What to Do - Abandoned Kitty

A number of weeks ago, we found this very little kitty meowing in our
backyard by our shed. It looks like the offspring of a wild cat we had
living under our shed last winter (Minnesota, can wild cats survive the
winters here?). Days passed and the kitty was looking very thin and weak so
we decided to feed it. We never ever saw the mother return so we believe it
has been abandoned. We have continued to feed it and the kitty now allows
us to come very close to it. My wife actually picked it up yesterday. My
concern is that this is a wild cat and would be very difficult to
domesticate. And I really hate the thought of bringing it into our home and
having to have it declawed. So our option is to continue feeding it and
keeping it outside, or call the humane society (not my wifes preference).
If we could somehow keep the cat wild and outside, but provide shelter for
the Minnesota winter, I would think this would be a reasonable solution. We
live in a suburb, not even remotely close to woods or farmland, so natural
food source is probably out of the question during the winter. The best
solution would be to try and domesticate without declawing and teaching it
to use a scratching post, but I don't think this would be possible. Any
opinions or advise. This is a really cute cat and we have grown somewhat
attached to it.

The best
solution would be to try and domesticate without declawing and teaching it
to use a scratching post, but I don't think this would be possible. Any
opinions or advise. This is a really cute cat and we have grown somewhat
attached to it.

Why wouldn't that be possible? Especially with a very young cat, it will adapt
readily to its environment. Even an old cat will.
When my mother died, my sister had to take the cat -- who had always lived
outside and refused to go inside -- to her home in New Jersey where it had to
adapt to indoor-only life with her three cats. My mother lived near Palm
Springs, CA.
The cat, which was quite old, did fine and lived happily for several years.
Cats will respond to kindness. You can teach them to use scratching posts. Be
firm and vigilant and get lots of scratching posts. It's easier with just one.
Two sort of gang up on you. Four, I discovered, is impossible.



http://www.madmousergraphics.com
web design, print design, photography

On Mon, 6 Oct 2003 11:08:40 -0500, "Curtis Fox"
wrote:

A number of weeks ago, we found this very little kitty meowing in our
backyard by our shed. It looks like the offspring of a wild cat we had
living under our shed last winter (Minnesota, can wild cats survive the
winters here?). Days passed and the kitty was looking very thin and weak so
we decided to feed it. We never ever saw the mother return so we believe it
has been abandoned. We have continued to feed it and the kitty now allows
us to come very close to it. My wife actually picked it up yesterday. My
concern is that this is a wild cat and would be very difficult to
domesticate. And I really hate the thought of bringing it into our home and
having to have it declawed. So our option is to continue feeding it and
keeping it outside, or call the humane society (not my wifes preference).
If we could somehow keep the cat wild and outside, but provide shelter for
the Minnesota winter, I would think this would be a reasonable solution. We
live in a suburb, not even remotely close to woods or farmland, so natural
food source is probably out of the question during the winter. The best
solution would be to try and domesticate without declawing and teaching it
to use a scratching post, but I don't think this would be possible. Any
opinions or advise. This is a really cute cat and we have grown somewhat
attached to it.

Is there a Vet in your area who could look at it and determine
whether it is s wild breed or a feral domestic breed (or combination
of the two)? tThis could help you decide. If it is truly a wild
breed, perhaps a zoo would be willing to accept it. I doubt it would
be able to live on its own in the wild. Good luck. MLB

MLB,

The cat is wild as in feral, *not* a lynx, bobcat or otherwise. And it
seems she is not so wild since she has allowed some handling. She'll
make a good pet with some love and attention (and a spay.)

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

Before you decide on whether or not you HAVE TO KEEP IT... Figure out if you
really are ready to commit to domesticating this cat and caring for it the
remainder of its life. If not, then do the right thing and turn it over to
the Humane Society or another agency that can handle finding someone to
adopt it. The sooner you decide to keep it, or not to keep it, is essential
regarding how fast it generally is adopted. Remember, everyone loves
kittens; not everyone loves cats!





"m. L. Briggs" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 6 Oct 2003 11:08:40 -0500, "Curtis Fox"
wrote:

A number of weeks ago, we found this very little kitty meowing in our
backyard by our shed. It looks like the offspring of a wild cat we had
living under our shed last winter (Minnesota, can wild cats survive the
winters here?). Days passed and the kitty was looking very thin and weak
so
we decided to feed it. We never ever saw the mother return so we believe
it
has been abandoned. We have continued to feed it and the kitty now
allows
us to come very close to it. My wife actually picked it up yesterday.
My
concern is that this is a wild cat and would be very difficult to
domesticate. And I really hate the thought of bringing it into our home
and
having to have it declawed. So our option is to continue feeding it and
keeping it outside, or call the humane society (not my wifes preference).
If we could somehow keep the cat wild and outside, but provide shelter
for
the Minnesota winter, I would think this would be a reasonable solution.
We
live in a suburb, not even remotely close to woods or farmland, so
natural
food source is probably out of the question during the winter. The best
solution would be to try and domesticate without declawing and teaching
it
to use a scratching post, but I don't think this would be possible. Any
opinions or advise. This is a really cute cat and we have grown somewhat
attached to it.

