thinking of taking in a stray cat?

Question

the people next door took their dog when they left,but abandoned a loveable cat. we are thinking of taking him to the vet to have him checked out and neutered. if feline leuk negative and fip negative we are talking about bringing him indoors. how would we introduce him to our 4 1/2 year old feamle (she is spayed and front declawed) that has been here with us since march 21,2007?

he is about 1 or 2 years old. and when we feed him outside,he would rather have human attention than eat for the first 15 to 20 minutes. a really sweet cat

Answer 1

If I understand correctly, you've only had your female cat for just over 2 months. This might make introducing a new cat a little easier as the female is relatively new to your home too and may be more accepting of changes within her environment.

When adopting a second cat, it's usually recommended that the new cat is of the opposite sex, a little younger and ideally smaller in size. Your old neighbour's cat seems to fit the bill perfectly, so hopefully things could work out really well if you do go ahead and adopt him.

The link below offers practical and helpful advice on how to introduce a new cat to an existing cat.

http://www.tulsa-animalshelter.org/tips/intro%20cat.htm

I hope he checks out okay at the vets. If his owner's were heartless enough to abandon him, who knows what kind of life he might have had with them. It's good to know that there are kind people like yourself willing to give him the happy home that all pets deserve.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Know that your female will probably hiss and express displeasure, at first, but she'll grow to see him as a sibling after she realizes she's not being "replaced." As long as he checks out okay at the vet, and is negative for FelIV/leuk negative, get him declawed, too, and give him the good and loving home he deserves. The very best of luck to you!!

Answer 3

You have to keep them seperated for a while and introduce them to each other gradually. Keep the new cat in a room by himself, letting him become acclimated to your home without being overwhelmed. Meanwhile, move your older cat's food closer and closer to the door of where the new cat is (over a period of about a week or even 2) so that eventually the cats are eating together on opposite sides of the door. That way, she will become accustomed to his scent in a non-threatening environment. If your older cat is non-hostile, let them see each other for a little while, then seperate them again. If she is hostile, it will just take longer, but it's really worth it.

Answer 4

Have these two interacted at any time? I have adopted a stray cat and had taken her to the vet to have her checked out. I have never regretted it for a minute! It is a wonderful thing! Just know that your existing pet will have boundry issues at first, but as they become used to each other, they should develop their own boundries. To assist with this, provide them their own food bowls, water bowls, and their own litter boxes. Also be careful about giving more attention to one than the other. Try to make sure your existing pet still feels special. Otherwise resentment will become a barrier.

Answer 5

as quickly because of the fact the rspca is finished, they'd have the potential to tell you any wellness subject concerns with the cat, and additionally any tempermant problems. that's complicated to recognize ways a stray is going to be as quickly as you're taking them in. they'd decide directly to flow returned to roaming the streets given it truly is all they recognize. this is going to take time. Cats are peticular. they are as moody as human beings. trouble-free care is needed. nutrition and water. Play and love. Occasional treats. i could persist with the nutrition plan that the rspca recommends to you, incase the cat has digestive subject concerns from being so underweight. different than that, time and love with help the cat regulate. save up on vet visits because of the fact strays could have underlying circumstances arise. Kitty Leukemia is likewise a controversy which could arrise in any cat. they have preventable vaccines for that. stable good fortune. i'm hoping that helped somewhat.

Answer 6

That is so sad that they left their cat! He is lucky to have you there! It is a great idea to have him checked out first, and then you should be able to just bring him in and let him check everything out. You will probably just want to watch him and your female for the first of it. She will be a bit mad, but if you just talk to her and tell her that this is going to be her new friend and she is still going to be loved, she should just walk off and ignore him. Make sure to keep him inside for a couple weeks so he realizes that this really is his home and he will come back to you when he goes outside.

Answer 7

Give them lots of space. When you take the new cat in, see how the other cat reacts to it. If they are being aggressive, you may have to keep them seperated with just supervised visits.

Chances are, one of them will be submissive and just keep out of the other cats way. This will probably be the new cat. After a while they will become use to each other and either become friends or just ignore each other.

Answer 8

Have one member of the family hold your other cat and you bring the other one in.
Place in a spot like the living room so that they can check each other out.
When we get a new dog, we always take them outside to a neutral spot, where no one has claimed their domain and let them get to know each other.
Never had a problem.
I don't see it being such a problem.
That is really sweet of you to take in the cat.
Good luck.

Answer 9

its a great idea. i have several stray cats. I take them to the vet, check for parasites, ect., and get them neutered or spayed. It a good idea to let the cat go outside sometimes, because former strays tend to beg at the door and whine. You can take the cat inside, but he/she should be outside on nice days.

Answer 10

I say go for it. The only problem could be the now outdoor cat bringing in any ticks or contagions. Try to keep your cats indoors. The live longer lives when they remain indoors.