I have a stray cat I named Mabel (because when I first saw here she was sat on a table...
) . She took up residence in our garage about 3 months ago we think (we discovered her about 6 weeks ago) and she is extremely anti-human. We aren't sure whether she had Indy (my indoor kitten) in our garage or if she moved him there after he was born. On our local Cat's Protection advice we blocked the hole she accessed the garage through and gave her food, water and litter so we could try catch her. We also put worming powder in her food.
After a week I found out she had a kitten with her and I was allowed to watch her eat.
At two weeks I could stroke her while she ate. After showing photos of Indy to our vet and seeing he was eating some solids we guessed he was about 6 weeks old and were advised that if he wasn't caught and tamed soon it would be too late. We also wanted to get Mabel spayed ASAP as we found out next doors tom isn't neutered and he was trying to break into the garage.
We borrowed a humane trap from Cat's Protection and caught Indy first. He went and had a vets checkup putting him at approx 6-8 weeks. He was a little thin and very dusty.
We then caught Mabel and took her to the vets for a checkup, they put her at maybe 7 years old and in very poor condition, her coat brittle and dry, eyes sore, thin, she had poorly healed injuries all down one side including broken ribs, scrapes, broken pelvis, and several scrapes, all healed slightly wonky. Vet said last time he saw those injuries the cat had been thrown from a moving car
and she couldn't be spayed until we improved her condition some more. So we caged her for our safety and hers, feeding her as much as she would eat and lots of water. A week later she had gained 2-4 ounces and was declared fit for surgery. After her op we kept her inside for 2 days but she was off her food, withdrawn and miserable so we were advised to let her loose in the garage again... where she instantly perked up. Also whilst she was unconscious the vet gave her a thorough check and re-evaluated her age at about 4 years old, her poor state misleading him before.
Anyways... that was 3 weeks ago and today Mabel let me stroke her again for first time since she was released. She has also been coming into the back porch for her food in the evening of her own free will for 2 weeks, though not letting us near her. I hope we will eventually coax her inside for night at least, even better if we can get her in by winter. Unfortunately she doesn't like our dogs so that is a major issue.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share her story as I am amazed she survived some sort major accident when pregnant, then give birth and hunt and raise a kitten whilst still recovering from said accident.
