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- Sep 14, 2018
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Trying to figure out how best to handle a situation where there is a cat that used to live in our home we will be moving into, but we already have a cat so not looking to bring them indoor, at least not for a while.
My backstory: We are moving into our new house in a couple weeks (waiting on Reno to finish) with our indoor only cat Jean. Jeans littermate/sister, storm just passed away unexpectedly a couple weeks ago, and we are still processing and grieving. Bringing in a new cat to our home is not something we are ready for emotionally.
Abandoned cats backstory:
Our neighbor has told us that the previous homeowner left his cat Tori (and her daughters) behind. They left October last year, and in January this year, my neighbor noticed them because they were eating his birdseed so they have been feeding them since then. They consider them "community cats" and haven't been able to pet any of them but have gotten close a couple times with Tori. My understanding is that at least Tori was indoor/outdoor cat, the daughters (Dee and Cali) were likely born outside and probably about a year old. There's also another tomcat (I call him Tom) that is possibly just feral. The neighbor a couple months ago had them all trapped, neutered/spayed, vaccinated. When we found out about the cats, we started leaving food out when we are around (not everyday but a 2-3 times a week) and got a couple heated cat houses for the porch. Initially all the cats would stop by our porch (we have Ring camera), the two daughters would come out for the food just minutes after we left it out. However if they saw us they would get skiddish and run away or at least get to a decent distance away.
About a month ago, we were by the house and saw Tori for the first time in person. She was out on the back porch and I went out to see her, expecting her to be totally skiddish, so I just sat on the ground to be not threatening. And to my surprise she came right up to me and jumped in my lap, wanting petting, making biscuits. I was shocked. She was so sweet, clearly missing affection for months. She was/is a little bite-y tho but not in an aggressive way. When I pet her sometimes she will give my had a little bite or scratch but still want attention/petting which makes me think she is either getting overstimulated or she's communicating (not sure how her interactions were with previous owners but they did have kids which can be unpredictable).
Now it seems Tori is a bit protective of the house (we don't see the daughters on the front porch anymore, but neighbors still see/feed them and they've said Tori isn't really affectionate or nice to them so they might just be avoiding conflict).
A lot of times Tori is now on the porch almost waiting for us when we stop by. She has darted in the house once while we had door open to let contractor in, but she only got a few feet in and then ran out. I get the feeling tho if we were there and left it unintended she would go in, she meows at the back patio door if we are inside and she is there. She still occasionally tries to bite if petting for a while, but I'm trying to stay calm and let her know we Rent going to be erradic with her hoping that she might stop that habit eventually.
Anyway, so like I said Tori seems to have adopted us but we aren't in a place to let her into the house. Besides our grieving and emotional not-readiness, we are worried about how Jeans safety and comfort, especially with Tori's current biting and scratching of us. We are already worried on if Jean will be stressed seeing the outdoor cats so close (Tori comes right up to patio and kitchen window), and previous times Jean would see outdoor cats in our old house, she would get poofed and riled up.
Anyway, not sure what I'm asking for of this community, but if you have any insight or helpful tips or stories of similar situation, that would be great. I'm a car lady so it breaks my heart that Tori was abandoned and wants our love, but my heart still hurts from Storms passing and Jean is my priority right now.
My backstory: We are moving into our new house in a couple weeks (waiting on Reno to finish) with our indoor only cat Jean. Jeans littermate/sister, storm just passed away unexpectedly a couple weeks ago, and we are still processing and grieving. Bringing in a new cat to our home is not something we are ready for emotionally.
Abandoned cats backstory:
Our neighbor has told us that the previous homeowner left his cat Tori (and her daughters) behind. They left October last year, and in January this year, my neighbor noticed them because they were eating his birdseed so they have been feeding them since then. They consider them "community cats" and haven't been able to pet any of them but have gotten close a couple times with Tori. My understanding is that at least Tori was indoor/outdoor cat, the daughters (Dee and Cali) were likely born outside and probably about a year old. There's also another tomcat (I call him Tom) that is possibly just feral. The neighbor a couple months ago had them all trapped, neutered/spayed, vaccinated. When we found out about the cats, we started leaving food out when we are around (not everyday but a 2-3 times a week) and got a couple heated cat houses for the porch. Initially all the cats would stop by our porch (we have Ring camera), the two daughters would come out for the food just minutes after we left it out. However if they saw us they would get skiddish and run away or at least get to a decent distance away.
About a month ago, we were by the house and saw Tori for the first time in person. She was out on the back porch and I went out to see her, expecting her to be totally skiddish, so I just sat on the ground to be not threatening. And to my surprise she came right up to me and jumped in my lap, wanting petting, making biscuits. I was shocked. She was so sweet, clearly missing affection for months. She was/is a little bite-y tho but not in an aggressive way. When I pet her sometimes she will give my had a little bite or scratch but still want attention/petting which makes me think she is either getting overstimulated or she's communicating (not sure how her interactions were with previous owners but they did have kids which can be unpredictable).
Now it seems Tori is a bit protective of the house (we don't see the daughters on the front porch anymore, but neighbors still see/feed them and they've said Tori isn't really affectionate or nice to them so they might just be avoiding conflict).
A lot of times Tori is now on the porch almost waiting for us when we stop by. She has darted in the house once while we had door open to let contractor in, but she only got a few feet in and then ran out. I get the feeling tho if we were there and left it unintended she would go in, she meows at the back patio door if we are inside and she is there. She still occasionally tries to bite if petting for a while, but I'm trying to stay calm and let her know we Rent going to be erradic with her hoping that she might stop that habit eventually.
Anyway, so like I said Tori seems to have adopted us but we aren't in a place to let her into the house. Besides our grieving and emotional not-readiness, we are worried about how Jeans safety and comfort, especially with Tori's current biting and scratching of us. We are already worried on if Jean will be stressed seeing the outdoor cats so close (Tori comes right up to patio and kitchen window), and previous times Jean would see outdoor cats in our old house, she would get poofed and riled up.
Anyway, not sure what I'm asking for of this community, but if you have any insight or helpful tips or stories of similar situation, that would be great. I'm a car lady so it breaks my heart that Tori was abandoned and wants our love, but my heart still hurts from Storms passing and Jean is my priority right now.