Hello all,

I haven't read this group before, but I need sage, timely advice!

I have two wonderful indoor-only cats:  a 3-year old, 20 pound
sweet-and-not-very-bright purebred tabby Maine Coon fixed male, and my
fiance's cat, a 6-year-old female (fixed) 10 pound all-black DSH who is
very "ninja" (small, wiry, always seems on the lookout).  The two of
them have formed a very nice rappoire (the Coon came into this equation
as a kitten).  They wrestle and play a lot, and chase each other a lot,
but nobody gets hurt.  Both are indoor cats only.  We live in rural NH
with a lot of coyotes and fishercats around; outdoor cats go "missing"
here all the time.  I'd been on the fence about in/out cats in the
past, but when I got the Coon, his breeder actually made me sign a
contract saying he'd be indoor only.  My fiance's cat had always been
indoor-only, as well.  We live in a wonderful open-concept post and
beam, with lots of fun walkways, balconies and beams for the kitties to
hang out on.  The place is like a cat playground.

A few years ago, my ex-husband took our other cat, a DSH tortie/calico
fixed female who is now about 9 (we don't know for sure, as we adopted
her from a shelter), after the divorce.  She had been an indoor/outdoor
cat, but had survived the local predators by being very sensible (she
was almost always indoors at night time).  She has extra toes, is very
agile and small (7 pounds, maybe?), and was an excellent huntress.
When I got her from the shelter, they said she was "good with dogs and
people, but not good with other cats".In any case, he moved with her to
a more urban area, and she became an indoor-only cat in an apartment.
Over the past year or so, she's been clawing the furniture like crazy,
and he's had it with her (probably mixed into the equation is some
lingering anger re: our divorce, too).  He is saying that if he keeps
her, he'd probably have to de-claw her...yikes...

My ex contacted me a few days ago, asking me to take the tortie/calico.
We have determined that we can definitely take her.  BUT...under what
conditions?

Should she be introduced into the household?  She has lived indoors for
over a year, but apparently not without causing damage to the
furniture, etc. (To be fair, I don't know if he's been clipping her
claws --- as we do fairly regularly with the DHS and the Coon --- or if
he's made a good faith effort at getting her scratching posts, etc.).
But the damage to the furniture has been substantial.  She never
damaged furniture before, when she was an in/out cat.  Also, the
shelter's assessment of her as not good with other cats scares me.
(Again, to be fair, this assessment was made 6 or 7 years ago --- she
was a far younger cat then).  I would think that if she became a
housecat, she should be indoor only, as her potential housemates are as
well.

OR...

Should she become a barn cat, and be allowed to revert to her former
savvy huntress "lone cat" mode?  We have a snug, dry, very modern barn
(less than 20 years old) with lots of mice.  It's not heated, but I've
done research on building her a snug shelter inside the barn, having a
heated water bowl, etc., etc.  We live on a seldom-travelled dirt road,
hundreds of yards from the nearest paved road, with hundreds of acres
of conservation land/forest behind us.  I think most cats would be in a
lot of danger, but she was always savvy about not being out at night.

What to do, what to do?  Time is of the essence --- I plan on picking
her up from my ex over the next few days.

Any advice greatly appreciated.  

Thank you

Elise in NH