Jerry – Feral Cat

History

Jerry first came to us in September 2024, after reviewing the camera footage we noticed the issue with his Right Eye. We decided to reach out to a local Animal Hospital to trap, so he could be checked out. After several attempts with an Animal Control Officer and their humane trap, we were unable to catch him. Jerry is what gave us the idea to begin trapping on our own.

Feeding

Jerry really enjoys the wet food we offer, but seldomly drinks water. He will partake in the dry food at times and even likes some of the treats we leave out occasionally.

Cat House

Jerry has visited the cat house a few times, but seems so skittish he spends very little time. Any minor noise and he bolts out of the area. However, he has played with the soft toys for brief periods.

Other Notes

We’ve tried to follow him after he leaves, but he is very skittish and takes off pretty quick. Even the slight sound of cars passing in the street scares him away.

Trapping

Nov. 24, 2024 – We were finally able to trap Jerry on our own! After giving him a few minutes to calm down, we were able to hand feed him a liquid treat! After a few more minutes we tried to reach in to pet and feel his body, successfully. However, the collar he was wearing (seemingly a “Calming Collar”) was so frail/dried out it broke off in our hand and unfortunately he was able to escape.

We believe the issue with his right eye may be Cherry Eye, caused by stress, but weekly monitoring at least shows it has not worsened. The fact that he was wearing a calming collar and let us reach in and pet him, also leads us to believe he was not always feral. We tend to think that his previous human owner knew about his stress.

As his visits are a little less often since the trapping, we are monitoring his visits and intend to trap him once more to have him get to a wellness check, spayed/neutered services, etc..