Checkers was adopted, Ramses went to live at the shelter and Annie is coming back...

Checkers was adopted yesterday!  A very nice family lost their cat due to illness last month and apparently, Checkers looks just like that cat!  I explained to them that Checkers still had a long way to go to be a normal house cat and they were understanding and receptive to my advice.  She would sit on my lap, let me pick her up (as long as I didn't stand up with her in my arms), I could pet her, and she would roll on her back and let me pet her belly.  She was very social with the other cats here, which is common for cats who have lived outside.  I feel really good about her new family.  I think Checkers will be very happy there.


I also brought Ramses to the shelter to live.  The family that adopted Checkers met Ramses and might come back to adopt him, too!  I told the mother of the family that Ramses and Checkers were very close and would like to live together, if they could.  The mother and son came to get Checkers and the mother said that she would have to talk to her husband because she couldn't come home with 2 cats!  So, we will see if they come back for him.

I brought Ramses to live at the shelter for two reasons.  Ramses wanted to be Gaby's friend and Gaby wanted nothing to do with him.  He would chase her (to play), he would hover over her and she was becoming more isolated because she wanted to hide from him. She hissed at him and swiped at him. Gaby is my cat and I have had her for almost 10 years.  My priority is my own cats, then the foster cats.

The other reason why I brought Ramses to the shelter is because he is now 7 months old and he has more exposure at the shelter.  Sometimes people come into the shelter and want to leave that day with a cat, so all of the cats in foster homes aren't considered.  It makes it easier for him to be adopted because the prospective parents don't have to wait for me to bring him to the shelter.

...on to Annie...

Annie did well when she was at the shelter at first.  Recently, she has withdrawn and is not making progress.  She is actually losing the progress she made at first.  So, she has two options: She can come back here and I can help her some more, or she can go live outside at a barn that we sometimes send cats to.  I haven't fully decided, but I am probably going to just bring her back here.  I want what is best for her...so I haven't made up my mind just yet.

Annie Update

In the picture below, Annie is looking out the window. She loves to look outside but I think she is still nervous up there. She only stays for a minute then quickly goes back into hiding.




I have been working with her to get more comfortable with being picked up and held. She just seems very scared whenever I try to pick her up but she is getting much more comfortable with being sat on my lap. A few days ago, she actually laid down (instead of me holding her down) and rubbed her cheek on my leg when I sat her on my lap.

Annie update

Annie is doing very well. There are two new cats staying in the room with her now. She is very curious about them and they are all adjusting fairly nicely. Isabella and Annie are not getting along too well, though. Sometimes Isabella will smell Annie and hiss and other times she just walks away. Jack is pretty good with her.

Annie Update!

Annie is doing so well! She has been out of the cage for at least a week now and she does very well with the baby gates up and the door open. She is still slightly skittish around me but tolerates loud noises well.

My boyfriend has been trying to pet her and after a few tries she let him pet her on the cheek and around the ears.

I cannot believe this is the same cat that a little over two months ago was so fearful that she jumped up into a hanging plant to get away from us.

Annie let me kiss her on the head

Annie let me kiss her head after a few minutes of petting. She is making such great progress.

Annie has been spayed

Annie was spayed Thursday. All her blood tests came back negative! She doesn't have FIV or Feline Leukemia. Whew!

She is 6 pounds and very small boned. I guessed her age at about 6 months and the vet agreed just by looking at her. Once she was sedated, the vet looked at her teeth and changed her estimated age to 1-2 YEARS! She said she has a lot of tartar that leads her to believe that Annie is older than she looks.

I just cannot believe Annie might be 1-2 years old. She is very small. She is not thin, but of a good weight, but she is very small boned.

Annie is getting spayed tomorrow!

I have finally gotten an appointment tomorrow to have Annie spayed. She will be fully vetted tomorrow. She will be vaccinated, tested for FIV and Feline Leukemia, and spayed. I am going to see if they will clip her claws, or let me do it while she is out. I am NOT declawing her. I am talking about taking special nail clippers to cut down her claws.

Annie is feeling better

I posted about Annie not being as active as she usually is and she has returned to normal. This morning when I went in to her room, she was very excited to see me and acted like she wanted to come out into the living room. I brought her out into the living room in her cage, she is definitely not ready to be out without the protection of her cage. I have two cats, one hisses at her, the other one seems to like her.

I am going through the animal shelter I volunteer with to have her spayed and vaccinated and I am just waiting for the vet to get an appointment open. I should have gotten her spayed already but I was waiting for her to calm down a little. I felt that it might be too much to get her spayed right after trapping her, because she was so scared. Also, I didn't know how the vet would get a needle into her to give her anesthetic. I guess some vets are experienced in feral cats enough to be able give her the shot without hurting her.

Anyway, Annie is doing so well! She is doing so much better than I thought she could be. I have certainly learned a lot about feral cats through Annie.

Annie...hits a snag...

So, yesterday, I decided to spend as much time with Annie as possible. She has been improving so much that I thought I should keep this good thing going.

Today, she really didn't want anything to do with me. I might have spent too much time with her. What I tried to do was come in each hour to at least say hi and try to pet her, if I could. Sometimes she is laying under the desk or somewhere else where I couldn't really pet her without her possibly feeling cornered, so I don't try to.

