Taking in a stray/feral cat - Outdoor to Indoor - My story and any advice welcome

Hi everyone,

Found this forum during my research in how to make a outdoor cat an indoor only cat and I wanted to share my story and situation with all of you in hopes of getting any useful information 

and experience in my endeavor to do this.  This is going to be a long story, FYI....

I moved into my apartment, which is part of a triplex last November.  There were a group of 4 stray/feral cats that obviously seemed to live together since I always saw them together.  3 adults and 1 younger cat/kitten (~1 year old).  I at first wasn't going to feed them because I didn't know how long I would be living here and didn't want them to become dependent on me, but my neighbor in the next unit started to feed them scraps and I too started to feed them because i felt bad.  The three adults all have clipped ears, so I believe they have been spayed/neutered.  We had gotten a couple of emails from our landlord to stop feeding the cats because the neighboring house was complaining about all the cats in the neighborhood using their lawn as a sandbox (at my last count, there were another 4-5 cats roaming around that I counted).

Since then, one of the adults must have moved on because I haven't seen him, another male occasionally walks through, and the kitten was unfortunately hit by a car a month ago.  That leaves one more cat, and the subject of this long post.  My fiance and I have decided to call her Selina (after Selina Kyle from Batman) since she's black like catwoman.  She was always the most friendly out of the bunch and would come up and eat the food I offered at my feet from day one.  I've been able to pet her and can even pick her up, although she doesn't like it much and tries to jump out after a couple moments.  Because of her level of friendliness, I thought she must have belong to someone at some point and was just a stray, and not feral.  I tried to cut down feeding her to once every other day in hopes that maybe she would find someone else that would give her food more often, but that was naive of me to think so since she's been sticking around.

About a month ago, she got a wound on the left-back side, an abscess from what my friend's sister said (she's a vet).  I spent the next few weeks cleaning the wound twice a day with an antiseptic spray and cottonballs while feeding her.  She didn't seem to mind that I was cleaning up her wound while she was eating, just occasionally giving me this "what are you doing??" look.  I would also mix in some propolis powder one a day in some canned food since I've read that its a good natural antibiotic that can also be given to cats in reduced amounts (I was giving ~1/4 to 1/3 of a 550mg capsule).  She's all better now, and in the process we've bonded a lot more as a result, which makes the next thing much more difficult to deal with.

Last Monday, I got yet another email from the landlord asking for the third time to stop feeding the cats since the neighbors complained to him again about it.  The weather is getting warmer and the smell from cat feces will get worse is what he said.  I worry about how much longer I can keep this up of feeding her outside until the landlord or neighbors decide to take a more direct move against this and trap them and take them to the shelter.  We all know with near absolute certainty that she would be euthanized, and she deserves better.  Even if I managed to be completely like a ninja and feed her without detection, there will come a day that I move out, and she would still keep coming wondering where I went, and who knows what will happen then.  I'd like to avoid that, so my options as I saw it were: 1) Find a friend that would be willing to adopt her.  I don't have any friends that are able to adopt her now, so this isn't feasible.  2) Find a No-kill shelter to take her in.  Since it's the middle of kitten season, all the no-kill shelters in my area (I even checked with places over 2hrs away) are fully booked.  I did find one place that would take her in, but they wanted $2500 to take her since she's black, and no one adopts black cats.  Sounds like a scam to me, and others on yelp had similar experiences.  3) Take her in myself and try to make an indoor cat out of her.

After spending 3 straight days of worrying, stressing, researching my options, and having probably my first ever anxiety attack, we've decided that we're going to try and take her in and make her an indoor exclusive cat.  I've found a number of different articles online about it, most of them with helpful information on what to do, but none of them have anything on what to expect from the cat, timelines, etc.  While I know each cat is different, I haven't found many detailed experiences on how that went, so I wanted to document something here.  I'm hoping that this will be possible with Selina because she has been coming inside the past few weeks when I've coaxed her with some food.  She's usually pretty relaxed when coming inside, although she's careful to make sure that her exit route to the outside is clear.  There were a couple of times that I've closed the door behind her to gauge her reaction.  As soon as the door has closed, she started to get nervous, trying to find a way outside and meowing constantly.  The longest I've done this was about 30min, and her paws were starting to sweat as well (I have dark tiles for the floor).  However, when I let her back outside, she makes a quick dash for it, but then quickly comes around and lets me pet her again, like nothing had happened.  I was half expecting her to go ballistic and crazy when the doors closed, but based of her reaction, I thought that we may have a chance at converting her.

