Hello everyone,
I appreciate your being here because I need serious advice. A female cat began appearing in my backyard to eat, as I feed the strays in the neighborhood. I started paying more attention to her than usual and she began hanging around my yard nonstop because it looked as though she welcomed the attention. I then offered her a place inside my house but this is where she let me know that she did not want to be inside. She would not allow me to bring her in but eventually one day I brought her in. She was inside for about three weeks. She made no friends with the rest of my cats and would hiss at them whenever they were near. None of them were hostile toward her. I have some that are on the younger side and they wanted to befriend her, which she refused. At times I would show her the door to the yard to see how she felt about going outside again and she would not come to the door. On other occasions, she would. I decided to bring her out thinking that she would come back in after a short time outside. I wanted her to re-experience her life outside and not feel imprisoned. Bad mistake. After a day outside, she does not want to return. And yet, she spends her days flopped on the ground in the yard and occasionally comes to the door. She almost seems as though she wants to come back in, but doesn't actually walk in. There are sound reasons for wanting her inside. The weather is getting super hot. There are ants and pests in the yard. Other feral cats aren't always friendly. And there are also sound reasons for not wanting her inside. She wasn't friendly to my other cats and they began avoiding going to places in the house where the outside cat would stay. So at this point, I'm tied in a knot about the whole situation. To make matters worse, she tries to hunt birds and has caught some. I have bird feeders and even the birds don't want to come into my yard because of her. By the way, she did have a microchip that was unregistered - I checked all of the registries. So she had an owner at one point. Help.
I appreciate your being here because I need serious advice. A female cat began appearing in my backyard to eat, as I feed the strays in the neighborhood. I started paying more attention to her than usual and she began hanging around my yard nonstop because it looked as though she welcomed the attention. I then offered her a place inside my house but this is where she let me know that she did not want to be inside. She would not allow me to bring her in but eventually one day I brought her in. She was inside for about three weeks. She made no friends with the rest of my cats and would hiss at them whenever they were near. None of them were hostile toward her. I have some that are on the younger side and they wanted to befriend her, which she refused. At times I would show her the door to the yard to see how she felt about going outside again and she would not come to the door. On other occasions, she would. I decided to bring her out thinking that she would come back in after a short time outside. I wanted her to re-experience her life outside and not feel imprisoned. Bad mistake. After a day outside, she does not want to return. And yet, she spends her days flopped on the ground in the yard and occasionally comes to the door. She almost seems as though she wants to come back in, but doesn't actually walk in. There are sound reasons for wanting her inside. The weather is getting super hot. There are ants and pests in the yard. Other feral cats aren't always friendly. And there are also sound reasons for not wanting her inside. She wasn't friendly to my other cats and they began avoiding going to places in the house where the outside cat would stay. So at this point, I'm tied in a knot about the whole situation. To make matters worse, she tries to hunt birds and has caught some. I have bird feeders and even the birds don't want to come into my yard because of her. By the way, she did have a microchip that was unregistered - I checked all of the registries. So she had an owner at one point. Help.
Personally, I would be afraid to risk bringing her inside with my other cats if it didn't go well the first time. You have to think about them first. It sounds like she wants to be near you, but doesn't want to live inside. If you don't think it would be safe for her to remain an outdoor cat in your yard, are there shelters or vet clinics that would help you get her adopted?
