u/barefootwasp

He was so adorable last night I couldn’t help but share 😭

You may have seen our little Tonka Bean just passed his second month in our house. We brought him in from my office after his siblings were killed by coyotes and we couldn’t leave him. We intended to foster him but I think we’ve failed. He hasn’t yet been too interested in leaving his safe room and he hasn’t formally met our dog up close although they see each other every day (funny enough our dog, who is a shepherd husky mix, looks remarkably like a coyote and sometimes we wonder if that scares kitty)

But he is the most chill cat we’ve ever met. He was always the polite and very timid of the outside group, and was bullied by the other cats relentlessly. He was covered in cuts and scabs when we brought him home, and still has patches of fur growing back in.

He used the litter box from day one, has never once attempted to escape or has been destructive. He doesn’t destroy furniture, he’s exceptionally quiet. He only chirps and lets out little mews when he knows it’s meal time or when he’s playing. Sometimes you can hear him meowing while he plays at night but it’s just a couple then it stops. He didn’t know how to play with toys at first and now he absolutely loves his toys and our play sessions. It’s so sweet to watch him just be a cat and not have to be on alert.

He’s just kind of chill and there. We’re super happy about it. He’s still a little scared of my husband but when my husband plays his video games in kittys room, he just lays there, doesn’t hide anymore. And when I’m in there with him after his scratches and pets, he just lays near me. He’s not a cuddler yet and won’t let you handle him much except for his beloved scratches and pets, but that’s ok.

Have you ever had one who is this chill?!

You may have seen previous posts about our little feral guy, Tonka Bean. He is a former feral I was feeding, along with his siblings, at my office for months. I had really bonded with his sister but he was always sweet and had the softest spot in my heart because he’s so timid and was ALWAYS being bullied by the other cats.

Things took a turn when his siblings and another colony cat were killed by coyotes. My husband and I knew we had to act fast so we trapped him, fixed and vaccinated and got him much needed medical attention, and brought him home. Our intention was to foster him as we have a lively shepherd/husky mix who we were unsure of with cats, still are a little as they’ve only seen each other because sweet kitty still won’t leave his safe room, although he comes out of his shell a bit more each day.

He seems to be a big fan of indoor life and has made no attempts to escape, has never been destructive, is quiet, and is in general simply a good boy.

Last night he fell asleep at my feet when I was in his room right before bed (he gets a play session and meal before I retire to my room) clutching his little stuffed jingle bird. I walked out of the room and told my husband “we’re keeping him right?”. He’s still afraid of anyone but me but is coming around to my husband and at least letting him pet him. And he still won’t leave his safe room but he rules that room like his little kingdom. We joke that it’s his studio apartment as it has everything he needs, including a giant window for bird watching. We’re so happy we could save him, and I wish I could save them all. Here he is with his little bird, one of his many!

Loves them very much but gets overwhelmed. This is right after a swat and the face says “and I’ll do it again” 😂 he’s polite though and doesn’t put his claws out!

Was feeding and socializing this little guy and his siblings who stumbled into my office gates for a few months. Was actually going to bring his sister home and fix him and find him a home, but his sister and brother were killed by coyotes and we couldn’t bear to leave him to suffer the same fate. He’s been with us just shy of two months and is still learning that people aren’t so bad, and that scratches and indoor life are great. He had some health issues, was full of worms (including a horrific almost 3 foot tapeworm) and had an injured leg that’s working on healing, but he’s the most well behaved kitty I’ve ever met. He’s still terrified of our dog and semi scared of my husband and won’t leave his safe room (despite being given every opportunity to do so) but he’s safe inside and slowly adjusting. He’s definitely a mamas boy so I’ll take that!

Some of you may have seen my previous posts about Tonka Bean and his sister Zinnia. My sweet Zinny still has not shown back up, but Bean is in our house (still in our guest room as we figure out his next step) for close to a month. He has been to the vet, and dewormed and fixed, and is FIv/FELV negative! And he’s gained two pounds, and his cost is much softer! He has been having explosive diarrhea the past week (eating and drinking and playing normally) and is on a course of Metronidazole and on FortiFlora. He has a large scab on his foot that is healing although he had a setback with that because he pulled the scab off but it’s getting better.

He has had basically zero interest in coming into the rest of the house, as I’ve left the door open when the dog is out. He still only comes to me for affection and is scared of my husband. He is petrified of the dog and gets really stressed when the dog is near the door. Our dog is also starting to become really anxious and will not leave the door alone at times, even with redirects. He is a shepherd/husky mix and though he’s very sweet, he has more of a prey drive than we knew.

