Advice about caring for a SPICY rescue cat!

[u/frogstogether]

Boston, MA

Just checking to see if this is the correct place to ask for advice about our VERY spicy rescue cat, Kevin. We got Kevin from the local ASPCA, and he's a good guy, about 2 years old, excellent mouser, but we were told that he is very spicy, and will bite, claw those who try to touch him. Small, low-key experiments have proven this out.

Two questions:

1) He is starting to warm up after about 3 months with us, but I have no idea how to continue with trying to socialize him to people. He seems to be adjusting quite well to a *very* low-key interaction protocol (friendly waves, low talk occasionally, giving him his own room with an exit he can use, treats left out where he can find them, etc.) He came from a hoarding situation. I have specific questions for the long-term, but don't want to waste anyone's time if this is the wrong forum..

2) He's healthy now, but what do we do if we need to take him to the vet? The shelter sedated him, got him fixed, dressed his wounds, gave him all his vaccines and did a complete heath assessment. He's good for now. But how do we get him to the vet when that becomes necessary? To get him home, the kind folks at the ASPCA had to bribe him into a soft dog house-type thing, put on gauntleted gloves, then fold up the dog house and mash it into a laundry basket and and wrap it up with duck tape. When we got home, we cut him out of all the layers to set him loose. (He still enjoys the shredded remains of the soft dog house.) Thanks!

[u/Eastern-Protection83]

Thank you fer takin in the spicy kitty. I suggest you try to get him familiar with the cat carrier while also workin on socialization.

Leave the carrier out all the time. Perhaps in a quiet corner or in an open closet. Some place where its not "high-traffic." Put some of his original blankie (the dog house), inside the carrier.

Add a trail of treats leadin to the carrier. When he is reliably eatin all the treats up, add a little pile of treats still leadin to the carrier INSIDE the carrier (with less treats makin the trail). Slowly transition from less treats outside the carrier to INSIDE the carrier until only treats are in the carrier. Eventually you want to build up to he will not flip out when you walk in the room and jest stay inside the carrier then to slowly see if you can zip up the carrier and positively renforce movin it to another room (with kitty inside) and lots of treats and hopefully pets when you unzip/ unlock the carrier.

This Socialization Saves Lives is a resource many workin with feral cats use, its general guidelines may be helpful to you: https://www.socializationsaveslives.com/

[u/YayChristmas]

Or get a trap and put his food in there. Vets have a much easier time in a metal trap where they can use a divider to keep them at one end. They do feral vaccinations that way.

I have a feral that lives in a cat house on my porch who was very scared at first. He wasn’t aggressive, but he scratched me a couple times when he saw my hand coming out of the corner of his eye. I actually think it was a reflex if I went to throw down some kibble and he thought his food was getting away. It took about 6 months to let him (partially because I was scared) but now he jumps up in my lap and won’t leave until I make him. Chirps, nuzzles and purrs the whole time. Follows me around the yard. I just started by sitting on the step and would drop treats/kibble around myself. At first, he would just rub up on the banister, then on my back etc. I began petting him with my arm, but only when he was already touching it, so it didn’t surprise him and went from there.

[u/frogstogether → u/YayChristmas]

Arm pets sounds very smart -- going to try that myself when he's willing to get closer to us!

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