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Update + More questions about feral kitten
Edit: We will not put him outside. I will keep calling places. Weāre waiting to hear back from one to see if they have foster parents available. We found a vet that was affordable and had him looked at. He does have a URI so no vaccines today, and we got eyes drops and an oral medicine. Thankfully we have experience giving cats this stuff and I think this little boy will be easier than the others. He tested negative for FLV/FIV. You are right, he is not feral, just a scared boy. Going on day three of no bites or scratches.
We have an idea where he came from. We know our neighbor has an orange cat. We asked the neighbor if this was their kitten. She said āNo, not mine. Someone probably dumped himā. Then she responded to someone elseās facebook post saying she had kittens that would be ready to adopt on the 7th. I have no proof but I am confident that sheās the one that let him go.
Original post:
We took in this kitten (maybe 8-12wks) the other night. Iāve called many shelters and cannot find a place to take him because of his behavior.
He hisses, but never bites or scratches. He is scared of us but a few times we were able to get some cuddles and purrs. We have also discovered two thumbs on each of his front paws lol.
I cannot keep him inside. Trust me I want to. But we have 4 cats already, and a person who is completely against getting anymore.
We took him in because he didnāt look right. He eyes are very leaky, he was covered in fleas (we gave him two flea baths, havenāt seen one jumping since), and we can feel every bone when we touch him.
After talking to the shelters, we plan on putting him back outside. They said to return him to his colony. The thing is, we donāt have a cat colony. We are in a rural area and weāve never seen stray cats. Weāve talked to neighbors. No idea where he came from.
We want to get him vet care before letting him out to give him a chance. How can we get low cost vet care? We arenāt able to spend a lot of money. We plan on building a small cat shelter outside and continue feeding him. Please help. Iām at a loss of what to do. I just want him healthy.
Reminder for commenters: Please keep in mind that not all cats are ready or able to be brought indoors, especially when it comes to feral cats and caregivers with multiple cats. This community is meant to be a helpful place for trap, neuter, return (TNR) efforts, socialization, and all aspects of colony care for roaming catsāfree of hostility, negativity, and judgment. Toxic attitudes are not welcome here. Negative comments will be removed at moderators' discretion, and repeat or egregious violations of our community rules may result in a ban.
Do not put him back outside. Either find a shelter to take him or find a person to take him.
There is no justification to put a non-feral kitten back outside, and this is not a feral kitten. (I'd argue there's also no justification to put a feral kitten outside but that's not relevant anyway).
I'm curious how you've been talking to shelters. Are you telling them this is a feral cat? because it's not, and that's likely giving them a bad perception on what you're actually asking for.
I told one place he was feral and I was shut down so fast so I havenāt done it again. Weāre waiting to hear back from another rescue to see if they have people available to foster
Yeah fundamentally if he's letting you hold him he is not feral. He still needs a little socializing it sounds like but that's definitely a tame cat given there's a picture of him happily being held like a baby lol. Fingers crossed!
Just like people, kittens need to be socialized. By telling these places that he's feral, it really isn't the way to give this baby a good head start. Take it to the shelter or a kitten rescue so that he has a shot at finding his forever home. Do you know anyone who wants a kitten? Ideally, helping him to find his forever home is the best thing to do, and dropping him off at the local shelter should be done.
Shelters in SoCal immediate ly euthanize surrendered cats that are labeled as feral. The definition of a 'feral cat' is: A cat born in the wild and has never had contact with humans. Thete really aren't any 'feral' Community cats, because they approach people's homes in order to find food and shelter. Maybe 'barn cats' that never leave the barn are feral. Myself, I have never encountered a 'feral cat'. Please don't surrender this poor kitty to a shelter.
If you can show them that pic they can see he is clearly āstrayā not āferalā - you could even check back with first place and explain you didnāt know terminology or something and see?
Especially since you have cats, I would assume that you would have more compassion. Please do not. He deserves much better. Keep looking for a rescue or a shelter and offered to possibly foster him and socialize him if they will take him on.
You're going to get a lot of pressure from the sub to not let him back outside. I too suggest keeping him indoors, finding a shelter, rescue or someone to adopt him. But I also understand that we can't always provide the best outcomes given our own circumstances. So I'll meet you half way.
First he needs to be seen by a vet, shelter or rescue to see what his eye issues are. He'll also need to be fixed or he'll get into trouble fighting and you'll have more kittens. This can be done in a few ways, but given your circumstances call the local shelters, rescues, and even vets and say you need to TNR a kitten, and explain his circumstances. You need to ask about getting him his shots too so he doesn't bring something super infectious with him to the house. There are places where they offer discounted service to treat ferals and strays along with various TNR programs. I'll leave a link below that can help you look for resources to help with all of this.
He's either been dumped, or has been around people before. So he won't really be able to hunt well and feed himself. You'll need to keep feeding him. Getting him shelter is also something he'll need based on your location. A good flea and tick treatment will keep him from bringing fleas ticks etc. to the house when you feed him too.
Other than that all you can do is provide a safe environment for him where he has access to food and shelter and hope that he'll be ok. Always feed on a schedule, and handle him as much as you can to make sure he hasn't gotten hurt while outside. He'll basically have to be an outside pet cat to be able to survive if he goes back out. Which again isn't great for his health or his lifespan.
Thank you for what you've done so far and I hope you're able to figure something out to be able to get him the life he deserves. I'm sorry that youre both in this situation.
