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When we moved into a house in late fall, it "came with" a stray cat. According to neighbors she is "the neighborhood cat" and everyone loves her. They say she was formerly someone's cat til they moved and dumped her, and she's been outside 5-10 years. She's spayed also.
She's been spending more and more time at mostly just our house and we are getting attached to her. She's extremely friendly, comes running whenever we are outside, meows at us, rubs on us... she even sat on my husband's lap once! We built her a little cat house outside, but once another cat sits in it, she won't use it again. We feel bad for her being outside sometimes and have been seriously considering bringing her in.
Now, my concerns are - I haven't had good luck. Right now, she's outlived all my previous cats who were strictly indoor, well fed, the finest medical care, etc. So why fix what isn't broken right?????
She's got the run of the nieghborhood right now, does what she wants, sleeps in the flowers... goes to the bathroom where she wants. Would she use a litterbox????? And what if she's miserable inside? (I know someone who brought in their indoor/outdoor cat and she destroyed the house!) And how would you even do it... like do you let her go in and out for a while, or once she's in, that's that?
Any thoughts? Experiences like this? A lot of advice i see online is for trapping ferals, which she is not.
Making her a strictly indoor cat after so many years may not be something that she could be accustom to. But every cat is different.
I would enjoy her as she is.
My cat was 2 years old when I brought her indoors. She's 15 now, and kind of appalled by the outdoors. Aside from the first night, she has never had a problem with the litterbox. She settled in completely within a couple of weeks. She's still fairly feral, but she is a beloved member of my household now.
Now this cat is older, and could be mroe set in her ways, but she may also be ready to just hang out and be pampered. Feel free to give it a try. You might want to do it gradually though, as in let her run in and out of the house a bit, start feeding her inside and then one day just close the door behind her.
If she was a house cat, she knows what to do with a litter box.
If she were dumped that long ago (poor thing!), she's getting up there and may appreciate a warm, secure place to live. You don't know how she'd react until you try.
Has she come inside your house at all? If so, how does she act? If you do want to bring her in, do you have a space where you can have her make the transition gradually - a place to isolate her for awhile, where you can place a bed and a litter box, to see how she does being indoors for any length of time? Do you feed her?
My cats were dumped, too, but they were kittens and had been living outside only for a few months before we brought them in. They were not friendly, so we had to lure one and trap the other to get them indoors. It was a tough transition for them, because they were wary of everything - including my husband and me! The male cat settled in immediately, but the female (who was the runt of the litter, most likely) took awhile to settle in. Still, we had very few problems with them causing any damage, etc. The closest they want to be to the big bad world outside is with window glass between them and the outdoors.
No matter what you decide, you've been chosen. Congratulations.
Give it a shot, you don't have anything to lose. Just give it plenty of time to work & don't give up too quickly. Like others have said, give her options and let her come and go at first until she gets comfortable in your home. It may or may not work out, but the odds are in your favor and you will at least have tried. It's a good thing you're doing trying to help her, and I agree... she did a good job choosing her humans.
Yes, one day a while ago, my husband was holdind the door to the little screened in porch open for me, and she marched her butt right inside! We shoo-ed her out and she hasn't done it again, but she does look longingly at the door when we go in and out... so I don't think getting her inside will be too hard! When we're in the shed or the garage she goes in and out also.
I wouldn't be opposed to letting her go in and out a bit also to transition. We have a basement room I'd be comfortable keeping her in to transition, but not for long as it has no windows
And you're right, if it doesn't work out, i'll let her out - i don't want to torture the poor thing.
Should I give her a bath??? Would that just further traumatize her?? I would frontline her immediately, but she's been living outside - who knows what she has! And we have another cat to worry about also.
That's a complication ... It certainly shouldn't prevent you from bringing her in, but you do need to take care to keep her away from your other cat until she's been been to the vet and is free of any diseases, parasites or fleas, and has been vaccinated.
Maybe she'd like to spend her nights in your screened in porch for awhile, with a litter box and a comfy bed.
Has your other cat shown any objectionable reaction to the outdoor kitty?
I'd bring her in and take her to the vet first thing. SNAP test - the whole nine yards. She'll probably need de-worming, her ears attended too as well.
Only after a clean bill of health from the vet, do you start the "getting to know you" between your resident kitty and the new adddition.
Yes, definitely take her to the vet ASAP before introducing her to your cat. Mine was being taken care of by two cat ladies who had spayed her and kept her up to date on shots, so I had no concerns.
OP, as others have said, definitely take her to the vet before introducing her to your other kitty.
But as to whether outdoor cats can transition to being indoor cats, my experience has been that they CAN. One of my kitties was a stray who had clearly been accustomed to being outside (although it's also clear that someone loved him at some point -- he is INCREDIBLY sweet and cuddly, and I don't know how they let him go!!). All of my kitties are strictly indoor-only, so he is too, and he had no trouble adjusting. He gets hugs, warm places to sleep, food whenever he wants it, etc., etc. -- why would he want to leave?
I do have a large fully-screened-in porch, and the kitties do love being out there in the spring/summer -- in fact, today is the first day this year that they were allowed out there, as it was gorgeous. But that's as close to the outdoors as any of them will ever get -- I want them all to lead long and happy lives and for me that means keeping them indoors.
Your "neighborhood kitty" sounds like such a sweetie (I will NEVER understand how people can move and just leave an animal behind -- that is simply beyond my comprehension) ... I hope you are able to take her in! Please keep us posted!
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We shoo-ed her out and she hasn't done it again, but she does look longingly at the door when we go in and out... so I don't think getting her inside will be too hard! When we're in the shed or the garage she goes in and out also. 
