My husband, our seven cats, and I moved into our rural house in January of last year. We first started seeing glimpses of Truder (short for intruder) about a year ago, and figured him for a neighbor's cat - we didn't have any close contact with him at this point.
This spring, our cats decided to tear a hole in our front screen door so they could come and go as they pleased. Not having the tools to put in a real cat door, we decided to leave it for a while. Not long after, we'd start hearing an unfamiliar tentative meowing sound - but when we'd look, there'd be nothing. After a few weeks of this, we finally were able to see Truder slinking to our cat food dishes. We'd call gently to him, and within another few weeks he was sniffing our fingers, occasionally letting us pat him. At this point we could tell that he had no real home - he was thin, and ate like a maniac whenever he came around.
After he started letting us touch him, he came in one day with a limp. Sitting on the floor, calling him, he let us hold him and examine him all over (though he was obviously frightened). Nothing appeared to be tender, or elicit any reaction, and there were no cuts that we could see anywhere. The limp didn't appear to improve at all over the next couple of weeks. He'd let us touch him more now, and he'd start purring too.
Finally, around the end of July, my husband got sick of the torn screen and mosquitoes and got some tools to install a cat door in our back door. It took a few days for our cats to become comfortable with it, and it seems as though Truder has never used it.
After I was certain that he wasn't coming in through the cat door, I started to leave food outside for him - and I've seen him outside now and then, however without the regular contact he was getting he has reverted to his very skitterish state of this spring. I can never get a good enough look at him to tell if he's still limping or not.
Winter is coming, within a month and a half we will have constant below freezing temperatures. I'm very worried about Truder - I know he's survived at least one winter, but last year was fairly mild overall for Saskatchewan (it can get to -40, and with snows many feet deep out here).
My question is more of conscience than practical application - I know how to trap him, and I would like deeply to domesticate him and care for him - but I don't know if it's the right thing to do. Should I instead see if I can build a makeshift shelter and hope that it is enough?
This spring, our cats decided to tear a hole in our front screen door so they could come and go as they pleased. Not having the tools to put in a real cat door, we decided to leave it for a while. Not long after, we'd start hearing an unfamiliar tentative meowing sound - but when we'd look, there'd be nothing. After a few weeks of this, we finally were able to see Truder slinking to our cat food dishes. We'd call gently to him, and within another few weeks he was sniffing our fingers, occasionally letting us pat him. At this point we could tell that he had no real home - he was thin, and ate like a maniac whenever he came around.
After he started letting us touch him, he came in one day with a limp. Sitting on the floor, calling him, he let us hold him and examine him all over (though he was obviously frightened). Nothing appeared to be tender, or elicit any reaction, and there were no cuts that we could see anywhere. The limp didn't appear to improve at all over the next couple of weeks. He'd let us touch him more now, and he'd start purring too.
Finally, around the end of July, my husband got sick of the torn screen and mosquitoes and got some tools to install a cat door in our back door. It took a few days for our cats to become comfortable with it, and it seems as though Truder has never used it.
After I was certain that he wasn't coming in through the cat door, I started to leave food outside for him - and I've seen him outside now and then, however without the regular contact he was getting he has reverted to his very skitterish state of this spring. I can never get a good enough look at him to tell if he's still limping or not.
Winter is coming, within a month and a half we will have constant below freezing temperatures. I'm very worried about Truder - I know he's survived at least one winter, but last year was fairly mild overall for Saskatchewan (it can get to -40, and with snows many feet deep out here).
My question is more of conscience than practical application - I know how to trap him, and I would like deeply to domesticate him and care for him - but I don't know if it's the right thing to do. Should I instead see if I can build a makeshift shelter and hope that it is enough?
