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Old July 17th 06, 02:50 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Ann
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Default Stray and Indoor Cats

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
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?


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.