How a stray became part of the family

[DingleberryPets]

Hello, I wanted to share my story about how I found Brutus and acclimated him into the indoor life! Its a pretty long story! You have been warned!!
Around October(2014), I found Brutus hanging out in my backyard, he would usually come at night with two other neighborhood strays to eat. He was very timid and scared. I immediately wanted to pet him... because, that's what crazy cat ladies do... but he ran away, not understanding what my intentions were.

A few times after the initial meeting he finally sniffed my hand and immediately wanted to be pet, nudging his head into my hands. That was just the beginning of this long longggg transition!

After visiting me a few times, Brutus would start wanting to come inside, scratched at the door until I let him in. It was also starting to get cold out. I asked a few of my friends if anybody wanted to take him in, but since he hasn't had his shots or any training of how to behave in a home, everyone was reluctant. I already had cat myself, and with my workload, I wasn't sure if I could provide the time required to acclimate him.

By now, it was starting to snow a bit. Brutus also refused to go back outside after coming in and would sit by my door for longer periods of time, despite the wind, rain, and snow. He eventually really never left my backyard and just curled up to sleep under a bench I had. I contemplated bringing him in but I also had a month long trip booked in December, so it would be unfair for me and him to unload him with a friend or at a shelter after he's grown close to me. I thought about how I was going to tackle this situation. Brutus was becoming a daily part of my life... I was scared and anxious about all the possible things that could go wrong if I were to start integrating him into the home. What if he didn't get along with the resident cat? What if he scratched furniture? What if he'll never want to be indoors and he's miserable?

I eventually went full on crazy cat lady, and decided that I'll build him a nice cozy cat shelter to keep him warm during the time I was away, and bring him in once I return from my trip. He was a little hesitant at first to go in... but once he realized that's where all the yummy food was. He just stayed in there and never left! I also had a friend come by a few times a week to feed Brutus while I was away. (Thank goodness for good friends who understand your craziness!).

Fast forward to when I came back home from my trip, I started to cat proof my basement, where I was planning to keep him until he had a clean bill of health. I had some trouble locating him when I was back but finally found him in March!

So the first few weeks I kept him in my basement bathroom and would let him out into the rest of the basement when I was home and was there to monitor him and teach him indoor manners as well as slowly introduce him to the resident cat who was on the main floor. He wanted to be by my side most of the time, probably because he was scared of this new environment. Brutus was sooooo smelly (unneutered), my entire basement as well as main floor reeked! He used the litterbox perfectly without much coaxing, but let me tell you... that smell... you'll never forget it.

Next up was bringing him to the vet. I wanted to space out a few of the things he had to do so that he's not overwhelmed. After the vet we had to tackle his mats! Which I really wanted to cut off but couldn't since he was still outdoors at the time and in the middle of winter! His mats were so bad, I was surprised he was still so friendly, it must've hurt. They were just hard balls of fur clumped so close to the skin. :( I had to research cat groomers! and for the most part people do not do cat grooming, I finally found one who was willing to take Brutus in for a shave down! He looked pretty violated after that, but it had to be done!

Introducing him to our resident cat was a project in itself. Though there were no big fights, Brutus was bullying our resident cat. We almost gave up because of this! But most of the problems went away along with his manhood. lol.

After the neutering, things calmed down a lot. The smell was gone, he was no longer spraying(Did it twice while he was inside), and no longer bullying the resident cat.

All in all, it has been a very long journey, but we would do it all over again for Brutus. Him and Peanut (resident cat) are the best of friends now and even have begun to cuddle together a bit.

The reason I wanted to write this story is that Brutus was an adult cat when I found him (vet says he was about 2 years old or so when I found him). But he is also the most loving and caring cat I've come across. Good with people, not shy when we have visitors in the house, good with kids, and knows how to do tricks! Stray cats are worth a shot! Just look at Brutus. :)

If you ever want to see some before and after photos of Brutus, he has his own instagram account @Brutusthestray.

If anybody has any questions for me, Id love to answer them! I know the internet doesn't have a lot on how to acclimate stray cats! Trust me, this who process was a lot of surfing on the net trying to find answers that sometimes were not there!

(Sorry for all the grammar mistakes.... I'm not a writer!)

[TriangularRainbows]

This is a lovely story!
I had a similar situation with my Stray baby Yellow Dog.
about 2 years ago we noticed a white cat wandering around the neighborhood after a house fire. There are many animal lovers on this block and we thought she was taken in by another neighbor & was only out during the day. We never saw her at night and we thought an all white cat would get a little dirty if she was outside all the time. She even had a flea collar. She was very friendly and we'd give her a snack when she stopped by during her usual rounds.
But in any case, I built a couple of feral shelters and put them in the yard for the cooler fall & even colder winter months.

Fast forward to the ice/snow storm of2015.
I was putting the trash in one of the cans out back & saw movement in the shelter closest to the house. I peeked in and I see the white cat with the pretty green eyes, wet and shivering. I knew she must have been out for a while, even the blankets in the shelter were damp.

I knew I couldn't leave her outside like that, so I got one of my cats Bath Harnesses (she won't sit still at all in the tub, of course. So we strap her in) She was very reluctant to come in since my shelter adopted cat would hiss at her every time she was at the window (for snack time). But I gently cajoled her inside, snapped the harness on, dried her off with a towel, and placed her in the bathroom close to the heat. She was introduced to the litter box and the food bowls but was still very timid. She didn't want to use the box at all, she just held it all in.

