Hi all. I really need some advice.
About 2 and a half years ago I adopted a tabby kitten from the Humane Society and named her Juno. She has been a great cat, beautiful, friendly, adventurous, with a loud purr and an even louder meow. We have another cat named Maxie, 9 year old female domestic shorthair, who is pretty timid and skittish but very loving. The two have gotten along but never became close, they'd rarely play together or cuddle.
We let our cats go out pretty much whenever they want, we live in a very secluded area and have done this with our 3 past cats and never had a problem with the cat getting lost/running away.
But this past November, I went on a trip with my family for the long weekend and Juno got out when a friend came to feed the cats. Days after we returned, she hadn't come home so we reached out to neighbors and posted on Nextdoor. Some neighbors living about a mile away who feed feral cats had been feeding her.
We got Juno home, but it was impossible to keep her in as she was too used to roaming and would fight with Maxie and yowl as loud as she could for hours until we were forced to let her out. On multiple occasions she disappeared for a week or more and we had to go to the neighbor's house with a crate and pick her up.
She started staying around more regularly until a couple months ago when she started disappearing for weeks on end. She'd show up on our deck every couple of weeks, come in for food and pets, and then soon return to yowling and fighting.
Tonight she returned home for the first time in maybe a month..
She has been yowling, fighting with Maxie like crazy, hissing and growling. They are now in separate rooms but Juno will barely let me approach or pet her and is acting completely different.
I don't know how to help Juno at this point. I want to keep her in more that anything, but my family is fed up with the yowling and fighting and wants to just let her out. What do I do, is this situation beyond repair?
(sorry if this seems rushed or incoherent, I'm pretty frantically trying to get this out)
About 2 and a half years ago I adopted a tabby kitten from the Humane Society and named her Juno. She has been a great cat, beautiful, friendly, adventurous, with a loud purr and an even louder meow. We have another cat named Maxie, 9 year old female domestic shorthair, who is pretty timid and skittish but very loving. The two have gotten along but never became close, they'd rarely play together or cuddle.
We let our cats go out pretty much whenever they want, we live in a very secluded area and have done this with our 3 past cats and never had a problem with the cat getting lost/running away.
But this past November, I went on a trip with my family for the long weekend and Juno got out when a friend came to feed the cats. Days after we returned, she hadn't come home so we reached out to neighbors and posted on Nextdoor. Some neighbors living about a mile away who feed feral cats had been feeding her.
We got Juno home, but it was impossible to keep her in as she was too used to roaming and would fight with Maxie and yowl as loud as she could for hours until we were forced to let her out. On multiple occasions she disappeared for a week or more and we had to go to the neighbor's house with a crate and pick her up.
She started staying around more regularly until a couple months ago when she started disappearing for weeks on end. She'd show up on our deck every couple of weeks, come in for food and pets, and then soon return to yowling and fighting.
Tonight she returned home for the first time in maybe a month..
She has been yowling, fighting with Maxie like crazy, hissing and growling. They are now in separate rooms but Juno will barely let me approach or pet her and is acting completely different.
I don't know how to help Juno at this point. I want to keep her in more that anything, but my family is fed up with the yowling and fighting and wants to just let her out. What do I do, is this situation beyond repair?
(sorry if this seems rushed or incoherent, I'm pretty frantically trying to get this out)
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