Short story.
Last Wednesday evening I went out front because Avalanche was having a hissy fit on the front porch just in time to see something that looked like a cat duck under the trailer.
From the time that moms cat was here I had some canned cat food and set it out by the opening to the crawlspace - next morning the can was empty. So there either was a cat down there or I was feeding the rats ...
Saturday night I was out getting house water and said cat started talking to me from under the trailer - yep, there is indeed a cat there.
Sunday afternoon I took some food out to her (checked and it is a "her" and she feels like she might be a little pregnant - not too fat, just a bit "bulgy")
She wanted to come in with me last evening but I'm leery of having her and the dogs in the same place, even though I have a gate separating the back part of the trailer from my living area.
This morning I went out to feed her and she was a little more insistent that she wanted in. Considered the gate and let her into the back part; Put food, water and the litter pan from moms cat in the back (cold!) bedroom. She can't get through the gate (I wasn't sure about that) and of course the dogs can't either.
She and Sasha went nose to nose through the gate and neither got overly upset - I'm not too concerned about Sasha. If the cat decides to run, Sasha will probably chase otherwise Sasha tends to leave cats alone (I've seen her with two other cats and she's not particularly interested).
Avalanche has gone to the gate a couple of times and cat keeps her distance so apparently Avalanche makes her more nervous.
She's an attention demanding cat, I figure if the dogs weren't inside she'd be in my lap. As it is she's setting in back "serenading" us.

So ... what do I do now?? I have no idea where she came from. I've posted a "lost cat" notice on the local yahoo group site (good for general local chatter) and not gotten any response.
The desert is not a safe place for a cat (and that's an understatement) in between coyotes, hawks and owls they're just the right size to become lunch quickly. I don't want to ignore her and hope she'll go away - I'm not that cruel. But not sure what to do with her either ....

Could you build her a little shelter with a flap door she should use to get in and out? You could put a little bed and food and water for her, I hope she's not pregnant, but I'm sure you'll help find them homes.
Poor thing.

Al, this is how we became cat owners, too. Looks like you may need to put a rocking chair in that spare room for you and kitty...

amymeme wrote:

Al, this is how we became cat owners, too.  Looks like you may need to put a rocking chair in that spare room for you and kitty...

Maybe when the temp in that room gets above 50; cold, windy day outside and I'm having a hard time keeping the main part of the house above 70! (Okay, okay, cold for me!!)

aljones wrote:

amymeme wrote:

Al, this is how we became cat owners, too.  Looks like you may need to put a rocking chair in that spare room for you and kitty...

Maybe when the temp in that room gets above 50; cold, windy day outside and I'm having a hard time keeping the main part of the house above 70! (Okay, okay, cold for me!!)

6.3 F outside my window at the moment... but a today woodstove inside

I thought Texas was written warm!

Cat and I are going to have a discussion soon!!  Apparently previous owner was an early morning person - cat started yowling for food <??> at about 4:30AM; I'm a night animal, I don't normally get to bed till about midnight!

It's interesting watching the dogs relate to the cat.  The cat sets on her side of the gate (meowing!) and the dogs set on theirs.  Avalanche is my hyper teen-ager who wants to play and I don't think he'd hurt the cat intentionally but the cat backs off when he comes to the gate.
On the other hand, Sasha was always my concern around small animals and she and the cat are accepting each other.  They both went out at the same time this morning; cat around my feet - she's gonna trip me up if I'm not real careful! - Sasha said "Hi!" and the cat took it in stride, then moved quick which got Sasha's attention and a nose full of claws! A few minutes later cat was rubbing her head on Sasha's legs ...

From past experience Sasha apparently knows cats; a couple of years back mom and I went over to South Carolina to visit her sister/my aunt.  Aunt has a big old yellow cat who was laying on the picnic table in the back yard; Sasha went over to see who that was; cat came off the table straight at her and Sasha took off with cat in hot pursuit. Eventually the cat went back to the table and Sasha loafed around the fenced back yard.

Quote :

I thought Texas was written warm!

I'm further north in the state - about straight west of Houston - but I'm also at about 3500 feet, high enough that it does get chilly here.  44f when I got up this morning, we've had our yearly snowfall and the cold can go away any time now (which it should by the end of Feb!)  
We're supposed to get into the high 50's today but we get our sun back tomorrow (solar power!) and be in the 70's through the weekend (yay!!!)

I'm prepping my tubs for some roots vegetables but want to give it a couple of more weeks to make sure the chance of them getting frosted is pretty much gone.

aljones wrote:

Cat and I are going to have a discussion soon!!  Apparently previous owner was an early morning person - cat started yowling for food <??> at about 4:30AM; I'm a night animal, I don't normally get to bed till about midnight!

