So. We have Houdini, the feral cat. We brought him home from the vet on November 17th. He escaped down to the basement within two days and has been living/hiding down there ever since. I put his litter box down there, and his nice cozy bed. I refused from the beginning to feed him down there. He has to come to the landing at the top of the stairs. He comes up to eat once the house is quiet. But he seems almost to have gotten more reclusive in the weeks that we have had him. He runs and hides as soon as there is a step at the top of the basement stairs. He has not been touched for 3 weeks. I thought that he'd get accustomed to us, but he isn't/won't.
My thought is that he needs to come out of the basement. He can hide under furniture up here, but he'd still be getting used to us, which would be the first step in taming him
I do not want to live trap him. So I got the bright idea to move his food dishes from the top of the basement steps to the door of the basement. This is a move of about 2 feet, but it is just inside the kitchen. He can see his food from his old feeding spot.
He has not come up to eat at all today.
I feel like the worst person in the world knowing he's hungry down there.
Suggestions?
Keep the door open to the basement? That way he can come and go as he pleases, possibly only if you're gone? Move his litterbox and bed upstairs? Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteThe door to the basement is never closed. We were hopeful that eventually, he would come up to explore and acclimate. I saw signs that he had, once, but never again.
DeleteHe won't starve if food is available. He will probably be up overnight when the house is quiet. I guess somehow once he is up eating you want to close the basement door.
ReplyDelete...and you are right. The dry food bowl was empty this morning, and he'd drunk some water.
DeleteLike Andrew said, he won't starve while food is available. Once he is used to eating from that extra distance, increase it by another foot or two so he is properly away from the basement. I suggest moving his bed and litterbox too. Also get advice from a vet. Maybe a mild tranquiliser could be used until he gets used to people and being talked to/held.
ReplyDeleteHmm. Interesting idea.
DeleteOh, I forgot to say, now that he's in the basement, he is not using his litter box at all, which is the main reason why we need to get him out of there. I haven't figured out where he is going, but I assume it is a quiet cark corner. That will piss my husband off mightily, so I need to find it first. I have closed the door to the coal room so that he cannot get in that dark place at ALL.
DeleteI amusing a Feliway plug-in here, to calm the Big Boys down when they are still getting to know our little girls. Perhaps a trail of food up the cellar stairs and culminating in his food bowl. Once he is used to where it is you can move it a little way into the room. I have had the absolutely WILDEST ferals come round once food is involved.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to get one of those diffusers. He comes up the stairs readily to eat on the landing at the top of the steps. He just retreats to his bed when he's done, and he runs from his bed as soon as someone put the first step on the stairs. I've been feeding him twice a day, in small amounts to encourage him to associate people with food (when I put his dishes out, I call him in a normal tone of voice. Your plan was EXACTLY what I intended to do. Over the course of a few weeks, slowly move the bowls further and further from the basement door.
DeleteI hope it will help calm Houdini down. It's made a difference here. The kittens have taken to sleeping on the kitchen chairs the Big Boys sleep on, so they are more used to their scent now and MUCH calmer. Now, remember I have a cat called Ghengis. He was the roughest, toughest meanest feral you could ever find. Food brought him round (and we got rid of the rape and pillage when he was neutered)- now he is a bagpuss and LOVES to play with the kittens.
DeleteHoudini will come round. Make it your business to have to go down into the cellar occasionally, and leave a couple of cat treats (do you have anything similar to Dreamies over there?) on your way out, on the stairs. Speak to him gently when you are down there too, a soft voice, talking nonsense.
It works with unhandled horses too - though I used to sit in the stable with those, with a good book, and curiosity would finally get the better of them (and the food bucket, which I gradually moved closer to me.)
He loves "Temptations'. My washer and dryer is in the basement. I make a point of sweeping and talking to him gently (even though I have not a clue where he is!). Once he watched me quietly from his bed. Now he runs like the wind. I have a general idea where he's hiding.
DeleteWell you could always get a dog for the basement...
ReplyDeleteWhat a strange cat. I would have guessed he would have been all over the upstairs by now checking it out.
He is a wild animal, really. He was born wild, and he was raised wild. He is probably between 4 and 6 months old.
DeletePlay Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent and see if it's a Rocker cat Debby.
ReplyDeleteHe doesn't seem to like loud...perhaps if I play it very quietly for him....
DeleteI was also wondering about the Feliway plug in.
ReplyDeleteThe first I heard about it was from Bovey Belle when she got her kitten hoodlums. I did some reading on it then, but went back and did some more reading once I was reminded of it. They say that it can help 'hiding' behaviors. Certainly worth a try.
DeleteI didn't know what a feliway plug in, now I do. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with moving his food, slowly, day by day. He won't let himself starve. Poor bugger is just scared.
I know that he is, and I certainly don't want to make that worse. I'd also hate just to give in and let him return to the streets.
