I have two feral kittens that I'm trying to socialize. These little girls will take a while. They *can* be socialized since they are not vicious - just unused to, and wary of humans. Waving turkey around helps a lot but I've had a little bit of a set-back. One of them caught a cold and passed it to the other - who did not throw it off... and the other had ear mites... which means, I am dosing both with antibiotics and ear drops. It's like kids. One catches a cold and they could end up passing it back and forth!
Hmm... realised that I never did update this. I named them Holly (tabby) and Ivy (tuxedo) as I figured I'd have them over Christmas. Well, when I sent Ivy for her spay (the little tart was raising her rear to my grown femmes) I showed a couple small spots on an ear that had popped up to the lady that runs the rescue - Ring Worm! So she put her in isolation and treatment. If ring worm caught a foot hold in my house, that would be the end of fostering for me. That was in December.
A full month later, Holly developed a spot. So she was taken and they are keeping each other company again until they are symptom free.
I ended up doing a lot of hot-water & bleach washing, vacuuming with baking soda and wiping stuff down with mild bleach solutions. Neither of my grown cats have picked it up, so we think I am in the clear, and... kitten season is coming around again. I shall have more kittens to foster in a couple of months.
I have 3 dogs and 4 cats, and 3 of the 4 cats showed up at my door and declared they were home. The most recent addition was from a litter that was dumped and rescued by someone my wife works with. His name is Donny and he is a hell raiser.
I just discovered this thread; what a sweet picture with two very cute cats! ...I just luv them! ...Are those perfume bottles on the top right Carolyn?
I just discovered this thread; what a sweet picture with two very cute cats! ...I just luv them! ...Are those perfume bottles on the top right Carolyn?
Both Holly and Ivy have been microchipped and adopted out to a barn home on Whidbey island. IF they hadn't had all these setbacks - cold / mites / fungal disease, we might have been able to tame them to the extent that they would have been adoptable to an inside home. However, with kitten season nigh upon us, their time simply ran out.
You can't save them all, and you can't tame them all. They do love people, they love the contact and I can see in a year or so, they will be cuddling up to their care-takers and wanting inside the nice warm kitchen.