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- Jan 31, 2021
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Hello cat experts!
I am an experienced cat owner; I owned 3 indoor only male cats for 18 years and a female cairn terrier for 10 years. 12 years later, I'm now in unfamiliar territory. Those pets have passed and I own 2 small Chihuahua mixes (7 and 11 pounds) who are well behaved around my pet sitter's kitten. My neighbor's son befriended a kitten who we believe was part of a feral cat colony. The kitten was rejected by the colony so she started hanging at the neighbor's house. The neighbor has a resident, feral cat who has tried to drive kitty away but she has been persistent in visiting. She ate there but slept across the street under the deck of a neighbor's house across the street. She's affectionate towards the neighbor's 16 yr old son, sits on his lap and watches him and friends play basketball. The neighbor wanted to bring her inside but she has a sickly cat with only 1 kidney and another cat and both freaked out when kitty entered the laundry room a few times. It is now freezing and we are due for a severe snow storm of up to 12 inches of snow so we decided it was time bring her bring her inside to my house.
She's been here only for 36 hours so of course I'm not expecting much but she isn't eating or drinking. I wanted to keep her in my spare bedroom but my house is old and the room isn't insulated well so it's 60 degrees even when the downstairs is 70 so I thought it would be cruel. Instead I choose the family room which is on the lower level of my home. I wasn't counting on her being able to, or motivated to jump the gate at the top of the stairs into my kitchen. She also jumped the gate into the living room, which is where she has remained behind a couch and under a table with a long tablecloth she can hide under. I moved her litter box (which doesn't appear to have been used) to the room along with her water and dry food she was eating outside. I have tried to tempt her with a grain free cat pate and a homemade food cat recipe and she hasn't touched anything. To make things a tad more complicated, I think she is in heat. There is a lot of meowing outside of the conversations we have and we are guessing she is about 6 months old, so the timing appears to be right for her to be in heat. I am keeping my dogs away from her and have no idea how I'm going to get her to a vet for a health check and to be spayed. My dogs realize she's in the house and they bark from the adjacent kitchen occasionally but they seem to know she is stressed. Yesterday I went to work so she had the house to herself (my dogs went to daycare). I checked in on her via my camera app but I didn't see her so I don't think she explored the house. My house is small, only 1300 sq ft so I don't have options for relocating her and I don't want to stress her further by forcing her to go somewhere else, like the bathroom. I don't know how I could catch her anyway. Any ideas on how to get her to eat and use the litter box? I don't want to end up with a dehydrated kitty, or worse. Thank you in advance for your suggestions!
I am an experienced cat owner; I owned 3 indoor only male cats for 18 years and a female cairn terrier for 10 years. 12 years later, I'm now in unfamiliar territory. Those pets have passed and I own 2 small Chihuahua mixes (7 and 11 pounds) who are well behaved around my pet sitter's kitten. My neighbor's son befriended a kitten who we believe was part of a feral cat colony. The kitten was rejected by the colony so she started hanging at the neighbor's house. The neighbor has a resident, feral cat who has tried to drive kitty away but she has been persistent in visiting. She ate there but slept across the street under the deck of a neighbor's house across the street. She's affectionate towards the neighbor's 16 yr old son, sits on his lap and watches him and friends play basketball. The neighbor wanted to bring her inside but she has a sickly cat with only 1 kidney and another cat and both freaked out when kitty entered the laundry room a few times. It is now freezing and we are due for a severe snow storm of up to 12 inches of snow so we decided it was time bring her bring her inside to my house.
She's been here only for 36 hours so of course I'm not expecting much but she isn't eating or drinking. I wanted to keep her in my spare bedroom but my house is old and the room isn't insulated well so it's 60 degrees even when the downstairs is 70 so I thought it would be cruel. Instead I choose the family room which is on the lower level of my home. I wasn't counting on her being able to, or motivated to jump the gate at the top of the stairs into my kitchen. She also jumped the gate into the living room, which is where she has remained behind a couch and under a table with a long tablecloth she can hide under. I moved her litter box (which doesn't appear to have been used) to the room along with her water and dry food she was eating outside. I have tried to tempt her with a grain free cat pate and a homemade food cat recipe and she hasn't touched anything. To make things a tad more complicated, I think she is in heat. There is a lot of meowing outside of the conversations we have and we are guessing she is about 6 months old, so the timing appears to be right for her to be in heat. I am keeping my dogs away from her and have no idea how I'm going to get her to a vet for a health check and to be spayed. My dogs realize she's in the house and they bark from the adjacent kitchen occasionally but they seem to know she is stressed. Yesterday I went to work so she had the house to herself (my dogs went to daycare). I checked in on her via my camera app but I didn't see her so I don't think she explored the house. My house is small, only 1300 sq ft so I don't have options for relocating her and I don't want to stress her further by forcing her to go somewhere else, like the bathroom. I don't know how I could catch her anyway. Any ideas on how to get her to eat and use the litter box? I don't want to end up with a dehydrated kitty, or worse. Thank you in advance for your suggestions!
I don't have much to offer, but hoping to give this a little bump, so you'll get some help from others with more advice. 
That she'll continue to eat! 
