cat advice?

Posted: Jul 25, 2012

Cat people, should I take in a neighbor's cat? In a nutshell: We thought this "stray" was hanging around our yard last year. I talked to her and she let me pet her. Nasty winter weather came. We couldn't take her in because we have an old blind cat who tries to fight her off sometimes. So I went door to door with her picture, looking for her home so we wouldn't have to take her to a shelter. Bingo. She "lives" a couple houses away. The woman there was very nice, has a second cat plus little kids, plus a cat door this cat goes in and out of at will. Now: The neighbor cat wants to live with us, and we'd like to take her in. She sleeps on our deck all day every day, also comes to meet me at my car when I get home. Okay, I comb her too sometimes. Before I found her home we fed her a couple of times. You can feel her ribs loud and clear. Last night at midnight she knocked on our back door forever. I took some food out there and she inhaled it like a dog, no chewing. So, how can I introduce her to my house where my own cat is already the queen? Should I say anything to the neighbor? I don't want to be a cat-stealer, but this cat needs somebody. Also I have to stay on good terms with the neighbor, who I only talked to for 2 minutes in February, and I'm pretty sure she loves the cat (also she does put flea/tick drops on her neck apparently) but my take is that the cat is driven away by the kids and possibly her other cat. What would you do? Am I a total delusional sucker? Thanks!!;