Advice on bringing a feral inside (or not)
I want to preface this now by saying I actually have a lot of animal and feral cat experience, but I just want someone to talk this out with. I know bringing in a cat means vet visits, viral testing, deworming, further vaccinations, and seriously patient socialization.
There is a young feral cat (I’d age her around 1yr) that essentially lives in my yard. A little more than a year ago, I trapped a 12ish week old kitten, got him neutered and vaccinated, and he was just so timid and not at all aggressive that I decided to give him an indoor life. He has done okay since then - he seems happy, but it’s obvious he’s not very human oriented as a fully domesticated cat.
I think this young feral is his sister. They are approximately the same age. Could be wrong of course. I trapped her and got her spayed and vaccinated and re released her about 6m ago. It took a few months, but she let me pet her and now She is very human oriented, in comparison to her maybe brother - she demands pets, loves to be brushed, cries and puts herself in the doorway when I try to close the door. She has come in a few times, but is very hesitant. She went missing for a day and came back with a mild injury. She has also been bullied by some local male cats (working on trapping them). And now she is bringing me presents (I took a baby bird to a rescue today - she doesn’t even eat them, just tortures them).
My problem is - do I try to bring her inside? Do I force it? Do I just let her be outside, accept that she’s feral and that she will have to fend for herself when I move in a year? Has anyone successfully gotten a feral inside without trapping them? How does it go when you finally get them inside? I’m very conflicted. I’ve trapped and released so, so many feral cats where it was obvious they needed to continue outdoor life. But she waits for me to get home, blocks closing doors, yells for me when she wants belly rubs. She doesn’t even care so much about the food I give her, she just wants attention.
I thought about trapping her, getting her tested, and then trying her inside for a few months and if she never settled (or peed inside tbh), I could just let her back out. But I think trapping her and getting her tested (if I can find anywhere willing to do it) would traumatize her and completely wreck the trust we have built. But I also hate to think of moving away and her looking for me, or her getting HBC or coyote or contracting an outdoor kitty disease, as so many ferals do.
It’s an ethical dilemma - what do you guys think? What would you do / have done in the past?
Posted Apr 8, 2026, 2:51 AM UTC