Our intention with Bean was to foster him until we could find him a home or a space in a rescue, but if things went well, we were very open to keeping him. He’s a sensitive and timid boy and I didn’t want to dump him in a shelter. But we think he would prefer a house without a dog, and that’s ok! Does anyone have any suggestions on tips to make them more comfortable in the mean time? Or more comfortable with each other in the long run? Or even any suggestions on how to let a foster kitty go to a new home without feeling guilt that I’ve gotten him semi into a routine to throw him back into another one either through a rescue or a forever home. I’m scared the dog (who is sweet on his own, just has the prey drive which is just natural for him, and since he’s my “first born” his needs come first), can hurt him and I don’t want to put either of them in that position. I also feel badly because it’s been almost a month and he doesn’t seem to have much interest in coming out of that room (I know such things take time). He seems to be content with being inside, mostly. He doesn’t tear the room up and he’s sweet. He uses his litterbox (the diarrhea lately creates messes on the sides and sometimes he partly misses but that’s ok).

I want to do what’s best for him, and I’m happy we were able to get him off the streets, which was my intention all along whether we found him a home or kept him.

Bean is home!

He is lethargic and I can tell he’s scared so I’m just sitting in the room with him and trying to let him have his space but knowing I’m here. He has not left the windowsill and that’s ok. He is shaking a little bit. Our dog is not happy but we’re keeping them separated. If it just doesn’t work out with our dog, we are going to foster Bean until we can find his forever home.

Whatever the outcome is, he will not have to go back to the streets.

This is my first time doing any of this, and any advice and help is very much welcomed, as I am a nervous wreck!

This morning, I trapped the brother of my sweet Zinnia, who is still missing. He is at the vet for his neuter and medical care. We are going to try and transition him into our home (he is NEVER being released back to become coyote bait) and if it doesn’t work out, we will responsibly rehome him. We will work with a rescue to do so.

He is not happy with me this morning but I know in the long run, he will be.

My question is, how does the dog introduction go? We have a very lively but friendly German shepherd/husky mix. We have no idea whether he has a prey drive. He shows curiosity to the neighborhood cats and occasionally barks at them (he barks at everything) but we don’t know how he would do with an indoor cat. We also don’t know how Bean will react to him.

We are going to keep them separate of course for a time, but I don’t have any idea on how to make this an easier transition. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Picture of our dog in the comments because I love showing him off!

I posted about my sweet Zinny girl last week and have Another update: Zinny has still not shown back up, but I did unfortunately notice while reviewing camera footage from my office last night, I saw two large coyotes inside the fence around our perimeter. Somehow they breeched the fence. It has led me to believe that that is probably what happened and it absolutely kills me, but I have seen no signs of that anywhere on the property. Her brother came to visit this morning (before I saw this footage or I would have used the carrier to get him right then), and I plan to trap him in the morning and take him for his TNR and then take him home. If he comes back this afternoon, I will do it this afternoon but he’s not often around before I leave the office for the day.

This isn’t the update I wanted to share but it is an update. I’m so beside myself and feeling guilty that I didn’t get her sooner. We are all so shocked that a coyote was even over here. It was a big reason we didn’t bring her and her brother home to be outside cats, as we have coyotes in our neighborhood and thought they were safer here as it is fenced and there are tons of trees to hide in, and big trucks to hide under, as well as just other hiding spots. It is why I worked so hard to socialize them, so that I could bring her home, and maybe bring her brother home, or fin him a home. I feel like I was too late and that is so hard to live with. My office is in an industrial area and nobody had ever seen any signs of them so I just thought they were safe and I am so broken.

I have been taking care of this sweet semi socialized feral girl at my office for the past 7 months. She started coming around for food when I started feeding a couple of others and she was the most skittish of them all. If I opened the office door, she took off. In January, out of the blue one day, she let me pet her and the rest is history. She and I bonded extremely closely but she was still have trouble being social with anyone but me. She would greet me at the gate every day and every time I’d open the door to my office, she’d come running. I named her Zinnia Honeybell. She had already been TNRd when she started coming around. I hounded my husband to let me bring her home and finally we had decided to try bringing her home. We had things to work out before we could just take her in (working it out with landlord, my husband has a cat allergy and we have a let’s just say lively 2 year old shepherd husky mix, who we weren’t sure of with cats). Our plan was to bring her home and if for some reason it didn’t work out, dog couldn’t handle it or she couldn’t handle the dog, or if my husbands allergies were too bad, we would find her a home so she could be a safe indoor kitty the rest of her life.

We purchased everything she needed and were going to put her on our pet insurance and bring her home this weekend. I was going to take a few days off work to get her acclimated. I have the carrier in the back of my car. I got to work yesterday and not a single sign of her anywhere. Nor was there today. This is a cat who never missed a meal and who was my shadow at work.

I am beside myself. I have been bludgeoning myself since yesterday over what could have happened to her. We were getting ready to bring her to her forever home, off the streets. I am so sick to my stomach. I am so lonely at work without her. I miss her slow blinks. I miss that meow and how she’d run to me to flop on her back and let me scratch her belly. I could just die thinking something bad happened to her right before the start of her “good life”, that I was too late in getting everything in line. I don’t know what to do with myself.