How do I temporarily take care of a feral cat?

Question

My family was handed a feral cat today by our dog-loving neighbor wth the advisory that he'd been in a bush behind her house for at least 48 hours, and that she eventually went out there to find him stuck or something. He (or she) is about 5 weeks old, has what looks like an eye infection, and is positively terrified. We've already left messages with all the local feral programs and shelters and so forth, but we won't get an answer back for at least a day, and he's constantly yowling. How do we make him happy until the shelter/catch-spay-release program calls and we can give him to them?

Answer 1

Are the eyes open?
Check for teeth.
If they have teeth moistened cat food. I hope it has teeth.

5 weeks someone will take it before it really is "feral" As long as someone works with it now it will be a fine family pet. Catch and release is horrible for the cats. Give it to the rescue or shelter it doesn't need to be an outdoor cat.

Answer 2

First you need a pet carrier or a room, like a bathroom, where it can't easily hid where you can keep the kitty. At five weeks old, the kitty needs to be kept warm; kittens must be warm or they can't digest their food, so provide a heat lamp, hot water bottle or heating pad - be sure it can get away from the heat because if it wets on a heating pad, the heated urine can scald them. If no carrier or room, put it in a tall-sided box lined w/bedding. If you have other pets, isolate kitten from them, to avoid any possible disease transmissions - it can look healthy & still carry a disease. For food, my vet recommends a dry kitten chow, but put a small amount in a bowl that has a lid & add enough water to cover the chow & let it absorb the water. Then you can store it in the refrig & take out just what you need, & warm it a few seconds in the micro (not too hot!) Feed frequent, small meals. Don't give milk - it causes diarrhea. You can add a bit of canned food for flavor, but vet says call anned food is too rich so. Leave fresh water available at all times & show it to kitten often - use bowls that have a little weight as they walk through food & can tip their bowls over. If kitten seems unable to eat the soft food, it may need formula. You can obtain KMR or a similar milk replacement from the vet or a petstore or even at Walmart usually. Keep kitten warm, clean, & dry. Hold & pet it to help socialize it - this will make it easier to find it a home. Make it a shallow sided litterbox - a small box or aluminum pan can do, & rake its paws over the litter awhile after it eats - they get the idea pretty quickly. Lastly, be aware that rescue organizations are overloaded with calls for help in the spring when kittens & puppies are most often born. It may take a few days to get back to you. Also, they tend to be all volunteer groups & the amount of assistance they can give is limited by the number of volunteers & their funds - if you can foster the kitten or can give a donation, they may be better able to help you. Lastly, though you may not have been planning on a kitty , consider it, is it a possibility? After kittenhood, a cat that is vaccinated, altered & kept inside is usually very little trouble & wonderful company. There are so many more kittens than homes. sometime God drops something in our laps that are simply meant to be, though we don't know it at the time. If its truly not possible to keep it, try to find a rescue group to assist, rather than taking to a shelter if at all possible - it will have a better chance of getting a home as a shelter may be forced to euthanize the animal if they have too many. Also, a tiny kitten has little immuntiy & can catch diseases at a shelter more easily than an older cat. Good luck.

Answer 3

Giving the cat to a rescue or shelter would be the better option, at 5 weeks the cat can easily become a happy family pet.

Wipe him off with a warm wet wash cloth, so not use any soap or other cleaning agents, just water.

give him some water, and some kitten food softened with a bit of water.

A hot water bottle or sock filled with rice (heated in the microwave for apprx 60 sec) wrapped in a towel, will give him some warmth and security.

Answer 4

Where do you have him? If he's crated, he's going to yowl no matter what. Put something he can use to hide in there, put him in a low-traffic, out of the way area. Be sure there's something he can poo/pee in and keep contact to a minimum if you plan to release him back to a feral colony. No use stressing him for nothing.

If you have to transport him, believe it or not, our local spay/neuter clinic likes for kitties to be transported in a pillow case. They say it's much easier on the kitties.

They did not, however, offer any suggestions on how to get the furry mass of flying claws IN to the pillow case. Good luck with that one.

Oh, and be sure to isolate him from any of your other cats, even if they are vaccinated but especially if not. If he is in a crate you will use for your own, be sure to clean and thoroughly disinfect it when you're done.

Answer 5

Five weeks - the cat is very tamable - you won't need to trap-neuter/spay-release it. I took my feral at 12 weeks (I had found him three weeks earlier but he was too scared).
I tried contacting rescue groups for the feral kittens I found. I contacted all the ones I could find within about 75 miles radius. No luck - they were all too full of animals.
What I needed up doing with the kittens is taming them myself, and finding new owners via Craigslist.org. I was very picky, and waited to find the "right" owners.
The kitten sounds very young - you can try offering him/her softened kitten food. If he/she is too little, KMR (kitten milk replacement formula). You can find a bottle and the formula at a pet store, and your local grocery store should have the formula if the kitten can lap the milk him/herself.
As for the eye infection, my ferals had "cat colds" also, and they all recovered from theirs.

Answer 6

He is probably hungry. Try some moist kitten food and offer lots of freash water. You can keep him in a box or carrier and place a small cuddly stuffed animal in there with him so he can cuddle up to it. You can also try putting a ticking clock in there wrapped in a cloth. This will comfort him and remind him of his mother or littermates. Don't make any loud noises or sudden moves as these will frighten him. Talk softly and soothingly as if he were a human baby. He will soon start to trust you and depend on you for his feedings. If he will not eat solid food try some KMR (kitten milk replacement) in a bottle or eye dropper.

Answer 7

At that age you have a good chance of calming him down fairly quickly. By that I mean within a few hours to a day.
For today, I would put him in a very smal area, if you can put him in a crate, preferably covered. Give him food, water, and a litter box, and them give him some dark quiet time to calm down. Then, quietly, spend a little time with him. No need to hold him at first, just feed him, get him used to you being there and being nonthreatening.
Then, after a little of that, (15 minutes to a couple of hours) touch him. Just pet him, scratch his ears, talking softly.
Then cuddle. If he struggles, let him go. Don't let him panic.

At that age he will be very easy to tame, and hungry for loving. With mine I would put them in a crate or carrier, and have that carrier in the corner of whatever room I was in. After doing whatever (sewing, reading, watching a movie) I would open the crate and let him/her explore the room, warily watching me, while just doing whatever. Then, I would catch him/her, and pet for a bit,t hen hold. Rarely have I had that take more than one or two tries to work. It means being consistently unthreatening for a long time, and taking any opportunity for pets and soft words. But it is worth it.

good luck

Answer 8

I had this problem and sadly all of my local programs here did not take the cats because they already were full of animals and could not take on any more. I wound up taking them to the vet, getting them a rabies shot and taking them to the humane league for spay/neuter. Then I took them back home, bought a big igloo doghouse for them and they keep the rabbits out of my yard now.

I didn't leave them with the Humane league however due to the low odds of them being sent to a home and the high odds of them being put down. It broke my heart so I just kept them after bringing their health up to date

Answer 9

you've a project with the lads spraying ideal after neuter till the hormones cool down. you may also might want to commence spraying if dissatisfied by utilising yet another cat getting into his territory. you'll prefer to take this slowly, introducing the cats. ensure that the stray is defleaed, dewormed and is given all of his vaccinations earlier getting into your residing house. Confine him to one smooth room and introduce slowly. make certain the different pets are also given various affection so there position does no longer sense threatened.

Answer 10

but fresh food and water for him/her close to your house. not necessarily by your door, but somewhere it can feel safe. a quiet place, not too much noise since the cat is scared to death. and maybe something soft to sleep on. eventually, the cat will warm up to you. it just takes a little time.