Problem With Stray Cat - Need Advice

[txcats]

A female stray cat showed up in our backyard almost 2 weeks ago. We started feeding her and trying to find out whom she belongs to. She does not belong to any of the adjacent neighbors so it is likely that the neighbors who moved out 3 weeks ago left her behind.

We took her to the vet and had her scanned for a microchip, she does not have one. She is spayed, approx. 3 years old and tested negative for FIV/FeLeuk. Decided to have her vaccinated and try to integrate her with our gang of 4.

And THAT is not going too well at all. All of ours are very friendly and well socialized, whereas she seems to hate other cats. We took a few days to introduce everyone with swapping scents and letting them look at each other while separated, until we felt comfortable having her explore the house (with supervision).

Yesterday, things were not too bad. But today she hissed, spat, and growled at the other cats and tried to swat them, claws extended. They are getting out of her way, but she goes after them if she feels they are coming too close. She acts like wherever she walks, everyone should get out of her way. We can't risk our kitties being attacked/injured, so husband let her back outside.

She is great with us, very friendly and affectionate and talkative, but I want her to be an indoor cat (we have never had outdoor cats and we live close to a major road and mean people) and, along with her seeming hatred for other cats, she also hates to be indoors. She must have been kept outside for most of her life. I don't want her outside, she goes after birds and little mammals and she needs to be an indoor kitty. We tried confining her to our sun room/porch and she hated it. Now, she wont' even come on the porch or in the house at all, she is obviously afraid we are going to "imprison" her again.

I don't know what to do about this. She would probably adjust better if she could be an only kitty, but everyone we know has several and is not interested in taking in any more anyway. Shelters are full, animal control would kill her within 48 hours. We have taken in many strays over the years and have never, ever had a situation like this. Most of them were either really happy to finally be indoors, or adjusted after being spayed/neutered and integrated really well. But she is already spayed so there is no hormonal component that can be addressed.

Has anyone here gone through the same thing and has any advice??

 

[kikilove]

Hey Tx- Thank you for taking responsibility for a stray.
Regarding your situation... I have a stray (semi-feral) who showed up 7 years ago and I started caring for her. She never showed any interest in coming inside and, frankly, I wasn't quite insane about cats yet... so... I was fine with her going to do her things. Three years later she'd become incredibly sweet with me. So I started thinking "someone [someone! who will that be?] should adopt her," and started talking to a couple of the local groups who take care of ferals asking about finding my girl a home. They're response across the board was "why? is she not being taken care of?" I was like "yeah, but..." and they said "she's happy... coming indoors would stress her strongly. so if you're comfortable continuing to be her provider/companion, then don't change anything." And so, Soots became "my" cat and has lived quite happily in my backyard for many years. When she gets too old to enjoy being out, I'll bring her in then. Point is, I think it's fine to have an outdoor cat stay an outdoor cat if that's what is the least stressful experience for said cat.

 

[txcats]

Thanks, Kiki. I am glad things worked out for you and Soots. I guess I'll have to learn to look at it differently. I've never wanted an outdoor cat because of the dangers to them and also because of the impact on birds and other wildlife. And until now, it has never been an issue because all the rescued ones have adjusted fairly easily, for the most part. So this is an entirely new situation. I am still trying to stay positive, hoping that maybe, if we take it really slow, she will come around.

 

[ArtNJ]

An indoor/outdoor cat is just going to be a lot more chill in the house if you let them do their thing, get their energy out. Combining an introduction with suddenly trying to switch the cat to indoors only is naturally going to make things a lot more difficult.

As for the wildlife, I try to view it as circle of life stuff. Chipmunks and mice have a ton of babies for a reason.

 

[kikilove]

You'll be fine... once you see that she's doing fine, thanks to your care. I get the whole thing about shorter life expectancy, but when I tried to bring Soots in the house, she would literally throw her entire body into the glass back door, trying to get out. It scared the beejeezees out of me- I thought she was going to give herself a head injury. After ultimately deciding to let her out, she's lived a total of 8 years outdoors. I think the survival stuff depends on whether or not they have a steady food source (and shelter from the rain and cold). And their cat smarts (Soots never crosses the street; she stays on "her" side and doesn't mess with cars). And an ally.

 

[txcats]

Thanks, Art and Kiki. Yes, trying to convert her to indoors plus introducing her to the others was probably too much.

This morning while husband put out bird seed one of our males snuck out the back door. She was waiting for breakfast and they glanced at each other, but no aggression. However, when he was secured on the porch again and she saw him look at her through the porch screen door, she hissed and growled at him and then turned her back on him and started grooming herself.

I am still hopeful that maybe by the time it gets cold she will be more interested in coming indoors and getting along with the others. The close-by busy road and the cat haters in this neighborhood worry me.

 

[ArtNJ]

A busy road is an issue, but cat haters? What are they going to do poison it? To be honest, I hated the neighbors recently deceased dog. It always got loose, and was so incredibly stupid it would just sit in the road. If you honked, it would come pee on your car. Well, ok, maybe I made that last part up, but it definitely wouldn't get out of the way so fast. Think poorly of me if you like, but I'm not real sorry it passed away. But nonetheless I did not poison it. So &^*! the cat haters. (But put a collar on the cat of course.)

 

[txcats]

We know a lady who lives on the street behind us and feeds a handful of (spayed and neutered) ferals in her backyard. Several were injured by bb pellets, one had to be euthanized because by the time he was sick enough for her to trap him, the infection was too severe. She thinks it was the neighbor behind us who faces the same street, but she is not sure.

 

[danteshuman]

I had an experience similar to yours. Only our stray wanted to be inside & HATED every other cat. It was obvious he had been an only kitty and abandoned during the housing market crash. It took us 18 months to find him a home. I think part of it is just the struggle for resources puts all other cats on the enemy list. In your case I would get a very comfy cat house out side. Don't beat yourself up about it. About the wildlife that all depends on how good of a hunter she is. Our birds know when a cat is in the backyard and they stay in the trees for the most part/keep an eye out.

 

[txcats]

Thanks, Danteshuman. I am still holding out hope she will come around and adjust, maybe she will be more motivated to be indoors when it gets cold. I really worry about her being outside, especially since she does not stay in our yard. Saw her jump into the neighbor's yard this afternoon so she is probably all over the neighborhood.

 

[txcats]

Updating, she has been inside since last night. Behavior with the other cats is improving, she is using the litter box, and things are looking up. Fingers crossed she completely integrates!