Stray cat

[action jackson]

I have 2 dogs and there has been a stray cat wandering around and I am not sure how my dogs will do if I were to encourage (him or her) to come around. I want to feed it and give it some shelter from the cold. I think someone a block over abandoned the cat when they moved. I think it is skittish but tame. Not feral.
My dogs go in the fenced yard in the back when I am home. The cat is up front in the yard and around my garage. It hides in the bushes a lot.

Any advice about introducing the cat to the dogs? I have never had a cat before but cannot leave it out in the cold. If nothing else, I would take it to the vet and keep it outdoors if necessary; with access to the garage. Call me a softie!

Thanks!

 

[craberta]

if you could, lure it into the garage with canned cat food, and have some old blanket and litter box in there for a while. then slowly introduce the kitty to the house. The dogs could get used to how she smells and know that she wont hurt you.

 

[millertc]

When I brought my two cats home from the Humane Society I just held my dogs and let the cats come up and sniff them. The dogs would go up to the cats and the cats would bat at them. The dogs learned to respect the cats pretty quickly. Now they play with each other and even sleep on the same bed together. I have only had the cats since the middle of October. It happened pretty quickly. Each cat/dog is different though. You should have the cat seen by the vet before you do any introductions though just to be safe. Good luck. Very sweet of you.

 

[dmh]

if you could, lure it into the garage with canned cat food, and have some old blanket and litter box in there for a while. then slowly introduce the kitty to the house. The dogs could get used to how she smells and know that she wont hurt you.

I had cats adopt me as well.

What I did, I dont know if it is right, but it worked for me. I locked my dog in my bedroom and let the cat have free run of the house for about an hour or two by himself. I then locked the cat up in a spare bedroom and let the dog out of my bedroom. The dog came out sniffing everywhere including the door to where the cat was now at. I did that for a little while (maybe a week or two) and then introduced them. This way the cat knew the layout of the house, had a room that he felt safe in, the dog knew there was another animal there, and the dog was already familiar with the cats scent. Like I said, it may not be the right way, but it worked nonetheless.

Good luck and I think the is so nice of you to open your house to the kitty.

 

[action jackson]

Thanks for all the advice. As it turns out, a neighbor suddenly lost her 16 year old Manx companion and befriended this homeless kitty cat. She had already been spayed- thank goodness. She now has all shots and is slowly adapting to being indoors.
As cold as it is, I am grateful.
I do travel a lot for my work and can usually either take my dogs or leave them at my Mom's. I also have a roomate that is good about taking care of the dogs if I need her to. She IS allergic to cats so I am glad it turned out as it did. One less stray cat. One more good home for a stray cat! One companion for a lonely widow!