The first night she was too nervous to be in open spaces, so I opened the cat carrier and she darted right in & calmed down enough to go to sleep. The next morning I let her out to go to the bathroom and she ventured out but came back when it was getting dark & colder. I put the cat carrier out and she crawled in & we started that cycle for about two weeks. In the house at night, outside in the day.
But when she started loosing weight, we got concerned and get her to the vet. she had a uti that could have transmitted to my other cat, so we kept them totally separate & kept her on the meds. And this is how she got her name: During the rounds of antibiotics, she couldn't be outside and she didn't want to run around & play. She picked a concealed spot in the dining room right above her food bowl. She'd only move her head to drink water and eat a few crunchies.
My mom noticed her behavior and recalled a family favorite movie called Funny Farm with Chevy Chase. We chuckled and realized that was the best name for her. Even now that she's better, she doesn't move very fast. Just plods along at her own pace while my shelter baby swats her butt every chance she gets.
Her nickname is Ghost because she can sneak around the house, even with a bell that you don;t notice she's there until she's right above you. Its a horrifying sight at 3am to wake up and see this white shape & empty looking eyes hovering above you or laying on your chest! And during her early days here she somehow managed to get into the back of the linen closet. If we hadn't attached the leash to her, we never would have found her. It was trailing to the front & just barely under the door.
She's gotten acclimated to the house & even the litter box and annoying cat sister she has now. We discovered she's about 7-8 years old. Almost a senior. and I couldn't imagine her having to live the rest of her golden years outside with all the wildlife we have around here.

She LOVES the toys, the bed, and all the extra treats she gets now. Its like she studied Puss in Boots, because she does the eyes to get treats so wonderfully! Even leans back on her hind legs! And we discovered she loves watching TV. 101 Dalmatians. Finding Nemo. National Geographic. and cat channels on youtube are her favorites. If I'm on my phone, she paws at me so she can see what I'm watching. She doesn't understand that humans don't watch birds all the time.

And we discovered that Vinegar neutralizes the cat urine smell!!!! She had a couple "accidents" around the house, usually after bath time.

Its funny to see that crazy cat lady stories can be so similar. I didn't give her her own page, but if you search #YellowDog or #PrincessLadyTruffleLump on Instagram, you will see their antics.

[Former_Member]

Virginia and Indigo, both your stories were beautiful! I especially love the happy endings. :)

My story too is a bit long, and has some sad points as well. However, mine too has a happy ending.

All the dogs I have had as an adult have been rescues. My first, Dusty, a Golden Retriever. I adopted at six months old when his original owner no longer had time for him. Next came Wing, a stray and my first German Shepherd. This boy was my heart dog and made me fall in love with the breed. A few years after losing Dusty, I adopted Princess. Another German Shepherd. She had already had at least two owners at only two years old, so I was glad to take her in. She and Wing were the best of friends and my son soon became "her boy"! After losing Princess to lymphoma at only five years old, Wing became very depressed. My husband and I headed to the shelter where we found Angel, a one year old German Shepherd mix. Wing perked up when he met her and they became fast friends.

About five years ago we started seeing signs of DM in our Wing-man. It was subtle at first, but over the next year it progressed. Knowing our time was limited with Wing, my husband and I decided to get a puppy so Angel would have a new friend. My husband and I were both volunteering at the local animal shelter and on one of our volunteer days we fell in love with the cutest little, three month old Boxer/Lab mix. We adopted him that day and had to wait two days for him to be neutered, so we could bring him home. We didn't say a word to the kids. My daughter was the fist to meet him, although she almost missed him when she walked in the door, until she looked down and saw this adorable little face at her feet. lol When my son came home we were all outside, so I had him come through the back yard. He saw the pup and being used to fostering young puppies for the animal shelter he says, "Isn't he a little bigger than the ones we usually get?" When I told him the pup was ours, he was so excited. We all later agreed on the name Rascal, and boy has he proven that name fitting! :)

Wing actually perked up for a while after we got Rascal, although we could still see his symptoms getting progressively worse. Six months later we had to make that dreaded decision. This was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. How in the world do you say goodbye to best friend of 11 years? I knew it was in his best interest and keeping him around would only be selfish on my part. After losing my Wing-man I felt like my world was shattered; however, having the other two dogs, who depended on me was a huge help in getting me through.

Just after losing Wing I didn't even want to think about getting another dog. No dog could ever replace him and at the time the two we had were just enough. While at the shelter one day, I was talking to the volunteer coordinator and did tell her I would like to have a purebred German Shepherd puppy "someday". Someday happened about three weeks later when a mama Shepherd and her little of five, eight week old puppies were dropped off. The owner simply stated, "I can't take care of them anymore". The volunteer coordinator immediately called me to let me know about the pups. I was hesitant because I thought is was too soon, but at the same time couldn't pass up an opportunity to at least go look at them. Well, long story short (or long story not as long), we fell in love with the only male of the litter. I wound up calling my husband to come see the pups, my daughter (then 16) begged us to let her have him and so Ranger (the dog in my profile picture) was added to the family. After about five months of constantly reminding my daughter to let him out, feed him, pay attention to him, he became my dog. He has some quirks, he and the other two are a little spoiled (ok, A LOT spoiled), but he's very much my baby boy.

Angel we believe to be around eight years old now, as of January. Rascal turned four in November. Ranger will be celebrating his fourth birthday next week. I can't say every day is easy with three dogs, but I will say they make our lives very interesting and I wouldn't trade any of them for the world! :)