My feral cats - further advice needed!

[theo92]

I'm in panic mode - I've had my semi-feral cats for 12 weeks now and they are settling in so well - tomorrow my family are coming down for the weekend (family includes my lovely grandchildren 8yrs and 5 yrs)
I have two options: 1) I shut the cats in the utility room which has access to their garden room. or 2) I just let them hide where and when they want around the house.

I would prefer to let them do their own "thing" and continue to have the run of the house. They will certainly be distressed at being confined to a specific area. BUT recently they pooed on my bed when I had visitors for a few hours - obviously they were scared to come downstairs and use the litter tray ....... and what made it worse was the fright gave them diarrhoea. Yuk! Never mind. Bedspread disinfected and washed - then a bird pooed on it whilst it was on washing line. Sorry I digress!

I really can't decide what is the best course of action. I could just cancel all visitors indefinitely, but that does seem a bit extreme. Any opinions gratefully received. Thank you!

[Alice]

Firstly, you need more than one litter tray - usual guidance is one per cat, plus one. If need be, an old oblong washing up bowl could be filled with litter until you go shopping. Place one tray in or near your bedroom, then I'd suggest that you try giving the cats the run of the house, at least to begin with when family arrive. I'd also suggest that you try to keep the children as calm as possible until the cats seem comfortable with the visitors around, only confining them if things don't go as well as you'd like. Make sure, of course, that they have 'safe places' where they can go and hide if they feel the need to do that.

I hope it all goes well - keep us posted.

[Walesgang]

I would also be inclined to keep things as normal as you can. Providing the kitties can't bolt and escape into danger.

As Alice says, try to keep the children calm when around the cats. Can you treat them to a visit to a local park to let off steam?

The cats are likely to find a place where they feel safe. Do not allow the children to track them down. Try not to show any anxiety yourself - the cats will pick up on this. Finally - try to keep the time your visitors are with you as short as possible. They need to know that your home is safe, and although there may be periods where they feel more anxious, safety will return.

Good luck and well done on giving ferals a chance. I have two former farm cats. Love them to bits

[Kay]

I think an important element here is how much the children's parents will ensure the children don't bother the cats - if they are not particularly sympathetic and you wouldn't like to lay down strict rules, I would shut them away for the duration of the visit as better safe than sorry - if they want to escape there is always the possibility of a door being left open

my non-cat loving nephew once visited me with two small children, and they were allowed to chase my poor girl out in the rain without intervention - she crept back in when we all went for a walk, and immediately got chased again when we got home - when they had gone I found her cowering under a bush soaked to the skin


















jerewill the

[theo92]

Thank you so much for your replies.

My grand kids are very well behaved so I'm not worried on that score - I've explained to them that the cats think they are wild rabbits ( they were born are raised in a rabbit hole) So they do understand that the cats will be frightened of them.

Guess I'm over-stressing as I'm just starting to gain their trust (the cats not the grand kids!). I know this will be a temporary step back for them. Once the family arrive I will not have the option of catching the cats and putting them in the utility room. I have never touched them, let alone picked them up.

Since their safe harbour has always been under my bed, perhaps I should put a litter tray in my bedroom and leave them to sort themselves out. They will probably venture out at night when everyone's asleep.

Oh dear I've just been dreading that phone call "hi mum can we come down this weekend?" !!!

[Alice]

How did it all work out at the weekend? Hopefully the cats coped well with the visitors.

[theo92]

So ....... last weekend when the family arrived ................. I decided to shut the cats in the utility room which has a cat flap into their garden room. Wise decision as, yes, we had runny poos galore, and not in the litter tray.

From previous experience I thought they would get tummy upsets with the stress of strange people in the house. I felt so guilty shutting them away, but they didn't come to any harm, the house was poo free and we had the added bonus of being able to open all the windows in this hot weather. I feared that the cats would be traumatised for days after the family had left. Wrong! As soon as I let them back in the house they were totally chilled and very happy to be back to normal.

So a very useful exercise/experience ...... I shall worry slightly less next time I have visitors.

[JulieJulie]

I've got a couple of ex ferals and one very feral cat. It's amazing, but almost as soon as the visitors have left, they suddenly re-appear - glad all went well.