Starting the slow transition to indoors

Sissycat has been coming into my utility room here and there for a meal indoors. She ignores the litter box I put in there for her and jumps out of it when I place her in it after eating.

However, just the fact that she comes in is a good sign, I think. She starts out with big eyes but settles down after a bit.

She's in there right now - I let her in, talked to her while folding laundry before leaving her there to go upstairs and get her a wet meal. Brought it back for her, stayed while she ate it then left her alone in there again for a bit.

I'll go back in with her in a while and then will let her back outside again (going to be 34 degrees out tonight, brrrr!) as I won't be home most of the weekend and don't want her to be scared of "indoors."

Max is very vocal, wanting to meet her in person. He already touched noses with her through the open front door while I held it so they could meet. After touching noses with him, Sissy hissed but good. And that was pretty much it. Max is so good-natured, I think he'll be the first to accept her.

I want her to get to know that "indoors" means warmth and food and that it's a GOOD thing. If I were staying home tonight I would try keeping her indoors overnight, but that will have to happen another evening.

I have no idea what her life was like in the 6ish years or so she lived before choosing my back yard as her new home. But I want her to know that her future years can be lived out in warmth and safety.

Have any of you transitioned outdoor strays into indoor happy cats before? Especially into homes that already have multiple cats in them? I'd love to hear your stories!

My Jennie was an outdoor stray. She carried and raised a litter of four kittens all by herself.

My set up was a bit different from yours though. I had been feeding her for quite some time, at first just leaving the food outside and disappearing, after a few months she would tolerate me peeking out the window while she ate, but run if I tried to open the door. One day she only ran as far as the edge of the yard, and let me talk to her and toss kibbles toward her, and that's when I decided it was time to get the trap.

In fact I thought she was still pregnant when I finally got her in the trap and took her to the vet. When they went to spay the vet discovered she wasn't pregnant, and judging by her uterus, this had been her third pregnancy, and she was already going back into heat, with her milk dried up, so the kittens either didn't survive or she'd already started weaning them.

Poor thing was so skinny! I installed a screen door in my bedroom doorway, as I live in a very tiny apartment. Though Jennie tested negative initially for FeLV and FIV, my (then) three other cats are special needs and I wanted to keep her separate for a couple weeks. They got acquainted through the screen though, and by the time I started the integration there weren't too many problems.

My cats are used to other cats so one more didn't seem to make much difference to them.

(the other cats and I slept on my living room floor for the duration of Jennie's quarantine)

Jennie nursed and weaned phantom kittens. She didn't know her kittens weren't there any more. She would lie on the floor with a beatific smile purring, and roll a bit to give th phantom kittens easier access to her nipples. She moved them around the bedroom, from one part of the floor to another, and under the bed. After three days of this, she began weaning the phantom kittens. I knew she was, because she started leaving a small amount of food in her dish at meal times, up until then she had eaten it all. Two more days of weaning, and then she forgot all about it.

Jennie had obviously been abused as it took her many months to not flinch when I reached for her or spoke to her, and it also took her a long time to get up on any furniture.

She also took a while to loose the "swivel head", looking all around her in a nervous way constantly. I was so happy when I noticed she wasn't doing that, or flinching any more.

Here's Jennie on her Forever Home-coming day.

PS the kittens showed up the next day. As they were completely feral, about two months old, they were trapped and brought to a no kill shelter for fostering and socializing.

There was another stray, a male, also. I had a home lined up for him. However he tested positive for FIV. The people who were planning to adopt him are not the kind of people to take on a special needs cat. Both local rescues that are for FeLV and FIV only were full and would not take him. He was very very sick, and the decision to euthanize him was very difficult, but the best thing for him, I think.

However, of course then I had to worry about Jennie again, but she was tested again in three months and again was negative. I would have kept her either way, but it was a relief all the same.

Stumpy had been living outdoors for the first 7 months of her life as far as I could tell. She'd been hit by a car though which is how I got her, so she had a healthy fear of the outdoors. She still likes to go outside, but it was a long time before I let her out. Even when I did start letting her out, it was on a leash first, then supervised visits outside and then it was only when I was home, and she wouldn't be out for too long before I called her back in - she knew inside was safe though, and was happy to just sit outside for a while and sniff about.