DeleteThis cat is a real controller. Some animals are very hard to train or tame.
ReplyDeleteHe's really scared of people, that's for sure.
DeleteTry moving it just a few inches at a time?
ReplyDeleteHe maybe needs to be a barn cat. Some don’t adapt. Our cat rescue lady tries to put them in homes, but some cats can’t handle it. She has a few cat-friendly farmers that she can rely on.
The plan is to move the bowls a bit at a time. I suppose a farmer would be a good back up plan later in the spring.
DeleteJust to be clear, these barn cats are still fed and overseen in some way, and she does have them neutered to prevent more generations of feral cats.
DeleteYou could place a treat or three between the old dish spot and the new one as an inducement. Something with more drawing power than ordinary dry food. :)
He has three bowls. One is water, one is dry, and one is a spoonful of the exact same food that your Lacey insists upon. I feed that a spoonful at a time, hoping that he'll associate me with the good stuff.
DeleteMy daughter used a Feliway diffuser that plugs into an electric outlet when she adopted a formerly feral young cat. It may have helped, Bunny (name she came with ) has only one eye and could not be released to the feral colony. She is bit calmer around my daughter, not really affectionate, and never learned from siblings not to bite. My daughter says she is like a roommate who doesn't pay their share.
ReplyDeleteThat made me laugh out loud, Anon. He's rather like Schroedinger's cat in a way. I have a cat, but I simultaneouslydon't have a cat.
DeleteWe took in a feral cat once. It took a very long time for her to warm up to us, and she never did for anyone else. Visitors thought she was a myth, because they never saw her. He's scared right now. It sounds to me like you are doing all the right things. Moving the food bowls a little further into the house is a good idea. Our feral cat, Pooka, ended up being our absolute favorite of all time. However, she was always easily spooked.
ReplyDeleteThat's encouraging, isn't it? My last cat was feral, but she was much younger when we got her. She adapted very quickly.
DeleteThat is a tough one. We had aggressive cats, and the Feliway never worked. I think the main issue would be getting it house trained. They recommend to put them into an enclosed room, and going in to feed it. If you have a spare room. We took in an abandoned pair. That worked for us. Good luck with that!
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, when he was trapped, he used his litter box. He used it while he was in the vet. He used it for the first two days when he was upstairs. The coal room is an earth floor. That seems to have started our problem. When I noticed that he was not using his box, I shut the door to the coal room. I thought the problem was solved until a couple days ago when I cleaned the litter box and discovered he hadn't used it.
DeleteI would move Houdini from the basement to another room sooner as opposed to later, and the basement would be off-limits to him until you know if he can adapt or not. My little feral had been gravely injured prior to my taking her in, and she has a residual limp in her back legs. The vet said her injuries were a result of either an animal attack or being hit by a car and that she was about a year old. Numerous reasons for being skittish & easily spooked. I initially sequestered Izzy in a spare bedroom with her bed, food, water, and litter box, and spent time with her in her room every day, quietly & softly talking to her, letting her become accustomed to my scent and comfortable with my presence, and finally I was rewarded with being allowed to stroke her soft, soft fur. Yes, it took seemingly ages for her to come to me for affection, and although she'll never be a lap cat, she does sleep on the foot of my bed every night and she loves to be combed/brushed.
ReplyDeleteI have that part figured out. The thing is that I don't want to chase an already frightened cat. I don't want to catch him in a live trap. For whatever reason, this cat is afraid. Very afraid. But you are absolutely right. The basement is not helping. He bolted and William had left the basement door open. Fsssttttt, he was gone. I just figured he would get over being afraid.
DeleteIf he can get to the food I
ReplyDeletedon't he will let himself starve to death.
He can get to his food, and you are right. He isn't going to starve.
ReplyDeleteIf a feral cat is not touched by a human by four days of age, it will remain a feral cat. You may need to acclimate yourself to a basement cat and assume he has escaped or died when he food is untouched.
ReplyDeleteI know an awful lot of exceptions to that rule, actually.
DeleteThere are so many "feral" indicators. A feral cat if awkward; it cannot sit softly in your lap, in a relaxed manner. So it may come upstairs, but will be hard pressed to behave like a domestic cat. I've had more than a few feral cats living with me over the last 80 years. One actually lived in the basement and became acclimated to my brother and brother-in-law in their workshop. They couldn't touch him, but he sat on the workbench, watching them. Let me send you some literature.
DeleteIf you want him to join you upstairs I think you have to start by spending time with him in the basement. Hearing your voice and smelling your scent without being forced to do anything will earn his trust in time. Leaving him treats and catnip will entice him. Most of all your patience will send the message he is safe.
ReplyDeleteI do spend time in the basement daily. I sweep and tidy and do my laundry all the while talking to an invisible cat. My biggest concern is that he is no longer using his litter box and that allowing this to continue will turn him into a cat not suited for indoor life.
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