Day 21

Picked up Indy yesterday, she got a perfect bill of health.  Blood tested for everything under the sun, all good.  No worms.  Spay went well, she behaved well.  She got all her shots and stuff.  She was in heat already at 14/15 weeks old!  Glad we got her when we did!

She was very very scared again when she first came home.  I was worried we were going to undo all the progress we made in the last 2 weeks.  She had an e-collar on at first, but wouldn't keep it on without going crazy.  She was going to do more damage to herself fighting that collar then anything else.

Here she with the collar.  She couldn't even lay down or lick her paws.  That's a battery powered lantern for night visits next to her.

We took the e-collar off and she was much better right away.  Even back into our laps and purring.  We monitored her all day and all night to make sure she wasn't licking/messing with her stitches.

This morning when we went in there, looks like she did manage to get one of her stitches out.... but everything looks fine.  I picked up some Bitter Apple Spray for Cats made to stop cats from licking wounds and that stopped her completely from messing with it.

No damage to the relationship - she's back into our laps full time for petting/purring.  

Just need to wait 10-12 days for her to heal up, get the remaining stitches removed and time to introduce her to the rest of the cats and rest of the house.  Can't wait!

Day 19

Today we took Indy into the vet for spaying and vaccines and another checkup.  She is so friendly that it's hard to get her out of our laps.  She loves petting, touching, purring, sitting in our laps, laying with us.  She's okay with being held now too.  She doesn't particularly like it yet but doesn't squirm.

She'll stay over night at the vet and we'll pick her up tomorrow.

Day 15

That was quick, she's a lap-cat already :)

Day 14

Things could not be going better.  She's about a step away from crawling into our laps.  She will sit next to us, lay next to us.  If we stop petting her she crawls closer.  She's every bit as friendly as my two Maine Coons were when they were this age - and they were hand raised from the very second they were born.  The only difference is we can't hold her comfortably yet, or clip her nails like we could the Maine Coons.  But she's just as friendly/loving with us.  Probably because she is an only kitten - and the Maine Coons had each other.

The below pictures were taken exactly 14 days and 1 hour from the moment I first walked into her room and she tried to jump and claw through the window trying to get away from me.

Day 13

Indy now runs right to the door chirping and purring when we come in, and she wants some petting.  Definitely a friendly kitty.

She's getting more and more comfortable being pet and touched.  I even picked her up just for 3 seconds to move her slightly so she can start getting used to that.  She tensed up, but did not squirm.  We'll start picking her up and holding her for longer and longer periods and ease her into being held too.

Her new found confidence is also causing her to be more and more curious about the house beyond the door to her room.  She's really clawing at the towel under the door, and almost looks like she's ready to try to run out.....  right into my other cats.

Day 12

Indy continues to let us pet her, scratch her head, even touch her back.  She leans into the petting, closes her eyes, and purrs real loud.  She definitely likes it.  She does not like if we reach over her head to pet her, she's still a little scared of the big hand reaching over her head, so as long as we're careful, no problem.

Day 11

Things are going great!  Indy actually let me pet her today for the first time.  She is so soft!  She was distracted playing with the towel under the door about an inch away from me, purring away as usual, and I just reached out and pet her back.  She flinched at first, but didn't move away.  I pet her a few times and she never stopped purring.  I scratched her neck and behind the ears and she seemed to like it.  Just for a few seconds so I didn't overwhelm her.

When I came back at bedtime to lay down on the sleeping bag for an hour, she came up to me and I pet her again for about a minute, and she seemed to like it and took a nap next to me for about an hour.

Moving right along!

Day 10

Indy continues to purr non stop when we are in the room with her.  She now seems happy to see us and will come to the door meowing (squeaking) happily when we come in.  Very cute.  Still no real touching.  I'm getting anxious to be able to handle her so we can take her in for spaying/shots etc.

Day 9

Not too much new over the last 2 days.  Continuing to make progress.  Indy purrs pretty much 100% of the time we are in the room with her.  She sits near us when we go in there, naps near us if we're in there when she's tired.  She'll let us touch her paws without flinching, but no petting yet.

We did have one minor set back this morning - she peed outside the litter box on the sleeping bag we've been using to nap in there with her.  Not sure why this happened - the sleeping bag has been in there for 3 days.  Cleaned it up real good, removed the sleeping bag (for now).  She's used the litter box 3 times since...  This was only the 2nd time she ever went outside the box, the first time was the very first morning.

Oh well, still ahead of schedule in my opinion :)

Day 6

Continuing to make progress.  More playing, more purring, minor touching of paws/fingers without running away.  This toy dome scratching thingy really helps - it gives her the comfort to be very close without being right out in the open.

She loves this toy.  My other cats used to love this too when they were kittens.  I hear this all night long :)

Here is one of my Maine Coons paws sticking under the door.  I keep a towel blocking the bottom of the door except when I'm inside the room.

Relaxing after 40 minutes of solid play time.

