Feeding Socialized Feral Cats CALM Cat Food

In August of 2010 I trapped a feral queen cat and her kittens for medical care.  All cats needed veternarian care and were in the animal hospital for 21 days.  The queen cat was released and the kittens were socialized and we adopted them.  

Know that even thought this kittens were trapped when they were six weeks old,  they were unlike other feral kittens because these kittens were high strung and anxious.  

Not sure if it was due to the medication they were given to heal their infections, but I always thought it might have had something to do with their behavior.

Charlie the feral kitten at 6 weeks old.

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Now five years later the kittens are grown but they are not what you would call socialized.  They still hide and occasionally will let me pet them.  I can pick them up but they are not affectionate.  

Recently the two of the kittens developed a a strange behavior.  They are plucking out their fur for no apparent reason.  Like a chicken plucks out their feathers, the feral cats are removing their fur and these once gorgeous cats are nearly bald.

I took them to the veternarian and was told that this is a common behavior or feral cats, that sometimes they can be tamed other times no.   The veterinarian said that there were three treatments; release the cat to live the rest of their life outdoors.   Medicate them or feed them Royal Cannin veternarian diet CALM.  Since releasing them and medicating them is out of the question we bought the cat food and also plugged in the feliway comfort zone.

The 8.8 pound bag of calm cat food was $50. not an inexpensive treatment, but is formulated with natural products. I started the cats on the food today. 

The cats like the food,  but I noticed they are still pulling their hair out.  So it is too soon to see results.  I will share with you all my finding in ten days.  I hope this cat food helps to calm my cats.

About Bengal Cats

A few weeks ago a friend who volunteers at one of the areas animal shelters calls me and says that a family surrendered two Bengal pure breed cats to the shelter and if she does not find a foster for them that they will be euthanized. I told her if she could not find any other fosters that I would care for them while she looked for a forever home. Well that is how I got Larry and Frankie. Cute as they can be Bengal cats that love to play and go for a walk around the block on a leash.

Bengal cats hiding in the garden

The do not care for my cats so we did shop at Petsmart.com for feliway comfort zone diffusers for the electrical outlet. It is exactly what we needed because it took the “new cat” stress out of the room. So we have had the cats for ten days and all is well. Then our air conditioner broke and parts were needed so we were spending more time on the screened porch.



Inquisitive franking and Larry found a little rip in the screen and decided they would rip it more. Who knows maybe they had the other cats hole them also. All I know is the Bengals leaped a good six feet to the garden bellow and then took to the woods.



Yes they got out, I suspect the change in the household made them feel anxious and they just wanted to get away for awhile. The only problem was it was night and the coyote forage at night and these Bengals are definitely housecats.

Catching cats that are fosters, will they come back or will they try to go to their former home?

So both my husband and I grab flashlights and take to the woods. Bengal cats do not meow instead they make like a barking sound. I would call their name and I would hear them in the distance sounded like they were 4 houses away. They were chattering (not meowing) or screaming and then they were quiet.  We thought something happened to them, then we would hear them again. 

After forty minutes husband gave up. But I did not I sat on the furthest patio closest to the woods and called out to the cats every few minutes.

Here is a video where you can hear what Bengal cats sound like.  

It took me two hours to catch them. The cats came home out of exhaustion, they were panting and they were over heated, tongue was red and hanging out of their mouths. I suspect something may have chased them, a mother raccoon protecting her territory, a feral cat, coyote or fox? All I know is the woods was not a fun place for these fostered Bengal cats.

Sudden Illness Takes The Life of Rescued Cat

Three months ago I took my 21 year old cat in for their 6 month checkup at the veterinarians.  They did the wellness exam, checked his blood and his urine, also checked his blood pressure and I was told he was in great health and that he could live 5 to 10 more years.  

My cat was a rescue after he had been put out at age 16.  He liked spending the day in the garden and I took him in at night. I asked the veternarian if the time in the garden was okay, she said yes that he would be depressed if I took him in full time.  So he got vaccinated and his annual feline leukemia vaccine. 

Brought Skippy home and everything was fine until last Tuesday when he deiced to eat very little and drink less.  Which was not normal for this cat that ate like he had hallow legs.  I called and made an appointment at my veternarian, told them something is wrong.   That night Skippy continued to decline although he did sleep on the chair next to my bed.  But by morning he was very week and was having difficulty walking.  

I picked him up and rushed him to the veterinarians office where they told me he had fluid in his lungs, was too old for treatment and this sudden illness was brought on from Feline Leukemia  FeLV that advanced into cancer.

The diagnosis put me in shock, because three months prior my cat was tested and it was negative, then he got the vaccine.  I never saw a bite wound, and yet the veternarian said he was infected and due to his age and weakened immune system my cat got cancer.

Then I was told that just like the human flu shot the FeLV shot is not 100% that if I wanted to keep my cat healthy I should have kept him indoors. Let me tell you I am still in shock over the death of my cat and feeling great sadness.

Ref: http://www.bubblews.com/news/9966138-21-year-old-cat-goes-to-rainbow-bridge a post by Sgolis