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- Nov 8, 2016
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Background:
Around June of this year I heard a small kitten crying from underneath our back deck. After waiting for any sign of a mother to no avail, I began feeding it. After several feedings I was able to trap the kitten, take it to a vet and it was determined a female, weighing in at little over a pound and estimated to be 8-10 weeks old. I have since got her up to date on all shots and spayed. Kitty has been named Kiwi
Other than a 2 day stent at the time of her spaying, she has been left outside. During the time left inside: first day she was of course very sleepy and not much happened, second day I set her outside often and kept a close eye on her while indoors. At the time I did not think an accident had happened, I surely did not witness it, however I later smelled very strong cat urine in the hallway
(Also, I have yet to see this cat "do her business". Like, at all. So no idea where her "go to" place is outside)
Current situation:
There have been a couple of sightings of a very large orange cat close by the house the past few weeks and one day I caught this cat eating Kiwi's food, which I leave on a bar table on the deck (we have dogs that would love that food!). She has been scared (very far) up a tree a time or two since then and did not come down for over 24 hours at one point and was very obviously scared of something.
Three days ago she was MIA all day, yesterday I found her limping and immediately brought her inside. I did not find her until evening, when our vet was closed, so I wasn't able to take her to the vet until this morning. Vet says very obvious bite wounds to neck, chest and hind end. Good news, she just needs antibiotics. Bad news, I am overwhelmed with guilt to put her outside again. She has been inside today, and I have done what I did in the past, placing her outside every time I let my dogs out to go potty. No accidents so far, but I am terrified she will have one and then will go there from now until forever.
My question:
Is it possible to bring in a feral cat but train her to still "do her business" outside? Our house is *extremely* small, not to mention we have turned our spare bedroom into a nursery for our baby on the way, we have 2 inside dogs that *love* cat poo, and my husband is against having a litter box in the bedroom or kitchen (this leaves the living room...where the dogs stay, and the laundry room which is always shut behind a door and is also so small I'm not sure a litter box would even fit). Our dogs are inside dogs, however we of course let them out to do their thing (we have an electric fence, so we are blessed with not having to walk them for potty time) so I am used to seeing their cues and letting them out. My thought is that it would be amazing to have the cat do the same.
The other issue with this is, what to do when we are not home to let her out? My husband spends long hours away during the day for school and I work 12hr shifts so there would be ample time where she would be stuck in the house. Our dogs are 4 and 5yrs old and have no problem waiting it out until we get home (they are not caged, they have free range of the house).
She is a beautiful cat and very loving, though sometimes skiddish (who could blame the poor thing?!). She definitely is most friendly with me since I have spent the most time with her. Also, she gets along great with my dogs. When they are outside together they follow each other around, mostly her following them around as they show general disinterest lol. When she is inside they generally do not interact much, but I have caught them napping together (so cute!).
Disclaimer: I am a dog person. By that I mean, I have never had a cat before, just dogs (although I love all animals!)..so please take it easy on me. I honestly do not know the first thing about caring for cats.
Around June of this year I heard a small kitten crying from underneath our back deck. After waiting for any sign of a mother to no avail, I began feeding it. After several feedings I was able to trap the kitten, take it to a vet and it was determined a female, weighing in at little over a pound and estimated to be 8-10 weeks old. I have since got her up to date on all shots and spayed. Kitty has been named Kiwi
Other than a 2 day stent at the time of her spaying, she has been left outside. During the time left inside: first day she was of course very sleepy and not much happened, second day I set her outside often and kept a close eye on her while indoors. At the time I did not think an accident had happened, I surely did not witness it, however I later smelled very strong cat urine in the hallway
(Also, I have yet to see this cat "do her business". Like, at all. So no idea where her "go to" place is outside)
Current situation:
There have been a couple of sightings of a very large orange cat close by the house the past few weeks and one day I caught this cat eating Kiwi's food, which I leave on a bar table on the deck (we have dogs that would love that food!). She has been scared (very far) up a tree a time or two since then and did not come down for over 24 hours at one point and was very obviously scared of something.
Three days ago she was MIA all day, yesterday I found her limping and immediately brought her inside. I did not find her until evening, when our vet was closed, so I wasn't able to take her to the vet until this morning. Vet says very obvious bite wounds to neck, chest and hind end. Good news, she just needs antibiotics. Bad news, I am overwhelmed with guilt to put her outside again. She has been inside today, and I have done what I did in the past, placing her outside every time I let my dogs out to go potty. No accidents so far, but I am terrified she will have one and then will go there from now until forever.
My question:
Is it possible to bring in a feral cat but train her to still "do her business" outside? Our house is *extremely* small, not to mention we have turned our spare bedroom into a nursery for our baby on the way, we have 2 inside dogs that *love* cat poo, and my husband is against having a litter box in the bedroom or kitchen (this leaves the living room...where the dogs stay, and the laundry room which is always shut behind a door and is also so small I'm not sure a litter box would even fit). Our dogs are inside dogs, however we of course let them out to do their thing (we have an electric fence, so we are blessed with not having to walk them for potty time) so I am used to seeing their cues and letting them out. My thought is that it would be amazing to have the cat do the same.
The other issue with this is, what to do when we are not home to let her out? My husband spends long hours away during the day for school and I work 12hr shifts so there would be ample time where she would be stuck in the house. Our dogs are 4 and 5yrs old and have no problem waiting it out until we get home (they are not caged, they have free range of the house).
She is a beautiful cat and very loving, though sometimes skiddish (who could blame the poor thing?!). She definitely is most friendly with me since I have spent the most time with her. Also, she gets along great with my dogs. When they are outside together they follow each other around, mostly her following them around as they show general disinterest lol. When she is inside they generally do not interact much, but I have caught them napping together (so cute!).
Disclaimer: I am a dog person. By that I mean, I have never had a cat before, just dogs (although I love all animals!)..so please take it easy on me. I honestly do not know the first thing about caring for cats.
