new cat

my friend asked me if we could take her cat. she's had it for about 6 years.

it was brought over 2 days ago, and i don't know how long i should wait to bring it out. it was a house cat before but that will be a problem because we already have a house cat, and our rule is only one house cat.. unless it stays in the basement. the problem is when my friend brought hershey (that's the cat) over, they told me he hates other cats and he would go crazy. within 15 minutes i found that out, and he goes crazy. he was incredibly scary, i couldn't touch him

what i want to know is what steps i should take to get him to get used to being outside and getting used to other cats. also i need to know when it is best when to show him his new environment and what to do when he starts hissing and growling and if he will stop.

i pretty much need to know how to handle a new cat, we've had cats on our farm for ages and this is a brand new step for us.

please help!

It does not sound like a good idea to keep this cat. If your rule is "only one cat" why take in another? Life in a basement (or outside) is not a good life for a cat. Maybe your friend should take the kitty to a rescue if she/he absolutely cannot keep it.

well, it really wouldn't be too bad bringing in another cat. i'm only 17 and i'd really like to take care of it. do you think it's possible to retrain it to get used to be outside. i mean, i would feel better if it could get along with other cats.

but we may change our minds about the 'only one cat rule'. it all depends if he can change

There are many threads here about how to introduce a new cat. If you search for introduction then you should find a lot of great helpful info that will take you step by step through what to do.

As far as keeping the cat to live outside, I think that's a very bad idea. If the cat was formerly a house cat then it has no skills to survive on it's own outside and it will suffer terribly before learning or dying.

Please, if you cannot keep the cat as an indoor cat then give it to a no-kill shelter where it could be properly placed. It would be the most humane thing to do for the cat.

i really don't want to give it away, and when i think about it, it really isn't that good of an idea to put it out.. so i guess it'll just stay in

thanks

oh and question! why is it so bad to leave cats outside in general? not mine, but just period?

Because they get chased (and often killed) by big dogs, by cars, by poison (there are sickos out there who hate cats), by lack of food, lack of shelter, falling from climbing the wrong tree, caught by cruel children, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

Have you ever seen what vehicles do to animals? Not a pretty site. We live in the country and see many many animals (cats, dogs, bears, deer, skunks etc) as road mash...cats are pets and should be treated as such. Kept safe and loved lots. I've seen people who have leashed trained cats....although I'd never have gotten any of our cats on a leash....lol

Originally Posted by Larke

Because they get chased (and often killed) by big dogs, by cars, by poison (there are sickos out there who hate cats), by lack of food, lack of shelter, falling from climbing the wrong tree, caught by cruel children, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

Click to expand...

ahhh! ok ok ok! i get it!


man, poisoning cats! that's so terrible! god

It's not always on purpose - sometimes they're trying to get rid of local 'pests' (not cats), but no one told the cat it wasn't meant for him. One of ours got locked into a shed for 3 days by accident (no one knew he was there) yrs ago. And if you're in the country, people may put out traps for rabbits, larger animals, and cats can get caught in them as easy as anything.