be spayed and released? We don't have any programs in our area to help out, so we'd be paying out-of-pocket, but I'm fine with that. Someone else suggested bringing mom to the shelter, but if she's an older cat who is used to living outside, she might absolutely hate shelter life.
Thoughts, anyone?
After our last 2 kittens, we decided we needed a foster break. Then 3 more came in, and we couldn't turn them away. After a month getting them big and strong, we finally fostered out the last of those 3 yesterday. Technically, he is staying the weekend just to test out and make sure he gets along with existing animals in the home, but so far, they are all doing fine. Once again, I need a break, but a friend told me a nearby neighbor has 3 kittens living under the porch he has been seeing the last few days. And it is getting to be about 15-20 degrees out at night. So, last night my wife went and asked around the area to see if anyone claimed ownership, and no one did, but they were all aware of the kittens. One of them said she opens her garage door a peep at 9 AM and leaves out food, and every morning the kittens walk across the street from said porch and eat. Now here is the dilemma. There are 3 kittens, but they are with mommy. I hate taking these kittens in if they have mom still taking care of them, but...it's getting so damn cold out, and I don't know when cold is too cold. And we can't take in a mom cat. We max out at 3 kittens for what we can fit here. In the end, I just want what is best for them all.
Debating whether we catch them all, foster the kittens, and bring the mom in to be spayed and released? We don't have any programs in our area to help out, so we'd be paying out-of-pocket, but I'm fine with that. Someone else suggested bringing mom to the shelter, but if she's an older cat who is used to living outside, she might absolutely hate shelter life.
Thoughts, anyone?
Does it drive anyone else insane when people put bells on cats? It has to drive them insane as part of their DNA is move around in silence and the constant ringing can't be good for their ears either.
Update time.
I went and spoke with neighbor opening garage door. She said there are two kittens (not 3), and that they come in with momma to eat in the AM and again in afternoon. I walked around block multiple times, then eventually sat in my car. After about 2-and-a-half hours of waiting, I finally spotted mom and a black kitten strolling for garage. I got out my carrier and went after them. Mom ran out of garage, but kitten was trapped. The owner of house came out and asked if she could help, and I told her to let me crawl under the door, then she can close me inside with kitten. I crawled under, and got my first good look at kitten. It's hard to gauge age for me, because this thing was a poofball of a kitten, and I swear I could barely see a face in there.
This is best picture I can find online that looks about what I saw hair wise, but age-wise....maybe 7-8 weeks?
The garage has no inside door, so the owner was talking to me through a window from her house that connects to the garage. When I got inside, I told her to lower the door. She did so, and the kitten sprinted like a bolt of lightning to get out. She smacked into the door as it closed, and was stuck with me and my carrier. I was so happy, then for SOME REASON, the owner clicked the garage button on accident and opened it the tiniest tiniest amount, which was enough for the kitten to squeeze under in a flash and get out. All that time waiting, wasted.....The good news at least is that the kitten and momma looked healthy. The bad news, besides me not getting any of them, is that there was no sign of the orange kitten. The owner of the home said today is the first day the orange kitten wasn't with them. And when I saw them this afternoon, there was no orange kitten again. So, I fear for the worst, and that the black kitten might be the last survivor. It's getting very cold out, and was a mix of snow and ice rain while I was waiting.
Does it drive anyone else insane when people put bells on cats? It has to drive them insane as part of their DNA is move around in silence and the constant ringing can't be good for their ears either.
I'm glad you two posted about this. I never heard of people putting bells on cats, nor did I realize it was a bad thing. But it's good timing to see this...we keep in semi-regular contact with our kittens when they're adopted out to make sure things are going all right. Pepper was just adopted last week, and her owner sent us a picture of her with a new collar and a bell. I'll see if I can find an article or something about bells that I can send her to urge her to maybe reconsider.It does, that's why I insist about it in the OP; but yeah, it's so bad I now cringe even when I see a cat bell in fictional media, because it reinforces the notion that it's OK and normal to put one on cats.
I find the "we can't know where they are otherwise" justification particularly odd. Like, why do you need to know where your cat is at all? And if your cat is hiding all the time, you have a completely different problem.
Thank you much. I can't wait until a year or two from now when we can buy a house. We aim to have a room dedicated for foster kittens since right now they mostly live in my office/library. We never intended to foster regularly, but when that first sick kitten came into the ICU a year or so ago, and no one would take care of him, we had to bring him home. And since then, it's snowballed and we haven't stopped.
