Hi everyone, I am new to this forum.
I need help with our little stray we brought into our home. Here's the short version of her story...
She's a cute little black stray that has been around our house for a few years. We have fed her for a while and in the last several months she has let me touch her and then let me hold her. (I always come in and change my top and use hand sanitizer as I don't want to take a chance on her having something since we have an inside cat). We built a little "Zoe" village for her near the front door but in the bushes up against our house. My husband found her a outdoor cat house that is filled with soft blankets to keep her warm and surrounded by 4 umbrellas to keep her dry. She seems to like it a lot and goes in there even during the cooler days and always at night. I always felt "better" since I knew she was relatively safe and warm.
We have become closer and closer and it appears she really loves me - and I really love her.
We decided since I am petting and holding her all the time we should take her to be tested. We took her to Operation Snip and all tests were negative!! I cried I was so happy. She was also treated for a bite on her little rear end and got her rabies shot/tag. We then set up her appointment to be spayed. When we picked her up they told us that we had literally saved her life as her uterus was enlarged and infected (the reason why she never had kittens they said) and it would have burst soon. Made us feel so good! We moved one of the cars out of the garage and kept her there that night. The next day we reluctantly let her back outside. She usually never roamed further than our neighbor and they also looked after her and would feed her when they saw her. She had started sitting at our front door and looking in our windows meowing. Our 8 year old inside kitty, Phoebe - who is our princess and only child, would exchange hisses through the glass door and windows.
It seemed that Zoe wanted to be part of our family so we took the step and let her in ----- this is why I need help! We had read things on the internet and kept her on one side of our house. She was all set up with everything a cat needs We brought in her little house and she has a bed, kitty tree, litter box and food, water and treats! The problem is no matter what we did to keep her in that side of the house she always figured out how to get out. She has truly made herself at home which we are happy about. I started keeping her in just the one room with all her stuff in it with the door closed but she meows and meows. I did the sock thing and both cats have smelled each other for a long time. Every time our Phoebe tries to come out of our bedroom, Zoe chases her and poor Phoebe runs away. What can we do? -- any suggestions would be appreciated. We have always just had one kitty and don't want Phoebe to be traumatized or terrorized. Zoe is the sweetest little cat - very loving, she loves to be held and petted and she just wants to be near me. But Phoebe is my kitty too. I hope someone can give me some advice to make this easier for all of us!
I need help with our little stray we brought into our home. Here's the short version of her story...
She's a cute little black stray that has been around our house for a few years. We have fed her for a while and in the last several months she has let me touch her and then let me hold her. (I always come in and change my top and use hand sanitizer as I don't want to take a chance on her having something since we have an inside cat). We built a little "Zoe" village for her near the front door but in the bushes up against our house. My husband found her a outdoor cat house that is filled with soft blankets to keep her warm and surrounded by 4 umbrellas to keep her dry. She seems to like it a lot and goes in there even during the cooler days and always at night. I always felt "better" since I knew she was relatively safe and warm.
We have become closer and closer and it appears she really loves me - and I really love her.
We decided since I am petting and holding her all the time we should take her to be tested. We took her to Operation Snip and all tests were negative!! I cried I was so happy. She was also treated for a bite on her little rear end and got her rabies shot/tag. We then set up her appointment to be spayed. When we picked her up they told us that we had literally saved her life as her uterus was enlarged and infected (the reason why she never had kittens they said) and it would have burst soon. Made us feel so good! We moved one of the cars out of the garage and kept her there that night. The next day we reluctantly let her back outside. She usually never roamed further than our neighbor and they also looked after her and would feed her when they saw her. She had started sitting at our front door and looking in our windows meowing. Our 8 year old inside kitty, Phoebe - who is our princess and only child, would exchange hisses through the glass door and windows.
It seemed that Zoe wanted to be part of our family so we took the step and let her in ----- this is why I need help! We had read things on the internet and kept her on one side of our house. She was all set up with everything a cat needs We brought in her little house and she has a bed, kitty tree, litter box and food, water and treats! The problem is no matter what we did to keep her in that side of the house she always figured out how to get out. She has truly made herself at home which we are happy about. I started keeping her in just the one room with all her stuff in it with the door closed but she meows and meows. I did the sock thing and both cats have smelled each other for a long time. Every time our Phoebe tries to come out of our bedroom, Zoe chases her and poor Phoebe runs away. What can we do? -- any suggestions would be appreciated. We have always just had one kitty and don't want Phoebe to be traumatized or terrorized. Zoe is the sweetest little cat - very loving, she loves to be held and petted and she just wants to be near me. But Phoebe is my kitty too. I hope someone can give me some advice to make this easier for all of us!