Gradually introducing an outside feral cat to the indoor (feral) cat by keeping him in overnight - some issues

[JimmyL]

Hi all

Hi all

Thanks, in advance for your advice, as always.

I have explained (here) before that my wife and I share a one-bedroomed spacious flat in Belgrade. We have a blind 5-year old cat that lives with us. We found her on the streets when she was a kitten. She is quite nervous and has had no interaction with any other cat...up until now.

We have a new, lively one-year-old who we have semi-adopted. We bring him in from the outside courtyard at various points in the day, so he can feed, play and sleep! He is quite tame and good-natured for an outdoor cat. When he comes he just wants to play with the other cat. She wants none of it! We keep them separate but occasionally they get together. It ended up with the younger trying to jump on the older, which then ends up as a hissing contest. (They have both been sterilized, BTW).

Anyway, we are adopting a holding pattern because, in three months' time, we will return to the UK. We will have a house there, with a cat flap leading to a garden. We envisage the young one coming and going as he pleases, and the older cat staying indoors.

With that in mind, we have been trying to bring in the outdoor cat about 10 pm, tire him out with play so that he settles down, and take him outside again at 7 am. We have been doing this for a week with varying success.

Most days, at 4.30 am he starts meowing loudly outside the (closed) bedroom door (where we are sleeping with No 1 cat. I usually then get up, try and entertain him for 2.5 hours then let him out. But this isn't sustainable.

I think there are three possible reasons why he becomes agitatted:

- After immediatekly waking up at that time, he is bored and wants to play
- He senses the other cat behind the door, and wants to interact
- Although he uses the provided litter tray occassionally, he prefers to do his buiness outide, and 'nature's calling haoppens when he gets up

My wife has susggested that I need to learn to ignore him, and responding to his meows is courting further problems. She believes he will get used to his overnight stay indoors if we hold firm. We can then review the sutaution in April, when we return to the UK.

What are your thoughst on this? Any advice, realting to the information above would be very helpful.

Thanks

James

 

[fionasmom]

It is really kind of you to have taken in both of these cats and in the long term when you are back in the UK it will probably all work out.

Definitely, tiring the new boy out so that he does not bother your other cat is a great idea. Jackson Galaxy uses vigorous exercise in almost all cases where there is any cat issue in the house....and I am not saying you have a problem as the newcomer is just young and wants to play. I would keep up the play time as you try to introduce him to your cat and let him know what the rules are.

As for your three reasons for his agitation, they could all be correct. Do you give him a little meal before he goes to sleep? Sometimes cats who exercise and then eat will sleep through more successfully.

You don't have a litter box problem, which is great, because he uses it. If it were only that issue, I would try to ignore him and see what happens as you are not denying him a place to relieve himself. If he has a time frame in his head about his bathroom habits, he might have some belief that he has to be outside at a certain time. Is he neutered? If not, he might be wanting out for all the reasons that male cats want out.

A very good friend has a cat who decides he is bored at about 4 AM and wants entertainment, so that is possible. And, yes, he may be a sweet little boy who would love a cat friend to play with.

Jackson Galaxy has told people with cats who wake them up that they have to learn to ignore the requests, especially given that you boy is safely inside with you. Once the behavior does not have a payoff, he may stop doing it.

Train Your Cat to Let You Sleep - Jackson Galaxy

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'm just going to second fionasmom , since she gave you my thoughts, and probably far more clearly than I would have done!

And again, thank you for taking on this little guy!

 

[JimmyL]

Thanks so much, fionasmom . Excellent advice!

Both cats have been sterilized. We will work on this. We tried vigorous exercise and feeding before bed last night. He woke up at 4 am and started meowing. We ignored him, but by about 5.30 it was pretty intense. I got up and pottered about a bit - without showing him too much attention. He seemed to like that. At about 6:15 he (eventually) used the litter tray and that certainly calmed him down. I took him outside at 7.15 am.

We realize we are in for the long haul. There are moments of sadness, in trying to deal with a very scared 5-year-old blind cat who, if nervous before, is hyper nervous now and doesn't play with us like she used to. And the new boy, who is desperate to play with her but she is too frightened. We have been in this holding position for 5 months. If anything the blind cat is more nervous now than when we started. She runs under the bed whenever I enter the house thinking I have the other cat with me.

Anyway, we'll keep trying, but I can't see how blind cat 1 will ever be willing to accept the new boy. Ho-hum!

Thanks again

J

 

[fionasmom]

They don't have to be friends, they only need to coexist. Right now you are all in a transitionary state, so it may not start to resolve itself until you get back to a settled life in the UK. Once there is a routine and the two cats understand each other, they may simply ignore each other....and the young one will mature and want to play much less or be distracted by his new home. I have owned cats who did not like each other, or had some other issue with each other. Usually they worked out an arrangement where they were never in the same room at the same time.

Can you distract the new boy with toys like Da Bird to tire him out and make him leave the blind cat alone? He may need to have his energy run off enough to where he is not interested in a playmate.