It's interesting watching the dogs relate to the cat.  The cat sets on her side of the gate (meowing!) and the dogs set on theirs.  Avalanche is my hyper teen-ager who wants to play and I don't think he'd hurt the cat intentionally but the cat backs off when he comes to the gate.
On the other hand, Sasha was always my concern around small animals and she and the cat are accepting each other.  They both went out at the same time this morning; cat around my feet - she's gonna trip me up if I'm not real careful! - Sasha said "Hi!" and the cat took it in stride, then moved quick which got Sasha's attention and a nose full of claws! A few minutes later cat was rubbing her head on Sasha's legs ...

From past experience Sasha apparently knows cats; a couple of years back mom and I went over to South Carolina to visit her sister/my aunt.  Aunt has a big old yellow cat who was laying on the picnic table in the back yard; Sasha went over to see who that was; cat came off the table straight at her and Sasha took off with cat in hot pursuit. Eventually the cat went back to the table and Sasha loafed around the fenced back yard.

Quote :

I thought Texas was written warm!

I'm further north in the state - about straight west of Houston - but I'm also at about 3500 feet, high enough that it does get chilly here.  44f when I got up this morning, we've had our yearly snowfall and the cold can go away any time now (which it should by the end of Feb!)  
We're supposed to get into the high 50's today but we get our sun back tomorrow (solar power!) and be in the 70's through the weekend (yay!!!)

I'm prepping my tubs for some roots vegetables but want to give it a couple of more weeks to make sure the chance of them getting frosted is pretty much gone.

this bolded part will never end. ever.

Sounds like she's adopted you!

Good to hear of your new addition Al, lol, she will keep you and the dogs on your toes, er paws, lol!!!! Glad to hear everything is going good.

Btw, Al, I think you are doing just fine, you asked in your original post on what to do. If she is with kittens, get her some blankies, and leave out a little kibble at night so she doesn't wake you at 4:30 am. For the time being, if you don't have kitty kibble, the dogs grain free high protein(30% or higher) is fine, unless the kibble is huge. an 1/8 of a cup is more than generous of an amount for her to get through the night.

My dad was adopted by a male cat last spring, he wanted nothing to do with the inside, my dad set up the old dog house for him, on the porch. My dad lives near Amy, so you can imagine how cold and snowy it is there, and the cat is fine. With yours, being out of the elements she'll do good, 50 degrees is not too cold for a cat, as long as they have blankets, and a window with sun coming through, they love to bake, lol.

Good luck, have fun, and pics please, lol.

Cat and I may come to a parting of the way!!  As I said, she has the whole back two rooms of the house while the dogs and I share two of the other three.  She has food, water and a litter box back there.

She also really seems to have a penchant for early morning (04:30 ish) activities.  I crashed last eve at about 23:00 and at 01:00 ( or so? ) I got woke up to Cat and Avalanche having a discussion in the kitchen - she'd figured out how to get over the gate!!  Since she and Sasha get along (surprise!) I put A out on his lead on the front porch, read for a while (I was wide awake and wanted to make sure Sasha and cat were okay) and then went back to bed.  I'm not sure how many times I got woke up during the remainder of the night by a cat kneading on me ... so I know she wants attention, this is NOT the way to get it.  

She goes out when Sasha and I do, plays around with Sasha a bit then goes off to do her own thing.  It's funny watching Sasha play bow to the cat ... she seriously doesn't mind the cat;  watched her last night (er, this morning) as the cat was moving around, but not threatening at all.

I can't leave her out, she gets under the trailer and howls (LOUDLY!!!!!) when she wants in and she'll be hawk/owl/coyote food is she lives outside.  I don't know where she came from, but I'm surprised she made it across the desert to my place without becoming someones lunch.

I'm pretty steady on my feet (bearing in mind that I'm 68!), but she's come close to tripping me a couple of times, given where I live, if I break something seriously it could become life threatening rapidly!  My nearest neighbor, a good guy who lives let's say 500 feet away, and I check on each other from time to time but seldom "every day".

I will not leave Avalanche outside because the cat thinks she deserves the run of the house - nope, he was here first and doesn't deserve being put out in the (for us) cold.  That's just not fair. I think I know that all Avalanche wants to do is play but he's rowdy and the cat takes offense at that - uh, too bad, live with it!!


Grouse ...

A screen door for the back bedroom?

Do you know anyone who might take a cat? Besides a hawk etc

Your right on the money...a broken hip can be a killer.

I had some boxes of stuff in the store room and she jumped on top of them and then over the gate ... moved boxes.

She really is a neat cat and even though I didn't say so in my grouse letter she does get a fair bit of attention.  If I had a dog that was as demanding as she is we'd have a problem but I'm more capable of working with a dog than a cat ... I am definitely not a cat person.
I think it goes back to childhood.  Cats were more working animals than dogs; cats, which were probably one short step from feral, kept the vermin down in the barn and house where dogs were working, guarding and companion animals.  I don't think I'd ever take off across the fields or into the woods without a dog with me ... can't picture having a cat in tow.