She's gone back to being purely indoors since a neighbourhood cat and her got into a couple of stoushes, and she's fine with it. I think going cold turkey and just keeping her indoors, and not letting her out and ignoring any cries to go out once you think she's ready for it would be the way to go. If the others aren't trying to get out, I daresay she'll realise that inside is much nicer. Doing it over a cold winter is a great time to do it too.

Well, I tried leaving her in the utility room for a while and she climbed the curtains to try and get out, LOL. She is ok in there as long as I'm with her.

I let Maxwell in with us to meet her the other day, so it was just the two of them, and she was terrified of him, hissing up a storm and even attacking him when he came too close.

The look on his face after she smacked him was precious - he looked stunned and emotionally wounded, and looked up at me as if to say, "Awww, mum, what's the matter with her?! I just want to be friends with the new girl - she's pretty! I won't hurt her!"

He kept his distance after that but was very interested. His body language was perfect: non-confrontational, interested but not TOO interested, he gave her eye-blinkies and was careful not to stare at her, and his tail and ears showed no aggression.

Sissycat eventually calmed enough to share the space with him and actually eat from her dish with him just two feet away, but she still hissed if he came too close.

What is funny is that after she would hiss at him, she would look up at me as if to say, "Is that ok? He scares me, I just want him to know that!"

I talked to both of them and kept telling her that he's a good boy and he won't hurt her. I think she'll come around soon enough.

When I am ready to bring her in full time, all cats will get dosed with vanilla extract on the backs of their necks, Feliway will be used in all rooms, and although full-on intros will be eventful, I think we may be able to avoid bloodshed.

If she is able to have a friend in Maxwell, he'll help her integrate. It's just going to take time. She's at least 2 years older than my oldest two, Ginger and Penny, and who knows what kind of life the poor girl has had to lead until finding my yard and heart. I'll take good care of her. I think she knows that.

Awwww.......... bless your heart!

We've never done a slow transition. We always trapped them, took them to the vet, got them spayed/neutered, vet checked, treated for whatever - and if sick, they stay at the vet until they get the all clear, then brought home never to go outside again. The only reason they stay at the vet until they get the all clear is that one of our kitties has a compromised immune system.

Then we just work on socializing and integrating. I think being at the vet for a few days before coming here perhaps makes "here" a lot less frightening than where they were so they tend to hunker down rather than climb the walls?

...and we live in an RV, so we can't separate them for slow intros either. But we've always made it work, somehow.

Sounds like things are going very well though!

I have an ickle ex-feral and she's the princess of the house. She was actually a barn cat, and we knew she was healthy before we took her from my parent's farm. Her favorite activity is still hiding, but she is good friends with Silver (our other ex barn cat) and we catch them snuggling in her favorite hiding spots. She's even good for a long cuddle if we catch her eating! Our vet still recommended we wait until Sil had his boosters for feline lukemia just to be sure, and now we're a happy, healthy family.

Max is indeed a Miracle cat. He should start his own Welcome Wagon committee.

Originally Posted by LDG

Awwww.......... bless your heart!

We've never done a slow transition. We always trapped them, took them to the vet, got them spayed/neutered, vet checked, treated for whatever - and if sick, they stay at the vet until they get the all clear, then brought home never to go outside again. The only reason they stay at the vet until they get the all clear is that one of our kitties has a compromised immune system.

Then we just work on socializing and integrating. I think being at the vet for a few days before coming here perhaps makes "here" a lot less frightening than where they were so they tend to hunker down rather than climb the walls?

...and we live in an RV, so we can't separate them for slow intros either. But we've always made it work, somehow.

Sounds like things are going very well though!

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I think so. The VERY first thing I did was cage her and vet her and was THRILLED to learn she was already spayed. She's also negative to everything, got wormed and dosed with Advantage-Multi, plus got her distemper and rabies shots - they said bring her back in a year. So the vet stuff is taken care of.

I really didn't want a 6th cat, 5 was my limit, LOL, and she is very much an OUTdoors kind of girl, but I'm working on her.

Betsy, Teri and I knew you were going to cave and bring that girl in.

Your heart is too big not to. Good luck, I hope she makes it really easy for you. Tell Penny, I said she needs to be nice!

