adopting an adult stray cat?

tl;dr want to take an adult stray cat home but worry he might not like apartment life

hiya! okay so its a bit of a long story so bear with me here asdfghjkl

but basically there's a couple stray cats who are super affectionate and loving in my area and seeing as i've always wanted a cat (had dogs my whole life but haven't had any pets in almost 2 years now) i thought i'd give one of them a loving home. there's this man that has been feeding this particular group of strays for years and he said he would gladly help me with it! and he also wants to see these cats (especially this brown tabby who is THE sweetest baby and also a bit on the old side) rehomed

thing is, there's a couple problems

so first off i live in an apartment. it's a pretty big apartment and i have a balcony in my room that faces south-east and it's perfect for sunbathing when it's actually sunny (i live in italy so most of the year lmao). but it's still........ an apartment. these cats have been living on the street for years so i dunno how well they would take to living in a confined space (of course i'd also buy a cat tree and other enrichment stuff!)

second problem is that i visit my grandma in a different city fairly often and while i could take the cat with me since my grandma also loves cats, she has a shared balcony with her neighbours who have a belgian shepherd puppy, who comes over to my gran's flat a couple times a day. i've seen this cat get nervous at the sight of dogs so i don't think he would take well to this doggo at all, which also means if i ever take him to my gran's we would have to make sure he doesn't go out on the balcony, and that the doggo doesn't come over. alternatively, when i do visit my grandma i can ask my roommate/cleaning lady (it's complicated) if she wouldn't mind looking after him

i could also not visit my grandma as often but that would make her sad orz

and last problem i guess i just never had cats before asdfghjkl i'm worried i'm gonna mess up or not give it the best possible life i could :' ]

so like......... does anyone have any thoughts on the situation lmao tbf tho since i'm going to my gran's for the holidays and staying at least until new years i def have time to consider whether i really should do this or not so like, it's not like i'm gonna out go out tomorrow and take this cat home

I for one just want to say you're absolutely wonderful for wanting to adopt a stray! 

I've had cats my whole life, raised a lot of litters of kittens and I can attest that every cat is different! I don't think being in an apartment would make much of a difference compared to a house, all I really have to say is; It depends on the cat and the temperament of the cat! 

There's always gonna be the risk of a stray animal not adapting well to that style of living, but also cats are domesticated animals, and much like stray dogs; They do MUCH better in a home than anywhere else. I say go for it! But cats are super chill, they're not hard to take care of at all (imo) and everyone takes care of them their own way! I wholeheartedly doubt you'd be able to mess it up! <33 

Go for it! (honestly, i was trying to say something about what to do w/ the dog situation but I can't think of anything) Especially if it's a senior cat, they deserve a nice retirement :D 

My families first officially cats were our old neighbours two outdoor cats, which were unfortunately left behind after a divorce. At this point I'd grown up with dogs, with a few stray cats that lived around our old house until we got them rehomed. While it was a learning curve as we'd never had our own cats before, they were significantly easier to care for than the Labrador we had at the time.

We got a kitten after they passed away, and she and the dog got along amazingly well - especially seeing as the lab had no experience with cats who wanted to be around him before. He didn't understand her, but he knew his place!

When I moved out, I lived in an apartment and then a granny flat (even smaller) and have 2 cats. I now live in a house, but as long as they get enough physical and mental stimulation they are fine.They are indoor cats, and I highly recommend scratching towers and toys (which can be simple things, one of mine likes paper rolled into a ball and pipecleaners).

I think it depends on the cat, but I've heard of strays adjusting fine - of course there are cases where they don't but I think they definitely deserve that change to have a loving, safe home to call their own.

You are a great person for considering taking one in!

aa thank you so much both for the encouragement! ♡

it def makes me feel less nervous!! tbh i think the reason i even worry so much is bc my doggo had so many health issues and required a lot of extra care so i'm like........ worried the same could happen to a cat orz though of course that's super unlikely and i'll take him to the vet right after i get him anyway to make sure he's fine (he's already neutered so that's one less thing to worry about!)

another question tho, if i do get this cat after all though, should i also get some extra like fencing/net for my balcony? or should i trust that the cat won't try to jump down? the bars are too small for it to squeeze through (i mean at least i think lmao) but it does give on an empty lot where i see birds very often so idk if some hunting instinct™ is gonna kick it and he'll try to jump down 2 floors lmao

not that i think any of these strays hunt considering they're fed daily but you know, def wanna make sure the baby is safe asdfghjkl

Extra fencing/netting would probably be a good idea. When I was in the apartment mine could only go out on the balcony with their harness and leashes on. 

It will give you more peace of mind and make sure kitty is safe.

aa yeah i think i'll do that after all!! when i catsat a few years back i looked after this cat who went on the balcony without any netting (and that was on the fifth floor) and was fine?? but like, yeah extra safety def won't hurt haha

Cats actually adapt fairly quickly - they should be fine moving indoors as long as they have windows to look out of.

I also reccomend having a vet check them for FELV just in case, because it's kinda common in strays, contagious to other cats and usually fatal.

My cat was a stray hanging around my job that we caught to take to the shelter (obviously not where she ended up, ha.) She adapted to indoor life IMMEDIATELY and honestly hasn't had any interest in going back outside. The best thing to do during the adjustment period is lots and lots of enrichment - playtime, puzzle feeders, that kind of thing. Helps distract from any stress from being brought into a new space and the playtime will help with bonding.

And it shouldn't be too difficult to keep him off of the shared balcony! Or, just make sure the dog isn't outside before you go out with him. :)

As Jay ^ said above, definitely get him checked over by a vet for FELV, as well as FIV. And a general check up never hurts anyway!

oof idk how i managed to miss the earlier post asdfghjkl what is my attention span

anyway thank you both so much for the advice!! q v q i actually decided not to take this stray home after all and am instead looking to adopt a shelter dog! since i just feel like at the end of the day it would suit my lifestyle better (can't exactly take a cat on my 20 km walks u feel)

but still maybe i will get a cat too in the future aaa who knows really haha