Hello! I need some advice. In the beginning of September I realized there was a cat living in our garage that got through by a small hole. She's TNR'd and vaccinated though she was already spayed I just couldn't tell if her ear was tipped or not so they trimmed it.
As of right now, we've gotten her to eat in the house ( in the kitchen which is right by the door to our sunroom and backyard). In morning she doesn't stay unless it is still dark out but once it starts getting light she leaves for day. Usually she only sticks to our backyard and neighbors yard so 9 times out 10 if I call her she comes out.
In evening after she eats she will stay in kitchen all night and occasionally explore farther in/around house but go back to kitchen (which we block off because we have a small dog) for safety.
She stayed one night all night only because our dog and my husband were in closed room and I stayed on couch so she jumped on to the other couch and slept there. I also work 3rd shift so I was up pretty late making sure to keep an eye on her.
Most nights she stays until we have to close the door. My husband doesn't like keeping our door open all day/night so we can't keep leaving the doors open but once I wanted to see what she would do if I closed door. I closed the sunroom door and she freaked out and ran to basement yowling and hiding under bar counter. It was easy to get her out since the other doors were closed so she was only in one room and she just ran back upstairs and back to garage. After 2 days she was back to normal not being cautious or coming back.
I usually leave sunroom open if not the back door to house but my husband doesn't want to keep leaving any doors open plus since it'd windy I tie a leash to door handle so it doesn't blow open.
The cat still runs off if we walk towards her but the past few days I've been walking towards her as she eats and if she starts to run I call her back or I stop moving until she goes to continue eating. I think it's starting to work because my husband said he went into kitchen 3 times slowly where she was lying down and she finally didn't get up and bolt but she did when he had to walk over to get something that was above her.
Also, last night I was able to feed her and our dog treats with them next to each other without a barrier but with dog on leash. The other night before that I kind of made a mistake and I was playing with her in kitchen as I held dog on leash close by and our dog was watching her and ended up barking once at her so she bolted but I called her back in and gave her a snack. Last night she seemed to be interested in our dog (who usually ignores other animals but has never been around a cat), was staring at her and started to kind of walk towards her but I was worried if our dog did something it would scare cat so I made sure they were too close. The cat then just sat down and fell on her side while looking at dog who I was feeding snacks to. Usually she falls on her side when she wants to play or when she wants pets.
Most of these things are more recent like her asking for pets, she started meowing maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago, and I'm still trying to get dog and cat use to each other.
So, is it a good or bad idea to close door on her? She can stay in basement as a separate area but how do I go about doing this?? And I don't necessarily want to keep her indoors if she won't be happy but we can't keep leaving the door open all day and night when she is here. If we did close door and she runs to basement will she get use to it after a few days? Will she keep yowling for days? She isn't litter box trained but we do have a litter box that I decided to put soil in because she wasn't using it with cat litter even when I tried to show it to her. She still doesn't use litter box but I know she's messed with it a little b/c soil is tossed around.
As of right now, we've gotten her to eat in the house ( in the kitchen which is right by the door to our sunroom and backyard). In morning she doesn't stay unless it is still dark out but once it starts getting light she leaves for day. Usually she only sticks to our backyard and neighbors yard so 9 times out 10 if I call her she comes out.
In evening after she eats she will stay in kitchen all night and occasionally explore farther in/around house but go back to kitchen (which we block off because we have a small dog) for safety.
She stayed one night all night only because our dog and my husband were in closed room and I stayed on couch so she jumped on to the other couch and slept there. I also work 3rd shift so I was up pretty late making sure to keep an eye on her.
Most nights she stays until we have to close the door. My husband doesn't like keeping our door open all day/night so we can't keep leaving the doors open but once I wanted to see what she would do if I closed door. I closed the sunroom door and she freaked out and ran to basement yowling and hiding under bar counter. It was easy to get her out since the other doors were closed so she was only in one room and she just ran back upstairs and back to garage. After 2 days she was back to normal not being cautious or coming back.
I usually leave sunroom open if not the back door to house but my husband doesn't want to keep leaving any doors open plus since it'd windy I tie a leash to door handle so it doesn't blow open.
The cat still runs off if we walk towards her but the past few days I've been walking towards her as she eats and if she starts to run I call her back or I stop moving until she goes to continue eating. I think it's starting to work because my husband said he went into kitchen 3 times slowly where she was lying down and she finally didn't get up and bolt but she did when he had to walk over to get something that was above her.
Also, last night I was able to feed her and our dog treats with them next to each other without a barrier but with dog on leash. The other night before that I kind of made a mistake and I was playing with her in kitchen as I held dog on leash close by and our dog was watching her and ended up barking once at her so she bolted but I called her back in and gave her a snack. Last night she seemed to be interested in our dog (who usually ignores other animals but has never been around a cat), was staring at her and started to kind of walk towards her but I was worried if our dog did something it would scare cat so I made sure they were too close. The cat then just sat down and fell on her side while looking at dog who I was feeding snacks to. Usually she falls on her side when she wants to play or when she wants pets.
Most of these things are more recent like her asking for pets, she started meowing maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago, and I'm still trying to get dog and cat use to each other.
So, is it a good or bad idea to close door on her? She can stay in basement as a separate area but how do I go about doing this?? And I don't necessarily want to keep her indoors if she won't be happy but we can't keep leaving the door open all day and night when she is here. If we did close door and she runs to basement will she get use to it after a few days? Will she keep yowling for days? She isn't litter box trained but we do have a litter box that I decided to put soil in because she wasn't using it with cat litter even when I tried to show it to her. She still doesn't use litter box but I know she's messed with it a little b/c soil is tossed around.
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