<p>Young, female orange tabby. Neighborhood stray for the past 2 years (has been living under the neighbor’s deck) although I just found out about her 2 weeks ago. She seems to be in good health; keeps her fur very well groomed. She is very loving - she loves to cuddle up on her back in my lap and have her head rubbed. Purrs constantly and “kneads” her claws all the time. She is very gentle with my child. I would take this cat into my home in an instant but my dog would not tolerate her. We have been feeding her although she continues to provide for herself as well (birds).</p>
<p>What should I do now? I am thinking I will take her into my vet and have her checked for an implanted chip (can they scan for a chip at a vet office?) to see if she is someone’s pet. Also, have her checked out and maybe get her some shots she should have (rabies) to keep her healthy. What other shots should she have? I suppose she should be fixed, but I don’t know how much that would cost. </p>
<p>My neighbors’ family from out of town have indicated they’ll come back and get her in a couple of months (they met her on their way through), but I don’t know if that will actually pan out (it would be ideal-they are huge cat lovers). I hate to take her to the rescue league; I’ve volunteered there and I’m afraid the atmosphere would be very stressful to her and she might not be her loving self and I worry about her not going to a great home or not going to a home at all. She’s cautious around new people and situations, understandably. </p>
<p>How crazy would it be to keep her as an outdoor cat? She does seem very happy outside and I could provide heated shelter in the winter for her. I wouldn’t want to be unfair to her though. She really is such a sweet, sweet kitty. I wish there was a way for her to be my forever kitty!</p>
<p>You are wonderful to care for this cat. The outside world is hard on cats. She should have a rabies shot to protect you and your child. Then distemper, feline leukemia vaccination. She should be checked for feline AIDS. Spaying would be great as we don’t need any more strays. Around here the animal control people have a program for stray cats that is less expensive than it would be at the vets.</p>
<p>Good for you momlove! Agree with Onward about the shots and please check with your local animal shelter to see if they have a program to spay her as a “stray” for free or very low cost. Just having you keep an eye on her, provide climate appropriate shelter and give her the love and attention she seems to want is great.</p>
<p>momlove, what you are doing is wonderful! As a parent of two shelter kitties, I’m happy to hear of another kitty being taken care of. Call a shelter or two first to find out what programs they have for spaying/shots. Also be aware of the fact that some shelters consider any cat entering the shelter their “property”, and even if it is your kitty, they will not release her to you until you go through their adoption formalities. Your cat needs to be tested for FeLV (feline leukemia) and feline AIDS, dewormed, get a rabies shot and maybe some other shots.</p>
<p>When I was a kid, a young calico female cat “adopted” us. She was just like your orange tabby - very loving, gentle cat who liked to spend a couple of hours inside the house but mostly preferred to hang out outside even when it was well below freezing! She lost the tips of her ears due to frostbite but she lived a long and healthy life and died at the age of 15.</p>
<p>My son discovered a stray kitty - three years ago. We have two inside cats - one of whom does not “play well with others.” Anyway, after talking to my vet, we adopted the kitty as our outside cat. The vet neutered him, took care of two internal parasites, and made sure that he had all needed shots. Since he was a rescue kitty, my vet split cost of treatment, which I found out that he always does in rescue cases. (Great vet :)). Anyway, he suggested that we make sure that the kitty has a comfortable “night” home in our garage. Each evening at dusk, the kitty comes when called. He gets treats and then settles in for the night in the garage. He has food, water, a bed, and a litter box - which he sometimes needs. The garage door remains slightly cracked for fresh air flow, though no animals can get in or out. We let him out early morning. The vet said that most cat fights or accidents occur at night, so this should keep the kitty safe. We’ve found this to be true. The vet checks him annually and so far he remains healthy and happy. I have to say that he’s better about “bedtime” than our kids ever were.</p>
<p>Oh - I want to add that in truly inclement weather (Hurricane Ike, for example), he stays in the master bedroom/bath with food, litterbox, etc. - at least, for the night. You determine “truly inclement” for your area. Temperatures in the 30s here do the trick for me. :P</p>
<p>Congratulations on your new kitty! My family has a long list of allergies - dogs, cats and horses included. Fortunately, when we were adopted by our formerly abandoned kitty (much like yours) we were able to gradually transition from outdoor kitty to indoor kitty. We didn’t have any other pets (for obvious reasons) so it was really a matter of how much kitty is too much and will exceptional housekeeping and a bit of Claritin allow us to keep him indoors.</p>
<p>Since our adoptee is male, cat fights were much more of a problem and that was the final push that made us bring his roaming days to an end. He has been totally indoors for just over a year and has made a good transition which is fortunate because we think he isn’t all that young (probably at least 10 years old).</p>
<p>I would follow up on all the above advice and keep an open mind, if it turns out that you really can’t keep her, another home may well turn up (such as the offer from your friends). Depending on how big your house is, you might want to consider confining kitty to part of the house, separate from your dog, on cold winder nights (sounds like you live where that’s the bigger issue, unlike those of us who live in the desert).</p>
<p>Best of luck! She sounds like a marvelous cat.</p>
<p>You are so kind to open your heart to a stray kitty!</p>
