Karolyn,
What's a "come a long"? Is it one of those noose collars at the end of a pole? I'd love to find an easier way to transport frightened cats. A stray gone feral, named Kimba, fights the carrier as if it means life or death. Besides the time I trapped my feral (now house cat) Gypsy, we had to bring her to the vet two other times. When we discovered that my rescued bottle babies had FeLV, Gypsy (as well as the other cats in the household), had to be tested, and of course, she had to go back for vac boosters. It was traumatic to say the least. The first time I tried a mild sedative, thinking it might help calm her enough to make things easier. The next time, I thought maybe the sedative had made the situation worse because she was so "drunk" and disoriented. So the next time she had to go, we tried to herd her into a carrier sober. Much, much worse, my poor husband got a nasty bite for his trouble. I was afraid these experiences would set her rehabilitation back, but they seemed to have the opposite effect. I guess she was glad to be brought back home, and maybe she realized that even though she was scared out of her wits, nothing really bad happened to her.
I was so relieved to find out that Gypsy was negative. She was only four months old when she came inside to live with us and had only had initial vacs when she was spayed. She had very close contact with my +s before we knew the danger. They shared a litter box, groomed each other and played and tussled all the time. I'm very grateful that FeLV doesn't seem to be as contagious as everyone says. I'd have been devastated if I'd saved her from the street only to give her this horrible disease. I'm heartbroken enough knowing I can't bring anyone else into the household.
To update you wonderful people on my bottle babies, (now one year old), they have responded wonderfully to doxycycline. As I write this, I can hear them racing through the house leaping and cavorting, just the way year old kittens should! Grace had been feverish and extremely lethargic. She had been on two treatments of Clavamox, she'd improve slightly by the 8th day, only to relapse shortly after stopping the antibiotic. My vet has suggested keeping her on dox for 3 or 4 months. I have been very reluctant, but I'm waiting to hear from the FDA about whether or not they'll grant our dispensation for Virbagen Omega. I figure, if it will keep them healthy (Jazz started displaying Grace's first symptoms of gingivitis and she's on dox as well) until it gets here, it's worth my discomfort.
Thanks again for all the info and support. I can't tell you what a comfort it's been to have found this list.
Karolyn Lount wrote:
I had one feral, that was a daughter of a feral. that after she was fixed set outside the place, where the lady that had been feeding her lived,screamed her head off until she was let into her loft. Lyn could not keep her so I took her. I kept her in a Condo cage for two mos. What a love she turned out to be. I had 17 other cats at the time. I put a Pet Door in so my cats could go out to the patio (which they can not get out of) I tried for weeks to get them to use it. No such luck. Mrs. Peabody, the feral showed them how to use it. My cats would sit in a semi circle every morning waiting for me to open the patio door. Well this one morning Mrs. Peabody walked up to the pet door, touched it and went thru it. The other cats looked at each other, looked at the pet door and one by one they all went thru the pet door. I have another feral that it was 4 to 5 yrs. before I cold touch her. Now she wants her brushing every night. Then I have two others I have not been able to touch for a long, long, long time. But that is OK. They seem happy and get along with all the other cats. I just let each cat be its self. When my ferals, that I can not touch, have to go to the Vet I am very lucky as I have a friend that is a retired Animal Control Officer and she uses a "Come A Long" to get them into a carrier for me.
