View Single Post
  #1  
Old September 4th, 2012, 09:36 AM
tezster tezster is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Mississauga, ON
Posts: 78
Seeking cat advice - keeping 'stray' cat content indoors

Hello everyone - new member here

Hoping to solicit some opinions and feedback about my current situation.

To make a rather long story short and to the point (I could write a book about my experiences), I took in a stray cat around two months ago - she was extremely affectionate and well behaved from day one. Now what I didn't realize at the time was that she was a very pregnant cat.

I kept her around, and she had a litter of 3 kittens 4 weeks ago.

What I've come to realize is that Newt (the name I've given the mommy cat) is very much an outdoors cat. She wants to go outside, every single night. My original intention was to keep her, but the reality is, I don't think Newt wants to stick around (not under my rules, anyway). The situation is complicated by the fact that she has 3 kittens to nurse.

What I'm doing as a temporary solution is to go out on walks with her (because there's no way I'm just going to let an un-spayed cat out the door unattended, especially with 3 kittens still relying on her. She could very well come back knocked up again). Now, I'm sure some cats are very pleasant and amenable to walk. Newt, not so much, although I've learned quite a bit about her movement patterns and tendencies so that I've made it a tolerable experience for the both of us.

Now that I've given a quick summary, here are my two issues:

Newt can't get spayed for another two months, at least. I'd like to hear some thoughts on how best to deal with her outdoor tendencies until then. I have a relatively small space and no backyard, and will continue to take her on walks when required. Having said that, going out on hour+ walks every night is not really something I anticipated doing. Add to that, she's often times still quite restless when we return from our walk.

My next decision is what to do with her afterwards once the kittens are weaned and Newt has been spayed. If by some miracle her outdoor tendencies are dramatically reduced or eliminated entirely, I'm definitely open to keeping her, but I don't think that's going to happen. If I do give her up for adoption, what type of home would be suitable for a cat like this? Would she be suitable for any type of home environment? If not, what other options are available?

One final remark - Newt is an otherwise lovely and adorable cat to have around (and she's been a pretty good mom as far as I can tell), so I don't want to give the impression that she's a "bad" cat, far from it. But I think being indoors just cramps her style.
Reply With Quote