but i want a kitten.
yes, i'm allergic, but i've discovered through years of living with a cat, that the way to get unallergic is to have cats. new cats do require a bit of an adjustment period, but with the help of Jessica's suggestion to try Allerpet, well, i'm confident that my histamine production won't go too haywire.
and i want a kitten. what started this is the knowledge that there were feral kittens, just born, right in our neighborhood. they've gone to live under the nun's house next door, and since, well, they're nuns of the franciscan order, it's kinda their job to minister to the small furry things. and i went to feralcat.com and read the suggested instructions for taming feral kittens and that gave me serious pause. i do not know that i am capable of doing such a thing right.
so i've spent the last couple of days surfing around here. scroll down to CJ. she's not a kitten, but there's something so appealing about those eyes, and the fact she's just perfect for our home (and our kitty, who's also declawed).
i want a kitten that i can raise that will like me. our kitty likes chris, i think they have the whole male-animal thing going on, i don't know. i want a little girl kitty to be my little kitty. so there's the kitten possibility, or, well, CJ. CJ is such a perfect little kitty. i bet she'd like me.
*sigh*
Well, both of my beasts were feral, untouched by human hands before I caught them, and now they're the sweetest, most docile little cats I've ever had the pleasure of owning, probbaly because I made sure I trained them well.
If you decide to go for it, you can write to me anytime for help.
what i'm afraid of is that with working full time, being out of the house that much, and having my kid to deal with, i might not be able to really give a feral baby kitty the kind of attention it and, my inexperience -- i'm really new at this cat ownership, all my life i thought it was hopeless, that cats just made me sick. then, when i moved in here and the cat was not mine to dispute, well, i learned that it just takes awhile, and the allergies go away.
but am i up to taming a feral kitty?
Hmmm... Some experience here, except I've trapped (an older one), released her into the spare bathroom, fed, cleaned the cat box, fluffed the kitty bed (and talked a lot as I did those), played with a string (only available from me; a toy ball was available 24*7) and gradually got her to allow me to pet her. It turned out well enough; I took her to the vet after the cool down period (ear mites are forever with the wild ones).
I'll also pass your link along to a very good resource in this area...
My liddle Paddock was feral, almost. She ended up being the sweetest thing.
i'm worried about not having the spare bathroom too. that's in the instructions -- i have only one bathroom and am unwilling to pee in the backyard until the cat's tame.
like i said, i am really not sure i have the resources to handle a feral kitty. the ones under the nun's house are about 5 weeks? chris said we should wait till they were weaned, fully weaned, but from what i've read, the younger the better.
this is scary, kind of.
I used to not like cats. Then I discovered that you cannot no way on god's earth go into a Humane Society and not take a kitty home. I gradually got used to her, and then got her a friend boy kitty.
About a year after that some events in my life threw me into a deep depression, to the point where I was wandering around looking for something to do myself in with.
The kitties knew something was wrong, and followed me around until I realized if I hurt myself nobody would take care of the kitties. Realizing this I went to get my head examined and am all better now. So I owe my life to my kitties Daisy and Merlin, and I will never forget that.
I agree that the younger the better, 6-8 weeks. A kitten, even if considered feral, is simply a kitten that will respond favorably to a lot of love. And as they grow, gentle but firm scolding when they've pushed the limits goes a lot further than swats on their tusches. Litterbox training is usually quick even if their momma cat didn't teach them. They are very smart animals.
It may take a couple of weeks for a kitten to adopt you, but once they have it is a lifelong connection & partnership for the both of you. Do take that into consideration, an older cat may not ever make that deal with you.
well, we've pretty much decided we're going to go rent a cat trap, like we did when the momkitty was born under our house about a year ago -- we caught some of them and took them to the humane society, and the ones that got away, are the parents of the kittens now under the next door house (we boarded ours up after that, possums went there too).
we'll have to try to catch all the kitties, so that we can take the rest to the humane society. not sure what'll happen if we catch momkitty too, but the humane society never euthanizes animals. but if somebody doesn't do something we're on our way to a colony of feral kittycats in the neighborhood. *sigh*
yup. gotta save the kitties.