Bean
Ron and Hermoine
Binks
Cheddar, Clover, and Pepper
Clover
Cheddar
I'm glad you two posted about this. I never heard of people putting bells on cats, nor did I realize it was a bad thing. But it's good timing to see this...we keep in semi-regular contact with our kittens when they're adopted out to make sure things are going all right. Pepper was just adopted last week, and her owner sent us a picture of her with a new collar and a bell. I'll see if I can find an article or something about bells that I can send her to urge her to maybe reconsider.
Outstanding! Well done. I am pleasantly surprised to hear the second kitten is still there.Update!
I received a call tonight right as I was about to start supper that the mom and 2 kittens were trapped in the garage. I put on a billion pairs of pants, long sleeve shirts, thick snow gloves, then headed out. I brought a friend with, and we got into the garage. First thing that stood out to me is that mom is short hair, and quite petite. The two kittens looked to actually be about 4-5 months old, but I'm not great at gauging. I wrangled 2 of them up in separate carriers, then went for mom. She was scaling the walls like a ninja, and bolting all over the place. When I finally got my hands on her, she tried to bite my gloves 2-3 times. After a bit of trying to get her, I told the owner of the house we needed to give up for now. I could tell she was stressed beyond belief with how hard she was panting, and I didn't want her to hurt herself. We'll have to find someone with a live trap we can borrow so we can get a cleaner catch.
I regret that I just cleaned up and put away all our foster kitten stuff yesterday.....I had to go into the basement, then bring it all back up two flights of stairs. We just finished setting up the room again. I opened their carrier after setting back up and am leaving them be for now.
We generally deal with kittens that need bottlefed, so this will be quite different for us. Because we deal with super young kittens, we bought a bunch of plastic cube organizers like these, then use them to build a small "pen" area for when we aren't home. I went ahead and built these 2 new ones a cave they can hide under since my room doesn't have a lot of places to hide.
Pictures to come later
Not sure if it bothers cats. We had a bell on our family cat years ago. Didn't seem to freak him out. And of course, the reason why cats have bells is to stop them killing birds, which is a real problem.Does it drive anyone else insane when people put bells on cats? It has to drive them insane as part of their DNA is move around in silence and the constant ringing can't be good for their ears either.
Not sure if it bothers cats. We had a bell on our family cat years ago. Didn't seem to freak him out. And of course, the reason why cats have bells is to stop them killing birds, which is a real problem.
That said they should be good collars designed to release if they become snagged on something. Info here RSPB
Yay! Awesome job! I'm glad you can save them. You'll definitely need a live trap for the mom though. I'm guessing you'll just neuter and release her. I can't wait to see the pics.Update!
I received a call tonight right as I was about to start supper that the mom and 2 kittens were trapped in the garage. I put on a billion pairs of pants, long sleeve shirts, thick snow gloves, then headed out. I brought a friend with, and we got into the garage. First thing that stood out to me is that mom is short hair, and quite petite. The two kittens looked to actually be about 4-5 months old, but I'm not great at gauging. I wrangled 2 of them up in separate carriers, then went for mom. She was scaling the walls like a ninja, and bolting all over the place. When I finally got my hands on her, she tried to bite my gloves 2-3 times. After a bit of trying to get her, I told the owner of the house we needed to give up for now. I could tell she was stressed beyond belief with how hard she was panting, and I didn't want her to hurt herself. We'll have to find someone with a live trap we can borrow so we can get a cleaner catch.
I regret that I just cleaned up and put away all our foster kitten stuff yesterday.....I had to go into the basement, then bring it all back up two flights of stairs. We just finished setting up the room again. I opened their carrier after setting back up and am leaving them be for now.
We generally deal with kittens that need bottlefed, so this will be quite different for us. Because we deal with super young kittens, we bought a bunch of plastic cube organizers like these, then use them to build a small "pen" area for when we aren't home. I went ahead and built these 2 new ones a cave they can hide under since my room doesn't have a lot of places to hide.
Pictures to come later
Been thinking of adopting a cat for a very long time, the only thing holding me back is that I moved recently and my apartment is a little messy and some renovation is needed.
However, my sister has a co-worker that needs to give away their 6 month old (male ragdoll/birman mix) cat due to allergic diseases.
