Expert: Kate Tilmouth - 12/8/2009

Question
My cat Stewie is about a year and half. for the last few months a neighborhood or stray cat has been coming in through the doggie door at night and eating his food. My ex roommate made friends with the stray and she would sometimes secretly sleep in the house only to run out when we saw her in the morning.
Stewie hid or ignored her most of the time.
Then last night it got below zero and a storm was coming in. Stewie ran inside and i picked her up and brought in the stray. i didn't have the heart to leave her out there.
She was in heaven, loving everyone in the house- staying warm and having some food.
Stewie was not happy. he occasionally hissed at her, and she would then rub against one of the people in the house.
What should i do with the stray? It's stewie's house and i want my kitty to be happy. will they eventually get used to each other and i should i let her come and go? will they fight? I hate to send a cat to a shelter. Stewie likes other cats in the nighborhood, just not her.  

Answer
Hi
well it depends if you intend to take responsibility for this stray cat or not . there can be no half way houses really. if you decide that this can can come and go but you will feed her and provide medical care for her etc then it could be a good idea to give your other cat a few introductions with her with him in a cage and her walking around outside it and then the other way round. the more this done the more confidence they will gain in each other without the fear of aggression.

over time the two will relax with each other but they may never be friends. sometimes the best we can hope for is a truce.

The process i describe is on my site but is designed for cats who are to live with each other full time and your stray will not be happy to be a cage or inside for long periods of time. but you may find the page useful for background information.

here is the page

http://www.our-happy-cat.com/introducing-cats.html

best wishes Kate