Stray/Feral Advice Sought
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:13 am
Hi, Long-term lurker here, now signed up and hoping for some advice. I live on the edge of a village so deal periodically with cats that people fling out of cars, that decide to strike out on their own, some that are part of a fairly active feral community and lots of neighbourhood visitors who are just passing through. (My rescue boy hates them all equally.) In any case, over the winter I have seen a fluffy black & white cat coming under the fence on occasion and assumed that s/he belonged to a family down the street. However I'm not so sure of that any more.
I'm treating a fox with mange and recently put up a night vision camera. I now see that the cat is around all night. For the past couple of weeks the cat has taken to sitting under the hedge when I put out the fox food, constantly mewing loudly and pathetically, but wouldn't come near me. I finally enticed the cat out a couple of days ago and can now see that s/he is in dreadful condition. There's a huge mat of fur hanging down from one cheek and an awful cataract covering the cat's right eye. Every noise makes the cat crouch or run, like it has been seriously traumatised.
I've fed the cat and managed to get it to trust me a little bit and a couple of nights ago I set it up in the conservatory where I usually house strays until they can be taken to the vet. This cat is nowhere near me being able to use my chip reader on it or see what sex it is, let alone get it in a travelling box.
When I fed it in the morning it started rubbing around my hands and legs, though there was the odd hissing. I didn't think much of it and sat in a chair and talked to the cat to see if it would calm it and make friends. It rubbed around my legs and everything seemed to be going well. The next time I went to see it it seemed to be getting almost a bit manic and then it started rubbing and spitting and rubbing and hissing. Then it tried to sink its teeth into me. I left it alone for a few hours. When I went out to change its food, the same thing. It grabbed the food dish trying to get to my hands, bit me, scratched me, growled, etc. I didn't put my hand anywhere near the cat and an outside door was open at all times so it could escape if it felt threatened.
I guess you will get the idea. It's sort of like a rapid cycling Jekyll and Hyde cat. It desperately wants to rub around my legs, but every time it does it starts this quite hyper rubbing and then spits, hisses, bites and scratches.
I feel terrible, but I cannot have it in my house while it acts like that. I can't even go out to feed the birds without leather gardening gloves on because it goes for me. I can't think of anything I've done to provoke it and have never seen this type of behaviour in any cat before, which I why I am asking for your help.
I've ordered a Mr Snugs, but I don't think that's a long term solution. I feel very sorry for the cat because it needs to see a vet and be taken care of, but at this point it is a dangerous animal.
Does anyone have any similar experience or any advice about how I can manage the situation with this poor cat?
Thanks in advance & apols for the length of this missive.
Nanny Ogg
I'm treating a fox with mange and recently put up a night vision camera. I now see that the cat is around all night. For the past couple of weeks the cat has taken to sitting under the hedge when I put out the fox food, constantly mewing loudly and pathetically, but wouldn't come near me. I finally enticed the cat out a couple of days ago and can now see that s/he is in dreadful condition. There's a huge mat of fur hanging down from one cheek and an awful cataract covering the cat's right eye. Every noise makes the cat crouch or run, like it has been seriously traumatised.
I've fed the cat and managed to get it to trust me a little bit and a couple of nights ago I set it up in the conservatory where I usually house strays until they can be taken to the vet. This cat is nowhere near me being able to use my chip reader on it or see what sex it is, let alone get it in a travelling box.
When I fed it in the morning it started rubbing around my hands and legs, though there was the odd hissing. I didn't think much of it and sat in a chair and talked to the cat to see if it would calm it and make friends. It rubbed around my legs and everything seemed to be going well. The next time I went to see it it seemed to be getting almost a bit manic and then it started rubbing and spitting and rubbing and hissing. Then it tried to sink its teeth into me. I left it alone for a few hours. When I went out to change its food, the same thing. It grabbed the food dish trying to get to my hands, bit me, scratched me, growled, etc. I didn't put my hand anywhere near the cat and an outside door was open at all times so it could escape if it felt threatened.
I guess you will get the idea. It's sort of like a rapid cycling Jekyll and Hyde cat. It desperately wants to rub around my legs, but every time it does it starts this quite hyper rubbing and then spits, hisses, bites and scratches.
I feel terrible, but I cannot have it in my house while it acts like that. I can't even go out to feed the birds without leather gardening gloves on because it goes for me. I can't think of anything I've done to provoke it and have never seen this type of behaviour in any cat before, which I why I am asking for your help.
I've ordered a Mr Snugs, but I don't think that's a long term solution. I feel very sorry for the cat because it needs to see a vet and be taken care of, but at this point it is a dangerous animal.
Does anyone have any similar experience or any advice about how I can manage the situation with this poor cat?
Thanks in advance & apols for the length of this missive.
Nanny Ogg