Cat Chat 2

[Blue_Aussie]

Hi, I don't think I've ever posted here but I have a black cat with green eyes, his name is Buddy. However I am not here for him... An orange stray tabby with green ish eyes has been hanging around our yard for a few months now.

My little sister named her Fox, we are positive she is a stray as we have knocked on all the neighbors doors and have even tried a paper collar with our phone number. Fox is always outside at night and in the rain and she catches her own food though we do feed her a little every night when she comes to our front porch. Over the months I have gained her trust and she lets me pet her all the time, she follows me around so much its like having another dog.

Its starting to frost here and I am not sure wat to do with her... I really don't want to take her to the animal shelter because she would completely freak out and I would love to keep her around. So I was thinking of an outdoor "cat house" thing? So, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

Also, If the best thing is to bring her inside, any tips for litter training or introducing her to my cat Buddy? Thanks!

[mierose]

Hi, I don't think I've ever posted here but I have a black cat with green eyes, his name is Buddy. However I am not here for him... An orange stray tabby with green ish eyes has been hanging around our yard for a few months now.

My little sister named her Fox, we are positive she is a stray as we have knocked on all the neighbors doors and have even tried a paper collar with our phone number. Fox is always outside at night and in the rain and she catches her own food though we do feed her a little every night when she comes to our front porch. Over the months I have gained her trust and she lets me pet her all the time, she follows me around so much its like having another dog.

Its starting to frost here and I am not sure wat to do with her... I really don't want to take her to the animal shelter because she would completely freak out and I would love to keep her around. So I was thinking of an outdoor "cat house" thing? So, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

Also, If the best thing is to bring her inside, any tips for litter training or introducing her to my cat Buddy? Thanks!

Hey there! First things first, if she's letting you come near her, please try to get her into a spay/neuter clinic. There are many clinics that will do discounted or even free spays for ferals and strays that you catch. Outdoor cat reproduction is a huge issue, and if you can do anything to help, that would be fantastic. I wouldn't recommend bringing her inside (if your cat Buddy isn't neutered, that's an issue between the two cats within itself), yet also you don't know whether she's vaccinated, or if she's carrying any diseases/illness. It's better to be safe than sorry. However, there is definitely something you can do to keep her warm and cozy outside. Take a plastic tub with a lid, and cut a hole for her to enter and exit through. Insulate it with foam and put a blanket or hay inside. If you have access to an outdoor outlet, a heating pad on a "warm" setting wouldn't hurt either, though that can be risky if you choose to use hay rather than a blanket. I'd recommend putting out a little more food than you usually do, as sometimes hunting can become more difficult during the winter months. Best of luck!
Here's a nice step by step cat house tutorial:

[Blue_Aussie]

Thank you so much mierose! This cat house looks like a good idea.
My cat is neutered but as you said, better safe than sorry about illnesses.
I will have to look for clinic that will spay her, though I don't think there are any other cats around us.
Thank you for the help!

[deoxyribonucleic]

also some cats have a microchip!! if you get her fixed then ask them to scan for a microchip which if there's an owner out there it should give information about the address or contact information.

oh i hope she doesn't get too cold! she can probably find her own shelter but definitely do your best to help her stay warm especially if she's starting to seem a little dependant on human contact.

[Blue_Aussie]

also some cats have a microchip!! if you get her fixed then ask them to scan for a microchip which if there's an owner out there it should give information about the address or contact information.

oh i hope she doesn't get too cold! she can probably find her own shelter but definitely do your best to help her stay warm especially if she's starting to seem a little dependant on human contact.

Thank you for all of the information! I'm sure Fox will also appreciate it too c:

[AtlasHyperion]

Fox reminds me a lot of an old cat of mine who wandered up to my back door and stayed. As others have said, taking her to the vet to be spayed/neutered if she isn't and checked for a microchip is a good idea. If she's microchipped, she can go home, but if she's not, she's probably a stray cat. Put up flyers with her picture on it and a phone number to see if you're actually feeding someone else's indoor/outdoor cat - I was with my first cat, but she ended up with me because her previous owners didn't want to keep her. If she's lost, it's important to do your best to find her home, but if she's a stray, and you don't have any issues adopting another cat, you could just as well keep her. She knows the outdoors and the way to you, so if you adopted her you could let her go outside to go to the bathroom and wander, provided you take her to the vet regularly for vaccinations.

In my experience, cats don't tend to have the same aggression towards other animals as certain dogs do, so (once you check to make sure she isn't carrying anything) you could tentatively let her inside to interact with Buddy, and separate them if they try to attack each other. Usually, catfights between and old and a new cat start over favorite toys, competing for food, or not having enough personal space. If you do want to keep Fox, introducing her to Buddy will probably go pretty smoothly, and if it doesn't, the best thing to do is to separate them so they have personal space and feed them in different rooms so they don't have to be in each others' space all the time.

Best of luck!

[Velveteen Hound.]

In my experience, cats don't tend to have the same aggression towards other animals as certain dogs do, so (once you check to make sure she isn't carrying anything) you could tentatively let her inside to interact with Buddy, and separate them if they try to attack each other. Usually, catfights between and old and a new cat start over favorite toys, competing for food, or not having enough personal space. If you do want to keep Fox, introducing her to Buddy will probably go pretty smoothly, and if it doesn't, the best thing to do is to separate them so they have personal space and feed them in different rooms so they don't have to be in each others' space all the time.

Please do not just throw them together. All animals need to be properly introduced. It take a bit of time, but even if the new cat isn't aggressive (And cats definitely can show aggression, especially if one has lived any significant time with out human interactions and suddenly is forced too.) But it can change the eating/sleeping/bathroom patterns of the existing cats. Maybe not such an obvious reaction, but can in-turn be even more dangerous. Any new animal can be extremely stressful/and stressed. Introduce them properly.

[AtlasHyperion]

Please do not just throw them together.

Calm down, I wasn't suggesting tossing them into the same house and leaving for three days. There's no need for that many bolded words. Obviously cats should be introduced calmly and slowly and not left to their own devices with other cats they've never met. My point was merely that, in my own experience, cats don't tend to go insane and try to kill each other right off the bat if they don't have a history of being territorial, so if Mapleshade's first cat is pretty cat-friendly a good way to introduce Fox and Buddy would be to slowly let them greet each other and get used to one another's presence. Cats should never be introduced in a rush, the process should be slow with plenty of time for them to get to used to each others' scents and lots of supervision when they interact for limited amounts of time until they get used to each other. I was not giving specific advice in my previous reply. All I was saying was that if someone wants to adopt a stray cat that's displayed passive behavior and has a cat that isn't aggressive, it should be easy to introduce the new cat to the home. My suggestion was not to put them together right away with no supervision, please don't misinterpret and especially please don't be condescending.

[Lex.]

Yikes bro 😔
I came here for cute cat pictures but this is what I found

[mierose]

Another note, her behavior may completely change once inside. There was once a stray cat who lived in my yard (TNRd, no worries) and she was the sweetest thing ever. Following me, cuddling, playing and all that fun stuff. However, the second I brought her inside she flipped out. Running in circles, hissing, trying to scratch and bite, and rushing the door. We immediately learned that her home was outside as it was where she was comfortable. It’s just good to know that no matter the behavior, some cats just don’t want to be inside (in the case of found strays and feral cats). All you can do is make sure they’re comfy, fed, spayed, and vaccinated.