Oh Mandy

Our neighbor/friend got adopted by a feral kitten many years ago.  It took awhile for the kitten to convince her to care for her, but eventually the cat got named Mandy, and became the light and love of our neighbor's life.  We promised our friend that when she died, we would take care of Mandy, which happened a few months ago.  We now need help figuring out how to integrate Mandy into our household, that currently includes three adult cats, and three kittens--that we found in the neighbor's back yard.  (We are trying to find homes for two of the kittens.)

Mandy still lives next door and we feed her and can pet her and brush her.  But she is always on guard, and can only be picked up by trickery (like when we have to put flea juice on her) and struggles like a wild cat.  She is used to going inside at night.  Ideally we would like to have her "move in" to our back yard and come in our house at night, but can't really see anyway of making that happen.  She does not get along with any of the other stray cats in the neighborhood, and probably won't get along with our kaboodle, either.  Do you have any sage advice?  Maybe a shelter/cage in our yard?  I'm clueless.

Kathleen

kaywok said:

Maybe a shelter/cage in our yard? 

Click to expand...

Yes, it could work. As permanent or for the time being.  I suppose she has her own bed inside?

Move the bed and her food+water bowls to this shelter, so she will understand it will be her new place.

I understand the neighbours house is still empty.  May it be possible the new owners do accept to inherite the cat belonging to the house??

Your own cats, are they strict inside cats?

Do you have any spare room?

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!

Hm, well that brings up a lot of back story...

Mandy still lives in the house, but she does not have a specific bed.  We had been letting her out every morning, and letting her back in at night--as she was used to doing when her owner was alive.  She was just beginning to hang out a bit in our yard, when we discovered the five kittens in her garden.  She was OK with the kittens for awhile (they just came in her garden part time), but then the mother cat came over one day and viciously chased Mandy away.  She disappeared for a day or two, and since then has not wanted to go outside at all.  So...I don't know about just moving her bowls into our yard.  I am thinking of trapping the mother and taking her to Fix Nation, but I don't know if that will help Mandy come back out.

To answer your other questions:  our cats go outside, but usually just for 10-20 minutes in the morning.  There will be no new neighbors in the house for quite awhile, since the family has much to do before putting the house up for sale.  What do you mean by asking if we have spare room?  We don't have room for Mandy to have a place to herself, if that's what you mean.  And I doubt Mandy will be very cordial to the other cats.  If you think the shelter/cage idea is a good one, do you have any referrals for design specs or pre-fab purchases?

kw

Hm, well that brings up a lot of back story...

Mandy still lives in the house, but she does not have a specific bed.  We had been letting her out every morning, and letting her back in at night--as she was used to doing when her owner was alive.  She was just beginning to hang out a bit in our yard, when we discovered the five kittens in her garden.  She was OK with the kittens for awhile (they just came in her garden part time), but then the mother cat came over one day and viciously chased Mandy away.  She disappeared for a day or two, and since then has not wanted to go outside at all.  So...I don't know about just moving her bowls into our yard.  I am thinking of trapping the mother and taking her to Fix Nation, but I don't know if that will help Mandy come back out.

To answer your other questions:  our cats go outside, but usually just for 10-20 minutes in the morning.  There will be no new neighbors in the house for quite awhile, since the family has much to do before putting the house up for sale.  What do you mean by asking if we have spare room?  We don't have room for Mandy to have a place to herself, if that's what you mean.  And I doubt Mandy will be very cordial to the other cats.  If you think the shelter/cage idea is a good one, do you have any referrals for design specs or pre-fab purchases?

kw

There is no news.  I was hoping for some more advice and suggestions.