She is back inside! She showed up Saturday night and the neighbors behind us decided to set off fireworks for well over an hour. It scared her and she ran off before she had any food. We did not see her again until yesterday evening, we were both really worried. She looked thinner and full of dirt and burrs. I cleaned her up and put her in the house. She seemed to recognize all the kitties from last time she was in the house and the hissing and carrying on was greatly diminished.
She spent last night on the enclosed porch with food, water, litter box and cat bed. This morning she came in again and there was a bit more hissing and threatening, but nothing major, knock wood. I am switching them out, when she comes in the house the others can go on the enclosed porch and when they come in, she goes out there. And when one of us can supervise they can all be in the house. She is exploring the house, sitting on window sills, etc.
Last night I put her on my lap while we watched netflix and she stayed put and fell asleep for about half an hour. She would make a great companion for someone who only wants one cat, but maybe she'll settle in and adjust to living with other cats as well.
Crowgirl, thank you for the info. I checked the Clear the Shelters website and there aren't any participating in our area.
Rene, we initially called her Blackie as well because she is black and white.
Now her name is Bella. Fingers crossed that your Blackie comes around and decides to be an indoor kitty. Incredible that so many people think abandoning/neglecting/mistreating animals is just fine.
NRaleighMom, she is lucky to have you. Sad when they are so shy and afraid, but desperate for affection. I bet she will eventually come around. Years ago, we trapped a 100% feral and her two kittens who were in danger of being poisoned by someone. She was approx. 2 or 3 at the time and she lived to 18 or 19. She would come sit on laps and allow us to pet her and dote on her. She did not like being picked up for too long and she had to go to the vet to have her nails trimmed, but other than that she made a complete turnaround. She passed away last March and we miss her. We still have one of her daughters who is going on 17 now. She had surgery to remove a liver cyst a few months ago and is doing really well.
NYC Refugee, you are absolutely right. I kept putting food out Saturday and Sunday night when she was missing and saw a beautiful big gray cat help himself. I assume it's a "he" because it's a big, muscular cat. So she was likely being terrorized and chased away from food by other cats in the area. This one appears to be hungry as well so I am going to keep putting food out.
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