- Joined
- Jan 4, 2017
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- 8
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Hi people,
This cat (Gypsy), who almost certainly is an abandoned pet, has been living behind my house for 3 or 4 months. I've had her spayed and vaccinated, and now I'm trying to bring her inside and get her adopted. There are a few complications to this that I'm not sure about and any input would be a great help.
My main question is: while waiting for an adopter to come through, should I let her go back outside when she wants, or should I force her to stay inside? Here are the issues:
- She is very small, only about 5 or 6 pounds. This makes her vulnerable to other animals and most importantly to the cold weather, which is coming soon. I don't think she has lived outside in the cold before. I live in North Carolina and there will be plenty of below-freezing nights in the next few months.
- I have about 850 square feet of space inside, and a territorial indoor cat. They are starting to get along (it's only been a week) but I don't know if it's healthy for two cats to share this space in the long term.
- Every few hours she starts crying to be let outside again. Her "home base" is an overgrown area behind my backyard which has lots of trash in it. I don't like to think about her huddling by herself there, especially when it's cold and wet. She has only used the litterbox inside once so I'm wondering if she feels like she has to be outside to pee/poop.
- There is a family of 6 ferals who live outside. They don't attack her, but they are all bigger than her and will probably push her out of the preferable warm spaces. There is a neighbor's cat who is more aggressive towards her and sometimes prevents her from approaching my house.
How worried do I really need to be about her spending time outside? This cat is a clear candidate for a permanent indoor home, but in the meantime it is very stressful to have her in this half-in half-out state. Should I relax and just let her come and go, or should I force the issue and keep her inside 100%?
This cat (Gypsy), who almost certainly is an abandoned pet, has been living behind my house for 3 or 4 months. I've had her spayed and vaccinated, and now I'm trying to bring her inside and get her adopted. There are a few complications to this that I'm not sure about and any input would be a great help.
My main question is: while waiting for an adopter to come through, should I let her go back outside when she wants, or should I force her to stay inside? Here are the issues:
- She is very small, only about 5 or 6 pounds. This makes her vulnerable to other animals and most importantly to the cold weather, which is coming soon. I don't think she has lived outside in the cold before. I live in North Carolina and there will be plenty of below-freezing nights in the next few months.
- I have about 850 square feet of space inside, and a territorial indoor cat. They are starting to get along (it's only been a week) but I don't know if it's healthy for two cats to share this space in the long term.
- Every few hours she starts crying to be let outside again. Her "home base" is an overgrown area behind my backyard which has lots of trash in it. I don't like to think about her huddling by herself there, especially when it's cold and wet. She has only used the litterbox inside once so I'm wondering if she feels like she has to be outside to pee/poop.
- There is a family of 6 ferals who live outside. They don't attack her, but they are all bigger than her and will probably push her out of the preferable warm spaces. There is a neighbor's cat who is more aggressive towards her and sometimes prevents her from approaching my house.
How worried do I really need to be about her spending time outside? This cat is a clear candidate for a permanent indoor home, but in the meantime it is very stressful to have her in this half-in half-out state. Should I relax and just let her come and go, or should I force the issue and keep her inside 100%?