|feral Possibly Befriending My Cat

[Clover18]

There's a feral cat in our neighborhood that our neighbor looks after (they've had it spayed, shots given, micro-chipped, have a shelter for it etc). "Other Cat" as we call her, started coming around our house when we got a cat (booth are female), our cat was very interested and they became "window buddies" meowing at each other through the window and lying down on either side of the glass hanging out together. Lately though our cat seems bored with this friendship but Other Cat is always at the door, and I mean always. Our cat runs over to say hi but then walks away and Other Cat looks heartbroken. Other Cat has even started pawing at the glass and rolling around on her back but our cat just throws her some shade and walks away. I'm getting flashbacks from high school and therefore feel really bad for Other Cat.
I'm not sure what my question is, but I guess I'm wondering if it's a good idea to let my cat outside to see what happens. My cat is an indoor cat, but was a stray in her previous life. I'm worried that she'll come in with fleas, or maybe Other Cat is acting all friendly but will start a fight as soon as our cat goes outside, or maybe she's trying to lure my cat outside so they can take off together like Thelma and Louise.
I'm open to thoughts!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I would keep your kitty inside - you're right about fleas etc and this as well

maybe Other Cat is acting all friendly but will start a fight as soon as our cat goes outside,

I don't have great ideas, because if you play with the other kitty, you could be picking up fleas that way... Maybe find out, if you can, if the other cat has been/is being treated against fleas?

 

[ArtNJ]

I don't know how likely it is they will fight, but the real problem is that if they do fight you just won't have a good way to regain control of the situation. Thats true even if they fight in front of you, but even more so if they run around a bit, because cats are fast. Your running after them could lead to more bolting. Also, even if it works, you give a cat an inch, they want a mile. And they can be super-annoying about it.

If you nonetheless want to pursue this further, see if Other Cat will let you pet it outside, and if so, how your cat reacts to the scent.

 

[Clover18]

Hi!
I would keep your kitty inside - you're right about fleas etc and this as well


I don't have great ideas, because if you play with the other kitty, you could be picking up fleas that way... Maybe find out, if you can, if the other cat has been/is being treated against fleas?

Thanks for you thoughts and advise! I don't know enough about feral cat behavior, but nonetheless I don't think it's worth getting fleas over. They can stick to staring out the window at each other for now.

 

[Clover18]

I don't know how likely it is they will fight, but the real problem is that if they do fight you just won't have a good way to regain control of the situation. Thats true even if they fight in front of you, but even more so if they run around a bit, because cats are fast. Your running after them could lead to more bolting. Also, even if it works, you give a cat an inch, they want a mile. And they can be super-annoying about it.

If you nonetheless want to pursue this further, see if Other Cat will let you pet it outside, and if so, how your cat reacts to the scent.

Wow! I never thought about them fighting and running off. That's a scary thought. Now that it's getting warmer our cat has been trying to squeeze through my legs to get outside when I leave in the morning and Other Cat is always there. So I see what you mean about give an inch take a mile. She's not happy with just looking through the door, she wants out now. Oh boy. Now I see why there are so many strays! Thank you for your thoughts!

 

[Norachan]

If you're worried about fleas ask her care takers how often she is treated. Fleas can come in from your garden on your shoes or clothing, so your cat could pick them up even without any contact.

They're easy enough to treat though, if you can touch Other Cat you can get some Frontline to put on her. One dose is enough for a month.

Sounds like Other Cat has ideas about becoming an indoor cat too.

 

[Maria Bayote]

Keep your cat inside. For all you know, they are planning some naughty scheme together and run off like you said. You may not understand it, but they are communicating through eye and tail signals. LOL.

 

[ArtNJ]

I actually have similar issues, because we have a sliding glass door in my kitchen, and over the last few years we have had two different cats that would come by in warm weather to stare in. One is a neighbor's cat that I actually helped catch as a stray kitten, and one is house cat from location unknown that we used to call "Mean Orange Kitty". However, we eventually realized that my cats just don't like other cats, and howl + retreat to the house regardless of whether the visitor is friendly. So Mean Orange Kitty might have just been curious, which we think is probably the case with the neighbor's cat. Although even there, who knows, maybe I'm just giving that one the benefit of the doubt because I helped rescue him?

My two give clear signs they are not happy when we get a visitor come up to the sliding glass door including hyper-focus, and sometimes hissing and/or puffy tail. There is a fine line between interest and hyperfocus, and it can be tricky to spot if your not used to it. But hyper focus is not a good thing, its monitoring a perceived threat.

 

[Talien]

Letting your Cat outside is a bad idea especially if she used to be a stray herself. The question is would you be willing to take "other Cat" in?

If that wouldn't be a problem something you could do is ask your neighbors if they've given her flea treatment, de-wormer, etc. I would imagine so if they're taking care of everything else and if not you could always do it yourself. Put your Cat in an isolated room and open the door so the other Cat can come inside and see what happens.

 

[Kat0121]

Keep your cat inside. For all you know, they are planning some naughty scheme together and run off like you said. You may not understand it, but they are communicating through eye and tail signals. LOL.

Or they are planning on taking over the house together like mine did

 

[kittyluv387]

What about making the other cat your cat??

 

[Maria Bayote]

Or they are planning on taking over the house together like mine did

Or worse, they are scheming in taking over the whole neighborhood.