I want to adopt a stray cat

[marie25]

Yesterday, I was outside looking for my cat, Ben, who darted out when I opened the patio door. After searching for him for 1/2 an hour I came across a stray who looked similar to Ben, but was much smaller. Shortly after I found my cat, but the stray kept following me. He looked really skinny so I gave him some food. The next morning he was still there, even after I got home from work he was still on my patio. I went out to give him some attention and discovered that he was covered in thousands of fleas. The poor kitten. I have bathed him and brushed off most of the fleas. He is going to the vet on thurs. I already have 2 cats and live in a small apartment. I want to keep the stray, because he just breaks my heart. So far he has been friendly. I just don't know how my other two cats will adjust. Does anyone have advice?

[yorkster]

I just adopted a new kitten and I already had 2 cats at home. The first thing you should do is take it to the vet to see if it is healthy- you don't want your 2 kitties to catch anything.
Then if you decide to keep it, keep him/her separated from your other kitties for awhile. Introducing them slowly really helps out in the long run! When I brought Rudy home, I kept him in the bathroom for a few days. It could take longer, it depends on the cats.

Good luck and I hope you keep it- sounds like the little kitty needs a home! The fact that it was waiting for you when you came home shows it must have bonded with you.
Keep us up to date on what happens

[lizbud]

Marie25,

Hi. Welcome to Pet Talk.

How old are your two inside kitties? Male? Female?
That might make a difference in how well they might get
alone. As Yorkster has said, the first thing to do if you want
to help the kitty is to bring it to a vet to get a check up.

I wish you luck and want to say thanks for helping this little
guy/gal kitty. You can save a life. Liz & Buddy.

[marie25]

My two inside kitties are 4 years and 1 year. They are both male. The eldest had a difficult time adjusting to the transition of the younger one moving in. I can't tell if the outside kitty is male or female. S/he is going to the vet on thurs. I want him/her checked out before he comes into my home with my healthy cats. For now he seems quite content on my patio. My boyfriend lives with me and we are both quite attached to our new friend. I'm just hoping that it won't be difficult for my two other cats to get used to having the stray around. My other two are inside cats but my boyfriend wants to keep the stray outside during the day and inside at night. Are there health risks involved for my two others? They only have their shots for being inside.

[Chinadoll]

Hi
I know how you feel. I took in a stray to, but I don't have any other cats(yet!) I was told that if I was even considering having another cat that I would want to test the stray for FIV and FeLV. You never know what the poor stray has been exposed to and you definetely don't want to infect your other kitties.

My vet told me that FIV and FeLV was basically only transmitted through bodily fluids. So, cats sharing the same litter box, food and water bowls can infect each other. But, if you can keep the stray kitty completely separate from your other cats, I see no reason why the kitty can't stay inside until you can take kitty to the vet.

And as far as your other kitty adjusting, well I can only tell you what worked for my ferrets...Rory, the oldest, became quite stressed when I brought in a newcomer. I gave him extra playtime with just me, lavished attention on him so he felt felt like top ferret, and gave him special treats and out time where he is usually never allowed. That special treatment and supervised playtime with the new guy on neutral territory got Rory to accept the newcomer. Just my two cents Good Luck!