Hello everyone! I am new to this forum, and I came here looking for some advice. I will start by saying I have never had cats in my life, so this is why I figured I'd search for some answers, as I've been reading the forum for a while now and trust you all.
So I guess the question I have is "do I take this cat in or let her be?", in the end, and I'll tell you the whole ordeal. This stray cat has shown up and is hanging out by my parents' house. She is a black and white cat, with a really fluffy tail, almost long fur but not quite. She showed up a couple months ago, made home of the property, and hasn't left since. I believe she is about 8 months old now, maybe older, but she's a very small cat regardless. She is the absolute sweetest cat I've ever met! She purrs like a machine, she adores being held and getting "squished" (honestly, I'll hold her up to my face and hug her and she won't move a muscle, just purrs and is content to be held), and whenever anyone sits down nearby, she'll lay on their lap and take naps. A very cuddly cat, our guess is that someone actually abandoned her near our property -- we think she must've come from a house with little kids, with how easily she accepts being handled. But that's all speculation anyway.
Now, my parents don't want to take her inside, they have a lot of big dogs and they also never had cats (my family is a big time dog-people family). They love her though, they feed her, we even got her fixed as soon as she showed up, since we know we have unfixed male cats in our area roaming around! She was also a sweetheart in that process, the vet fell in love with her too, and she even let me give her meds with no issue. She has never scratched or hissed any of us, and she's so chill meeting strangers too, it's crazy. Anyone gets a lap full of cat if they sit down near her. I always only met strays who were a lot more scared of people!
So this house she's staying at, it's a more rural property, we have chickens free roaming and cows and all that. She sleeps outside, under a deck of the house, on the dirt. She has food and water available to her, she gets the eventual attention from whenever someone is sitting outside and gives her scratches, and she spends her days taking naps and climbing trees and hunting for birds.
I am considering taking her into my place. I'm an adult, I live alone, in an apartment that is one hour away. I have a dog, he is a mini breed with little to no prey drive (I used to have a small bird as a pet along with this dog, and the dog never posed a threat!) and he loves cats, so the biggest issue with adaptation would be getting him to not be overexcited about the cat (lol) and adjusting him to no longer being an only child. But these are things I know would happen with time and patience. I really believe my dog would be a good fit for a cat companion! Also, the stray currently does hang out with dogs, large breeds who occasionally go over to sniff her, and she's still a sweetheart about it. She was scared of them at first, but now she doesn't mind them. At most, if they get too rowdy around her, she'll swat at them with her paw, without even putting her claws out lol.
Basically what I'm wondering is if she'll be happy as an indoors cat? She is so cuddly and seems like such a lap cat so that's why I feel inclined to take her in. I grew up with dogs all my life, so I would always say that a spoiled dog indoors (with proper accomodations) is better than a dog sleeping outside on the streets. But I don't know if the same goes for cats! Like, wouldn't she miss hunting for birds and being outdoors? Will she be sad, confined to an apartment? Also, will she adapt to using a litterbox inside?
For added information, I live in a 3-bedroom apartment by myself, it's spacious and all the windows/balcony are protected by screens because the previous owners had a cat. I'm fully willing to give the cat all the toys, good food and vet care it needs. I spend part-time out of my weekdays studying/working but the rest of the day I'm home. I also sometimes go away on weekends and stay at my parents' -- my dog comes with me, but I wouldn't be able to take my cat inside, as I already said here previously. So if I'm away for the weekend, I'd ask someone to pop into my apartment and feed/clean up after her, but I also worry if that would be okay, or if she would be too lonely?
In conclusion, I want to know everyone's opinions on whether or not this cat would be happy going inside and being in a furever home, or if outside cats are just happier that way. I'm doing my research and will buy all the things needed to own a cat, rest assured she would be spoiled! But I really don't know if cats are built different than dogs in that way, and I worry about making the wrong decision.
Thank you for reading! Any advice is appreciated!
So I guess the question I have is "do I take this cat in or let her be?", in the end, and I'll tell you the whole ordeal. This stray cat has shown up and is hanging out by my parents' house. She is a black and white cat, with a really fluffy tail, almost long fur but not quite. She showed up a couple months ago, made home of the property, and hasn't left since. I believe she is about 8 months old now, maybe older, but she's a very small cat regardless. She is the absolute sweetest cat I've ever met! She purrs like a machine, she adores being held and getting "squished" (honestly, I'll hold her up to my face and hug her and she won't move a muscle, just purrs and is content to be held), and whenever anyone sits down nearby, she'll lay on their lap and take naps. A very cuddly cat, our guess is that someone actually abandoned her near our property -- we think she must've come from a house with little kids, with how easily she accepts being handled. But that's all speculation anyway.
Now, my parents don't want to take her inside, they have a lot of big dogs and they also never had cats (my family is a big time dog-people family). They love her though, they feed her, we even got her fixed as soon as she showed up, since we know we have unfixed male cats in our area roaming around! She was also a sweetheart in that process, the vet fell in love with her too, and she even let me give her meds with no issue. She has never scratched or hissed any of us, and she's so chill meeting strangers too, it's crazy. Anyone gets a lap full of cat if they sit down near her. I always only met strays who were a lot more scared of people!
So this house she's staying at, it's a more rural property, we have chickens free roaming and cows and all that. She sleeps outside, under a deck of the house, on the dirt. She has food and water available to her, she gets the eventual attention from whenever someone is sitting outside and gives her scratches, and she spends her days taking naps and climbing trees and hunting for birds.
I am considering taking her into my place. I'm an adult, I live alone, in an apartment that is one hour away. I have a dog, he is a mini breed with little to no prey drive (I used to have a small bird as a pet along with this dog, and the dog never posed a threat!) and he loves cats, so the biggest issue with adaptation would be getting him to not be overexcited about the cat (lol) and adjusting him to no longer being an only child. But these are things I know would happen with time and patience. I really believe my dog would be a good fit for a cat companion! Also, the stray currently does hang out with dogs, large breeds who occasionally go over to sniff her, and she's still a sweetheart about it. She was scared of them at first, but now she doesn't mind them. At most, if they get too rowdy around her, she'll swat at them with her paw, without even putting her claws out lol.
Basically what I'm wondering is if she'll be happy as an indoors cat? She is so cuddly and seems like such a lap cat so that's why I feel inclined to take her in. I grew up with dogs all my life, so I would always say that a spoiled dog indoors (with proper accomodations) is better than a dog sleeping outside on the streets. But I don't know if the same goes for cats! Like, wouldn't she miss hunting for birds and being outdoors? Will she be sad, confined to an apartment? Also, will she adapt to using a litterbox inside?
For added information, I live in a 3-bedroom apartment by myself, it's spacious and all the windows/balcony are protected by screens because the previous owners had a cat. I'm fully willing to give the cat all the toys, good food and vet care it needs. I spend part-time out of my weekdays studying/working but the rest of the day I'm home. I also sometimes go away on weekends and stay at my parents' -- my dog comes with me, but I wouldn't be able to take my cat inside, as I already said here previously. So if I'm away for the weekend, I'd ask someone to pop into my apartment and feed/clean up after her, but I also worry if that would be okay, or if she would be too lonely?
In conclusion, I want to know everyone's opinions on whether or not this cat would be happy going inside and being in a furever home, or if outside cats are just happier that way. I'm doing my research and will buy all the things needed to own a cat, rest assured she would be spoiled! But I really don't know if cats are built different than dogs in that way, and I worry about making the wrong decision.
Thank you for reading! Any advice is appreciated!
plus, you could train her to harness and leash walks.
?
it makes me so happy