I spent yesterday getting all of the supplies that I would need to start this journey on transforming Selina from an outdoor cat to an indoor cat.  I bought a simple litter box from target and filled it with Cat Attract litter, Comfort Zone Feliway defuser and spray, a 24" cat carrier (to take her to the vet in), some toys (plastic ball with bell inside and feather wand), scratching post, brush and some cat food (dry and wet).  I also found a cardboard box and cut an entrance in the front and back for her to go in.  I placed all of this inside my bathroom, which is quite small, but larger than a cage.  Our apartment is only a 1 bedroom room place, and my fiance wants the bedroom to be a cat-free zone, so the bathroom is the only room available.  It has two entrances into it, one from the bedroom, and one from the kitchen.  I made sure my fiance and I had taken a shower last night since I won't want us to stress her out anymore with us using the shower with her in the room.  We can always take showers at our parents place which isn't too far away although toilet use will be unavoidable.  I hope the toilet flushing won't be too stressful for her because there are limits to how accommodating we can be.

And now this story has caught up to today.  I had made an appointment with a local vet to have her checked out and to get her shots done.  Selina always hangs around in the mornings waiting for food, and I got her to come inside to eat some dry food.  I tried to get her to go into the carrier, but she wasn't falling for it, even after I sprayed the feliway inside.  After she had finished almost all of it, I burrito wrapped her in a towel and put her inside.  It was a bit difficult, but once I had wrapped her, she didn't fight super hard to get out.  She started to meow continuously to be let out, and I tried to sooth her by telling her it was alright.  I put her in my car, with a towel covering the carrier and drove us down to the vet, which is less than 5min away.  Once I got there, I started to fill out paperwork and we were taken into the examination room in about 15 min.  Selina was just sitting inside her carrier, occasionally meowing to be let out.  And the nurse came in and  I explained everything I could about Selina to her, including her behavior and that she was a sweet cat and I could pet and pick her up.  The nurse then said that she was just going to take her back and get her weight. 

The experience was a complete disaster. When she went to take her out of the carrier, she went crazy.  She was jumping all over the room, jumping up the walls, jumping on the sink and hissed at the nurse when she was backed into a corner.  I was so afraid that everyone was going to come out of that room hurt.  The nurse calmly said "Looks like we won't be taking her weight" and tried to catch her to put her back into the carrier.  We had to get a net to catch her before we could put her back in.  After we got Selina back in and put the carrier on the table, we waited for the vet to examine her.  When the vet came in and tried to get out, she wasn't going to come out again, so they took the carrier apart and tried to look at her from above.  The nurse was holding her down by the neck and the vet went to go take a closer look, and round 2 of Selina's craziness started again.  At this point the vet told me that she wouldn't be able to examine her unless we got her sedated.  Unfortunately this being a Saturday, they have shortened hours and Selina wouldn't recover soon enough for me to take her home, and they're closed on Sunday's.  I wholeheartedly agreed with her since trying to do so otherwise would be dangerous to the vet personnel and the cat.  We managed to get her to go back into her cage by bringing to cage to her in the corner and pushing it towards her until she got in.  Once in, they gave me an estimate on how much the sedation and everything else will cost.  They didn't charge me at all for the visit today, despite the time that I took and trouble that I caused them.  They're very good people and I will definitely be going back to them.

I brought Selina home and put her carrier in the bathroom that I had setup for her.  It took her a few moments to crawl out of it, but she was more calm, albeit scared and stressed.  She decided to hide in the corner in front of the sink.  She had calmed down a lot compared to the visit to the vet, but was still uncomfortable and stressed.  She would still let met pet her and was meowing to be let out.  I played some classical music from my phone while we both tried to take a nap in the bathroom, Selina resting in the order and me using the toilet to rest my head on.  Over the course of the day I went in and spent about 30min each time with her petting.  The second time I walked in, she was resting in the litter box, I'm guessing that Cat Attract litter doing its thing.  I just hope that she'll actually use the box for its intended purpose.

