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Author Topic: Feral cat - advice needed  (Read 33898 times)

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
    • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #15 on: December 30, 2017, 01:00:23 am »
Quote from: Womble on December 29, 2017, 02:47:12 pm
So I dreamed last night that I had made a super duper whizz bang cat trap to catch Mr Bond (that's his name now), but when I went to check on it, I had instead caught a vervet monkey and two marmosets.

I think may have eaten too much cheese before going to bed!  :o

Quote from: Anke on December 29, 2017, 02:38:25 pm
Adults don't shed oocysts anymore, kittens are the culprits.

But surely after initial infection, they shed for a certain time period before developing their own immunity, at which point they are no longer infectious. So it would depend on if/when this guy was initially infected, and how much time has passed? 



I think that the assumption is that all cats are born infected.  So any adult cat carries the infection but won't be shedding oocysts.

Except maybe pregnant / lactating mothers? 
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Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
    • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #16 on: December 30, 2017, 05:36:24 pm »
A little research can be a dangerous thing!  :o
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"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
    • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #17 on: December 30, 2017, 09:17:21 pm »
Quote from: Womble on December 30, 2017, 05:36:24 pm
A little research can be a dangerous thing!  :o
So which human do you think you'd like to trap?  :innocent: :roflanim:
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Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
    • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #18 on: December 30, 2017, 09:36:15 pm »
Oh, plenty.  I wouldn't worry about doing it humanely though Annie  ;) .
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"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
    • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #19 on: February 02, 2018, 09:20:20 pm »
OK, I think it's time I gave you all an update!

So I spent a few happy wombly hours in the workshop melting bits of metal together and generally creating mayhem, and then set up the trail-cam and waited......

Happily, by the next morning I had caught myself a feral cat!



Unhappily, once caught, he was the wildest, sharpest ball of hate and muscle I'd ever clapped eyes on!! 



However, he soon calmed down once he realised we weren't going to hurt him, and over the next few days we even got to the stage where he'd take pieces of chicken from my hand (so perhaps not completely feral then?).



He had his balls removed last week (paid for by the Cats Protection League, which was nice). However, although we kept him caged afterwards in an attempt to tame him up, he's actually become far more aggressive and will now go for any hands / spoons etc that are poked through the bars.

So, what do you think folks?  Should we just let him out now and see if he hangs around?  I reckon it's probably futile to keep him caged any longer, since we're clearly not going in the right direction, unless any of you can advise me otherwise. Does anybody know how long it will take after neutering for his hormones to calm down?
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"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
    • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #20 on: February 02, 2018, 11:57:24 pm »
Hormones could take months.  I'd let him go and if nothing else you've saved the world from a n ever increasing succession of wild black feral monsters  :roflanim:
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Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

Steph Hen

  • Joined Jul 2013
    • Angus Scotland.
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #21 on: February 03, 2018, 07:11:36 am »
Great looking cat!

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Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
    • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #22 on: February 03, 2018, 08:58:35 am »
Yeah, whatever he's been eating over the past 6 months or so, he was clearly pretty darn good at catching!
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"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #23 on: February 03, 2018, 05:08:49 pm »
Handsome cat!


Can take at least 6 weeks for hormone levels to fall.


I think that the older he is, the longer that he will take to tame.


We took in a little feral kitten in the Autumn and she went from spitting feathers to the biggest purr machine ever in the course of a weekend.


Vet said that we took her in before the fight or flight survival mechanism developed.


Our neighbour has taken several ferals into her home. They all tamed but to different degrees and took different lengths of time to achieve.


Think it depends how much time you have to give him and how determined you are.


You've done him a real favour getting him 'done' whatever you choose to do next. :thumbsup:
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Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
    • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #24 on: March 03, 2018, 04:11:55 pm »
OK, could whoever is dumping starving entire male cats at our farm please stop?  :-\

This one is trying to eat the crusts we've put out for the hens!
 
« Last Edit: March 03, 2018, 04:18:22 pm by Womble »
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"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Steph Hen

  • Joined Jul 2013
    • Angus Scotland.
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #25 on: March 03, 2018, 10:05:53 pm »
How is your big black one doing?

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in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #26 on: March 09, 2018, 09:05:27 pm »
Oh well, you are now a skilled trapper!


Yes, is the black one still around?
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Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
    • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #27 on: March 10, 2018, 12:49:52 am »
Hiya,

Our neighbour has taken Merlin (the black cat) on as a bit of a mission, and is coming round slowly but surely. He's blatantly never going to be a lap cat, but he does seem to be gradually losing his fear of people  :thumbsup: .
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"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
    • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #28 on: March 18, 2018, 08:39:56 pm »
Update: The voucher for Houdini's debollockation came through from the Cats' Protection League, so Womble's whizz bang cat trap got it's second outing:





Houdini is much less ferocious than Merlin, and will even eat food when we are nearby. I'll get him booked in for his op tomorrow, and then hopefully he's going to go on to live a lovely outdoor life with a friend of a friend down near Lanark.

Meanwhile, Merlin is slowly coming round to the idea that people are not all completely awful, and has taken up residence under the Molecatcher's bed!:

« Last Edit: March 18, 2018, 08:42:30 pm by Womble »
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"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
    • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
Re: Feral cat - advice needed
« Reply #29 on: March 19, 2018, 10:12:02 am »
I think Houdini should be renamed Smudge  :coat:
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Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age
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