Introducing Stray Kitty To House Cats?

[LeonieLunatic]

Heya!

A friend of a friend found a kitty. She's a gorgeous long hair blue russian/calico. We checked for a chip, she doesn't have one.

We offered to foster her for a while and MAYBE keep her if she gets along with our cats and I can find a job soon.

She doesn't have a name yet, but her working title is Fuzzbutt. Yeah, I know. Don't judge me.

Fuzzbutt is very friendly with humans but is very careful around other cats. She seems to have been on her own for a while. Her fur was pretty dirty, she has a scab over her right eye and her paws look like they have mild burns from walking on hot concrete (we live in Texas so we already had a few really hot days)

She knows what a litter box is, that combined with how friendly she is with humans leads us to believe that she had a home once but either ran away or was abandoned.

My husband and I have two cats of our own. Pebbles, a 7 year old Tabby mix and Cinnamon, a 4 year old black one, both female. Fuzzbutt has been hissing and growling at them, but it seems to be more defensive than aggressive. Neither of our kitties seem very intimitated by her, as if they know she's bluffing

She swung at them a few times but only when they got too close and she didn't have her claws out.

She's currently in the bathroom but we have the door open. She takes a few steps outside every once in a while but quickly retreats back to the bathroom. Cinnamon and Pebbles walk by and look at her but aren't really getting her face.

Fuzzbutt hisses and growls whenever they step into view. What's the best way to get her used to them? Do we let her explore on her own or do we close the door and let them sniff each other through the door for a few days?

We just refilled our pheromone diffuser yesterday. Is there anything else we can do?

 

[rubysmama]

Thanks for taking her in. Has she had a vet checkup yet? I would do that before letting her interact with your cats, just to ensure she doesn't have any diseases or illness she could pass on to them. Plus she probably needs to be dewormed, and get her shots, etc.

Since she's friendly around humans, you're probably right that she's a former pet.

TCS has some article on introducing cats which I'll post the links for.

Hope it all works out for "Fuzzbutt" and your family. Please post a pic of her, if you can.

Introducing Cats To Cats
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
The Multi-cat Household

 

[LeonieLunatic]

Update:

We know why she's being so defensive now. The wound on her back right paw is worse that we initially thought. She can barely walk. She's trying to intimidate Pebbles and Cinnamon because she know she wouldn't win a fight.

We can't afford to take her to the vet for an emergency appointment because those often cost thrice as much as normal appointments. We called the vet we take our cats to and the nearest appointment was for Tuesday. We're getting a cone from a friend so she'll stop chewing on it.

Anything else we can do?

 

[Sarthur2]

It’s probably infected and therefore causing her pain. She’ll need antibiotics like clavamox.

Can you post a picture of the paw so we can see the injury?

In the meantime, you can try soaking the paw in warm water and applying neosporin ointment since she will be wearing a cone and can’t lick it.

 

[LeonieLunatic]

It’s probably infected and therefore causing her pain. She’ll need antibiotics like clavamox.

Can you post a picture of the paw so we can see the injury?

In the meantime, you can try soaking the paw in warm water and applying neosporin ointment since she will be wearing a cone and can’t lick it.

She won't let us touch it. My husband tried taking a closer look at it earlier and she freaked and bit him. Not hard enough to draw blood, though. I think we need to gain her trust first.

We'll try again in a little while. My husband has work gloves from working in a Warehouse.

 

[Sarthur2]

Her whole leg may be in pain!

If she can be scruffed and immobilized, you can soak it and apply ointment. Work gloves will help for now. Poor kitty!

Perhaps with a picture the vet would squeeze her in sooner, or let you pick up a prescription to start her on before Tuesday’s appointment.

I hate that she is suffering.

LeonieLunatic

 

[LeonieLunatic]

Here she is! We picked a name too.
We named her Mezi (pronounced Metsi). I'm from Germany and we have a popular drink over there called Mezzo Mix (or Spezi, which is the same thing but by a different brand) and it's Cola mixed with Orange. We thought that was fitting because she's a Calico. We mixed Mezzo Mix with Spezi and ended up with Mezi.
(yes, we need to clean our bathroom. I know, haha.)

 

[LeonieLunatic]

My husband threw on his gloves and we managed to get a picture of the paw. It's hard to see because she has long fur but it's really red.

 

[Sarthur2]

The picture is too blurry for me to discern much. I see the red though!

Could you tell if it is swollen or blistered, or full of pus, or has a thorn?

 

[LeonieLunatic]

I don't see puss or anything stuck in it. She was found hiding in a car engine so I think it's likely she burnt it.

 

[Sarthur2]

Oh no! So sad. She definitely needs antibiotics. It probably needs ointment to soothe it too. Can you put neospirin or coconut oil on it?

Burns are painful. She may need pain pills too.

 

[LeonieLunatic]

I put on my husband's gloves, filled a bowl with warm water and grabbed a washcloth. I cleaned the paw (and the rest of her) best I could with the warm washcloth. She was crying and yowling a lot but only tried to bite me once. I fully expected to get my eyes clawed out so there's a small success.

 

[LeonieLunatic]

She's currently on the bed and grooming herself. I managed to snap a better picture of her paw while she was sitting with her legs spread out. You can see the skin peeling off - definitely a burn.

 

[Sarthur2]

Poor kitty. Glad you cleaned her up! Get some ointment or oil on her paw if you can! Even olive oil would help.

 

[LeonieLunatic]

My patience has worn thin.

Putting her in a cone and putting ointment on her feet took over an hour and I'm pretty sure she hates us now. We got pretty rough and had to scruff her multiple times, but she really didn't leave us a choice. I feel bad but at the same time... wow, dealing with a feral cat is completely different from our two, which have been house cats for years. Both of them usually just freeze and go limp during medical treatment.

 

[Sarthur2]

It sounds like she was very afraid, but good you got the oil on her burned feet.

You said she has been pretty chill overall. She will likely turn into a nice house cat herself once she feels better and acclimates to you guys and her new home and your other cats. It does take time - usually several months.

First she needs to recover from her injuries and learn to trust you.

Thanks for your efforts. Will she be able to eat with the cone on?

 

[LeonieLunatic]

It's one of the soft cones, like a pillow. She has a small food tray in the bathroom, I'll check to see if she's eaten from it in the morning. If she hasn't, I'll hand feed her. She really likes Temptations, but then again, I've never met a cat that DOESN'T like Temptations

She managed to slip the cone the first time, but getting it on her the second time was a lot less painless. Mainly because she was hiding behind the bed the first time and I had to pull her out of there. Second time she was sitting in the bathroom, where there aren't too many places to run. Scruffing her immobilizes her... mostly. Both of ours just go completely limp when we scruff them (if we ever have to, and we really only do when we have to put them in a carrier), but Mezi becomes really tense and will still struggle a bit.

 

[rubysmama]

Mezi (formerly known as Fuzzbutt) is beautiful. Her eyes do look sad and fearful, but that's certainly to be expected.

I'm glad Sarthur2 was able to advise on Mezi's sore paw. Hopefully it will heal quickly.

Since she seems more feral than stray, here's another article that might have some socializing tips for you:
Handling Feral Cats

 

[trudy1]

Mezi is sooo cute but looks very much in control....

Been through this with some rescues. It’s kind of like....you have those one or two perfect children and decide “that’s not so bad, maybe one more?”. That’s the one you hear in Walmart!

But I bet when mezi comes up, head butts you and begins to rub and purr all this will be forgotten...that’s the way we are.

Thanks for doing what you are for her