<p>Spaying is the top priority, IMO. It will help prevent other kitties from having to live on (and maybe die on) the street. Then have her checked and vaccinated for FIV and feline leukemia. If you can convince your dog to coexist with her, that would be terrific, but if not I don’t think having an “outside cat” isn’t out of the question (if it doesn’t get too cold in the winters where you are.) My mom had a couple stray cats she fed that she set up little shelters for, made from boxes and rugs.</p>
<p>We have been feeding a stray cat for the last five years. She showed up at my window one day when I was making tuna salad for my husband. I heard crying (it sounded like a baby). I gave her some tuna and she’s been coming around ever since then, but now I buy cat food, of course. I even pay a neighbor’s daughter to feed her if we leave town. I would take her to a vet for a check-up but she won’t allow me to pick her up. She leaves us occasional presents such as birds, lizards and one bat.</p>
<p>Much appreciated advice. She definitely ‘chose’ us. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow to check for a chip and get her checked out. She has been spending the majority of her time now on a chair on our covered porch. I had many cats in my early years and she is just one of the sweetest cats I have ever come across. Still surprised she managed to keep herself alive the past two winters with the bitter cold and large amounts of snow we had; we are in a newer development with very few critters. Poor thing must have had some hungry miserable days. Those days are over now.</p>
<p>Will check back in tomorrow after our vet visit. Thanks!</p>
<p>Why wouldn’t your dog tolerate her? Can your dog be trained to be indifferent to her?</p>
<p>I hope the vet finds she is healthy. I’ve taken in a few strays over the years that sought me out. Two of them were seriously ill; the other two were quite healthy.</p>
<p>I just adopted my new kitty in May in a very similar situation. The neighbors in our apartment complex abandoned her, and she lived outside for several months. I befriended her thinking she was someone else’s cat and took her in when I found out the situation from the maintenance crew.</p>
<p>Most of what we did was very similar to your plan. We brought her inside in the morning (confined in the bathroom so as not to interact with our other cat), brought her to the vet later that day, and had her checked for FIV, FELV, and a microchip / spay. Make sure she also gets a general health exam, since there’s a high chance a cat who’s been outside that long may have worms or other parasites, which are uncomfortable but very easy to treat. If she does have FIV or FELV you can still keep her if she is an only cat with no interaction with other cats to possibly infect. Our cat did actually have a microchip, but we discovered when we called the company it was associated with that that chip was never registered. We were able to immediately transfer the chip to our name and address for a small fee (I think $18).</p>
<p>Your cat may already be spayed if you haven’t seen her with any kittens in the last two years (our kitty turned out to be spayed, which was nice). If she’s not spayed you can probably get the spay done at a local SPCA for low cost. If the cat is pregnant you can get an emergency spay, which is the same as a spay but will also remove the kitten fetuses with her uterus - it’s only slightly more complicated than a spay. You’ll also immediately want to get your cat a collar with her name and your contact info, along with food and a litter box (unless she’s exclusively outdoors). If you make her indoor-only you’ll definitely want some small toys to entertain the cat and a scratching post.</p>
<p>I personally prefer to keep cats indoor-only, just because it’s much safer for the cat as well as the local wildlife cats may pray upon. My new cat has been indoor-only for the last two months and has been fully content - she only seems mildly curious about the outdoors. If the cat really hates being inside you can compromise by letting her outside during the day and taking her inside at night.</p>
<p>Good luck - I can’t wait to hear how the appointment goes!</p>
<p>Our dog doesn’t really like our newly adopted shelter cat, but too bad for the dog. Kitty spent a couple of weeks hiding out, and then she said she was tired of that and mainly stays on levels that the dog can’t get to. She sleeps on her cat condo, and the dog is usually on the bed, but sometimes both are on the bed. Our dog is a Yorkie and barks alot at the cat. She used to bark at our old cat, but he was a huge boy, and he took care of that most of the time. The new little girl has scratched the dog once or twice, and now she knows the bark is worse than the bite.</p>
<p>I know some other people who have done the night in the garage thing for outdoor adopted strays too. I also know someone who kept their cats in the basement (mostly).
At first I thought that our new cat would have to be kept separately from the dog, but now it is ok.</p>
<p>Took the kitty to the vet today, and surprise, she is a neutered male :eek: Boy, the vet chuckled out loud at that one! We’ll have to come up with a more masculine name!</p>
<p>So, he was likely someone’s pet at some point, which we already suspected. He is in wonderful health: no fleas, worms, healthy weight and extremely well groomed. He was very laid back once we got him in the exam room. The vet remarked on how much more relaxed he is than the majority of cats that she sees. </p>
<p>I am so conflicted about what to do now. I would love nothing more than to take this kitty into my home, but my dog freaks out when he sees him on our porch. I don’t want to put the kitty in harm’s way. Are there services/people that could help determine if we would have a chance of having them both in our home, and then help with the transition? I would not want to take him into our home if he had to be confined to the basement or just a certain area of the house. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I don’t know if this technique will work with a dog/cat relationship, but common advice for introducing a second (or third) cat into a household is to confine the newcomer to a single room for a while, but with a a baby gate in the doorway so the two animals can have the opportunity to check each other out and get used to each other without any danger to either. I suspect after a while your dog will simply accept the cat as a part of the household, especially if you correct him whenever he snarls or barks at the cat. It’s certainly worth a try.</p>