When we moved from Missouri to Texas ten years ago, our vet prescribed a sedative for our cats to minimize the trauma of the long drive. Maybe you could dope your new pal up before transporting him.
Well, I left the kitty outside of course. I worried about feline leukemia and washed my hands immediately after petting him. I kept my glass door opened for a while and had my cat in my lap afterwards to see how he would react. Well, my cat saw him and started purring and went to bump up on the glass (my cat is obsessively clingy and friendly) the stray hissed and ran away.
Well, later on that night, the stray ended up sleeping just outside my bedrooms windowsill. Let’s hope I can catch it to get it checked out. I think it would make a good indoor cat assuming it doesn’t fight with my cat or scratch and spray on everything. If that happens, I will have to adopt him out. That is assuming he keeps coming back.
HUGS!
Sqrl
I’m not a cat person. I’m a dog person. But the two stray cats I adopted didn’t realize that and moved in anyway. Fluffer was an abandoned house cat, who got knocked up and abandoned in the country. Mohawk was a feral barncat, named for the amount of hair he had when we met. I lured him in, figuring that he was dying of something and needed to go to the vet to be put down. It turned out he had a bad case of fleas and had scratched off most of his hair, but was otherwise healthy.
I’d go along with the continued feeding and handling, but no kitty/kitty interaction until after the vet check. You can’t fix the FIV feline luke problems, but you might be able to do something about parasites. If the stray will allow it, and your vet will give you some, try Revolution. It’s a topical, back of the neck medicine that is supposed to take care of ear mites, fleas, and a couple of types of worms. Once the cat is used to being handled by you, it needs to go to the vet. For the first visit, I put fresh catnip into the carrier and the cats walked right in. When we got home, they each got a can of tuna. They forgave me.
First off, I’m not a cat person. I’d definitely a dog kinda guy- gimme a big dumb canine any day of the week. Part of this stems from something that happened when I was living in a small Texas town- I found a kitten on my doorstep.
The poor thing was so sick it could barely move, and couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old. I took it in for the weekend, and took care of it as much as I could. On Monday I took it to the Humane Society… where it went into convulsions and died literally just as I handed it over to the workers there.
“Has anyone besides you handled this cat?”
“Well, yeah- my wife, my roommate, and my son. Why do you ask?”
“'Cause it looks like the kitten had rabies, and you’ll all need to get shots.”
:eek:
Anyway, we all had to get shots. I was the only one without insurance- and the cost for my shots, alone, was around fifteen hundred bucks!
So there you go- one of the reasons I don’t like cats. That and the fact that they are generally sneaky bastards. Okay, so disliking cats just because I had to get rabies shots thanks to one kitten isn’t too logical- but, hey, ya gotta admit they’re sneaky bastards. 
All that aside- you’re a great person for taking that cat in. Kudos to you, and hope it works out.
And take that sneaky bastard to the vet!
Hi, just wanted to pop in and say,
good luck with the cat.
You have a cat named Fluffer? You’re kidding, right?
My cat was a stray, now she is a total creampuff, grateful for human interaction.
Assuming all goes well at the vet and you bring new guy home, when you introduce the two cats:
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keep new kitty in an isolated room, with his own litterbox and food for up to a week.
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During the week, bring something that smells like your kitty to new kitty and vice versa so they get used to each other’s scents. Once new kitty has a clean bill of health, using the same brush on both of them works.
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At the end of the week, take a plate and put some tuna fish or other treat (my roommate’s cat and my cat go nuts for wet food, so we used that) on it - 2 little clumps, far apart. This way they associate meeting with something positive.
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Start feeding them at the same time and in the same area of the house every day, but give them each a separate bowl so they won’t fight over who gets the food first.
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Keep the second litter box. Two cats + two litterboxes = less territorial pissing.
Just wanted to check in and say how fine of you it is to look after a suffering animal. They don’t choose to be in such a situation. Good for you!
