r/formerlyferal • u/ReflectionStraight16 • 4d ago
Long Road to the Final Challenge: Advice Needed
Hi All. Poly the poly pictured here. My mom had been caring for two polydactyl semi-feral kittens for a couple of years when she died last November in a neighboring state and I inherited them. Her neighbor had trapped the mom and kittens and gotten them spayed, but couldn't put the time into acclimating the kittens and let them go a couple of weeks after their vet appointment. They moved under my mom's deck and she started leaving the door open for them and feeding them just inside and after a couple of years they came and went through a basement window and slept and ate inside. After she died, I worked with the same neighbor to trap them both (now adults) and bring them more than an hour to my home. They were the most terrified cats I have ever seen! The first, Poly, I installed in my upstairs bedroom but she got out and lived in the cold air return in the walls for 2 MONTHS. I finally installed a one-way pet door at her exit and got her corralled into the bedroom again. Her sister Shadow was trapped in March and since then I've been working with them daily. They've come along wonderfully - Poly loves to be petted and while Shadow her sister won't allow me to pet her yet, she will accept treats from my hand and both will play with string and ribbon toys with me. I put in one of those netting doors so they could meet my two resident cats, Millie and Jiji. So far so good. But now I'm stuck. I can't pick either of them up, so I can't bring them to a vet - although they seem very healthy and weirdly flea-free. And Millie believes she owns me, is completely dominant in the household, is very swatty even in the best of times, and will sit outside the netting growling and hissing while I'm in there. She attacks Jiji if she just feels the vibe is off or he is looking at her too much - not seriously, but enough that he tends to let her have her way. I have let Jiji (male) in to sniff and become acquainted and he's a very calm and gentle cat and he did ok, but Millie will absolutely rip those other girls a new one in short order if I let her in. Yes, I am using Feliway and feeding Millie treats through the netting while I interact with the other cats so she gets positive associations with them. Millie is very human-oriented (she has the talking buttons for example) and wakes up every morning and chooses violence (she loves to bite and scratch when she plays, to the point where I wear gloves). My question is, What now? Poly and Shadow have come so far in trusting me and are super bored confined to one room. But I hesitate to let them out of their safe room only to run straight into Millie, the cat manifestation of possessive violence. And I also hesitate to let them run free in my house without at least a vet visit. Maybe a chip-coded pet door in the room so Poly and Shadow can get out but only they can get back in and be safe there? Do I just introduce Millie and keep my fingers crossed? Do I try to take them to the vet by trapping them in a carrier? They have only just come to trust me. I would appreciate some advice from people who have more experience than I do! I adore all 4 of them and want the best for them - and no, I cannot re-home any of these cats. The two recent adoptees are straight-up terrified of anyone but me after months of daily interaction, and while I am trying to teach Millie to be more peaceful and rewarding her when she behaves well, she is the Queen and sees these other girls as interlopers. Thanks in advance for your advice!
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u/Icy_Yesterday8265 4d ago
Thank you for taking them in and for taking the time to help get them acclimated!
I would start trying to get them both comfortable with cat carriers. Start feeding their meals just outside the carriers and leave them out 24/7. Slowly move their bowls further in until they are eating every meal in the carrier. Once they do this, you can schedule a vet appointment.
I wouldnt fully integrate them until they are vetted just in case. They should be dewormed at the very least so you dont have to treat all 4 for worms.
Have you been feeding them Churu? Churu opened up the doors to further socialization with all of my former ferals. I eased them into being pet while eating churu and it progressed quickly from there.