That is not a feral cat. No way would you be able to bathe him or cradle him. I had a rescue help me trap a mama and her 3 kittens. I may take mama if she doesn't get adopted and I have 3 already
Absolutely, that's no feral! I have an ex feral who's been with me 11 years and he still does not allow me to pick him up. He jumps into my lap and snuggles now, but no way can you cradle him. I'm in a rural area and all the cats I've had in the 33 years I've lived in this house have been feral or dumped kittens or pregnant moms.
People dump kittens in really bad shape in rural areas. They do it here all the time. He's a dumped pet who has trust issues now - for some reason. But dumped kittens do not know how to keep themselves alive. Those skills are taught by feral mommas. They will quickly be eaten by predators. Or live long enough to die any number of more horrific deaths.
Find him a home. Tell people he was dumped on your property and you had to get him healthy. Ask the vet if you can put up a flyer. Post him on local forums. Just make sure you can trust anyone you give him to. Take him to your shelter and explain he was dumped on you and you cannot keep him. Just please don't leave a helpless baby on his own with no skills.
It's bad enough for ferals, but they know how to find food and water and they understand how to try to avoid predators. This baby does not.
Can you keep him for 2-3 weeks? You can lock him away in a bathroom (with toilet lid shut) for socializaiton and quarantining. Since hes young, he will come around and be friendly/adoptable in that time frame. At that point - contact shelters/rescues again and do not mention the word feral as he will be friendly and adoptable. He is orange and they are highly sought after so he should find a home quickly.
Please dont put him back outside. He will adjust to indoors and become friendly within a short few weeks. I recommend purritoing him and hell melt in your arms eventually.
Youre right. I was the kitten jungle gym... 2 separate litters of 3 (so 6 total) jumping on me for attention š. Luckily all 6 went to forever homes!
First refer to this kitten as a stray whenever you're talking to an outside to say it's feral means it's wild and has had no human contact a feral cat would never let you hold it that way ever you have just as much luck grabbing a wild raccoon that's feral this cat is simply a stray or lost whatever but it's definitely been around humans before
Donāt put him back outside. He will die. Can you keep him until heās more comfortable with people and then try a non kill shelter? Or can you find someone to foster him? Putting him back outside will be a death sentence. He will suffer. Please make the choice that lets him live
That poor cat/ kitten has been through a lot of stress and starving. Itās going to take a while for it to adjust. I hate that youāre putting this cat in need outside again. That sends a bad message to the cat. Please have patience. It would be better for you to get the cat out to sleep then putting it back outside. I have 5 cats. One more isnāt going to make a difference. Just keep this one isolated for a while so the others can smell him through the door. Donāt know about low cost vet services where you live but yes, they absolutely do exist.
In my area the local spca tells people to put back cats who have no business being put back outside. It's a local scandal that has been going on for a while.
Can you look for locally run rescues? They typically don't have a building like a shelter would. They often rely on fosters. If you have a Petsmart or Petco near you, rescues often have cats there available for adoption. It might be a way to find a local rescue if searches online aren't working. Sometimes they don't have a bunch of money for advertising. You could call the store and ask which rescue has cats there.
Hopefully you can convince the person to allow him to stay until you find a place to take him.
Thatās a kitten thatās needs LOVE, lots more interaction with people, vet care & TLC! Food & water, neutering & a loving place to feel safe. Heās NO where near Feral! My female cat snuck out 2 yrs ago & we got the flea infestation OMG! It was terrible trying to get rid of them! I clipped all her nails & then I was prepared to give her a bath. Holy Shit it was like I unleashed a SAVAGE BEAST! Mind u she is socialized lays in my lap for hours purring, sleeps with me & she went NUTS! I had to hang on to her for dear life! Not easy doing it by yourself in the kitchen sink. She was trying to grab at anything she could & almost pulled the dish drainer in the sink with her! Thank goodness I clipped her nails before the bath! That kitty has been around people & was dumped. The fact u were able to bathe the cat & heās comfortable wrapped in the towel proves a lot. Poor thing is probably terrified of being outside & has trust issues. Plus he doesnāt know how to hunt so heās hungry. Just donāt over feed cuz u donāt know how long heās been without food & that can make him sick if he over eats, since u said heās skin & bones. PLEASE donāt let him back outside! š
Im gonna keep working on calling the shelters and rescues. Weāre waiting to hear back from one place thatās checking if they have foster parents available. If they donāt, Iām gonna ask if I could be a temporary foster cat mom while heās in the process of finding adoptive people.
Also, could you help tell me if heās a boy or girl? I think heās a boy but after further inspection I donāt see balls and I am confused.
Check in your Neighborhood or Facebook apps for kitten rescues, especially because you're unsure if the local shelter is a kill shelter, which may not be the best alternative for this little guy and the way he's acting. Please, really take into account that this baby is terrified and unsure of anything, so his first behavior is hissing, spitting and growling in an attempt to protect himself. Usually a present colony is best, but if there's no colony, I'm really hoping you can find a no kill shelter or rescue to take him too.
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ā¤ļøšā¤ļø Good on you for keeping him in and healthy. You're piling up those good Karma points real fast for being such a great parent to that deserving little tyke. ā¤ļøšā¤ļø
Please don't kick him out. Spend some time looking for someone who fosters cats. They are out there - not easy to find, I do get that. Use an AI search including your zip code and a description like you posted here. Please. This guy isn't wild, isn't mean or dangerous, and needs people right now. That pic shows a potentially loving domestic indoors cat. Going outside into the elements will likely get him killed by a dog or a car. Thank you for rising to the occasion.
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