Tom The Feral Tabby

Hello fellow cat Lovers,

Okay, so I FINALLY got my 3 year old Tabby Brownie spayed (yay). Everything went well with the surgery.

So there is this stray cat who once got my Brownie-Kins pregnant. We call him Tom. The reasons we call him Tom are 1) he's a tom cat and 2) He looks so much like Tom from the "Tom & Jerry" cartoon. My wife would like for us to take him to get neutered so he can stop populating the neighborhood and we are well aware that he is doing a whole lot of "populating" around here.

He's very, very friendly with us and is actually quite sweet. We've been feeding him EVERYDAY for the past three months now (June, July and August) and he's been in our a house a couple of times too. So I am aware that if we have him neutered he will have to stay with us for a few days while he recuperates. That's not a problem with either one of us. What IS a problem is that Brownie is very, very attached to me and shows signs of being a Possessive cat.

If Tom will only be with us for a few days before we release him back out into the wild this is not too much of an issue, right? Well, what if we decide we don't want to put him back out there? What if we decide to adopt him and welcome him into the family? He and Brownie already know each other. I am curious as to how I can make this all work?

I am asking for some guidance and advice from fellow Cat Lovers who are more knowledgeable than me about cats in general and how to handle this situation in particular.

1. His time of recuperation may be shorter than several days.  One day is enough with healthy toms.   And succesful homeless do have excellent healing meat.  He would prob manage to be let out after just several hours too...

2.  If you wish to adopt him, I myself dont see any problems with this here.   Wait some days, till you had some quarantine time on Tom (and do vet check ups if its not done already, preferably including Felv and Fiv tests).   Wait also till Brownie is entirely healed.    In that time his hormone levels will begin to drop.   With friendly toms it can go quite soon.

And then you can begin with intros...

As they know each other (and are friendly to each other?)  it should go well and nice.

Dont forget to show Brownie she is still your preferred numro one - so she wont get jelaous.   Tom will be new in the household, so he wont mind he is numro two - he will be happy with whatever he gets.

Good luck!

Each of my toms have been released less than 24 hours after neuter.  I keep them in my basement separated from other cats.  The next morning they are freed.  Males heal very quickly and the procedure is very simple and quick.

Either way, please have him tested for FIV and FELV. If he's been out and about, he's at risk for both. Make a decision for what comes next when the results are back.

Once neutered, he can be released the next day. But keep him away from Brownie until he's vet checked, including tests.

Thank you for helping him. Obviously, no one cares too much about him.

Thank You everyone for your feedback. I have read all that you said and will keep it all in mind as I move forward with the little guy.

Thanks Again.

Regards.