I have a cat (Lily) who lived the first couple years of her life inside since I had an apartment. However, when I got a house with a fenced back yard I started letting her go out back, and everything was fine, except that after a while all she wanted was to be outside.
Then I met my future wife and moved in with her. Her oldest son (now 17) is very allergic to cats, as is her mom who lives out of state but comes down to visit from time to time. So the cat lives outside and pretty much just hangs out in the bushes either in our yard or in one of two houses nearby. She's 10 years old now, and current on her shots. I've never seen any earmites, worms, etc., so she seems to be handling the outdoors pretty well.
I live in west central Florida so its warm enough almost all year round for Lily to be comfortable outdoors, so I thought the status quo was going well enough. Birds have taken to eating out of her dish, and every so often we'll get a raccoon or possum that comes around at night, but the dog helps with those and there's never been any altercations.
A couple years ago we got a lab puppy who grew to 130 pounds and about 3 feet high at his withers. He loves the cat and has never chased her or barked or anything, and she tolerates him better than I thought she would.
This morning, though, my neighbor on the side of my house where I keep the cat food kind of let me have it (in as nice a way as she could, but I could tell she was really frustrated). They've had to put traps out and in the last 2 days caught one raccoon and one possum, so apparently those are around more than I thought.
I don't want bad relations with my neighbors, but I don't know how I can keep Lily indoors when my stepson is allergic to her and where she doesn't want to be at all. I don't want to give her away, and I can't imagine that I could find someone who can give her a place to live outside that wouldn't just create the same problems for someone else. And I certainly can't bear the thought of taking her to a shelter, cause at 10 years old I'm pretty sure I know what would happen to her. Could someone please give me some advice?
Then I met my future wife and moved in with her. Her oldest son (now 17) is very allergic to cats, as is her mom who lives out of state but comes down to visit from time to time. So the cat lives outside and pretty much just hangs out in the bushes either in our yard or in one of two houses nearby. She's 10 years old now, and current on her shots. I've never seen any earmites, worms, etc., so she seems to be handling the outdoors pretty well.
I live in west central Florida so its warm enough almost all year round for Lily to be comfortable outdoors, so I thought the status quo was going well enough. Birds have taken to eating out of her dish, and every so often we'll get a raccoon or possum that comes around at night, but the dog helps with those and there's never been any altercations.
A couple years ago we got a lab puppy who grew to 130 pounds and about 3 feet high at his withers. He loves the cat and has never chased her or barked or anything, and she tolerates him better than I thought she would.
This morning, though, my neighbor on the side of my house where I keep the cat food kind of let me have it (in as nice a way as she could, but I could tell she was really frustrated). They've had to put traps out and in the last 2 days caught one raccoon and one possum, so apparently those are around more than I thought.
I don't want bad relations with my neighbors, but I don't know how I can keep Lily indoors when my stepson is allergic to her and where she doesn't want to be at all. I don't want to give her away, and I can't imagine that I could find someone who can give her a place to live outside that wouldn't just create the same problems for someone else. And I certainly can't bear the thought of taking her to a shelter, cause at 10 years old I'm pretty sure I know what would happen to her. Could someone please give me some advice?
