Cat acting differently.

**Freedom** · 12-19-2012, 06:33 PM

Keeping him as an indoor cat is the best thing for him. The life span of an outdoor cat is 3 to 5 years; indoor cats live 15 to 20 years. With a busy road nearby and him not car savvy, he won't last long going outside.

PLUS any time you relocate a cat you need to keep him in for a good long time to let him adapt to the new location; otherwise he goes out and "heads home," meaning the prior home.

He needs a cat perch / tree set up in front of a window, so he can look outside and observe birds etc. Putting a bird feeder out in the yard where he can see it will be a great thing to do too. He also needs a few scratching posts. Toys will be a good thing. Remember that dangling toys can only be used with supervision and must be put away once the human is not available to play with him. Buy some catnip and spread that on his cat perch, scratching post, and roll his toys in it. This will all help him settle.

**mon** · 12-20-2012, 11:01 AM

I have a problem. Winter here, gotta keep crazy Spicy the feral cat in the house. Gotta keep wee Mia the other cat safe cuz she HATES Mia. Didn't go so well last night. It's become a nightmare really. I think Spicy is insane, literally and I don't know what to do with her. She is SO violent, she got scared or something and violently attacked Mia when I tried to get her back in her room. I can't deal with this crap right now, my arthritis is pretty bad and I just want Spicy to dissappear. I might have to take her to a shelter somewhere cuz I am at the end of my rope here. I love her but I wanna kill her and my husband is SO done with her behavior as well. She is so old and SO nuts.

I can't keep her locked in her bedroom forever can I?

**mon** · 12-20-2012, 11:14 AM

I have to go in and out of her room and clean her litter box and change her water. Like I gotta go in there 3 to 5 times a day. And she is very smart so she escapes on occasion and she even attacked me yesterday. Hate to whine but she is so very nuts.

**Karen** · 12-20-2012, 11:30 AM

She is probably not crazy, just as you mentioned she is a feral and so very, very frightened. Do you have a basement where maybe she could feel safer? Is she spayed and everything, so you could see if there's a barn somewhere near where she could be a barn cat? My sister-in-law once rescued a feral, and had to keep him quarantined in the basement for many months, as he was badly injured, which is why she finally trapped him to get the wound taken care of. He lived in a large cage in the basement, with food and water and places to hide, but it took weeks before he would even appear if anyone but Gail - his rescuer - was in the room.

**mon** · 12-20-2012, 12:05 PM

You are so correct, it is fear based for sure. I don't have a basement, and I know of no barns around here. I'm pretty sure she was abused by some @#$ hole somewhere in the past and I shall take a deep breath, mellow out and simply keep her in her room until spring.... or something like that. I'm pretty sure Mia has PTSD now. I know my husband and I do

**mon** · 12-20-2012, 12:06 PM

She is spayed as well.

**mon** · 12-20-2012, 12:19 PM

That won't work. My husband works out in there 3 times a week and she has to go somewhere else as this scares her very much. I'm hooped

**Jessika** · 12-21-2012, 05:57 PM

Originally Posted by mon

I'm pretty sure she was abused by some @#$ hole somewhere in the past and I shall take a deep breath, mellow out and simply keep her in her room until spring.... or something like that.

Feral cats aren't abused; they are just not socialized, not used to being around people or other pets (other animals they encounter outdoors are usually trying to harm them), and are certainly not used to being indoors with the smells, sights, and sounds of what goes on indoors. Not to say someone didn't pick on her while she was out, but that generally is not why they behave that way.

I am very happy to know you've made the decision to keep her, "hell or high water". She doesn't know it yet, but she will thank you as well

You do have a looooong road ahead of you, however. Since she was a feral, has she ever seen a vet or been tested for FeLV/FIV? You mentioned she was spayed, so I'm sure they tested her at that time. If she was outdoors for any length of time with unknown whereabouts, it would be very wise to test her again. You have another kitty in the house to think about, especially if she reacts violently to your other cat.

I'm curious however as to how you came to the conclusion that she is deaf?

**phesina** · 12-21-2012, 07:29 PM

Dear mon, so glad to learn you are going to keep Spicy and figure what to do so things will work out between all. Definitely have her checked out by the vet, get her tested again and also have the deafness looked into.

All the best!

Pat (and 6 cats)