New Stray... Options

[beth26]

My cat died about 4 weeks ago (I've been posting in the death and dying section). While she was sick, I was trying to coax her into eating food, so I found a canned food that tempted her. Well, it also tempted a new friend in the neighborhood to come by. Only when I am home, I leave my slider open for my younger cat (9 years ) to go in and out as she wants (she stays in the backyard because she is a true scardy cat). So this stray cat was also tempted by this canned food and started to sneak in to eat food. I was feeding my elderly kitty as many times as I could during the day to keep her nourished as much as possible so she had plenty of eating opportunities (this stray cat was eating my elderly kitties leftovers).

So I've never in my life fed a stray cat regularly. But this one was pretty thin and with all these foreclosures around, I figure might have been abandoned. Because my cat at the time was so sickly and losing weight, I couldn't bare to see this poor stray kitty look so thin. So to stop this kitty from sneaking in (the stray cat was scared of me), I started to put my elderly kitties leftover canned food outside for this kitty.

My elderly kitty just died recently, and now I have this outside stray cat that I am still feeding. I've recently been able to touch him. He is still very wary of me, but he is interested in my female cat (who is spayed). My cat is a scardy cat, so she does not like him. He tries to sneak in my house, but I keep him out since she doesn't like him.

Right now I continue to feed this cat. He is still thin. He is not fixed which I find a problem. I am thinking about trapping him to get him fixed, but I'm trying to win him over so don't want to scare him too much. I'm still not totally certain what to do...I don't want to mess up my other kitty. I generally don't believe in outside cats, but I guess it is not too awful as long as he is fixed.

I can't tell how old he is. He is black with a few gray hairs here and there. His teeth appear quite white. His ears are not cut or ripped. His back legs seem to be a little stiff. So maybe he's older? But then again he jumps the fence really well.

So...is this a new beginning? Maybe??

[LoveThem]

About cooler weather..I see you are in Northern CA...depends on where. Most of CA it is not too bad. But if in the mountains with snow..that is much colder.

A neighbor of mine has made friends with a stray cat. What she did is get a condo on a pole and put it outside. When it is cold the cat sleeps in there. I guess he feels safer if it is high so he can tell if another stray cat may be on the prowl. I assume it has 2 exits..one to get out if someone comes in the other way.

In light cooler weather...a cardboard box with towels or a blanket might be used by the stray.

Just some thoughts for you...