# Chester and Tabby - Update



## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

Well, here are my new wild kitties!! At least they came out of their carrier quickly, walked around alot, hissy and spitty... but we were playing with them a little last night....but the do not want anything to do with touching them..... yet, that will come. Not sure who is male/female yet, so their names are Chester (blk/white) and Tabby... for now!!  The little black/white one is more adventurous...and what a cutie!!


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## melysion (Mar 12, 2007)

aww .... little cuties


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

Awwwwww, look how cute.


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## kitkat (Sep 22, 2003)

Soooo cute! I hope they'll be tamed in no time at all


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## Leazie (Apr 14, 2007)

Oh my, look at the cuties.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

They look like you got them just in time before they became too feral to tame. If they are eating on their own from a bowl. (I used KMR and meat baby food to get them started. If you sit by them when they eat they will start to equate you to good things and warm up to you quickly. Bless you for rescueing and caring for these guys! They are adorable! Keep us posted on your adventure of caring for them!


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I'm in LOVE! :heart


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## DesnBaby (Apr 18, 2004)

Aww, such cute kittens  , good luck with taming them! :wink:


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Wow - Chester could be Digger's kid! They both adorable! :luv


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## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

They are doing so well guys... We think Chester is the boy, and we think because of her slender build and slender paws, that Tabby, now Phoebe is a girl. We made good strides with them last night.... I was sitting cross legged on the carpet with one hand palm out flat on the carpet and I was running the cat dancer over my hands/arms/legs so they could get used to the smell of me. They are not hissing anymore and they were all over my hands, I got a few "taste kisses", a few times we saw some tails go up for a brief period, and some roll-overs showing me their bellies. :kittyball So I think all in all, it will just be a matter of more time. Thankfully I'm off next week and can dedicate alot of time to them. I came in this morning to feed them, and little Phoebe came over to get her breakfast, and didn't hiss at me!!!  They are such beautiful little babies.... :heart


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## dmcwlvssr (Apr 24, 2005)

:love2 :luv Janice don't know how you do it, I couldn't because I would want to keep them all.


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## fellajetandmonster'sslave (Aug 5, 2003)

*kittens*

i recently tamed 5 month old kittens---they were darlings---I caught them on labor Day, flea-bathed each one, complete w/blow dry and "style"--put them in a small bedroom w/a stereo on low volumn--they huddled up in a pile in my bookshelf area---I began going in/out -quietly--I would rap on the door and say "hi, babies' then, go in ---began just reaching in and stroking each one a little---and after a couple days, started picking each one up and cuddling it, one by one---they would purr and purr--after a few more days, they were greeting me at the door---by end of 4 weeks, they were sterilized and homed............


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

How sweet!!  I agree, I don't know how you do this without adopting every one you foster. I think you're made of sterner stuff than most of us.


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## fellajetandmonster'sslave (Aug 5, 2003)

*fostering*

Well, it isn't easy---a solid blk male has yet to be adopted, and I keep hoping no one will come forward---even though that makes my cat headcount 8--he is so sweet and lovable, that i don't know if i can let him go now.................


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## md1848 (Nov 14, 2006)

I KNOW it isn't easy! I got into this feral business a year ago and didn't take care of Libby, the feral mama like I should have. Of course, I was in love with all the kittens when I found them at 3 days old, but the black kitty just stood out. 

When I took the four kitties to the owner-sponsored adoption shelter to be adopted out, I thought the black kitty would be the first one to go. When he was the last, I couldn't take him back there. Now, he's the inside kitty.

Passing on what the shelter people told me...solid cats are the hardest to adopt. Don't put a solid or near solid black or white cat up for adoption in the months of Sept., Oct., or Nov. 

Halloween is near. There are crazy people who use solid black or white cats in rituals. 

A few years ago just before Halloween, a black female kitten with a pink, rhinestone-studded collar showed up at my front door. I knew this was someone's kitten. I put up flyers in my neighborhood, but no one called. A week later, I put a free ad in the paper. I got a call from a woman who told me that people would want this kitten b/c I said it was solid black. She advised that if the people who called couldn't identify the collar that I shouldn't let them have the cat. That some people look for black or white cats during Halloween to sacrifice. 

I thought Okay, but that was weird. But weird was the two calls that I got from two females the following week. Both asked if the cat was solid black. When they couldn't describe the cat collar, they offered me $50 and then, the second caller offered me $100. 

I gave the solid black kitty girl to a friend from work who had just lost her 18 yr old cat. Samantha, the solid black kitty, is now about 9 yrs old.

I don't keep up with the do and the don'ts of adopting out black cats in Oct. But if I was you and you could keep the black kitty after Thanksgiving and BEYOND that's what I would do.

Best of luck.
mel


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## DesnBaby (Apr 18, 2004)

Its good that you are making progress with them, keep us updated!


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## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

DesnBaby said:


> Its good that you are making progress with them, keep us updated!


Yeah, they are doing really well. Chester even let me rub his ears yesterday and he was purring!!!... melts my heart when you get them purring!!!


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## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

Chester walked up to me this morning with his tail up!! I was so thrilled... he also stayed in my lamp last night for about 3-4 minutes letting me rub his ears and under his chin... he was happily purring his little heart out. But I need to work on Phoebe now... she doesn't really like being touched and still scoots away.....


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## Sweetvegan74 (Jun 18, 2005)

Oh I love their worried epressions "Do you think she is going to eat us?" LOL 

I hope you show us "Happy" pictures when their taming for you. Very cute babies!!


