Stray Who Adopted Me Wants to Come Inside

Question
Hello-I have a 3 year-old inside cat named Bebe. She does go outside in my fenced yard, and enjoys playing there, but is predominantly an indoor cat. A few months back, I heard a kitten howling in the middle of the night. I found it way up in a tree, so got a ladder and rescued it. It is still here months later, I feed it, put a bed in the shed for her, etc. Now, she (yes, I spayed her)has decided she wants to come inside. When I open the back door, she walks into the kitchen and I pet her and put her back out. Bebe hates her, so I don't know that she could live inside without causing problems for Bebe. She adopted me, so she is family, but I feel bad with winter coming on. Would she be ok with heat lamps, or could you please give me info on how to get them to cohabit. She is not litter box trained, so that is another issue.

Answer
Jane,

How does Bebe react to the stray when she is outside with her?

A cat is basically clean so if a litterbox is available they will use it even if they never had one before.

Question you have to ask yourself: can you sleep good under warm blankets in the winter knowing that the stray kitten is outside in the cold?

You have to remember that inside is Bebe's territory so you have to be careful of her feelings yet get her to understand that she has to share her home.

Maybe to make things easier, you can bring the stray in at night when it's cold and keep it in a room away from Bebe, then put it outside in the morning. Have some boxes with blankets in them for her near your door or on your porch for during the day.

You can keep letting her walk in for longer periods at the time until Bebe gets more used to seeing her in the house. It possible (but not too likely) that if Bebe sees that you are accepting the stray that she will too.

Try using a pet laser light when both are in the kitchen. It has a tendency to get their mind off each other and they start interacting without realizing it.

It is never easy to introduce a new cat to the household. But most of the time it does work out...eventually. The main thing is to let Bebe know that you are not switching your affection from her to the new cat. You already have an advantage because they do know each other. no matter what the hard feeling are. It always takes time, lots of patience, and lots of attention to both of them. Hissing, growling and slaps are normal kitty communication. You only need to worry if there is blood being shed, major fur flying, or the cat's ears are pinned back flat.

Here are some articles to read: (copy and paste, or type, the whole links into your address bar:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=960&S=2

This aricle has a paragraph about introducing a stray...at the bottom of the article:

http://www.messybeast.com/first-impressions.htm


I hope this helped.

Tabbi