Re homing a stray

mrsdwhite

Hi, we re-homed a stray last week. She is currently I an extra large dog cage with a box to hide in, scratch board, litter tray and food and water. Plenty of room to move around.
She doesn't seem too keen on us! We get hissed at when we go near her, so far we've not managed to handle her. I took her to the vet today as she had gunky eyes, she needs eye drops 4 x a day! I really don't know how on earth I'm supposed to do that, she tried to bite DH today when he tried!
Does anyone have any experience with re-homing very nervous/anxious cats? Any tips or ideas on how best to deal with her?
When the weather cools down a bit and she is a bit more settled we will let her out of the cage into the room with the doors and windows closed...

missbiggles1

It sounds as if you're trying to domesticate a feral cat, which is unlikely to be successful, I'm afraid. Could she live outside at all?

gettingready

How old is she and where did you get her from? What do you know about her past?

Personally I would not keep a cat in a cage, no matter how big....

I would let her run /hide around the house and give her time to settle.

being in a cage she probably feels "cornered" and it will make matters worse IMHO

Has anyone advised you about putting her/keeping her in a cage? Or did you think it was a good idea for whatever reason?

purpleshoes_2

Maybe take the cat out of the cage. Ive rescued a few cats, including a couple of strays, Id never have kept them in a cage.

Just because shes a rescue doesnt mean shes feral, shes probably terrified.

mrsdwhite

We're fairly sure she's not feral. She is around 2 or 3 years old. She was basically abandoned by the family that had her as they moved away and couldn't re home her so left her. The neighbours we re feeding her and the other cats in a garden, so she is very anxious of people.
She's in a cage just to keep her in, we have a 6 year old and don't feel it's fair to put pressure on her to make sure doors and windows are securely closed behind her all the time to keep the cat in. Purely just while she learns that this is home. She does look around the room from the cage, and I have said to give it a week or so and we should try letting her out.
But we also have two other cats to consider, I don't want to have them excluded from the room while she roams it.

gettingready

Well, so she is not ferral. She is just timid.

Being "on display" in a cage is not going to work I am afraid - not in making her feel secure. Where the other cats/child can come up to her and she can not run away - this is not the best way to get her settled.

I understand you are trying to do your best under the circumstances but....

phill99

She hisses because she feels threatened by being in a cage.

Let her out of the cage. Cats should nit be caged. They are free roaming animals. If you don't know how to look after a cat properly, please give her up for adoption with immediate effect so that the cat doesn't become any more traumatised.

tea_lover

Poor thing! No wonder she's hissing if she's trapped in a cage

aniahill

With my little cat experience, I would put the new cat in one room, close that door and let her get used to her space. When you go in to see her, feed her etc. make it obvious you're there with the kissy cat attracting noises, so you're not surprising her which is what makes my kitten hiss. It's just a warning that you're suddenly too close and she's uncomfortable.

Spend some time with her talking quietly, not touching and maybe sleep with a towel in your bed for one night so it has your scent and put that in a cat bed (or veg box as mine have...) so she gets used to you.

I've no veterinary experience so maybe call yours and see if it will hurt her to not do the drops for a week while she settles then maybe do it when she's just waking? Don't know about that...

Good luck

mrsdwhite wrote: »

We're fairly sure she's not feral. She is around 2 or 3 years old. She was basically abandoned by the family that had her as they moved away and couldn't re home her so left her. The neighbours we re feeding her and the other cats in a garden, so she is very anxious of people.
She's in a cage just to keep her in, we have a 6 year old and don't feel it's fair to put pressure on her to make sure doors and windows are securely closed behind her all the time to keep the cat in. Purely just while she learns that this is home. She does look around the room from the cage, and I have said to give it a week or so and we should try letting her out.
But we also have two other cats to consider, I don't want to have them excluded from the room while she roams it.

teddysmum

If you cage her and she's unhappy, she will not accept your home as the place she wants to be. However, if she's free and offered warmth, a cosy place to sleep and above all scrummy food, she will want to stay.

mrsdwhite

Thank you for the replies.
I feel like I should explain the decision to use a cage! We have 2 existing cats, one was re homed from a cattery around 10 years ago, he's my fur baby! We took a stray in from our car park around 2 years ago, she was around 3 months old and incredibly friendly but a bag of bones and full of worms. Neither were caged, both settled in very quickly, especially the little one.
We re homed the latest one after being told about a large family of cats that had been abandoned, we tried to re home a different one first, but she was far too terrified to come out of hiding to eat or drink even when we left her for hours in a room on her own. We had her for 2 days before she worked out how to open the door and escaped in the night. That one we now believe was a true feral. Though we hadn't been told that before we took her, and the person we homed her from made us feel truly awful when she escaped.
We arranged to try again, either with the same cat (she returned to where she had previously lived) or a different one, we ended up with the current one. It was suggested on the cat protection league website to re home a very nervous cat they should be in a cage for a few weeks while they adjust.
I don't like having her in a cage, and just as soon as we are able we will allow her the run of the room. But we don't want to rush things, it is especially hard with the heat as it would mean the window would have to stay closed as well as he door.
I do think when she is allowed out of the cage she will eventually settle in, but also, she really isn't all that un happy in the cage. As I said, she has a box to hide in as well as the option to look around out of the box whenever she chooses.
We have been including her in tid bits that the other two cats get, which she sees, and that seems to be helping build her trust in us.