Is there a Vet in your area who could look at it and determine
whether it is s wild breed or a feral domestic breed (or combination
of the two)? tThis could help you decide. If it is truly a wild
breed, perhaps a zoo would be willing to accept it. I doubt it would
be able to live on its own in the wild. Good luck. MLB

Figure out if you really are ready to
commit to domesticating this cat and
caring for it the remainder of its life. If not,
then do the right thing and turn it over to
the Humane Society or another agency
that can handle finding someone to adopt
it.

There are no agencies in his area (which is where I also live) that are
going to take the time to socialize a feral cat and find it a home. They
will consider it unadoptable and kill it. This is the fate of most
ferals that are handed over to "humane" societies, no matter where you
live. It's unrealistic and irresponsible to recommend that as an option.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

wrote in message
...
There are no agencies in his area (which is where I also live) that are
going to take the time to socialize a feral cat and find it a home. They
will consider it unadoptable and kill it. This is the fate of most
ferals that are handed over to "humane" societies, no matter where you
live. It's unrealistic and irresponsible to recommend that as an option.

Megan

I'm glad you qualified the statement with "most," Megan. I work at the Dane
County HS in southern WI. We have a feral program that practices alter and
release where the cats can't be rehabilitated and moved into foster homes.
Somewhere around 200 cats were saved last year with that program. I realize
it doesn't exist everywhere, but are there no foster homes that would be
willing to work with what amounts to an undersocialized kitten?

I'm glad you qualified the statement with
"most," Megan. I work at the Dane County
HS in southern WI. We have a feral
program that practices alter and release
where the cats can't be rehabilitated and
moved into foster homes. Somewhere
around 200 cats were saved last year with
that program.

That's good to hear. Too bad there aren't more of them. :-(

I realize it doesn't exist everywhere, but
are there no foster homes that would be
willing to work with what amounts to an
undersocialized kitten?

Everybody is full. There is no room at the inn. And when space opens
socialized cats are the first to fill them because those are the ones
that can be adopted out the quickest so more can be rescued. We had a
terrible kitten season this year because of a mild winter with not a
whole lot of snow and the shelters and animal control were/are
overflowing. The smaller rescues took out as many as they could, but it
didn't make a dent. The flow didn't stop and mothers and entire litters
of kittens have been euthanized regularly non stop.

When you're dealing with this kind of situation, rescues can ill afford
to give space to a cat that may take weeks/months to socialize and
sacrifice *several* cats as a result of not being able to take them, and
many rescues have no resources/experienced people to do this in the
first place. I have a friend that runs a rescue and took a feral into
her program that she herself had trapped. It's been a year and a half
and he is *still* in a foster home, now waiting to be adopted, filling a
space that possibly 20 or more cats could have used. I'm glad he's
there, alive and doing well and don't begrudge him that for a moment. He
deserves to have a happy life as all cats, feral or not, do.

I'm just illustrating the bigger picture, the philosophy of which most
rescues is to save as many lives as they can. Nobody likes or wants to
see cats and dogs rot away at animal control, then be killed because
there is nowhere for them to go. It sucks that rescues are unable at
this time to do more in the area of socializing ferals, but it's,
unfortunately, reality.

I don't ever promote relying on rescues to take care of someone's stray
cat problem anyway. With the vast resources available on the net and in
newsgroups such as this, I would rather see someone that has found an
undersocialized kitten take the responsibility for socializing it and
finding it a home themselves. That relieves the rescues of an extra and
unnecessary burden and the people that take the responsibility for the
cat will have done a really good thing. It's win-win. :-)

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

In ,
Kalyahna composed with style:

I realize it doesn't exist everywhere,
but are there no foster homes that would be willing to work with
what amounts to an undersocialized kitten?

It depends on the time of year. I have a semi-socialized young cat
who when I trapped her it was along with a bunch of older cats who I
intented to trap, neuter, release. At the time that I trapped her,
she was too young to release but none of the groups around here would
take her so I had the moral decision to either release her or have her
vaccinated for FeLV and pray for her health and keep her. I have a
FeLV+ cat, and another who also has to be vaccinated yearly (the
positive cat became positive at 10 years of age from a transfusion).
If I had turned her "over" to the shelter she would have been killed.
She is solid black and there are too many black cats here and no one
wants black cats for some reason.

If she wasn't trapped in May, but maybe in November, a feral group may
have taken her.

A kitten is a kitten is a kitten. I've been working with feral-born
kittens for a long time now, and I know. Please please please don't
declaw.

Visit the Campus Cats website for some pointers on socialization, but I
doubt you even need them. All you need add for a small kitten is hands-on
love.

Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats
Seattle
www.campuscats.org