Originally Posted by Kai Bengals

Betsy, Teri and I knew you were going to cave and bring that girl in.

Your heart is too big not to. Good luck, I hope she makes it really easy for you. Tell Penny, I said she needs to be nice!

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Oh you hush, Nial!

Ok, so I'm a big ole softie.

Interestingly enough, Sissycat appears to be much more Alpha than our sweet King Maxwell. I put them together again tonight for a half hour or so, and he acted quite submissive in her presence, and that's the first time I've ever seen that behavior from him!

It seems we may have a new ruler on the throne one day soon. Who knew!

Being that Penny and Ferris are bottom of the totem pole around here, I'm not TOO worried about Penny, but Sissycat coming in will definitely change up the hierarchy.

Stay tuned for another episode of "As the Cat Wheel Turns."

Originally Posted by GingersMom

Stay tuned for another episode of "As the Cat Wheel Turns."

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Tuning in!

Originally Posted by GingersMom

Stay tuned for another episode of "As the Cat Wheel Turns."

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Wouldn't miss it!

Well, I have two diffusers up and running, one upstairs and one down, and dosed Sissycat, Max, Ginger and Baby Bonnie on the backs of their necks with vanilla extract. Wasn't able to catch Ferris or Penny to make them smell like cookies, oh well. I will try again tomorrow.

Sissycat came into the house and into general population for a while this afternoon, following me from my bedroom to my office and curled up on a chair next to me for about an hour, hissing at any other cat that came within 2 feet of her. The others all kept their distances, and there was no actual fighting.

Sissycat went back outside for the evening, and I'll bring her in again for a while tomorrow. It's raining pretty good out there thanks to Ida, so spending time warm and dry should give Sissy the idea that indoors is a decent place to hang out.

My big concern moving forward will be litterbox usage. I guess I'll just keep taking small steps with her, and hopefully she'll figure it out soon.

Wow! Hope she wants in to be warm and dry!

I'm pretty sure she'll figure out the litterbox thign - she'll see and smell the other kitties using them. And she probably used one in the past.

Originally Posted by LDG

Wow!

Hope she wants in to be warm and dry!

I'm pretty sure she'll figure out the litterbox thign - she'll see and smell the other kitties using them. And she probably used one in the past.

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I hope so.

It's strange - I haven't seen this much gigantic cat pupil (scared eyes) since Ferris was a newbie!

Originally Posted by GingersMom

I hope so.

It's strange - I haven't seen this much gigantic cat pupil (scared eyes) since Ferris was a newbie!

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Aww, poor Ferris. Give him extra lovin' from me!

Originally Posted by gemlady

Aww, poor Ferris. Give him extra lovin' from me!

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I absolutely will, Jan!

What I meant was, they ALL have gigantic eyes, especially Sissycat!

Well, she's inside again, and keeps going to the door to be let out, but I'm ignoring her because I'm a big meanie.

I fed all the cats some wet food upstairs in the kitchen, and she ate all of hers on the floor within feet of the others - they are more freaked out by her than the other way around. This girl is ALPHA and my 5 are mere peasants to her.

I think she's probably had to duke it out with strays and ferals on many occasions, hence the missing claw (was literally ripped out and healed showing where her toe tore open) and broken fang. She can certainly hold her own - she has Max totally cowering in her presence!

Ginger is pretty ticked off and told Sissycat so in no uncertain terms, but Sissy is NOT afraid to stand up to her, and Ginger is NOT used to that, LOL.

Sissy is hanging out in my bedroom on the foot of my bed, waiting for me to come and let her outside. We are having sideways rain and 25 mph winds, and that silly cat thinks outside is the better place to be. Oh well...I'll let her out when I feel like it. I'm hoping she'll try to use a litter box at some point...

At least there are no major altercations happening, and the others seem to be fine when Sissy is not in the same room with them, so I think the new family member will eventually blend right in.

I knew that you would start to bring her in eventually, Betsy

all of my cats were found outside and made the transition to indoor living fairly easy. I've never had a problem with them not figuring out the litterbox and I'm not a slow-introer, I'm a "you guys figure it out" introer Only have ever had one major problem doing that and itt resolved itself after a couple months with the aid of time-outs

Best of luck getting Sissycat acclimated to the good life!