Even as the day comes to a close, we had a bit of progress.  After dinner, my fiance went in and spent about 30min just brushing her.  She said that she was actually really relaxed, and was sprawling out on the floor, and even let her brush her stomach, which I consider great progress.  She was also starting to explore the bathroom a bit while my fiance continued to brush her.  This was most unexpected considering how things were going earlier in the day.  I can only hope that things will continue to progress even more in the coming days.  My plan is to slowly expand her access to the apartment in the coming weeks.  The first expansion will be into the laundry room area (also small) that leads into the kitchen, but I have made a cardboard wall to restrict access to the kitchen.  Then I'll expand to the entire kitchen.  After that, will be the whole living/dining room area, which I may try to partition off with more cardboard if possible.  As I expand her access to the apartment, I plan on getting a second litter box so she's never too far away from one.

And that's about where I'm at as of this moment.  She still hasn't used the litter box yet.  She's probably holding it in until she can't hold it anymore.  If she goes outside of the box, I plan on putting it back into the box.  She also hasn't eaten yet, but I'll leave some dry & half a can of fresh wet food overnight (separate dishes) hoping that she'll eat one of those.  She has plenty of water right now.  I anticipate that if she refrains from eating/drinking for awhile, I may have to get some chicken soup/stock for her to drink.  Hoping that things don't get to that point.  I just plan on taking this one day at a time and hope that she will make the adjustment to living indoors.  I know I have her begging to get outside again to look forward to, but I'll let my future-self worry about that.

If you've made it through all of that, thank you very much for reading.  If you have any advice, or any info on what else I can expect from her, please don't hesitate to share.  I've had cats all my life growing up, but never had to make and outdoor cat into an indoor cat, so this is new to me and I'd like to make this transition as smooth as possible.  Thank you again,

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I read all of that and enjoyed every minute of it! Such a cute story.   Also, welcome!

I'm not sure if my advice is helpful but my cat Smokey use to be a indoor/outdoor cat before I got her. Her previous owner made it be known that she liked to go outside and kill birds. And sometimes she would stay outside for days. She eventually got pregnant and as a result the lady had her spayed. But anyway, Smokey loved outside.

What I did to make her stop having an urge to go outside is that I made inside the house more fun and I restricted all access to the outside world for years. Now, Smokey is terrified of being outdoors and cried to come in if I let her out (more like force). But this took a long time, like I said, years. To be honest, she absolutely hates it outside. So, I think with patience and a watchful eye, your cat can become an exclusively indoor cat.

When I say I made the indoors more fun, I mean I invited people over to come meet her and play with her because she loves people. I gave her places to jump up onto and explore. I gave her places to hide. I kept the inside of the house a calm and friendly environment by reducing aggressive and loud tones (talking softly until she got use to noise). I gave her her favorite foods and toys to play with. I did a lot of games and exercises to keep her entertained. I spent as much time with her as possible and formed a bond with her so that she didn't like being away from me. Just stuff like that. But it can all depend on the cat's personality too.

I hope this helps! 

 Welcome to TCS and bless you for rescuing Selina!  You are to be commended for doing your research and understanding how things are for your new cat.

It seems that you are setting yourself up for success. I like that you understand the concept of creating, as Jackson Galaxy calls it, "Base Camp" and the necessity of "catifying" your home. IMO, showering around Selina is probably okay because cats get our scent as we get wet (ah, the smell of 'wet human', to them, eh?)

As far as the complaining neighbors go, it sounds like they need a flyer on how to discourage cats from using their yard as a sandbox. Alley Cat Allies should have a printable one online. As crazy as it sounds, I keep outdoor boxes and scoop them because it is easier to be part of the solution than it is to be part of the problem - I think it is because I was raised to have a "community spirit", something that we don't see much of these days (and yes, I will pick up trash in the parking lots, etc, for the same reason).

She is a real beauty and from seeing her clipped ear, I am sure that you and your fiancé are the answer to some cat lovers' prayers that the cat they cared for enough to TNR is getting the good home she deserves!

What a beautiful girl and a beautiful story!  You are a hero to this kitty and I for one send blessings your way.  You are doing everything right.

As you get to know her better, you will learn her body language and learn what she likes and doesn't.  As we all know, they train us quickly.  Setting up a base camp, as CatsKnowMe said, was an excellent idea.  It gives her time to feel comfortable in a region before she learns her way around the rest of the place.

Fingers crossed that she uses the potty - although I doubt she'll have trouble.  Dr. Elsey's is the best, even if it smells a bit. (I guess that's what tell that cat "it's OK to poo here").

And it wouldn't hurt to educate the neighbors.  There are plastic spikes they can set under the dirt that will keep the cats out of their beds.  There are also sprays that keep the cats away, although they have to be re-applied after it rains.

