Acclimating 'new' Indoor / OUTDOOR cat...

[YinYang]

OK I'd like to do this as "right" as possible.

My sister is moving and I'm taking in her cat. Her cat is 5 years old and is indoor/outdoor (no litter box . Probably like 25% indoor / 75% outdoor at their place (which is across the state from me).

Now, I have 2 dogs and 1 indoor / outdoor cat.

I'm not concerned so much about acclimating the cat to the other animals - the cat also currently lives with 2 dogs and did live with another cat up until a few months ago.

I AM VERY interested in hearing suggestions on bringing this cat in to my house. I have a doggie door so my dogs and cat can come and go freely into our fenced backyard. Yes, of course, the cat jumps the fence.

I had 2 in/out cats recently that I fostered and when we placed them, the cats got out the first night and have never been seen again so I'm a bit scarred by that experience.

So, should I.....
1 - shut the doggie door for a day or two until the new cat knows that this is home base? Will the cat use a litter box then (if it never has)????
2 - leave the doggie door open knowing that the stunned cat will likely not adventure out for awhile - maybe keep him in a back room for the first few hours? I'm not sure this is enough time....

UGH really, I'm lost. Before my experience "losing" the 2 other in/out cats, I wouldn't have given this much thought (right or wrong)... but I really don't want to deal with the thought of 'losing' another cat.

That said, we've all discussed that IF the cat were to get out and not come back that everyone is 'ok' simply in that the cat has all claws / hunts,feeds / etc.

I can tell by the length of this post how anxious I am about trying to integrate this cat.... I'm not sure how to take a mostly-outdoor cat and get him acclimated to a new home base....

Thanks so much for any help or experience.....

The cat arrives on Monday afternoon!

[LeahBoo]

My mom has always hand indoor/outdoor cats. She keeps new ones inside a few days so they see it as home.

[Purple*Lotus]

I am not sure about the doggie door. I suppose the cat will get out eventually as long as you have it.

I agree that maybe you should block it until the cat gets used to living there.

Also, if your cat wont use the litter box, see if you can borrow a clump of dirty litter from someone and bury it in the box. We did this when we adopted a stray cat and it worked like a charm. He has used it ever since.

[Minky]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you need to keep a new indoor/outdoor cat inside for a week or two so it gets acclimated to the new place and sees it as home. I've always done this by keeping kitty in an unused room for a week or two, feeding, watering, using the litterbox in there, then introducing to the rest of the house, and then outside.

All my sweeties are indoor only now, by the way, have been since we were living in Wisconsin where you can't let them out legally. I won't jump on you for letting yours outside, but it really is safer to keep them in, particularly with foster kitties.

and please don't think that your kitties will be okay outside if they run away. Some cats survive quite well outside as ferals, but others end up hit by cars, captured by people who sell them for research, etc.

[YinYang]

I'm taking my time to acclimate him - all is going well. On a positive note, I actually FOUND one of my lost babies so I'm re-acclimating her as well. They are both indoor for now.

We all do the best we can with what we have. I'm glad I've been able to rescue cats where I can. Due to my job, a doggie door is a must in my house and curious cats tend to figure that out.

Nope, don't want a lecture about whether it is right/wrong but I'm very thankful and grateful for everyone's suggestions.

For now, kitties are all doing well and getting used to everyone around them

[North_Of_60]

Originally Posted by YinYang

OK I'd like to do this as "right" as possible.

My sister is moving and I'm taking in her cat. Her cat is 5 years old and is indoor/outdoor (no litter box .

And you're able to supervise the 75% of his day while he's outside to ensure he's not pooping in your neighbors garden and transmitting disease, right?

[YinYang]

Actually that IS part of my evil plan.... thanks very much.

[greenmagick]

That is my biggest problem with outdoor cats....I dont want cat poop all over my yard and garden...I have enough poop to clean up as is. Our new neighbors have a very sweet indoor/outdoor cat....love him; however, though he stays very close to his house, he is very often in my veggie garden. If he starts using my food as his litter box, we will have problems. Also, my dogs go nuts when hes walking around our property and they cant get to him. If he ever goes through the fence, I worry the dogs may hurt him. And finally, I sometimes let my cats out when we are all out. They stay in the front yard (fenced) because I watch them. They are only allowed out for like an hour at a time....I dont feel comfortable doing that now because I dont want the new cat coming over to investigate. Finally, I caught the new cat chasing my ducks and chickens:

[YinYang]

I cannot control everything. For my part, what I do around here is simply take in all strays to be spayed and neutered and then re-release them. For the 2-3 strays that tend to be in my yard and my neighbors, we all pitch in and have those cats' shots done yearly. We all figure that if they are in close proximity to our own kids/pets, best to have them up-to-date too.

Thankfully I have a great animal-lover vet that helps us out since we are trying to at least do something good for the animals.

I've got a pregnant stray now that is INDOOR only until the kittens come, nurse, mama is spayed and kittens are spayed/neutered. Then we'll see how everyone feels about it.

At least in my opinion, I'm doing NO WORSE than had I never intervened at all.

[North_Of_60]

There isn't a vaccine for toxoplasmosis, which is what I'm concerned about when I see cats poop in my garden. If your outdoor cats hunt, it's a likely possibility, so you owe it to your neighbors to make sure your cat does not poop in their garden.