Help Moving A Cat Indoors And To A New Location At The Same Time!?

Garbage

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Maybe.

My family has a cat that I found as a kitten with another cat in a pet carrier in my high school parking lot. Once they were adults I believe they became inside/outside cats. I'm not exactly sure how the timeline went after that because I was in college by then. The male, a Russian Blue, was pretty insane and all over the neighborhood. Long story short, it was basically adopted over the course of a few months by another household. The female, a tabby, set up shop around the house and didn't stray much. At some point over the years she became outside only. Again, I was away so the timeline is spotty. In the last few years she has basically lived under my parents front porch. She has am igloo-type structure on top of the porch to get out of the elements and a small heating pad to keep it from getting too cold. Its not great but shes happy, healthy with a super soft coat, my parent feed her, and if you wait patiently she becomes extremely affectionate, to the point where you can pick her up and hold her for basically as long as you want, purring away. Now I'm back in the area and would like to make this cat an inside cat, living in my apartment about 10 miles from where it lives now.

I know its possible to slowly introduce outside cats to the inside lifestyle, but that is going to be difficult here as my family has three dogs. The dogs don't chase her and I've sort of introduced her to them individually with mostly positive results but would be a lot of undue stress for my parents who would basically have to do all the work and I don't think I could ask them to do that. My only real option, if I want this particular cat, would be to just move her to my apartment and deal with whatever issues arise, and if she/we can't handle it I will bring her back and hopefully she can resume her life at my parents house.

What sort of issues am I looking at? My apartment is pretty big with tons of places for a cat to perch. I see her pretty much every time I go home, always around the porch. Never anywhere else. Maybe when she was young she roamed but she is 12 now and was always a petite, non-aggressive cat not looking to mix it up all over town. Unless I'm missing a secret life this cat lives, and I don't presume to know its daily whereabouts, I don't think I'm trying to tame a wild beast with a two square mile of territory here. I know I am going to have three to four litter boxes for a while, hiding places, lots of high sitting places. Maybe I'll bring the igloo to have something familiar around for her. What other issues might I run in to? Is a move indoors and to a new location at the same time possible, even if the cat seems to have the temperament to be a great inside cat? Am I way overthinking this?
 

margd

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No, you're not overthinking it - you're taking her needs into consideration which is exactly what you should be doing in this situation. To get you started, check out this article on bringing outside cats indoors: The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside . From what you describe, your cat sounds like she'll probably make the transition fairly easily. It helps that she's hitting her golden years when a cat slows down (usually).

To answer your question about bringing her indoors at the same time as relocating her, yes, it's possible. She's going to think of her current place as home for a few months so if by some accident she gets out, she will head back there. Be sure to get her microchipped and, if she'll tolerate it, get her a break-away collar with her name and all of your contact information on it. She's a bit up there in years to be just learning about collars so she may not take to this at all but it's worth a try.

Bringing the igloo with you is an excellent idea, in fact, bring everything that's hers - her bowls and any toys. You might even consider sprinkling a bit of dirt from her current territory into her litter box. And speaking of litter boxes, the rule of thumb is one litter box per cat plus one for the house so you should be fine with just two. These articles on litter boxes should help you set things up so as to increase the odds that she takes to the box with minimal problems. Fortunately, most cats do intuitively know the purpose of a litter box.

The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside
How To Choose The Right Litterbox
How Many Litterboxes Should You Have?
How To Minimize Litterbox Odor
How Often Should You Clean The Litter Box?
When And How To Switch To A New Type Of Litter

It's very important to make your home inviting and stimulating to her so she doesn't get bored. Since this is already getting very long and I don't want to over-do it, I'll just recommend that you check out the Cat Care information available in the Articles section of the site. Pay special attention to articles about cat trees and beds, ways to add more vertical space to your apartment and toys. And please don't hesitate to ask for more information on any of these - I just don't want to overwhelm you at this point.

BTW, I think it's just wonderful that you are bringing this kitty inside, where she will be much safer. I'm glad she has someone looking out for her. When you have the time and are up to it, you might introduce the two of you in the New Cats on the Block forum New Cats on the Block.

And finally, a very warm welcome to you and your kitty (who must have a name?)!

WelcomeCat.gif
 
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Garbage

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I'm sort of dealing with some other things at the moment but this cat move is still on the radar, hopefully in the next few days I can get a few things moved around to make some nice high ledges more accessible. Depending on how daring she will be around my apartment she can potentially do a complete lap of my living room about a foot from the ceiling, going from the bookshelf to the door and window frames which are really big in my old apartment.

She does have a name, and its Kitty. I don't know how this happened and I know she had a different name as a kitten, but she just eventually became known as Kitty. I want to change it but I don't know the exact etiquette. She is 12, so a normal cat would be use to a specific name by now, but she was never really in an environment where she heard the name a lot. I guess its a more common cat name than I thought but I don't like it.
 

margd

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You're very kind to consider "Kitty's" point of view about a name change. :clapcat: Not everyone takes into consideration the impact it can have on a cat to change his or her name at this age. And that's understandable to some extent because so many cats fail to show the least bit of interest in their names. One of the smartest cats I ever had never acknowledged his name, even by an ear twitch, the entire 19 years he lived with me. Every cat is different, though and for every cat who ignores his name, there is one that comes running when he hears it.

Since your cat hasn't been addressed by the name "Kitty" that often, I think you're fine naming her something that fits her and that you like. There is an old adage among cat lovers that you'll know your cat's name when you hear it, so hopefully you'll soon have the perfect name for her. Would you mind letting me know when you rename her? I just think it's so lovely that "Kitty" is finally getting a chance to live with you.
 
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Garbage

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So, an update. I ended up just continuing to call her Kitty. She transitioned easily, figured out the litter box on day 1, and was pretty much comfortable within a couple days. She had no interest in climbing unless it was to get to a sunny spot. She always wanted to be on someones lap. She has since passed away. I'm not sure what happened, she went from seeming fine to a couple dry heaves to passing away within 2 hours. I had some vet issues but I'm pretty sure they were unrelated, I think it was some sort of catastrophic illness. I was sad of course but happy that she really lived it up her last couple years
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with me, I definitely spoiled her. Shes buried back in the yard she hung out in when she was young. Thanks for the info and tips everyone.

Dan
 

FeebysOwner

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I didn't even know about this post until you just now updated it. I am so glad you were able to take her in and that she really embraced her new home with you. And, yet so sorry she wasn't with you longer. But, I am so happy that you decided to give us an update nonetheless, and share with us a picture of her. RIP little Kitty. :angel:

If you have more you would like to share, you can always consider creating a thread in the Crossing the Bridge section of this site. Tell us all the stories that you want, share all the pics too. It is a wonderful way to create a lasting tribute and homage for our little ones that we have lost.

Bless you and Kitty.
 
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