The cat has been vaccinated/chipped/de-wormed and scanned by a veterinarian for diseases. It is however not yet neutered, so that is something I intend to do asap if I take it.
As i'm not that experienced with anything except domestic house cats since before, is there something that I should worry about regarding the mixed breed? Potential diseases etc?
Also do you guys think a cat can handle some light construction work going on in the apartment (1-2 months)? Will do renovations to the bathroom and some modifications to my kitchen. Mainly thinking about noise and reposition of litter box etc.
Still having terrible issues integrating Taika with Chloe, which is kind of understandable but still very much a shame (and crazy stressful both for us and Chloe). We think Taika mostly just wants to play because there's no real aggression on his part, but Chloe starts growling, hissing and even kind of spitting (like a cross between hissing and clearing her throat) when he's near. But if she doesn't see or hear him, even if he's centimeters away she'll be completely oblivious... until he taps her.
Meanwhile, Taika is more than happy to sniff Jasper's toes while he's lying down, or even smooch his snoot!
When he's not in a rascally mood (like playing with my shoelaces or hoodie strings or... basically anything) Taika's super cuddly and cute <3
Chloe's still cute too:
(but still a little bitch)
Update!
I received a call tonight right as I was about to start supper that the mom and 2 kittens were trapped in the garage. I put on a billion pairs of pants, long sleeve shirts, thick snow gloves, then headed out. I brought a friend with, and we got into the garage. First thing that stood out to me is that mom is short hair, and quite petite. The two kittens looked to actually be about 4-5 months old, but I'm not great at gauging. I wrangled 2 of them up in separate carriers, then went for mom. She was scaling the walls like a ninja, and bolting all over the place. When I finally got my hands on her, she tried to bite my gloves 2-3 times. After a bit of trying to get her, I told the owner of the house we needed to give up for now. I could tell she was stressed beyond belief with how hard she was panting, and I didn't want her to hurt herself. We'll have to find someone with a live trap we can borrow so we can get a cleaner catch.
I regret that I just cleaned up and put away all our foster kitten stuff yesterday.....I had to go into the basement, then bring it all back up two flights of stairs. We just finished setting up the room again. I opened their carrier after setting back up and am leaving them be for now.
We generally deal with kittens that need bottlefed, so this will be quite different for us. Because we deal with super young kittens, we bought a bunch of plastic cube organizers like these, then use them to build a small "pen" area for when we aren't home. I went ahead and built these 2 new ones a cave they can hide under since my room doesn't have a lot of places to hide.
Pictures to come later
Yay! Awesome job! I'm glad you can save them. You'll definitely need a live trap for the mom though. I'm guessing you'll just neuter and release her. I can't wait to see the pics.
Not sure if it bothers cats. We had a bell on our family cat years ago. Didn't seem to freak him out. And of course, the reason why cats have bells is to stop them killing birds, which is a real problem.
That said they should be good collars designed to release if they become snagged on something. Info here RSPB
It is recommended by the vast majority of cat experts to never put a bell on a cat's collar. It can lead to severe chronic issues like anxiety and hearing impairments, and its usefulness as an early warning for wildlife has been debunked, as birds mostly react by sight, and cats learn to prowl without making the bell ring.
Sorry. I somewhat skimmed it. If people are unhappy about bells then those colourful collars are a definite alternative. Our family cat exhibited no issues with a bell but not all cats are the same so if it bothers people then the colourful collar is the best option.Mixed breeds, if anything, should have less health issues than pure breeds. I don't think birmans or ragdolls are particularly prone to health issues; I wouldn't worry about it at all.
As for the "light construction", it might not be ideal if it's loud as he might associate the place with scary noise, but you'll have to judge that yourself. Of course the most important thing is that it's not a hazard for him (e.g. nails or sharp surfaces, holes in the ground, etc.).
A shame about the social issue, but a male and female should at least learn to tolerate each other. We have two females that are frankly making us crazy, one will always attack the other when she has a chance, and the latter will often pee on stuff if she feels the other is cutting her access to the litter boxes, which means we need to have a litter box with us in the living room.
Congratulations on the catch, probably good call about the mom. It seems kind of unlikely to me that they would be that old; can you, say, weight them? That would probably give us a better idea about their ages.
I'm thinking neuter and release too if the kittens are old enough, unless she is friendly to humans (which doesn't seem to be the case, but then again, the situation in the garage was not exactly conductive to relaxing and making friends).
