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Three years ago, a cat had kittens in my backyard. I trapped one of the kittens who came by for food with his mom, socialized him in a few days, and kept him as a sweet inside cat named Palmer. The mama cat was TNR-ed and I named her Ruby. I have been feeding her and providing shelter (heated in the winter) for three years, and I finally can hand-feed her treats and pet her while she is eating them. Progress, but slow.
A year ago, along comes an unneutered male with only one good eye. Checked for an owner around the neighborhood, no one knew him, so I TNR-ed him, named him Lucky, and he also is here for every meal. After about six months, he is letting me pet him, brush him, even pick him up a few feet off the ground so I think he must have been a pet at one time.
Both Ruby and Lucky practically live in my backyard. However, the other day Lucky disappeared until dinner time. Very unusual and I was a nervous wreck. Ruby has killed baby bunnies, which is heart-breaking. They both cross the street and have adventures at night who knows where. While they have a pretty good, relatively safe life outside, I'm finding it hard when I think of all the bad things that could happen. So I would love to bring them inside, even though sometimes I think it is very selfish, more for ME, so I won't worry about them so much.
What do you all think? Should they both just stay outside? IS it selfish to disrupt their lives because I'm a worrier? If I brought them inside, I would want to bring them both because they have become buddies with Ruby the more dominant one. If I tried to catch them together or within a few days of each other, they would have to share one relatively small bedroom for a while -- is that a good idea or not? Maybe one at a time would be better? Any "usual" time that they are kept isolated to give me an idea when to catch the second one? And who goes first?!
Sorry for the long story. I want to do the right thing for these cats, but I can't quite figure out what that would be! I look forward to all ideas and advice! Thank you!
A year ago, along comes an unneutered male with only one good eye. Checked for an owner around the neighborhood, no one knew him, so I TNR-ed him, named him Lucky, and he also is here for every meal. After about six months, he is letting me pet him, brush him, even pick him up a few feet off the ground so I think he must have been a pet at one time.
Both Ruby and Lucky practically live in my backyard. However, the other day Lucky disappeared until dinner time. Very unusual and I was a nervous wreck. Ruby has killed baby bunnies, which is heart-breaking. They both cross the street and have adventures at night who knows where. While they have a pretty good, relatively safe life outside, I'm finding it hard when I think of all the bad things that could happen. So I would love to bring them inside, even though sometimes I think it is very selfish, more for ME, so I won't worry about them so much.
What do you all think? Should they both just stay outside? IS it selfish to disrupt their lives because I'm a worrier? If I brought them inside, I would want to bring them both because they have become buddies with Ruby the more dominant one. If I tried to catch them together or within a few days of each other, they would have to share one relatively small bedroom for a while -- is that a good idea or not? Maybe one at a time would be better? Any "usual" time that they are kept isolated to give me an idea when to catch the second one? And who goes first?!
Sorry for the long story. I want to do the right thing for these cats, but I can't quite figure out what that would be! I look forward to all ideas and advice! Thank you!