Feral/Stray Conversion to Pet Conundrum

I will try to explain this.  Chinny Chin Chin has been here, outside, for four years and I can only just pet her this summer.  I can pet her with a hand on either side of her body but the second I try to join my fingers under her chest she leaps away.  She is VERY skittish.  She is nowhere near ready to be a pet inside and probably never will be, though of course I will persist.

Joey has been here for one year and showed early signs he wanted to be a pet.  Probably he was one before.  It was nearly a year till I could pet him but now I can do practically anything with him.  Joey LOVES our dog.  Joey has been in the house several times and the last two nights he slept inside, with me downstairs on the chesterfield ready to intervene if there was a squabble with one of the five inside cats.  Joey is also good friends with Chinny and they play and snuggle side by side outside.

I am in love with Joey and would like him to be inside at least at night, the most dangerous time outside for him.  But my DH says since Chinny is not ready to come in Joey should stay out with her, safety in numbers.  I doubt they spend their nights together and Chinny survived outside alone before Joey showed up but it is a good point.

I am mean and make the DH lure Joey outside for the night after he's been inside for an evening.  The last two nights Joey wouldn't be lured and the OH is afraid to pick him up and put him out and I won't.  I can pick him up like a turkey on a platter if I want, Joey is so calm he just lets me, but at night I am mean and won't help the OH.

So, what do you think?  Is Joey keeping company with Chinny Chin Chin outside at night a valid concern?  Do you think I should make Joey go outside at night to be with her?  In all these four years of Chinny being outside she seems to have avoided conflict with other stray cats and evaded any potential wildlife threats.  Joey, being male I guess, is targeted by a very feral grey tabby tomcat.   If he is cornered Joey defends himself but seems happy to avoid this cat but Joey has just recovered from four injuries inflicted by this tomcat, not too serious injuries, and the DH was outside at the time and chased the tom off.

Sorry for the long post, thought some background would help.  This is Joey snuggling with our dog on the kitchen floor.

This is a tough one.  I know in my circumstance I have 3 outdoor ferals.  One I can pick up and do whatever to.  He loves to stroll inside and probably would adapt fairly easy.  The other two are very skittish.  I can pet them both, but not pick them up.  Two of the ferals are very bonded.  I could never bring one inside without the other.  So I am waiting..... 

My thinking it that if you bring Chinny Chinny Chin inside, she might adapt faster if you can confine her for a bit to a room of her own.  It might force her out in the open.  I brought one of my feral boys inside 3 years ago.  At the time he came inside, I could pet him, but not pick him up.  He had a room of his own and did very well after the initial adjustment period. 

You could keep working on her outside while the weather is still warm and then when it gets closer to fall and cool weather see about making her a permanent resident inside. 

Either way, she is loved, fed and well cared for! 

I love the picture of Joey and the dog!

There is just no room in my house to put Chinny in.  The 5 inside are all former ferals or strays.  They don't get along and when one batch has the run of the house the others are in "their" room.  One batch is the mother we thought was feral and was an obvious former pet the minute we let her out of the live trap in my screen doored laundry/sewing room; and two kittens I could not find good homes for.  The other two sort of get along, the 18 year old puts the fear of God into the other once in a while, and they each have separate rooms.  Sigh.

Arrggghhhh!  We went charging outside twice last night to break up cat fights.  Both times Joey was up a tree and Chinny was not concerned or apparently in danger from the feral grey tomcat.  Joey was neutered this past November and we think Chinny must be spayed already.  Why this other cat has it in for Joey we don't know.  Maybe Chinny is better at staying out of his way.

The first time Joey came down the tree for me.  I called, he waited a bit, then clambered down.  His tail was so puffed up at first I thought I was getting a raccoon to come to me.  I am so touched he came at all, in the state he was in.  Testament to the way he feels about us.  Chinny maybe had been up, I can't be positive, she was on the ground when I went out and she came to me too.  Then, of course, Joey was all hyped up and didn't want to come in and in the excited state he was in I thought it unwise to pick him up and carry him in.

The second time Joe was up but jumped down sooner when we went out.  Joe is fine, it was all noise and bluster, not a mark on him.  It's scary and worrisome.  We leave a deck light on and there is a solar powered motion sensor light too.  This is the first time the tomcat has been around in over a month and we thought the lights, which are new, were helping keep him away, guess not.  I want Joey inside at night.

We had the same problem - no more room in the house.  So we built an enclosure in the yard for the two outside cats.  They stayed there safely for almost three years.  When we recently moved, they came inside.  Now all seven of our cats more or less co-exist.  Some get along better than others but they are all happy house cats now.  Even Teresa, who had her own room in the old house, is getting along with the others.

Here are two posts describing our progress:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/257002/my-new-enclosure

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/318688/adventures-in-moving

your enclosure looks great.  We have considered that.  My husband is pretty handy and could easily make something like that.  I know where I think it should go too, in our yard.  Right now waht he wants to do is make a treehouse sotree houseo they could at least sleep up off the ground, .  The problem with that is, would they?  In winter they are in the heated garge.

Problems with site right now, sorry for screwy writing.

Can you attach the enclosure to the garage?  That might solve both problems.

Not sure if they'd sleep in a tree house, either but if that's what you can do now, its's worth a shot.

The enclosure will have to go on the side of the house opposite the garage.  The two cats are already snoozing side by side in a little catzebo that is up off the ground.  We actually have two catzebos, one is quite high but small.  I don't think they spend the whole night in either one.

Joey stayed in the last two nights with me.  It's not easy sleeping with a good sized cat plastered right next to you, hot, purring and protesting whenever you move.  

I think whatever you do for these two will improve their lives tremendously.  Joey sounds like a sweetheart.