Come on, man. It's right there in the OP:
Just on the subject of noises and what's good/bad for cat behaviour, are there any major issues with clicker training? We're thinking of using it for Taika so he keeps his distance from Chloe.
Here's a question how can you tell if your cat is an indoor or outdoor cat? Like I'd be terrified letting my cat outside.
Imagine yourself with a bell attached to your neck, making noise everywhere you go, every time you move in bed, etc. You can't get rid of it. You can't tell the people who put it on you to get rid of it. You just have to reluctantly deal with it. Doesn't mean you enjoy it, or that you can ignore it. You'd probably hate it. And what's the upside of having it? If the cat is indoors, how hard is it to find? If it's outdoors and gets lost, it now has a decreased chance of survival against predators or bad people, and if it's not used to hunting with a bell then probably a decreased ability to catch food. Then there's the danger of collars in general too. What's the upside of forcing your cat through that?
Like I said our cat was fine. We always made sure the collar was well fitted and he was happy. If he had showed a negative reaction it would have been removed. It didn't. However I absolutely understand if some people are not happy with it and instead use a coloured collar. I'm uncertain if a bell increases the chance of a cat being assaulted by a person or not. As for the sound of the bell there's some debate if the 50-60db is cause enough for irritation. But certainly better to be safe than sorry.Imagine yourself with a bell attached to your neck, making noise everywhere you go, every time you move in bed, etc. You can't get rid of it. You can't tell the people who put it on you to get rid of it. You just have to reluctantly deal with it. Doesn't mean you enjoy it, or that you can ignore it. You'd probably hate it. And what's the upside of having it? If the cat is indoors, how hard is it to find? If it's outdoors and gets lost, it now has a decreased chance of survival against predators or bad people, and if it's not used to hunting with a bell then probably a decreased ability to catch food. Then there's the danger of collars in general too. What's the upside of forcing your cat through that?
I don't think any single response is anything like persecution, it maybe just feels that way because several people replied. I did ask though what's the upside, twice, and you didn't offer any.Like I said our cat was fine. We always made sure the collar was well fitted and he was happy. If he had showed a negative reaction it would have been removed. It didn't. However I absolutely understand if some people are not happy with it and instead use a coloured collar. I'm uncertain if a bell increases the chance of a cat being assaulted by a person or not. As for the sound of the bell there's some debate if the 50-60db is cause enough for irritation. But certainly better to be safe than sorry.
Also the family cat, Littl'un, was 40 years ago. Also I feel like I'm being somewhat persecuted for saying anything. Thanks.
I can only comment on my own family history with owning cats. Adding a bell stopped him from killing birds and it did not adversely affect him. It's not as if I am saying bells should be used so much as it had worked in my experiance. Persecution is a bit much, so sorry for that. But I certainly don't feel welcome.I don't think any single response is anything like persecution, it maybe just feels that way because several people replied. I did ask though what's the upside, twice, and you didn't offer one.
You love cats, of course you're most welcome.I can only comment on my own family history with owning cats. Adding a bell stopped him from killing birds and it did not adversely affect him. It's not as if I am saying bells should be used so much as it had worked in my experiance. Persecution is a bit much, so sorry for that. But I certainly don't feel welcome.
Thank you.
I generally say go for it if you'd like a cat and feel you can handle the responsibility. I don't exactly believe in ideals. And by that, I mean, I don't think construction's going to be ideal for your cat, it'll probably hide while you're doing it in the day or you'll need to secure the cat so it doesn't get in the way but that's temporary. And anyone who was to take the cat in your place could never really guarantee that they themselves would never have something occur in their lives that would annoy the cat like construction or a move or whatnot. So you may not think it's the ideal time to bring in a cat, and, I mean, it's not, but, what in life is ideal? You'll likely never be in the perfect place to adopt an animal, you'll always wonder if you're ready, always have something going on, and on the flip side, if you did think you were ready and had nothing going on you could never ensure that those conditions exist for the lifetime of the animal. So do you want the cat and can you handle it or not?Been thinking of adopting a cat for a very long time, the only thing holding me back is that I moved recently and my apartment is a little messy and some renovation is needed.
However, my sister has a co-worker that needs to give away their 6 month old (male ragdoll/birman mix) cat due to allergic diseases.