oh, and Stacey? they were just returning the favor :)
i'm sorry but it doesn't appear to me that your allergies have gone away. how much albuterol do you go through every month? how often have you visited the emergency room recently? i think you are fooling yourself, hon.
well, there is no difference between the way i feel at work, than i do at home. i'm allergic to everything.
believe me, when i first moved in here, i had cat allergies. burning eyes, itching on the roof of my mouth, the inside of my ears, the back of my throat (the places you can't scratch). there were profound and undeniable symptoms. horrid symptoms. now? pretty much normal. used to be if i touched a cat and then accidentally touched my eye, it would swell shut. i pet the cat all the time now, and i'm an eye-toucher. my eyes never get like that anymore.
CJ is a cutie... :)
you should redesign their website!
wow. lots to think about. thanks so much, Bill and Janeen, this is first-hand stuff that's very valuable. i'm thinking more and more that, lacking a bathroom i can spare, i'm not equipped to properly de-feralize a kitty.
going to keep considering everything, though. this isn't something i'm doing lightly, at all.
As long as you have a room you can isolate them in, with a litterbox - this is for training purposes and also to protect your current cat from the parasites most wild cats harbor. I stuffed a Raid-sprayed towel under the door of the room I kept them in to stop creepy crawlies from visiting my previous cat.
Most important:
1. Give them a little space they can hide in, and never never bother them in there. They need to feel secure before they can relax. If you make that the carrier, then getting them to the vet for their shots, etc, will be less of a chore.
2. Never lose a battle of wills. This is crucial. To truly tame a wild cat, you must become their pack leader, the alpha cat; the way to do this is to always win. If you need to put the cat in a carrier, you don't give up until the cat is in the carrier. It took me three hours to get Dog in his carrier the first time; thirty minutes the second time, and about 15 seconds the third time. If you ever, even once, give in and let the cat win, the cat will always remember that it has a chance and will be more likely to resist you in future.
3. Never use violence. I always used positive reinforcement (first treats and then petting when they started liking it) for good behaviour, and, once I was established as alpha cat, I found that exhibiting cat-distress cat-style crying, licking the scratch they just gave me, mewling) was enough to punish them for any undesirable behaviour. I never once smacked Dog, just cried when he scratched me - and he scratched me all of three times and never again. To this day, if he ever gets overexcited and starts a scratching or biting motion, he'll get a furry look of horror on his face and run and hide under the bed before he even touches me.
3. The wrapping them in a towel and teaching them to be petted works. You feel like a total shit the first time, as they hate it and are clearly suffering, but it all relates to happy chemicals produced when they get washed by their mommies. Think of that when you pet them, pet in 'washing' motions, and they'll adapt, and will eventually be asking to be petted. It took Dog many months, but now he follows me everywhere and needs constant touching.
4. Whenever possible, use sound consistently. I always made the same noise when restraining them or when they were being bad, and now I only have to make that noise for them to stop what they're doing. Consisten praise sounds are useful too.
Um. That's all for now. :D
The nice thing about shelter kitties is that vaccines and such are already included. (I worked at a shelter for 3 years--shelter kitties rule!) Your Animal Control Officer(usually through the police dept.) should be able to get/trap the cats for you and bring them to the Humane Society. Hopefully you can get them before they breed again. You may even have a feral cat rescue group in your town. Feral kittens are hard work and can be slow or no going depending how feral they are. Good luck!
awwww.
I see what you mean about CJ..although Smore is the one that got me.
I am gonna be one of those old ladies that has a thousand cats in her big old house. I will take in strays and all that. I love cats. I only have one, cause that is the only way she will have it lol. But I really could have a houseful of those soft, purring creatures...
My sister once had cat named Smokey. He was neutered, and not too bad. I personally don't like cats as they are a bit too unpredictable. Dogs are much more loyal animals I believe. But, whatever suits you, if you want a kitty, go for it!
No problem, kd. One last element of the equation: the commitment is not just the time you spend training them, but patience as well.
