Caging Adult Feral Cat

[cherryduck]

My family and I have been taking care of one female adult cat which i believe to be feral or stray. She is very friendly which is not surprising from where I am from. She has been staying in our front yard for a couple of months now and we love her very much. she mostly stay around our home but can roam freely in the neighborhood.

this is not the first stray cat that we have fed and kept, but because they are all able to roam freely, they are in a pretty big risk of getting hurt, e.g. hit by a car, or eating something they are not supposed to eat.

we really wish to take care of her more carefully this time, and the only solution we can think of is to keep her in a cage. Last night we try putting her in a small one to try and see her reaction and she seemed fine with it. we can't keep her inside of our home because we have a dog which is very aggressive to cat.

is it okay if i put her in a cage and let her out during day time when we can keep an eye on her?
i would also love to hear any other suggestion to keep her safe while still giving her the freedom she deserve.

thank you very much

 

[Sarthur2]

What size is the cage? Is there room for food, water, and litter box?

Do you plan to spay this cat?

She cannot live in a cage full-time. She will be unhappy.

Can you put her in a room in your house where your dog cannot go? Living in the house would be much better!

 

[surya]

I agree that it would be better if she could at least have one room of her own. If you own your house you might be able to make an outdoor enclosure for her to use too.

 

[cherryduck]

the cage will be around 69x69x100 cm in size. i think there will be enough space for litter box and water. for the food i think we will feed her outside of her cage in the usual place we do now. i don't intend to keep her in her cage full time, primarily during the night when it is darker and driver could not see her very well.

I will look into making an outdoor enclosure for her but really not sure how

 

[surya]

the cage will be around 69x69x100 cm in size. i think there will be enough space for litter box and water. for the food i think we will feed her outside of her cage in the usual place we do now. i don't intend to keep her in her cage full time, primarily during the night when it is darker and driver could not see her very well.

I will look into making an outdoor enclosure for her but really not sure how

I'm not sure how either, I haven't done it. But I did see some that looked doable for a non carpentry type person like me here: How to build your own catio from Cat and Caboodle

 

[Sarthur2]

Can you bring the cage inside your home at night?

 

[shadowsrescue]

It would absolutely be best to keep her as an indoor cat only. Yet first step is a trip to the vet for a health check, vaccine and spay. Getting her spayed is the most important. Once home from the vet, give her a room to stay in where she can get used to indoor only living. Be very very mindful to not allow her back outside. If you allow her to come in and out, it will be very hard to convert her to an indoor only cat. Most cats will get used to indoor living.

 

[maureen brad]

A catio or enclosure would be good but, not a cage.Google search ' home made catio/enclosure + pinterest' I am sure you will be able to find 100's of ideas , some with instructions.

 

[MegAH2]

It seems to me like if you kept doing this, the cat would probably decide to not stick around maybe! Did you figure out an answer?

 

[Norachan]

@basscat has built his own cat enclosure and it's awesome. Maybe he can give you some tips? I have an enclosure for my rescued ferals too.

Do you have a back yard? How big is it? An enclosed back yard with a shelter would be OK, but I agree that keeping her indoors would be the best thing.

Does your dog go out in the backyard?

 

[msaimee]

Cats shouldn't be caged except for a short length of time for a specific and nevessary purpose. Some people who foster and socialize young (5-12 weeks old) feral kittens use a large cage to help socialize them to people more quickly to make them more readily adoptable. This is only temporary measure, and for young kittens. An older feral kitten or adult will be stressed and very unhappy in such confinement and will caterwaul and will even hurt itself trying to escape. Even domesticated cats do not do well in cages- Just visit an animal shelter and you can see firsthand the depression the caged cats exhibit. However, in the case of a shelter, temporary caging is necessary. But this is not how any cat is meant to live. If you decide to take a cat into your home, give the cat a room of its own (after neuter/spay and vet exam).. He should ideally have some space for play, with easy access to the litter box and food. After a few weeks, allow the cat supervised visits with other household pet members ( there are a lot of helpful links and articles on this forum about how to successfully introduce new cats to other pets in the household). They will already have begun to be acquainted by scent and sound through the room door. After a few weeks to a month the cat can be allowed the run of the house. I have taken in many feral and stray and shelter cats over the years, and never had to cage any of them. It takes time and patience to bring a new cat into the home, but if someone is not able to provide the space for the cat, it is better to continue to care for the cat as an outdoor pet. Spay and neuter the cat, and provide a warm pet house for shelter in the winter and continue to feed it, or assist in finding it an indoor home where it can have the run of the house. That is a preferable lifestyle for an outdoor cat then for it to be brought indoors and kept in a cage.