I've called around to see if anyone is missing a cat and no takers yet.  If she'd lighten up some I'd like to keep her, but this demanding attention ( underfoot / in lap / etc ) going to get - rephrase, has gotten to me.  We'll see how thing work out over the next few days, if she and Avalanche can't co-exist then she's going to have to be found a new home.

Broken hip, etc - yeh, that's what I'm afraid of.

Just following up. The cat, still nameless - just 'Cat', has figured out how to jump the gate, so after putting her back on the other side a few times - without the cat getting eaten by either dog - I decided she was pretty able to take care of herself. She's okay until they both gang up on her then she just hunkers down - probably not a good move - but then they just stand over her looking at her.

She came in last night - sometime - and joined me on the couch; that was okay till she started kneading!

At the moment she and Avalanche are having a stare down from opposite sides of my chair. My only really negative comment: this cat goes out with the dogs and wants back in shortly after they want back in - no problem; to the contrary, she has to have her litter box also cleaned every day, she shits more and bigger stuff than the dogs do!!!

Just heard a his from under my stool, someone is going to learn!!!!!

I was wondering what happened to your kitty.

Looks like you are braver than me...I keep Kitty and puppies totally separate. The first time kitty saw Ami, she figured she would just stare him down like she did with the basset hound and the little terrier that she lived with before us (actually - she terrorized them which is why the neighbors demoted her to barn cat.)

When Ami saw her he lunged as only a husky can lunge (he was leashed) and Miss Kitty went straight up the nearest tree...

Oh, I was careful about the introduction. I've seen Sasha before with a cat and she really isn't interested or bothered. My main concern was with Avalanche since I had no idea how he'd react. He still wants to play but kitty isn't doing anything to encourage that - nor, oddly, anything to discourage it either, she just sort of lets him be a fool and then "raises her voice" and suggest he leave - and he's smart enough to do just that.
Since I can't keep her on the other side of the gate, it's either let them adjust or get rid of her and since they seem to be adjusting ... I've got my fingers crossed.

Seems like things are settling well!

Actually, I think *very* well.  

I put Sasha's food down for her and released her to eat.  Stupid kitty comes over and puts her face right into Sasha's;  I moved Kitty away and she then went right back to being right beside Sasha's food bowl.  Sasha didn't growl, didn't look like she was going to do anything - but she did stop eating with her nose "in the bowl" ... moved cat back into the back room!!!

This is the same dog who's bitten me over food possession ... weird animals!!!!!

I've gotten a kick out of Avalanche and kitty - kitty doesn't strike hard but has tapped Avalanche's nose a couple of times now. All I hear is a "yip" but it's not the "YIKE!" I'd expect if kitty hit with all her force! Avalanche is learning to give kitty her space ...

Had a little excitement here last evening.  Seems as if Ms Kitty found a mouse (stupid mouse!!!!, 1 cat, 2 dogs and you think you've got juevos big enough to come wandering?)
Not sure when they realized that she had something but all of a sudden the dogs were running back and forth between the kitchen and the living room.  Then back into the kitchen and the cat goes over the gate ... dogs come back in and Avalanche has something ... "Drop it!!" ... turns out to be a dead mouse which Sasha grabs!! (Remember, Sasha's bitten me over food)  Avalanche gets put out front on lead; Sasha's got the mouse between her paws but not interested in it.  If I were really brave, I'd reach down and see if she'd let me have it, but my trust hasn't reached that level yet - we're getting there.  Side tracked her with some kibble in her bowl in the kitchen. She watched me pick up the mouse - which I took outside and gave a toss into the brush out front (okay, gross, but it'll provide some vittles for the nocturnal prowlers)  and then things returned to their normal quiet evening ...

Ms Kitty, which is ending up being her name, seems to have become a generally comfortable resident. She's learning about being right under foot - she's gotten stepped on a couple of times.  And she does come with us on walks ...

This may offend some but that's the breaks.  Ms Kitty decided to jump on the bed, not a smart move, I don't wake up well; I pulled my feet up (under the sheet/blanket) and kicked and Ms Kitty found herself setting on the floor with a "How'd I get here?" expression ... started licking paws and pranced off.  (( I have a bad habit of responding with equal force when someone wakes me up.  Tap me on the foot or shoulder and I'll open my eyes [if you get close enough to me to tap a foot before I wake up]; hit my foot and you're going to get kicked ... laid out an NCO while I was in service when he came in to wake me up for something, thank the gods that you're not responsible for your actions for 15-30 seconds after being awakened! ))

pfft cats rebound quickly. We've kicked ours off beds by accident before.
At least shes offering some service as a pest control specialist?

Sounds like an exciting few minutes there, Al

And I'm sure Ms. Kitty will recover her dignity in time.