Very good suggestions and what a lovely cat Siren Sno is! I think your cat may very well learn to accept her and even love her in time.
Thank you. I'll tell her you said so. :-) She adores me so much and wants to head brush my trousers constantly, but I can no longer allow her to do so, as my now indoor cat finds it threatening and will redirect his aggression on my legs. So sad because she is such an angel and naive of the seeming threat she presents.Sno kitty is quite beautiful!!
Please don't lock her in, once she makes it her new home. They need their mobility for their little curiousness and for threat evasion. If another feral invades their territory or attempts to enter her new home, she will need a safe escape route out. Outdoor cats include this into their criteria when selecting a home. Cats prefer to first avoid conflict with another cat vs fight them, as they realize the fact that they may lose, get hurt or worse trying to defend it. Which is probably why my lad get so upset and frantic when he spots other cats from the window, as he knows the only way out is through the front door (so he believes). It's the one he uses for his door dashing escapes. For he feels, his only option here is to fight (flight isn't an option) if another cat enters the door.I plan to let her come and go during the day and hope to lock her in at night.
there is a gate and a small opening above the ramp.
Holy Moses! That's the Buckingham Palace of cat shelters!
You really are stand up people for going to all this trouble. What about baiting the Palace with cans of tuna? I know that's what our local shelter does to get ferals into carriers. I'm sure it will all work out. As someone else has said closing her in at night in there is questionable. If she panics that she is trapped she'll never go in there again.hee hee! I was telling my husband I didn't know how to build a cat shelter
without spending money, We had to put it together and we modified it.
I think now, I could prolly build a cheaper shelter, I was kind of in freak out
mode at first!
The freak out mode sneaks up on us and before we know it, we're in the game. A stray happened at my door when all I had was human food. It ate what I offered, but I could tell it didn't prefer people food. I knew it was a stray because it was too friendly, and just waltzed into my home exploring. It returned the next day meowing at my door. All I had was the same ole human food. The next day I purchased enough to food to feed a colony. This kitty never returned. Here I was with over $50 of cat food (my freak out mode). This is how I got started feeding whatever outdoor cat that would approach. A couple of weeks later, while helping a family move a heavy furniture item inside, I discovered that my little visiting guest had found his or her new forever home with its own friendly feline companion.I was kind of in freak out mode at first!
The fabric pet carrier was my tool of choice for my situation. I actually got her to place her entire body, including her tail, inside the carrier as I kept pushing the can of food further to the back. It worked quite well until she started that distress call. My heart sank and I hesitated, allowing her time to reason a weakness in my strategy. Afterward, I decided it wasn't a good idea to try and take her inside. Some months later she will come into my home on her own, except I can't allow her because of the other outdoor cat I adopted, as he is really territorial and wants to tear her face off.
A lot of TNRers and other "experts" suggest covering the humane trap with a towel to disguise it and blend it in with the surroundings so the cat will not stress seeing it and may actually do what we want -- walk into the trap for help!
Good post. Saved me the trouble of typing the exact same thing.Once you start feeding one out-door cat others will show up. Cats can tell how well other cats are fed by sniffing their butts. If they find another cat that seems to know of a friendly human or a good hunting spot they will follow him or her so they can get in on the noms too.
If you don't mind leaving food out for hungry cats that's great, but you need to make sure you have a TNR plan-of-action in place. It seems unkind to let a hungry cat stay hungry, but by feeding you are encouraging them to regularly come back to your place, where they will meet other cats, and you're also ensuring that they are healthy enough to breed. Once they've had kittens they'll bring the kittens to your place to eat too. That's how I ended up with so many cats.
I didn't know this! All this time, I thought there was an invisible sign in my backyard!
Once you start feeding one out-door cat others will show up. Cats can tell how well other cats are fed by sniffing their butts. If they find another cat that seems to know of a friendly human or a good hunting spot they will follow him or her so they can get in on the noms too.