- Joined
- Jan 25, 2016
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- 74
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- 2
Hi there -
We've been feeding an alley cat since the summer, when s/he first appeared in our area. When it started getting cold, we built a little insulated cat house for him, but between Winter Storm Jonas and a complaining neighbor, we finally decided we need to try and get this little one in the house - despite the fact that we already have some cats living here. So we borrowed a trap and in very short order (first try), we snagged it with some nice food. We have s/he in a separate room in the house, and we're glad we did it prior to the storm, because it sure is nasty out there!
We think the cat may be about a year old, and we suspect that it may be a stray rather than fully feral - reason being, we've seen it during the day, it seems on its own (not with a colony), it has looked us both directly in the eyes, and it sometimes has shyly approached us. It also would vocalize a bit when we brought food. It doesn't seem to behave the same way as other ferals we've seen in the past.
Inside the house, its been very very quiet and hiding the whole time. This is now the third day in the house, so I know it's not a long time. Because of the storm, we couldn't take it to the vet, but we have noticed that he has a clipped ear, indicating that its been spayed/neutered and maybe some vaccinations. Second night, he started eating, though only when we leave food and leave the room. Also, happily, it has been pooping/peeing in a litter box we left for him in the room with no need to do the potting soil method (it's unscented clumping cat litter). It hasn't been trying to run and escape, as far as we can tell - certainly not when we open the door into the room, and I don't see any evidence that he's been trying to get out the (closed) window or anything.
So, my question: now what?
We're fully prepared that it could take a long time for it to become used to us, but how long? Neither of us care if the little one is ever a lap cat (because we know that's probably unlikely); we just want it to be safe and healthy and be whatever he wants to be, though we are interested in making sure s/he lives in the house with the other cats on a reasonably peaceful basis. Do we just have a waiting game here, in which we leave food/water daily, clean the kitty litter daily, and make our occasional visits where we read aloud to a seemingly empty room.
BTW, the other cats are curious - they know something's in there and are sniffing around the door, but no puffy tails yet or anything.
Any advice or support is greatly appreciated -
Chris
We've been feeding an alley cat since the summer, when s/he first appeared in our area. When it started getting cold, we built a little insulated cat house for him, but between Winter Storm Jonas and a complaining neighbor, we finally decided we need to try and get this little one in the house - despite the fact that we already have some cats living here. So we borrowed a trap and in very short order (first try), we snagged it with some nice food. We have s/he in a separate room in the house, and we're glad we did it prior to the storm, because it sure is nasty out there!
We think the cat may be about a year old, and we suspect that it may be a stray rather than fully feral - reason being, we've seen it during the day, it seems on its own (not with a colony), it has looked us both directly in the eyes, and it sometimes has shyly approached us. It also would vocalize a bit when we brought food. It doesn't seem to behave the same way as other ferals we've seen in the past.
Inside the house, its been very very quiet and hiding the whole time. This is now the third day in the house, so I know it's not a long time. Because of the storm, we couldn't take it to the vet, but we have noticed that he has a clipped ear, indicating that its been spayed/neutered and maybe some vaccinations. Second night, he started eating, though only when we leave food and leave the room. Also, happily, it has been pooping/peeing in a litter box we left for him in the room with no need to do the potting soil method (it's unscented clumping cat litter). It hasn't been trying to run and escape, as far as we can tell - certainly not when we open the door into the room, and I don't see any evidence that he's been trying to get out the (closed) window or anything.
So, my question: now what?
We're fully prepared that it could take a long time for it to become used to us, but how long? Neither of us care if the little one is ever a lap cat (because we know that's probably unlikely); we just want it to be safe and healthy and be whatever he wants to be, though we are interested in making sure s/he lives in the house with the other cats on a reasonably peaceful basis. Do we just have a waiting game here, in which we leave food/water daily, clean the kitty litter daily, and make our occasional visits where we read aloud to a seemingly empty room.
BTW, the other cats are curious - they know something's in there and are sniffing around the door, but no puffy tails yet or anything.
Any advice or support is greatly appreciated -
Chris