How to take care of a stray cat ,Part Two

The above picture is of Raymond. He was a stray for about two years. He was an apprehensive cat and it was not until he was live trapped and in the house four about three months did he come around and want to be handled. Patience is the key here. Some cats will never be domesticated. Some times these types of cats can become good barn cats and make their living doing rodent control. A barn cat can have a good life, but they still need human assistance to live a long life. The necessity to go to the vet is still there. This prevents unwanted kittens and the spread of feline diseases. Believe it or not a good mouser still needs to be fed and have a good source of water. Winter shelter is required. This could be an assembled house or some bales stacked together to form a shelter.  Treat them nice and after a few years they might let you pet them.

All the best ,Trevor

How to take care of a stray cat.

Taking care of  stray cats has been easy for me. Of the four stray cats I have taken in three were kittens and one was two years old. The two kittens that were three and four weeks old respectively were of no significant problem. They were eating solid food . Because they were probably still sucking we fed them Purina kitten formula until weaning age. They were kept separate from the rest of the cats when no one was home. When they were free to run around the house we always kept an eye out for their safety from the dogs and adult cats. They socialized easily and now at almost a year old they are doing fine.  They had vet visits soon after being found . Needles and deworming is mandatory. We had the little Tomcat neutered at six months. The little girl is still intact. There is no one to get her pregnant so I am waiting to get her spayed. The two year old female was kept isolated from everyone for three days until her vet visit. I did not know what parasites or diseases she might introduce to the clowder so we took no chances. After the vet visit we brought her into the house and let her loose. She socialized well with only a few fights with the other adult females. Every body used the litter boxes with out any problems. Shortly after her arrival she went into heat. Lots of night time howling and the boys liked her. We got her spayed soon after. My very first cat was found at about four months old. He had to be live trapped as he was to scared to let any one near him. We got him in the house and he adapted to home living easily. My first introduction to cat health care came when he started leaving worms. A call to the vet and a couple of pills and we were  done with that.

My friend had a slightly different experience with her adult male feral cat. This boy was fed outside for a year until he came around sick. Being timid and impossible to catch a live trap was used and he was taken to the vet immediately. Vaccinations, neutering and a discovery of being feline FIV positive resulted. He was taken into the house and he hid for months until he was ready to get social. Now he is a loving and wonderful healthy cat. Socialization come at the cats discretion and everyone has to be patient and let things happen. A FIV cat can live to normal life span but should be kept inside and have regular vet visits to avoid any complications.

Cat Care, My Personal Guide and Experiences Raising Cats.

Welcome to my web site about Cat care. My name is Trevor.

My life with cats started with Soxs. A small four month

old black and white kitten crying in the wood pile. Now I have seven cats all with individual minds and personalities. Along the  journey numerous cat care questions came up. I already had a good veterinarian to go to. The St. Claude Vet Clinic in St. Claude Manitoba. I have had a good 20 year relationship with this institution and they have been a great source of very helpful information.  The information from the vet plus my own study has given me a desire to produce a web site to make cat care easy. Why do I like cats you might ask ? Well the first time I held Soxs it was a moment of awe as I held this fabulous kitten in my hands. All my cats give me a sense of joy and always can make you smile.  Cats are polite, quiet, agile, curious and darn good fun. So lets look at how to care for our felines here at CatCare.