If there are other cats in the neighborhood, you might want to get in touch with the Humane Society or other local rescue group to see if there is an establish TNR policy.  Trapping, Neutering and Returning them is a good way to control the population.  They may also have contacts for Barn Cat programs that transfer the cats so they can work on farms, in breweries and other places in need of rodent control.

Its Day 4 and things are going well so far.  She becomes much more affectionate with each passing day, allowing us to pet her all over (belly, under the chin, around the ears, etc) and will come up to us and rub against us and rest her head on our feet and legs.  She's even licked us a few times.  I think she really just enjoys being around someone, so we've been trying to spend as much with her as possible. 

Her appetite has been good, although it seems that she only eats when one of us is in the room.  She's been eating both dry and wet food, although she hasn't been drinking any water.  I've tried to get her hydrated by adding water to the wet food and put some chicken noodle soup for her to drink.  I started with Campbell's home style chicken noodle soup, but she did drink any and I don't blame her.  I had some and I didn't find it that tasty.  I got some Pacific chicken noodle soup which I know she liked from before and I think she's been drinking a little of that.

As for the litter box, she's 3/3 and had no hesitation or difficulty using it each time.  She's just about ready to graduate to larger portions of the apartment, however we have to get through another vet appointment tomorrow morning.  I already warned the vet that she'll need to be sedated and I brought the carrier into the bathroom in the hopes that she'll get used to its presence for when I put her in it tomorrow morning.  I'm actually dreading that, and worried how she'll be after the vet visit although everything leading up to now suggests that she'll be fine after awhile.

I think my neighborhood already has a TNR program.  Part of my fiance's condition of adopting Selina was that we get the landlord's approval before we bring her inside.  Luckily he was really understanding and didn't hesitate at all.  We would just have to pay a pet fee.  He was telling me that the cat has been around for quite some time and one of the previous tenants use to feed her.  The neighbor's had actually called animal control to have all the strays taken away, but they just TNR them.  Most of the other stray/feral cats I saw had their ears clipped too so I don't expect to see any kittens anytime soon.

Can't offer you much input. I was fortunate the two cats I trapped were young and settled in rather quickly. Had a few hiccups though.

First night they used blankets as litter. So I removed the blankets and put the litter where the blankets were. They have used the litter ever since and I have re-introduced blankets and they use them as bedding.

The female cat is small and she pulled up a metal heat register and went down the duct. I had to pull a section of duct work out of the ceiling to get her out of it. I now have a 55 pound counter weight on the heat register to keep her out.

After about 5 weeks I let them roam the upper floor of the two story office building I work in. They climbed on top of a shelf and managed to push a ceiling tile up and I had to get them out of the ceiling. The male cat was easy, I just put food out and a ladder for him to climb down. The female I had to use a trap to get her out of the ceiling. I think the female wanted to play as she would dart around the ceiling hoping I would chase her.

Nice to see Selina's story is headed for a happy ending. God bless you and your fiance.

Thank you for the update.  We love to hear happy outcomes.  I don't think she'll be mad for too long after the vet visit.  Even though they get upset, I really think they know we're trying to help.

Fingers crossed all goes well tomorrow.

It's been two weeks and I have another update.  Things have been going well with Selina.  I took her to the vet and after they sedated her, they were able to give her all her shots and examine her FIV/FeLV and heartworm and I'm glad to say that she's all clear!  I have to take her back for some booster shots soon, but her overall health is very good.  I've been slowly expanding her territory and anticipate that she'll have free reign of the house pretty soon.  We gave her her first bath last night, and while she didn't like it, we got her all cleaned up and smelling good.  She's had no trouble using the litter box, although she sometimes makes a mess by throwing litter out of the box and she seems to want to play when it's 3-4am and only sleep during the rest of the day.  I've caught her scratching the wall once or twice, but that was only during play with a string near a wall, so I think as long as I'm careful, I shouldn't have too many problems.  I'm really glad that she's making the transition to living inside without too many difficulties.

You're doing a great job Udonboy!!! Selina is a very lucky lady She is probably awake at night time because that's what she probably would have done in the wild, ferals tend to sleep all day and hunt at night so it's just a case of breaking that routine. From the amazing progress you've already made with her I shouldn't think it will take her too long to get into a routine. Animals like routine. I'm feeding mother and daughter feral cats and they come for their food at exactly the same time of the evening every single day. Once she expands on the house with more to explore she'll soon settle into some kind of routine. Well done!!!

Yes, very well done!