Update, I put out the cat carrier with a towel in it. Hoping that he will go in it eventually. I also put some cat treats in it, but he doesn’t trust going in it on his own. I fed him again tonight after I got home from dinner. He was walking up the street and I said kitty kitty to him and he came running up to me and followed me to my door. He would probably come right inside if I let him. My indoor cat could care less if I point to something, but this one goes directly to what I point to which is kinda strange. He also keeps hissing at my cat where my cat will sit in the door now and just meow real loud (his normal volume… the breed that he is had siamese mixed in it for diversity early on and they got the “loud voice”). Other than that, this cat is pretty quiet. I am hoping to coax him into the carrier this weekend to take him to the vet. He is so unintentionally skinny it is sad (whereas my indoor cat is so skinny it looks like he is a crackwhore…but in the cute endearing way I love my baby).
I have been making sure to wash my hands after petting him and being with him enough to bond with me some. Unfortunately a lot of the other suggestions won’t be able to happen (like keeping the two separate if I bring him inside) since my apartment is so small. (1 br, no storage… no extra space for another litter box, etc.) I already know my cat works well with other cats I don’t know about the stray though. I hope so. I have been kind of wanting another cat, but my original plan was to get another one that didn’t shed (since I am slightly allergic to cats already) and wasn’t going to do that until I moved into a bigger place. We will just have to see.
HUGS!
Sqrl
You never know. When I brought Blabby home (her owner didn’t want her because “She was too loud”. Idiot, she was in heat) I didn’t know how Bo would react, but he didn’t even blink an eye. He was like; “Oh, what have we here? A little black kitty. How quaint. Thanks!” Never a hiss between them. I knew her history though because I had talked to her owner so I let them be together from the get-go. Great thing you’re doing, taking in a stray cat.
I found out why the cat has been so hungry lately. I fed it just a few minutes ago and a nasty ass tapeworm emerged out of her butt (found out she was a girl tonight too… at least I thought that was the pussy’s pussy) about three inches and moved around. Bleh!!! I almost threw up. I kept petting her, came inside and washed my hands really well (like I always do).
She has also taken a liking to sleeping in the carrier I left outside with a towel in it. She has a little nest in there. Hopefully she will still be there tomorrow morning when I take her to the vet. This morning when I left for work, she was no where to be found and this afternoon when I got back she wasn’t there either. Oh well. I can hope anyway.
HUGS!
Sqrl
Sqrl:
Any update? Inquiring cat-lovers need to know!
I don’t know who you are, but I like you already. Anyone who has a soft spot for cats is OK with me.
I’ve had a couple of strays as pets and they’ve been wonderful! Feed him and he’ll love you to pieces! Introduce him to your cat slowly, first through the window and expecta bit of a spat or two when they both meet for the first time in person, inside.
One of my strays was infested with fleas, had a womb infection and was close to starvation and so shy that I just knew she had been beaten a lot, but so prescious, that I loved her almost immediatly. I found out she also had lukemia, but that did not deter me from keeping her, because by then, I had exposed her to my other cats. I deflead her, had her worked on at the vets and loved her for the few short months she was with me. I found out she had an inoperable tumor that grew real fast and when she stopped being able to eat, we discovered it and it was so bad that the vet opened her up, took one look and closed her up. I did not let her come out of the anesthetic, but had her go from her light dreams into deeper, eternal ones peacefully.
I miss her and would do it all again if I had to. At least she was really loved and cared for by me for the last few months of her delicate life and went out knowing she was loved. That has not detered me from taking in strays when I can. At the very least, I’ll rescue them and give them to friends or take them to the local animal rescue, which will not euthanize a pet for months and will get them medical help and try to find them owners.
My current cat is a stray that I found as a kitten, 14 years ago, in another city! He is fat, rambunctious and happy and loyal as hell to me. Cats are cool! You just love 'em and feed 'em and be there when they run from thunder and they’ll love you to pieces! Keep 'em inside though and they’ll live a lot longer and be healthier. My cat is not allowed out. I don’t want some SOB turning him into road kill or some other SOB leaving his dog out that might tear up my cat.
I can’t really add anything to all the good advice already on here, but I just wanted to say good for you and good luck!