TL;DR: One of our elderly backyard ferals is interested in moving in to hang out with one of our indoor cats and I'm not sure how to proceed.
The story so far:
Back in 2010, a feral momcat moved her kittens to under our porch. We were able to capture one kitten and socialize him, but the mother moved them away again (back to her home colony, we later learned). The two girl kittens eventually came back as adults to raise their own kittens. By then, we had improved our trapping skills, and everyone got caught. The kittens were socialized, and the mothers were TNRed. The mothers have hung out here ever since. We feed them, and we've put shelters out back for them, though in the winter they prefer to go under the house and roost on the heating ducts.
They're in good shape for 13 years old. Their indoor brother is the most active 13-year-old cat I've ever seen. One of the ferals is seemingly ageless like him; the one who's been showing interest in the indoors is starting to look old though.
I'll call this one Friendly Cat. Friendly Cat has always been more relaxed than other ferals about human presence. She's also relaxed and friendly with other cats. The other feral, I'll call Scaredy Cat, is a loner who can tolerate other cats in her territory to a certain extent but doesn't want to be too involved with them. The last time there was a third feral hanging around for a while, Friendly Cat was constantly snuggling him. So I think part of what's going on here is that she's feeling lonesome.
So Friendly Cat has started showing interest in the house, for whatever reason. Through a series of experiments I've found that she'll come in a little ways for three things:
1) Food. She'll eat and then, if the weather is nice, she'll go right back out.
2) Rain. She'll come and sit just inside the back door for a while to keep out of the rain.
3) Her brother. This appears to be the main motivating factor. If she's just seen him at the back door, she'll walk right in and look for him. If he's still in the back room, she'll walk up to him and start trying to be friendly. Of course, if he's still in the room, he wants to go out. Friendly Cat doesn't want to let him get between her and the door, so she runs back out first, and then I can close the door between them.
If I close the other cats out of the back room and sit in a chair near the back door, Friendly Cat is willing to come in and eat or sit, but will run outside again if I stand up. If her brother is there, she doesn't seem to care how many humans are present or what we're doing.
So the end result everyone can agree on is her living inside and getting to hang out with her brother. The problem is getting there. Or maybe the problem is just me not having enough willpower.
I understand the normal protocol for moving a feral indoors is to have them in a room by themselves at first. They should also get looked at by a vet. I am really worried about whether the amount of stress on this 13-year-old cat, from being isolated and then taken to a vet (if we can even find a vet who will examine ferals outside of the TNR process). I have been tempted to just close the door when she's inside and let her mix with the indoor cats immediately.
OTOH, I would at least like to get her treated for fleas and worms, since she seems to be bothered by fleas and the captured kittens all needed to be treated for worms.
So... advice for how to proceed? Just toughen up, do things the normal way, and hope that she withstands the stress? Let her roam the whole house immediately and maybe never get her treated or tested for anything?
Some things I am *not* worried about:
- The ferals and the indoor cats have all been able to sniff each other through the back screen door in the summer for years, so they kind of know each other already and I don't expect any big conflicts between Friendly Cat and any of the indoor cats.
- The indoor cats are all up-to-date on their vaccinations and get monthly flea treatment, so not too worried about disease transmission.
- I am at peace with the fact that if Friendly Cat has any major health problems, we're not going to be able to do much other than try to make her comfortable. I would like to do everything we can to make her comfortable though!
The story so far:
Back in 2010, a feral momcat moved her kittens to under our porch. We were able to capture one kitten and socialize him, but the mother moved them away again (back to her home colony, we later learned). The two girl kittens eventually came back as adults to raise their own kittens. By then, we had improved our trapping skills, and everyone got caught. The kittens were socialized, and the mothers were TNRed. The mothers have hung out here ever since. We feed them, and we've put shelters out back for them, though in the winter they prefer to go under the house and roost on the heating ducts.
They're in good shape for 13 years old. Their indoor brother is the most active 13-year-old cat I've ever seen. One of the ferals is seemingly ageless like him; the one who's been showing interest in the indoors is starting to look old though.
I'll call this one Friendly Cat. Friendly Cat has always been more relaxed than other ferals about human presence. She's also relaxed and friendly with other cats. The other feral, I'll call Scaredy Cat, is a loner who can tolerate other cats in her territory to a certain extent but doesn't want to be too involved with them. The last time there was a third feral hanging around for a while, Friendly Cat was constantly snuggling him. So I think part of what's going on here is that she's feeling lonesome.
So Friendly Cat has started showing interest in the house, for whatever reason. Through a series of experiments I've found that she'll come in a little ways for three things:
1) Food. She'll eat and then, if the weather is nice, she'll go right back out.
2) Rain. She'll come and sit just inside the back door for a while to keep out of the rain.
3) Her brother. This appears to be the main motivating factor. If she's just seen him at the back door, she'll walk right in and look for him. If he's still in the back room, she'll walk up to him and start trying to be friendly. Of course, if he's still in the room, he wants to go out. Friendly Cat doesn't want to let him get between her and the door, so she runs back out first, and then I can close the door between them.
If I close the other cats out of the back room and sit in a chair near the back door, Friendly Cat is willing to come in and eat or sit, but will run outside again if I stand up. If her brother is there, she doesn't seem to care how many humans are present or what we're doing.
So the end result everyone can agree on is her living inside and getting to hang out with her brother. The problem is getting there. Or maybe the problem is just me not having enough willpower.
I understand the normal protocol for moving a feral indoors is to have them in a room by themselves at first. They should also get looked at by a vet. I am really worried about whether the amount of stress on this 13-year-old cat, from being isolated and then taken to a vet (if we can even find a vet who will examine ferals outside of the TNR process). I have been tempted to just close the door when she's inside and let her mix with the indoor cats immediately.
OTOH, I would at least like to get her treated for fleas and worms, since she seems to be bothered by fleas and the captured kittens all needed to be treated for worms.
So... advice for how to proceed? Just toughen up, do things the normal way, and hope that she withstands the stress? Let her roam the whole house immediately and maybe never get her treated or tested for anything?
Some things I am *not* worried about:
- The ferals and the indoor cats have all been able to sniff each other through the back screen door in the summer for years, so they kind of know each other already and I don't expect any big conflicts between Friendly Cat and any of the indoor cats.
- The indoor cats are all up-to-date on their vaccinations and get monthly flea treatment, so not too worried about disease transmission.
- I am at peace with the fact that if Friendly Cat has any major health problems, we're not going to be able to do much other than try to make her comfortable. I would like to do everything we can to make her comfortable though!