 

 

Day 5

Lots of purring today.  She purrs pretty much full time that we're in the room with her.  She purrs while she plays, purrs while she eats, purrs while we clean her litter box.  She plays close to us, she'll even play with a ball right out of my hands.  But still no touching.  She isn't ready and I haven't tried.  Added a foam mat and sleeping bag to lay down for naps in with her.  She'll lay down a few feet away and nap too.

No new pics of her today, so here are pictures of her parents.  Good looking cats make good looking kittens.  Can't trap this male to neuter, but the females are all either spayed or will be this season.  They are easier to catch.

Tog, her mom (no longer with us).

Buster, her dad.  He's the resident male of the ferals/strays I care for.

Indy and Tog when she was just a few weeks old.  Like the main picture on the top of this blog, the below picture was taken through the glass window while she was living outside.  Just me going outside would cause her to run away.

Day 4

8:30am visit before work.  Went in to scoop the litter box, and Indy was very interested.  She perked right up, and started purring very loud.  She watched me scoop the box and even jumped down off the cat tree and came over to about 2 feet away, purring. We played for about 20 minutes at the little dome again, she purred loud the whole time.

Fed wet food again at dusk, 6pm.  She ate happily.

Went in at 8:30 to remove the bowl, and Indy started purring immediately again.  Very loud purr.  We played with the toy mouse for about 15 minutes until she was tired.  She laid down, still purring and closed her eyes.

Definite progress today.

 

 

  

Day 3

8:30am visit before work, she was very relaxed.  Cleaned the litter box,  refilled food and water.  Sat at the door for a few minutes.  She even meowed very quietly 3-4 times.  First time I heard her make a sound.

Fed at 6pm again, she ate happily.  Played with toys again after she ate for about 15 minutes.  Sounded like she was purring while she was playing!  After about 20 minutes, she was tired from eating and playing and settled down for a nap.

Returned at 1am just before bed, she came right out to play.  Played for 30 minutes in the dome with the feathered mouse toy.  She's definitely more comfortable close to me.  When she was done playing she relaxed next to me in the dome.  When I stood up, she scampered back to under the cat tree.

Day 2

8:30am visit before work, she used the litter box 3 more times.  She has diarrhea from the de-worming so I cleaned the litter box real good.  She ate lots of dry food and water over night, I refilled both.  She sat on the window, bird watching.  Didn't seem to mind me being in there at all this time.  She was happily into the birds outside the window.

Fed her wet food at dusk, 6pm.  That's when the other 4 indoor cats get fed, so might as well start to get Indy on the same schedule.  She ate plenty.   I noticed she used the litter box 3 more times.  Cleaned it real good again.  No evidence of her going outside the litter box at all, anywhere.  Nice.

9pm visit, added a few new cat toys.  Feathered mice, fuzzy balls, a fuzzy snake on a string, and a small dome to scratch/play in/on.  She played with all the toys while I sat at the door watching.  She seemed to be having a blast.  Stayed about 30 minutes while she played.

Returned at 1am before bed, and sat near the door by the new dome.  I picked up the feathered mouse toy and after a few minutes she came all the way over to about a foot away from me, and stayed in the dome.  We played with the feathered toy through the hole for about 30 minutes.  She was very close to me, and every time she stopped playing and looked up at me - she would run back under the cat tree.  As if she forgot to be scared until she saw me.  But, she'd come right back and continue playing.  Definite progress.

Day 1

Trapped her the night before (Saturday night) around 8pm.  She stayed in the trap covered up in the garage until midnight.  Had to make some preparations before she could come into the house.  At midnight I took her over to the 24 hr vet and got her tested for FeLV and FIV, fleas, ear mites etc.  All negative and she got a real good bill of health.  Estimated 12 weeks old.

She did have to be sedated for the checkup.   She has never had any human contact and is very scared.  She has seen me through the window while she was still with her mother outside, and she watched her mother come up to me for food and petting.  So she has seen me, but that's all.

Took her home, and put her in her own room with a nice large cat tree in front of a window, her own brand new litter box, plenty of cat toys, and food/water.  She will have privacy for as long as it takes her to get used to us, and my four cats.

Sunday morning, 10am, went in for the first visit to check on her.  I just opened the door slowly, and sat down at the door - opposite side of the room from her.  She was absolutely terrified.  She tried to jump through the window.  She finally sat on the window under the cat tree watching me.  I sat still at the door for 5 minutes, then left.

I noticed she didn't use the litter box, and peed on some blankets we put in there for her.  I removed the blanket and moved the litter box to where the blanket was.

You can see she is very scared.

Came back a few hours later and did the same thing, sat quietly at the door for about 5 minutes and let her look at me.  She was much calmer.  She just sat and watched me.  I repeated this every few hours all day.  I noticed she did use the litter box, and she did eat some of the dry food I left her.  Good signs.

At 1am, before I went to sleep, I went in and sat for about 15 minutes (in the dark, but there is a small night light).  She was playful, and played with a laser.  While she wasn't the same scared kitten she was just that morning, she still wouldn't come anywhere near me.  That's fine, no rush.