General Chat

Sorry. this is not about Geneology,but I need advice. You may,or not, know that I always have fresh food out to feed "my"wildlife.Most of these are fat,domestic cats, but one sa,bedraggled little wretch tears my heart out. He trusts me to stroke him,and I've even managed to "frontline him.I keep telling him to come and share my home,but do I force the issue,lock him in for a few weeks until he gets the message. Winter is coming,and bonfire night,which lasts 3 months round here,Or do wait for him to make his own mind up.
I hope this message makes sense,I can't figure out how to send a long message.









One of these,however, is a sad neglected stray that is learning to trust me.
Now, he is only too welcome to come and share my home with me,And is thinking of doing so











H

If you can get him to come in, he will soon find it is more comfortable inside, but dont force him to stay at first. When you are able to be a bit more friendly, neutering helps them to settle. Butter on the paws always used to be recommended, I think because it takes so long to lick off that they realise when they have finished that they are quite safe. Good luck with him.

hi annina im the same have a few stray pusscats that i feed my advice is dont force them if they want to come in and you are happy for that to happen then by all means let them you could try over the next few days putting a dish of food just inside the house near the door and leave it open while they feed letting them get out if they feel the need and try to build their confidence up and they can still escape if they feel the need to do so and over a period of time they will learn to trust you
do they come in your home

Hello Annina ,
Many years ago we had exactly the same situation . My Mum and Dad had seven cats and one day a very very frightened stray youngster turned up . We put food out but he would only gobble it down if we backed right off. It was about this time of the year and turning cold . We made him a "house" out of a box covered with a bin bag to keep it dry . Eventually I tempted him into the house to eat ( it took a couple of weeks ) , he freaked out on the occassion when I sneaked out of the side door and round to shut the back door , he hide under a cupboard for several hours . He was to scared to be touched but one day he was rubbing against one of the other cats and I managed to reach out and stroke him for the first time , that was the turning point........he was one of our gang for the rest of his life .

I think you should tempt your stray indoors if you can......as you say fireworks season is not far off...............good luck : ))

Thanks for making sense of my thread.

My little stray does come into my kitchen,and every day stays a bit longer. He even knows the name I have given him,Wilfred,and my two official cats don't seem to mind. One thing I would love to do is get him to the vet for a thorough check up, get him speyed and such, and if he would rather be a hobo,so be it.

But I do sense that he needs to be loved,and I have lots of that.

He seems to be trusting you more.
Like you, I'd be worried about bonfire night, which starts around Halloween here - I have a cat who was born in this house and it took her 2 years before she decided it was safer INSIDE the house (preferably in the cupboard under the stairs) when fireworks went off . Before that she used to try to run out of the catflap! I started brushing her - it really calmed her down.
If you did manage to trap him and get him neutered, you'd have to keep him in for a day or two anyway, so could use this time to try to get him used to you - you could maybe ask the vet if he could make him extra dopey for when you brought him home.
This would be with the understanding that he may be a bit shocked and scarper off afterwards - but at least you'd know he was healthy and neutered!

Many thanks for all your advice. I will take note and make my mind up before it gets really cold.

Wilfred has obviously been someones pet at one time, he isn't scared of me,loves being stroked and brushed,as long as I don't get near his "naughty"bits. I think he must be sleeping in either a garage,or under a car,because his tail is thick with black gunge. He has started taking more of a pride in himself since Iv'e fed him up,but can't face cleaning his greasy tail. I still don't know what is for the best, but thanks everyone for your thoughts. Yours,Nina from Sheffield.

Nina,
If he allows you to brush him, it may be an idea to try to clean his tail - if it's car type grease/oil - best he doesn't do it - it could poison him.
When one of my cats was hit by a vehicle, he was covered in oil. I 'washed' him with baby shampoo - put a small bit in a bowl of tepid water and applied it with a rough sponge (actually it was the sponge side of a pan scourer!), - similar to a mother cat's tongue - just sort of brushed him, then did the same with clean water - he loved it!

Three times now I have borrowed a trap and caught strays who were too frightened to be stroked but couldn't quite pluck up the courage to come in.

Each has settled fairly quickly,given a space to hide in indoors,and proved to be a lovely,loving companion.

It won't hurt to make up his mind for him,he evidently wants to come in but can't decide.

Thats it, Ive made up my mind, in he comes even kicking and screaming, I'm going to love him to death whether he likes it or not!!

The only obstacle now is my younger "cat fom HELL" but he will have to lump it.

Thankyou for your thoughts, I will let you know how we get on.

Oh hell, the Vet fees, bang goes my rainy day money,again........!!

Well, thats what rainy day money is for!

Sounds to me like he has almost made his own mind up, lol.... I'd be worried about that tail... you can do as has been suggested, or get some special dry shampoo from the petshop... oil is very toxic for cats, as is pine.

One thing I would suggest though.... don't put the food dishes near the exit, if you understand? If you have a catflap, and food is just in front or behind it... then it can build tension between your existing cats, and the newby..... if you are like we used to be... door servants for our lot, lol... the same thing applies. Your cats will need to have a route to safety without the need to scramble over a grazing puddy, lol And to be able to feel that they are not under siege when they do fancy a little bit of a feed.