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

These success stories really warm the heart! :heart


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## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

I'm a little concerned though.. as I said, Phoebe does NOT want to be touched, no matter what. She will sit beside me, sit on me, purr's when I bring her food, plays with me, but the minute I try to touch her, forget it. Anyone offer me some tips?? Obviously getting them socialized for adoption is my main objective, and I feel I'm not making any progress with her.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Well, this method might seem harsh, but I used it successfully on one of my cats. She wouldn't come out from hiding in the day because of a bully cat we had taken in, so she had hidden for a long time. 

I started keeping her food in my bedroom. I put the food on my lap, and she would start to eat. But if I pet her she would hiss. So I took the food away. Then I'd put it back; she'd start to eat, I'd pet her; she'd hiss. I'd take the food away. She finally decided that eating and getting touched by human beings was much better than being an isolationist. 

Then she had to solve the bully problem, so she had it out with Checkers (the bully). She gave as good as she got, but neither was wounded. From then on each cat gave the other a wide berth, and Cremepuff never hid again. Her mouth would water when she got petted, and it was obvious that she loved the attention. However, if someone pet her too long, she would scratch. I asked the vet about it, and he said it was like an irresistable urge to scratch an itch....even though it was not an itch. That was the best analogy he could come up with. Evidently, too much petting touched a sensitive nerve. She never hid again, and as long as someone stroked her only five or six times, she just drooled and purred. 

She was originally a barn kitten, but I think that was a coincidence. I think it was fear and sensitivity that caused the isolation and temporary dislike of petting. 

It's drastic, but the only solution I can offer. I would take it more slowly with a feral, of course. I had Cremepuff for several years before the bully came, so it was probably easier for me. Her isolation had just made her distrust more intense. She was a beautiful, pure white cat with blue eyes...and good hearing.


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## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

Since my promotion and new hours, and yesterday a coworker fell on her way to the dumpster dropping off some garbage behind our work, my hours have increased to a crazy amount. So after talking with my organization, they have a new retired foster person who we hope will be willing to take my two feral kittens. I just feel I don't have the proper time they need to be socialized... I feel like I make 1 step forward, and 5 back. I don't want to jeopordize their socialization at this crucial age, so I'm praying this new foster person takes my feral kittens. She has worked with ferals before. I feel like I've failed them... but I have to do whats best for the kittens.


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

I'm sorry to hear that you have to give them up, Janice. But it sounds like you have a lot on your shoulders, and you can't do everything! Hopefully this lady will be able to take over for you. Good luck with your work situation, and I hope your coworker makes a speedy recovery, for her sake and yours! 



Jeanie said:


> I put the food on my lap, and she would start to eat. But if I pet her she would hiss. So I took the food away. Then I'd put it back; she'd start to eat, I'd pet her; she'd hiss. I'd take the food away. She finally decided that eating and getting touched by human beings was much better than being an isolationist.


I did something similar with the feral kittens who are now my housecats. I started by staying in the room with them while they ate, then day by day I moved the bowl closer to me. Eventually, if they wanted to eat, they had to eat on my lap with me petting them. To this day, those cats think food and love are supposed to go together, and they try to lure me over to pet them while they eat. :lol:


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## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

Jet Green said:


> I'm sorry to hear that you have to give them up, Janice. But it sounds like you have a lot on your shoulders, and you can't do everything! Hopefully this lady will be able to take over for you. Good luck with your work situation, and I hope your coworker makes a speedy recovery, for her sake and yours!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for that tip Jeanie :idea: ... I see JetGreen has used it too, so that's one I will definitely remember.


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## DesnBaby (Apr 18, 2004)

It ok Janice, you are doing the best you could, at least you care enough to let them go so they get the time they need with socialization. I hope the new foster parent will work out and they will become tame and go to a great home!


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## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

Well, after much discussion, we've decided that we need to split these two up. I really hate doing that, but it's for their own good. They are bonding to closely to each other and not doing so well with humans. I will keep Chester as I think he would adapt more easily to be let out amongst my other cats when the time comes. Phoebe needs alot of one-on-one work and we have another foster person who's retired, and she will work with her. I can't argue with the method of splitting them up, it does work. There are cats where Phoebe is going, so after she's socialized better, she'll have some new friends as well.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I understand. You're doing what's best for the kittens.


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## DesnBaby (Apr 18, 2004)

You're doing a good job.


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## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

Well... unfortunately, that did not work out. The new foster person reneged on taking one of the kittens literally two hours before I was to drop her off. :fust 

So.... I have them both and will just keep plugging along at it. I've started picking them up... Phoebe responds to that better than Chester... he nibs sometimes, and is squirmy. But... they'll have to get used to it. I'll post some updated pics of them soon... they really are lovely kittens!! :heart


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Janice said:


> The new foster person reneged on taking one of the kittens literally two hours before I was to drop her off.


Things always happen for a reason - they're probably still with you because that's the best place for them right now.


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## DesnBaby (Apr 18, 2004)

Great that you are keeping them  , can't wait for pictures!


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## Jet Green (Nov 28, 2005)

So sorry to hear that the other foster bailed on you.  It sounds like you're under a lot of stress right now.   But, it sounds like the kittens are doing a lot better!  Being able to pick them up is a big milestone. :thumb


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## Janice (Jan 12, 2007)

It's a struggle...I feel I have no time to socialize them, but I'm giving them what I can. Chester is coming along much better. When I get a hold of Phoebe and pet her...she's purring up a storm, but squirming to get loose. She really does not want to be touched. I unfortunately may have to adopt these guy's seperately because I think Chester will be ready to go alot earlier than she will. But if he has another cat family to go to, then that will be fine. Phoebe can stay here as long as she needs too.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

You're an angel, Janice!


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