The cat has been vaccinated/chipped/de-wormed and scanned by a veterinarian for diseases. It is however not yet neutered, so that is something I intend to do asap if I take it.
As i'm not that experienced with anything except domestic house cats since before, is there something that I should worry about regarding the mixed breed? Potential diseases etc?
Also do you guys think a cat can handle some light construction work going on in the apartment (1-2 months)? Will do renovations to the bathroom and some modifications to my kitchen. Mainly thinking about noise and reposition of litter box etc.
He's going to hate the construction, but if that temporary situation is what it takes to have a loving forever home, so be it. Hopefully there'll be some time to get used to the place before work happens. I would just caution to be extra, extra careful with regards other people coming and going, in case the noise and commotion encourages him to try and bolt.Been thinking of adopting a cat for a very long time, the only thing holding me back is that I moved recently and my apartment is a little messy and some renovation is needed.
However, my sister has a co-worker that needs to give away their 6 month old (male ragdoll/birman mix) cat due to allergic diseases.
The cat has been vaccinated/chipped/de-wormed and scanned by a veterinarian for diseases. It is however not yet neutered, so that is something I intend to do asap if I take it.
As i'm not that experienced with anything except domestic house cats since before, is there something that I should worry about regarding the mixed breed? Potential diseases etc?
Also do you guys think a cat can handle some light construction work going on in the apartment (1-2 months)? Will do renovations to the bathroom and some modifications to my kitchen. Mainly thinking about noise and reposition of litter box etc.
Mixed breeds, if anything, should have less health issues than pure breeds. I don't think birmans or ragdolls are particularly prone to health issues; I wouldn't worry about it at all.
As for the "light construction", it might not be ideal if it's loud as he might associate the place with scary noise, but you'll have to judge that yourself. Of course the most important thing is that it's not a hazard for him (e.g. nails or sharp surfaces, holes in the ground, etc.).
I generally say go for it if you'd like a cat and feel you can handle the responsibility. I don't exactly believe in ideals. And by that, I mean, I don't think construction's going to be ideal for your cat, it'll probably hide while you're doing it in the day or you'll need to secure the cat so it doesn't get in the way but that's temporary. And anyone who was to take the cat in your place could never really guarantee that they themselves would never have something occur in their lives that would annoy the cat like construction or a move or whatnot. So you may not think it's the ideal time to bring in a cat, and, I mean, it's not, but, what in life is ideal? You'll likely never be in the perfect place to adopt an animal, you'll always wonder if you're ready, always have something going on, and on the flip side, if you did think you were ready and had nothing going on you could never ensure that those conditions exist for the lifetime of the animal. So do you want the cat and can you handle it or not?
That's why I picked up Mazikeen. We put poison out at work since we deal with food(mandated by law), anything that preys on the small rodents we poison is eventually going to die from that by design. I didn't think she'd live with or without her mother long. In fact I still to this day have never seen another cat in the area, her family is likely dead. The best thing would have been for me to catch them all but I couldn't, never saw another one. Then, the best thing for Maze would have been a dedicated foster family or me getting other kittens to foster so she grew up better adjusted. Again neither of those plans was able to happen, none of it turned out how I ideally would have liked, but I still think her being alive and living with me is better than if I had just left her there to die. I think it's the plain truth that if someone else more prepared had picked up Mazikeen she'd be less clawy with people and technically be considered a better cat. But there was no-one else that was going to pick her up. Nobody from my local rescues ever answered my calls after I picked her up. So, in reality, I guess I was the best choice at the time?
Even other people in this thread are going through troubles, people trying to get cats introduced to each other, people dealing with less socially adjusted cats that are biting, all people can do is give it their best, mistakes will sometimes be made and all you can do is power through them and keep trying your best.
Basically I don't think you should let your concept of things being ideal be what stops you from having a good life together with an animal. If there's real obstacles, like, you know you can't deal with the energy of a younger cat, or if you know you'd put your floor or furniture's well being above your cat or if work prevents you from being able to feed it or empty its litter on a regular basis then those are deal breakers. Having an inconvenience in the house for a month or two, however, is something most pet owners are going to have to deal with.
He's going to hate the construction, but if that temporary situation is what it takes to have a loving forever home, so be it. Hopefully there'll be some time to get used to the place before work happens. I would just caution to be extra, extra careful with regards other people coming and going, in case the noise and commotion encourages him to try and bolt.