Good luck... I am sure that as the nights draw in, he will make his own mind up.

Our feral cat has arrived for the winter... we don't seem him all summer, but as soon as that chill arrives, he follows right behind, lol.... he pops in during the night for a feed up, but beds down in a sheltered bit of the garden... we keep a compost heap there just for him, lol But no matter how hard we try to coax... he just won't be petted.

Love

Daff xxxx

I wish there more people like you Annina.I hope Wilfred soon realises he will be much happier and safer living with you on a permanent basis.!!
Jane xx

Well,he's in, I closed the door behind him when he came for his chicken and fat prawns.

No aggression shown by him, although my big soft older cat did give him a swipe,no claws though.

Wilf is at the moment trying to burrow out of the patio doors,noy doing my teeth a lot of good,and keeps wailing to go out. But, I'm made of sterner stuff than him, I will book an appointment at the vet tomorrow.

I think I will take your advice and try cleaning his tail with baby shampoo.
Will update tomorrow.

Let us know how you get on Annina, might be best if you can to wipe Wilfred's tail with kitchen roll paper as much as you can and get him to the vet soon so he can advise on cleaning the tail.

He will be a lucky cat, not like those in Corfu!
I was sickened by the ones I saw, one family obviously housepets of mum with kittens, crowded round the oven tray of leftover Corfiot roasted potatoes, not chopped up or anything and really not suitable kitten food. The white Shecat had gummed up eyes and a sore ear, and the kittens didn't look healthy. I was told by an English woman running a nearby shop, that the Greeks don't worm their cats, hence the fact that they all look very scrawny and thin and that sometimes at the end of the summer many of them are killed off by poison put in their food. There is a woman on Corfu who tries to get as many feral cats neutered as she can and tries to persuade owners of other cats to neuter theirs too. It's so sad that in so many countries animals are not cared for as we do ours, dogs running loose and also thin and probably not wormed. I saw dogs running loose when I was in Malta a couple of years ago and they have no idea how to be good pet owners, one woman I know kept her cat in a travelling cage all the time except when he was let out to be fed and put out in the backyard to use a tray and brought in again back to the cage. Last time I was there she said he had gone to live with someone else as he didn't get on with their new pet, a Chihuahua(sp) puppy. That poor little pup raced round their apartment and was spoiled with the wrong kind of food titbits, but never taken out for a walk or trained properly so was quite destructive through boredom. If they went out it was shut in the tiny bathroom. The people are good friends of mine but I coudn't say anything, as I didn't want to upset her. It's ignorance, not unkindness.
Another of my friends had two puppies and a year old dog, the older one is almost permanently chained up at the garage the father and son run, never taken out to play with a ball or such on grass or beach, and the two little ones were like toys to be played with by the daughter who had one in a Paris Hilton bag and dressed it in doggie clothes, poor little thing, in the heat of Malta it was being carried around in a special bag wearing a tshirt!

Lizx

Yesterday I kept Wilfred in the house all day and night, He wasn't best pleased but settled down in the end. However, he kept watching me let my two other cats out as and when they demanded it, and sat in front of the patio doors looking whistfully at the garden, I eventually gave in and let him out.
I've inspected him closely,and he dosn't seem in too bad a condition, the stuff on his tail is set,and will probably grow out in time, and his coat looks better every day because he lets me brush him.
When I let him out, I was afraid that he would not come back, but he has just visited for his chicken and a cuddle. We have decided to see how things go, and perhaps force the issue before it is really cold. Will update, by for now, Nina.

bless so glad to hear wilfred is becoming part of your family slow but sure far better to let him be in charge so he stays because he wants to which im sure is the case since he came back for his chicken and cuddle i have had a pusscat coming for a while now i feed him and he will only let me stroke him spits at everyone else ive called him alfie and my pusscat alice she loves him lol i can see him moving in not that i mind i will help any little creature that needs it

We forget that other countries are not so kind to their animals as most of us are, its such a shame, as a well treated animal is such a joy to own and gives such love back.

Hi Pollly Poppet, Wilf is more than welcome to come and be part of my family. I have a whole host of cats who wander in and out as if they own the place, eat me out of house and home, and even make the most of my indoor toilet facilities(Cat litter tray) For the most part, they are obviously somebody's pet, but we get the odd stray or two'
Last year,my nieghbour and I managed to catch a truly feral tom,who I had been feeding. He only ever walked on three legs, and I thought that he had an abcess.When we got him to the vet he,the vet, wanted to put him to sleep , we said no way, Anyway,we had him neutered, he had all his bad teeth out,and his poorly foot seen to.
It took 6 months of just sitting quietly and stroking him with a brush on a stick,but we tamed him in the end, he has now taken up residence next door,and is the fattest sleekest cat in the world.
He still comes round to me for a cuddle and chicken

Hello Annina......what a lovely home he has found, bless you:o) Have you put any posters up on lamposts etc or contacted the vets and rspca incase he is lost.....don't mean that to sound unkind, just thought someone might be looking for him.
We had a simular situation years ago, we found a 3 legged grey tom, beautiful cat. We put posters up and eventually the owner turned up and said we could keep him......thank gawd for that cause we had had him to the vet to sort his wounded leg out, it was in such a mess:o((
Goodluck though:o)

jude xx