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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / July 2006Stray and Indoor Cats
We have two male indoor cats that we only allow outside in the yard in the evening while we sip a cocktail and keep an eye on them. Lately, a female stray cat has decided to make our yard her home. After a few weeks of hanging out, my wife has even begun settting out some food and water for it. Oddly, our two indoor cats don't seem to mind this cat's presence, and calmly watch her through the glass door when they usually make quite a fuss when some cat or other critter visits their domain. My question is whether there's any risk involved for our indoor cats by letting this stray cat hang out in our yard? Could the stray pass along some kitty ailment to our cats, even if they never come in contact with each other? -Fleemo No risk to my knowledge. Gail > We have two male indoor cats that we only allow outside in the yard in > the evening while we sip a cocktail and keep an eye on them. Lately, a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > -Fleemo I would say as long as yours are up on their shots and their monthly flea treatment that there would be nothing to worry about. Maybe down the road if she gets friendly enough with you that you could get her shots or at least get some flea and tick treatment on her. >No risk to my knowledge. >Gail >> We have two male indoor cats that we only allow outside in the yard in >> the evening while we sip a cocktail and keep an eye on them. Lately, a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> >> -Fleemo > We have two male indoor cats that we only allow outside in the yard in > the evening while we sip a cocktail and keep an eye on them. Lately, a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > -Fleemo I'd make sure the water & food left outside aren't shared by your cats and the stray, on the offhand chance she has a disease like FeLV. You could simply cover those dishes while your cats are outside under your supervision. Gail F. Lao Ma, Ephiny, Minya, Melosa On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 01:28:06 -0700, fleemo17 wrote: > We have two male indoor cats that we only allow outside in the yard in > the evening while we sip a cocktail and keep an eye on them. Lately, a [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > along some kitty ailment to our cats, even if they never come in > contact with each other? Yes, that could happen. But when your cats go out in your yard they also might contract a virus "left" by a cat you never see. Then there is the veterinarian's office. You could track a virus into your house on your shoes. Imo, the primary "risk" is kittens. If you're convinced she isn't otherwise being cared for, consider taking her to a vet to be spayed (and tested for the nastier viruses if you want). You could release her after a couple days healing. Most kitty diseases that I know of need direct contact. Some other things, like respiratory infections and maybe distemper, could be passed on if you petted the kitty then petted your own. Some of those things are in the environment anyway, but I'd wash after petting the stray until she's check out. We've fed lots of strays and haven't had a problem. Soon though, you'll want to get the stray into the vet for a spay (so you don't have LOTS of yard cats) and hopefully get vaccinations. Then there's that magic moment when you're attached and the cat comes inside... Good luck! Rhonda > We have two male indoor cats that we only allow outside in the yard in > the evening while we sip a cocktail and keep an eye on them. Lately, a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > -Fleemo Thank you all for taking the time to chime in. Some excellent advice. I wouldn't have even thought to cover the stray's eating dish. Soooo, what if the stray gets feeling comfortable enough to actually hang out with the other kitties during their daily jaunt around the yard? At this point, they spend much of their day separated only by a sliding glass door. Would it be an entirely different situation if the cats were actually going to hang out together? If she does continue to call our yard her home, I do hope we can get her to the vet before long. Actually, she seems less skittish of me than one of our indoor cats! -Fleemo You need to have her checked by a vet (spayed, too) before you let your cats hang out with her. Gail > Thank you all for taking the time to chime in. Some excellent advice. > I wouldn't have even thought to cover the stray's eating dish. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > -Fleemo Thank you for taking care of this stray cat! It's a very nice thing to do. Risks are pretty minimal without direct contact, but it might not be a bad idea to get your two a feline leukemia vaccination at their next vet visit. > We have two male indoor cats that we only allow outside in the yard in > the evening while we sip a cocktail and keep an eye on them. Lately, a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > -Fleemo |
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