Problem just developed...

My girlfriend, Tara, will be moving from Kilmarnock, VA to Baltimore, MD in June to live with me. She is moving into my townhome in the city. I have two cats myself, and she has a 9 year old outdoor cat (who comes in during cold nights) at her home in the country. Her cat, Violet, is a confirmed bird and small mammal killer which makes her incredibly unsuitable for my home (I have no way of keeping my cats seperate from my birds-- I am training them not to go near the birds, and when I rescued them I asked specifically for cats that showed no serious animal aggression, and who had never lived outside to learn to hunt birds).

We had arranged for Tara's mother to take Violet to her horse farm, but her mother is now concerned that Violet will attempt to eat her chickens and will not be taking her.

We're not sure what to do at this point. She is old and looks very much like an outdoor cat-- tattered ears and rather "rugged" overall appearence. In spite of this she is very sweet to people. I have absolutely no issue with the cat, but I also have to consider my other pets as well. I would be concerned about her living outside here in the city with all of the fast cars and punk kids that wander the area.

I am not sure what to do, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. We are, of course, committed to Violet's welfare and well being, and if worse comes to worse, she will have to come here with Tara... I'm just not sure what we'll do with her once she is here... it really does make me nervous to think of having her outdoors here.

Thoughts?

One of my cats was an outdoor stray and confirmed killer.
She used to bring me doves and ground squirrels daily.

She's 100% indoors now and has never showed more than a passing interest in my bird.
Over the years, I've come to believe that most cats know the difference between wild prey and caged pet.
My RB cat was a great mouser, but he never touched any of the rodents I kept as pets.
Even ignored them if I had them out of their cages.
My doves used to cuddle with him on the sun porch as well.

The point is, don't write her off as unsuitable to your home, try giving her a chance first and see if she's willing to learn to coexist.

Arlyn, I really hope you are right. Our preference would be to find a nice big farm someplace where she could help keep the rodent population down. But if we can't, then she has to come. The thing that sucks is that my GF's ex is the one that dumped this cat on her, and then left without a blink of an eye. Now Tara feels horrible about the situation and we're left scrambling for a solution. But like I said, we are committed to her well-being, and that means she won't be left behind, but she also can't be outdoors here. Too much scary stuff.

I have a sun porch that I could move the birds to (my small mammals are all in my basement herp/small mammal room, which is easily closed off) however, it is not heated or air conditioned and last year I lost my parakeet in that room in July (I think from excessive temps). If we want to keep the birds in there year round, we will have to do something about climate control, which will probably involved a great deal of expense.

It depends on the temps in your area, the solution could be as simple as an oil filled radiator with a built in theromstat like this one, a portable evaporative cooler and an exhaust fan.

That's pretty much all I used in my sun room when I was in Seattle.
The windows didn't open though, so my exhaust fan was installed trough a small windowpane that I removed.

Well keep your fingers crossed... a friend of ours in Indianapolis has land (that is fenced and significant in size) in a quiet neighborhood and loves cats. She may be willing to take Violet in. We're waiting to hear back from her.

Good to Violet, I know she'll be happier if she can remain a mostly outdoor kitty considering her age.

Well good news! Our friend Lori is going to take Violet. We are driving Violet to Indiana on our way to a wedding in Michigan on May 8th. Lori has a wonderful property that Violet will be very happy with, and also will welcome her into the house whenever she desires, and during cold weather. Lori's kids are super-excited about having another pet kitty (they lost their cat several years ago to old age) and are telling all of their friends about it.

Thank God for good friends! I am rather upset about having to rehome Violet, but I think it is in her best interest to do so. Thanks for the advice!