We have a blanket just like that one, and our cats loooove it so much. They've kind of taken it over...Also, them sleeping with the dinosaur gives me Last Nightmare on Elm Street vibes for some reason.redid the bed. but just going to cut it out myself.
bonus pic. bought a dino plush.
😂 the Trex. I know what you're talking about.These two fosters are like Weeping Angels from Doctor Who. If you look at them, they stop existing and turn into statues. If I move out of sight, suddenly their shuffling around, cleaning themselves, juggling, etc. in the little shark bed they migrated to.
We have a blanket just like that one, and our cats loooove it so much. They've kind of taken it over...Also, them sleeping with the dinosaur gives me Last Nightmare on Elm Street vibes for some reason.
These two fosters are like Weeping Angels from Doctor Who. If you look at them, they stop existing and turn into statues. If I move out of sight, suddenly their shuffling around, cleaning themselves, juggling, etc. in the little shark bed they migrated to.
how are they doing today? are they adjusting to a new environment?.Well, this was the quickest we've come up with names for our fosters....My wife and son saw Cats a week ago, so they immediately said Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. I know nothing about Cats, but my son says, "They destroy houses."
---I bought a cheap Yi 1080 camera and set it up! I don't have it set to record though. We're only using it to watch them live while at work, and yeah...the moment we're out of the room, the black one is roaming around. I gave them food today, left the room, and the black one came out and ate both bowls. I can already tell this camera was a bad idea because I'm going to be watching them so much while at work.also i want to set up a camera and see what the two kittens are doing at work when no one is around . i wonder if they are sleeping or just playing all night.
That's a great update, thanks for sharing. Looks like they'll soon be fully social. Shame you couldn't get the mom spayed. She'll be OK soon. I've done that before, saved kittens in my back yard and the mom came back, moped around a bit obviously looking for them, then a few days later she seemed fine. Did you speak to the neighbor about leaving a lined hut or such in addition to the food they're already putting out? As I'm sure you're aware, those can be put together very cheaply.So far, things are going well. I'm very impatient, so every time I look at one, I want to pick him up and hug him to death. But I resist! They're still mostly big scaredy cats, but we're getting there.
When I woke up Monday morning, I found poop in the corner of the room. I cleaned up, put a litter box there, and since then they've been pooping in that box. I don't know if cats are damn smart or if they just really loved the particular corner, because I'm surprised, with them living outside all their lives, that they would catch on so quickly. They are still (mostly) peeing on the pee pads surrounding it though.
I had to re-arrange the room a little bit because they had way too many places to hunker down and hide from us 100%. I want them to be able to hide and feel safe, while still being accessible to us enough that they can see us, and we can see them. I want them to get used to us, and figured they can't do that if they hide their entire time here behind my bookshelf.
What's fun is how much they refuse to do anything but hide when we're in the room, then I wake up in the morning and my computer desk is a mess. So:
---I bought a cheap Yi 1080 camera and set it up! I don't have it set to record though. We're only using it to watch them live while at work, and yeah...the moment we're out of the room, the black one is roaming around. I gave them food today, left the room, and the black one came out and ate both bowls. I can already tell this camera was a bad idea because I'm going to be watching them so much while at work.
We pulled out the ole' toothbrush last night and started brushing them. My wife sat on the floor an hour last night, just petting this orange one, and he slowly gave in. At first it was a hiss, but when she went for an ear, he started tapping his leg. Pretty soon, he was conked out.
Tonight, I crawled halfway into the little safe hideaway I built for them, and started brushing the orange one again. I then gave him a snack, and he ate it in front of me, which was huge progress. So far, they've refused to eat at all in front of us. We have to leave the room. I then put some wet food in a bowl with hard food and slid it over. At first, he backed away from it, but then I started brushing, then he moved over to the bowl and slowly started eating. I won't lie---I'm pretty excited for him. If we can keep getting him to eat with us, and associate positive thoughts with food with us, we're on our slow way.
Here he is eating, and wondering why I stopped brushing him.
I'm running out of time, so two more things: there is a free spay/neuter day for ferals Friday, so we're bringing them both in. Also, the owner called me today to ask how these 2 were doing, and let me know mom hasn't come back.
So far, things are going well. I'm very impatient, so every time I look at one, I want to pick him up and hug him to death. But I resist! They're still mostly big scaredy cats, but we're getting there.
