Found a kitten in the backyard
 

I want to keep it.

Please let me keep it!


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KT

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How do I convince my wife that we have room for a third cat?


KT

Feral cats do not make good house cats. If you keep it, it must live outside.

This kitten is super friendly and let's me hold it while it purrs wildly.

Not like the usual wild cats that come around yearly.




KT

That is a nice looking kitten. He/She reminds me of one I owned that the Ex got rid of. How about telling her that if you don't keep it, the pound with just put him down.... Make sure you hold the cat so its looking up at her wide eyed. Gets em every time!

My grandparents only had feral cats that they took in and they were the most wonderfull cats they ever owned and all were at one time feral.

Wife: Well who's going to feed it and take care of it and clean up after it?

Tekkor: I will I will. I promise.

Wife: Oh you say that now, but a month from now you'll be out playing with your friends and completely forget about the kitten and then it'll be my job.

Trekkor: nut-uh, I won't for get, I promise! Pleeeeeaaaaase?

Wife: well ........... OK, but remember you promised!

We live close to a high speed road out in the country.

Outside pets, as well as the local animals don't live long.


KT

one of my cats was an adult feral cat..she is fantastic. just enough "need for attention". not totally in my face. great cat. with cats, you have one week of input. get her used to kennels, nail clipping, belly rubs..etc..remember ONE WEEK.

keep her, she is cute.

We tried taking in a feral. It did not like it when our first son came home from the hospital....
YMMV

Nice Kitten. If it lets you hold it & pet it, it probably will make a nice inside pet with decent outside skills. My first pet was a junk yard cat. He wouldn't let anybody else but me pick him up, but tolerated most anything else. Can't get more feral than a junk yard cat.

Right out of school, before I got married, my room mate and I were living kind of out in the sticks a bit. I was working a second shift job, and every night I came home for weeks on end there was a stray barn cat on the front step. Beautiful calico at that. When she first started showing up she couldn't have been four months old. I kept shooing her away and heading inside. I'm not a cat guy.

Finally, after a few weeks of this, I gave her some milk. After that she I just couldn't get rid of her. A year later, she was "my" cat, and we were moving out. I couldn't "keep" her (not like I had "kept" her yet anyway...) where I was moving. So, I threw her in the car and ran her to my mom's, and told her she had to keep "my" cat for me. She asked me what her name was - uh, hadn't really thought of that... "'Spot' - yeah, that's it -'Spot'". The name stuck, and Spot lived darn near another 20 years with my mom. She sure perked up whenever I came over, too.

Keep the cat.

This little kitten was hungry.

My wife brought out a half can of cat food for me to feed her.
She came out from under the shed, purring let me pet her and ate the whole can.

I brought out some dry food and water and we made a cat bed on a shelf up in the shed.

I can see her from my desk window...It's raining. :(


KT

So, let's say I bring this kitty in the house to become my new friend.
How do I break it gently to the other two cats?

I was thinking first, cat bath.
Then kitty in the cat carrier whilst the big cats sniff around and complain.
Then open the door and watch...


What do you think?


KT

I shined a flashlight out the window.

It's curled up on the cat bed we made, sleeping.


KT

She already has you. She was lookin for a nice home and it looks like she found it. It was meant to be.

Cats tend to be really territorial and new comers are often treated harshly. The little kitty isn't really going to be able to stand up to two grown cats in THEIR territory.

Suggest you introduce the grown cats one at a time into the kitten's turf (aka the shed). When one gets used to the kitten, put that cat in the house and bring the other one out. When that one is used to the kitten, bring both out. When the light is green with all three cats together in the shed, then try bringing just the baby inside. Let her get used to "inside cat" territory. Then all the cats inside.

I know it seems like a pain, but if you spent a week or so doing this, the kitten might adjust much better, and the grown cats should engage in fewer territorial displays (which look alot like kitten butt whuppin....).

angela

My big cats have never been outside.

They would freak out.


KT

Total BS...one of the most loving cats we had was feral...we let her in or out as she pleased, but during her later years, she very much preferred in.

1) Feral cats can be good indoor pets. Have done it a few times with varying levels of success. Some of them have no desire to ever go outside again. She looks young enough to be a good candidate.

2) Careful on feeding too much at first. Don't want her getting sick.

3) On the other cats, they'll work it out. There'll be some hissing and spitting but just let them set their terms. Again it's a kitten so should go easier.

4) This is the big one. She's black. Every single black cat I've had has been an absolute mush. In my personal experience black cats are the friendliest. Have had 3 and they all drooled when you pet them but they are great lap cats. Calicos tend to be the feistiest.