??stray cat??

Question
hey amanda,
i have a stray, no chip, tried unsuccessfully to locate owners, declawed and litter box trained.  "smokey" is a female.  we took her to the vets, her blood work was normal, and she got her shots.  we have (2) 1 1/2 yr old male, neutered, adopted cats.  i currently have had the screen door open so, they could socialize through the screen.  when tux is interested, he howls at her.  i pet him and tell him its ok and he goes off.  taz seems fine.  how long should i keep trying to socialize them like this?  should i just go ahead and bring her in.  i know they will probably duke it out and work it out, eventually, but, when is the right time.  its getting cold out in the screen room.  she has a heater and blankets, food and water.  but, i want to try and bring her in, i just dont know when.

Answer
If they have been able to see and smell each other through the screen for a couple of days, you are probably safe to bring "Smokey" in the house.  Make sure you supervise their initial visit so that no fighting breaks out.  If they do fine with that, then just keep an eye on them for the rest of the day.  I have 8 cats in my own house, so I have introduced new cats quite a few times.  Cats in general do not readily accept new members, but given time they will usually establish whether they will be friends, or mutually ignore each other.  Since it doesn't sound like they have tried to get at each other through the screen door it sounds like even if they don't turn out to be best friends they will tolerate each other.

Amanda