When I woke up Monday morning, I found poop in the corner of the room. I cleaned up, put a litter box there, and since then they've been pooping in that box. I don't know if cats are damn smart or if they just really loved the particular corner, because I'm surprised, with them living outside all their lives, that they would catch on so quickly. They are still (mostly) peeing on the pee pads surrounding it though.
I had to re-arrange the room a little bit because they had way too many places to hunker down and hide from us 100%. I want them to be able to hide and feel safe, while still being accessible to us enough that they can see us, and we can see them. I want them to get used to us, and figured they can't do that if they hide their entire time here behind my bookshelf.
What's fun is how much they refuse to do anything but hide when we're in the room, then I wake up in the morning and my computer desk is a mess. So:
---I bought a cheap Yi 1080 camera and set it up! I don't have it set to record though. We're only using it to watch them live while at work, and yeah...the moment we're out of the room, the black one is roaming around. I gave them food today, left the room, and the black one came out and ate both bowls. I can already tell this camera was a bad idea because I'm going to be watching them so much while at work.
We pulled out the ole' toothbrush last night and started brushing them. My wife sat on the floor an hour last night, just petting this orange one, and he slowly gave in. At first it was a hiss, but when she went for an ear, he started tapping his leg. Pretty soon, he was conked out.
Tonight, I crawled halfway into the little safe hideaway I built for them, and started brushing the orange one again. I then gave him a snack, and he ate it in front of me, which was huge progress. So far, they've refused to eat at all in front of us. We have to leave the room. I then put some wet food in a bowl with hard food and slid it over. At first, he backed away from it, but then I started brushing, then he moved over to the bowl and slowly started eating. I won't lie---I'm pretty excited for him. If we can keep getting him to eat with us, and associate positive thoughts with food with us, we're on our slow way.
Here he is eating, and wondering why I stopped brushing him.
I'm running out of time, so two more things: there is a free spay/neuter day for ferals Friday, so we're bringing them both in. Also, the owner called me today to ask how these 2 were doing, and let me know mom hasn't come back.
Honestly, I've not dealt with lined huts much. My wife made one the previous winter, and a racoon started sleeping in it and eating food, so she gave up on it. So I've forgotten all about them. It has thankfully warmed up around here, but I'm genuinely wondering if she gave birth to another litter somewhere. These kittens we have are old enough that she could be pregnant again. I have no idea, by looking at a cat, if they are pregnant or not. Bur for a short haired cat, her belly did seem kind of low...?That's a great update, thanks for sharing. Looks like they'll soon be fully social. Shame you couldn't get the mom spayed. She'll be OK soon. I've done that before, saved kittens in my back yard and the mom came back, moped around a bit obviously looking for them, then a few days later she seemed fine. Did you speak to the neighbor about leaving a lined hut or such in addition to the food they're already putting out? As I'm sure you're aware, those can be put together very cheaply.
Funny timing that you post her. YouTube recommended me this exact video a few nights ago (my phone must be listening to me...). She is the main reason I re-arranged the room so they couldn't completely hide from us and we're forced to be exposed to one another. Mostly.Really glad to hear the process is coming along nicely. They're incredibly beautiful so I'm sure you'll have adopters fighting for them. :)
I think I mentioned it earlier, but we're in a similar situation with three very agressive (or "extra spicy" :) ) kittens that have already tasted human blood a few times. My SO pulled up a video from KittenLady (if you don't know about this channel, it's super helpful for people in the rescue/adopt scene) about what to do in these instances; we're following it pretty religiously, and it's helping immensely with their socialization.
The one big thing, and I know this sounds cruel, is putting them on a play pen or similar. If they're hiding all the time, then they're not really forced to coexist with you and understand you're not a threat. The other thing, and again I know how it sounds, is to not have them access to food all the time, but rather give it yourself by hand, so they associate you with food. I know these measures seem extreme but they're a small price to pay to ensure that the cats are as socialized as possible within the timeframe in their lives where they can be socialized, and therefore increase their chances of adoption.
That wild to mild video works because it's talking about kittens. When you get them young it is much easier for them to adapt and much easier to train behavior.
they'll watch you closely from a corner from this day on.I feel terrible that I've been slowly building up their trust to then scare the hell out of them today, make them grumpy, and cram them into a cage. But the deed is done. They are now on their 40 minute car ride to get spayed/neutered.
Update: Done! They're both boys.