This morning when I came into her room, she did not want to come out of her cage. Sometimes that happens and when it does, I bring her cage out into the living room near me, or next to the balcony so she can watch the birds at the feeders.

I waited awhile instead of moving her anywhere to see if she would "perk" up and act like she wanted out of the cage. She really never did, all day. I am not sure what is going on but she seems to be feeling well and I don't see any obvious signs of illness or injury.

I am sitting next to her cage right now and petting her every so often and she is purring loudly! Maybe yesterday was just a little too much contact for her.

Here are 2 recent pictures of her...she is doing so well!

Annie let me pick her up!

My feral cat, Annie, is becoming less and less feral every day.

She let me pick her up for about 3 seconds, which is a long time for a cat that used to be terrified of me. She wants my attention and wants me to pet her. She licked me, too.

I am so happy that I decided to keep her because there were times where her behavior was so "wild" that I wasn't sure I was doing the right thing-that my attempts to help her were actually harming her. I guess it was good for her that it was so cold outside. That is why I decided to keep her inside. Even though I had doubts about whether this was the right thing to do for her and I was thinking about letting her go, the weather was just so bad, that I felt she would freeze to death if I did let her go.

Annie, my feral cat, is definitely going to be adoptable one day.

So, in case you haven't followed the Annie Diaries, I trapped her December 19th. I actually thought I was going to catch an unneutered male that I was feeding. I guess I was feeding more than one cat.

So, I caught her and for awhile, I thought I was in over my head and had made a mistake but I couldn't release her back into the cold weather. We have had a lot of snow recently--more than normal.

So, patience and my deep love of cats has helped Annie immensely.

This morning, after being out of her cage all night, I went in to her room to check on her.
She was in her usual spot-under the desk.

I had some wet food for her and for the first time-ever-she came out of her hiding spot, smelled the food I had for her and walked over to where I put it on the floor. She let me pet her while she ate and started to purr!

She did not act like she was scared at all! She gave me no indication that she was nervous or uncomfortable in any way that I was standing next to her and petting her.

I just wanted to scoop her up and give her a hug and a kiss but I didn't.

I certainly don't want to "push it". I know one day, I will be able to do that, and I don't think it will be that far off!

Annie is doing very well!

My feral cat, Annie, is doing very well. I have started letting her out during the day and she seems to like it. It's funny because after awhile, I will go in there and she is laying in her open cage. I think she likes getting out of her cage but probably feels more comfortable in there.

Annie played with me!

Annie let me play with her! It was only for a few seconds but she was playing with my fingers through the cage.

Annie

Annie is doing very well. I am a little concerned about her boredom levels. I have been videotaping her and I have never caught her actually playing. I am monitoring her for any depression or anxiety symptoms. She does not seem interested in playing with me. I do think there are times where she has played with a toy in her cage but I haven't seen her, just the evidence of playing.

Annie

Annie groomed herself while I was sitting next to her cage. She is definitely getting more comfortable with me. She hisses at me much less even though she is still hissing at me at odd times. She hisses at me when I don't totally expect it, like when I reach in to get her food bowl out or something. I just have to go with the flow, as they say. Whenever she hisses, I just tell her in a soothing voice that she is okay.I have been thinking about letting her out of the cage maybe just for the day and put her back in at night. Even if I let her out for a few hours a day, it might help her. I am just not sure because I know cats, especially feral cats, feel safer in small spaces. The room isn't huge, but it is huge compared to the cage. Would all of that space just freak her out?

Annie

Annie let me pet her then hissed at me not even 5 minutes later. Sigh! I have come to realize one thing about feral cats. You never know how they will be and you always have to be on guard. You have to possess infinite patience and must have a true knowledge of cats. I am still happy that I caught her but I am conflicted on what to do with her. I am planning on getting her spayed, this week hopefully. After I get her spayed, I need to decide if she is going to stay here with us or if I am going to let her go and take care of her outside. I think she has made such amazing progress so far that it would be a shame to let her go. My question is what is in her best interest? Am I just a human trying to make a pet out of her because I think that is what she should be, or is this what she wants too? I wish I could ask her what she wants.

Annie

I brought Annie out of her room and after my cats were safely put away, I brought her cage next to the balcony door so she could look outside. She seemed a little scared but calmed down pretty quickly. I saw her watching the birds coming to the feeders, I was happy to provide her with some distractions so she could just be a cat. I also brought her cage outside on the balcony for some fresh air. I open her window just about everyday but being out in the fresh air feels so much better!

annie

I pet Annie for about 10 minutes today! I opened one side of her cage and reached in to pet her. She has a little cat cube (there is a picture of it on January 4th) and I reached inside, SLOWLY, and eventually made it to her paw. She let me pet under her chin (of course no cat could refuse that!), her face, around her ears and her right front paw. She did not want me to touch her feet, her left front paw, or her belly.

annie

Annie let me pet her today! She let me pet her nose and a little around her ears. I pet her for about a minute until she let me know that she had had enough. I didn't try to pet her the rest of the night.

annie

Annie ate a treat out of my hand! She has started purring around me, too. She curls up into a loose "ball" and sleeps and purrs while I am sitting next to her cage.