Feral Kitten HELP NEEDED ASAP

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moodybearchild
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2019 3:57 pm

Feral Kitten HELP NEEDED ASAP

Post by moodybearchild »

A kitten showed up on my porch early in August while I was on vacation and the house sitter began feeding them. It disappeared on and off for the week and a half I was gone. When I returned on the 18, I began sitting outside near the kitten and feeding him by hand. I built trust with him and he ate directly from my hand, though he wouldn’t let me pet him. The 21 he disappeared and I noticed a bloody kitten dropping near the end of my porch. He returned the 22 and I immediately trapped him. I set up an X-Pen inside my home in a quiet bedroom with toys and blankets, a scratch post, a litter box, kibble, wet food, and water.

The 25ᵗʰ, I bought edible praziquantel tablets for tapeworms. He at first allowed me to pet him and even relaxed and purred on the 27 (I have kept a notebook keeping track of his health daily since I took him in). On the 28, he hissed when he saw me, something he hadn’t done the day before, and refused to let me pet him. His stool had gone from firm to runny and green and he was lethargic. I set up an appointment for that Saturday. His appetite was fine on this day. On the evening of the 29ᵗʰ, I noticed he had solid kibble pieces still in his droppings, as if he was not digesting the food. He was incredibly aggressive and lethargic, and I was very concerned. I understood the risks kittens have of simply failing to thrive, however at this point I was certain he was over 9 weeks old and thought thrive failure was a stretch and decided to be far less aggressive with my attempts at petting/bonding with him. (In hindsight, I realize this was probably a bad call...)

On Saturday, he had not eaten overnight at all, which was deeply unnerving as his appetite had been unparalleled ravenous, but it was not stressful getting him into a crate for transport, and I covered it with a blanket and he was quiet and calm for most of the time inside it. However, the vet I took him put a leash on him to assist with handling the aggressive cat, who of course was a danger right of the bat as soon as the blanket came off and the crate’s side was open. He was given a kitten shot, a sedative, and an antibiotic. The vet advised me to simply let nature run it’s course through the kitten (which turned out to be female, sorry if I have called the kitten a he this whole post 🤦🏼‍♀️) and said “you probably won’t be able to keep him as a pet, I don’t see why you should try to keep him healthy.” It seemed wildly inappropriate given I obviously was going to do everything I could to keep him alive. I was given Strongid and Albon suspension.

You could easily say that after this visit, the kitten is traumatized and whatever trust I initially built with her is gone.

I’m concerned that I’ve destroyed whatever opportunity I ever had with socializing or taming her, even though she is a kitten, I need every amount of advice available to help deal with this. Bonding tips, better alternatives than having to wrestle her into being scruffed and forcing medication down her throat, anything you can tell me will be so appreciated.

I am more than willing to release the kitten to a rescue who specializes in ferals, but I would prefer doing it myself seeing as I’ve started this journey, I want to do everything I can before shrugging the responsibility off onto someone else.
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Cat-FAQ
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Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2015 6:04 pm

Re: Feral Kitten HELP NEEDED ASAP

Post by Cat-FAQ »

Hello moodybearchild

I hope the kitten is starting to settle after her experiences with the vet. Cat Chat has information on a technique called the bonding room, which may have some helpful tips that you could try with her: https://www.catchat.org/index.php/new-cat-in-the-home

The following links may be useful for advice and help:
Cat Action Trust 1977 (feral cat charity): http://www.cat77.org.uk
Original Cat Action Trust (feral cat charity): http://www.catactiontrust.org.uk
Cats Protection Helpline: 03000 12 12 12
Find your local cat rescue organisations here: https://www.catchat.org/index.php/cat-r ... uk-ireland
Cat Chat's information page on Feral Cats, listing shelters across the country who may be able to give you help and support and who deal with feral cats: https://www.catchat.org/index.php/about-feral-cats

I hope that is of some help.
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