It took me over six months to teach Dog to want my company, more than eight before he was comfortable being touched, and a year before he started to relax around me. It can be frustrating, and lord knows I was paying a heavy emotional toll - I'd come out of a forced petting session with Dog and just cry my eyes out because he was so afraid of me and I didn't know if he'd ever adapt. But adapt he did, and he's the happiest, best-natured and most loving cat in the world now.
You have to be prepared for a long road. It may not take that long - Dog's sister, Mouse, crawled into my lap for the first time less than a month after I brought them home.
Whatever you choose, I appreciate the thought you're putting into the decision. Too many people are so careless about bringing animals into their lives!
p.s. Janeen, I'm female. Just FYI. :D
well, we have a backup plan (and i saw the little grey kitty, he or she ran through my yard earlier this evening. oh, a little grey bouncy kitty. oh!) and i forgot the laundry room! (how do you forget your own laundry room? well, if one of the doors slides into the wall you forget it is a door)
so the laundry room is a possibility. it is small, carpetless, and can be kittenproofed i believe. might make laundry hard to do for awhile. how long do you have to give up the room?
and the frustrated part. i have to think about that too.
lots to think about.
My boss, Dan wanted me to write to you you about feral kitties. Ugh. I could write books, but that's another story. I've got 15 cats and half of 'em came from feral cat colonies I've taken care of. I'll make at attempt to be short & succinct.
1) Everything Bill said. I work slightly different than he does, but I think we've both come out successfull with our kitties.
2) True success can only come with being able to contain kitty in a small environment (thus the "spare bathroom" suggestions). You must keep kitty contained and become it's only source of input, whether that input's food & water or interaction.
3) You must spend TIME with kitty. Lots of it. At first, just sitting on the floor in the room talking to her. You'll spend days doing this. Never do anything scary. Don't be loud. Modulate your voice to be soothing ad happy. She'll eventually come to investigate you, if nothing but out of shear boredom. Let her come to you. Reaching out quickly to grab her will scare her.
4) Back to what Bill said about petting in "washing" motions. It's like magic. They love it, whether they realize it or not.
5) I keep a radio on or a tv, on very low volume, when I'm gone to work. Just to get used to human voices. Of course, choose your channel well. Rap or metal music won't quite accomplish what you're looking for. ;-)
6) Bottom line, if you're not up to devoting the time necessary in gaining kitty's trust, you'll end up with a half-wild cat.
Take a look at my Princess (aptly names, since the house and everything in it belongs to her) http://www.pbase.com/image/3046447
Hope this link thing works. I'm not a 'puter expert.
Good luck! IF you want a book version, let me know.
Forgot to mention something.
About Momkitty...you talked about catching her. One thing that you can do is catch her, have her spayed, keep her a day or two for recovery, then return her to the spot you took her from, and continue to feed & water her there. That way she can continue on, but she won't be reproducing.
We had a group of ladies doing this at a County Yard. I'd succeeded in having almost 30 cats (nearly all of them--took me about 6 months) fixed. We were feeding and providing medical care for them. Once you get everyone fixed, it becomes a stable population.
Well, after all this work, the County decided they didn't want them there any longer. They hired an exterminator and carted them all away to the SPCA. They refused to grasp the concept that the cats weren't reproducing any longer. Broke my heart.
Gosh that look says, "You know you want me. Come on. Come on, baby. Come get me."
yeah, all those kitties are beautiful. makes me wish we weren't allergic. [and sorry i got on your case about allergies, kd.]
and CJ is available. and CJ's completely spayed, healthy, with all the tests and shots and the adoption fee is fifty dollars which coincedentally was the amount of money my parents slipped me yesterday because they are parents and they do that sort of thing.
it's like a sign or something.
and with this new inhaler, i could conquer the world, as far as wheezing is concerned. the gardners are outside making the air thick with plant matter, i have the windows open, and not a twitch in the lung area.
oh man.
OH, hey Bill...sorry 'bout that! ;-)
Would you believe I get mistaken for a man a lot online? ;D
*sigh* time to put up some more pictures of my cleavage....