Took in a Community Cat
Background; This community cat has been coming around my job for the past month or so. I have been feeding her and giving her loving. I would say she is around 6 months old. She was the only cat over there and would spend most of the time laying around by the benches and need the bushes under the shade provided by the tree. She is very freindly loves human attentenion and pets, however she is still a bit skittish. Not as skittish as she was a month ago tho. Everything regarding affection has to be on her terms or she will run away. I live in Arizona it has started being in the triple digits, I was worried about the kitty being outside in the heat. So I brought her home with me. She has the top notch of her ear clipped indicating she was TNR. I plan on taking her to the vet 1. to check for chip, 2. get evaluated and vaccinated. I did not want to tramuatize her more by taking her staight to the vet. Should I have done that? Did I make a mistake by allowing her to come into my home first? I plan to commit to her forever. I want to keep her as my pet if at all possible. Should I have just let her continue being a community cat? Did I do more harm than good by bringing her home?
Initally when i got her in the carrier she was meowing however it was not very loud only when i was walking up the stairs. I did have to transport her in the car. During the ride she was intially meowing then quieted down and watched me from the front of the carrier right behind the gate. I sang to her and talked to her during the ride with a soothing playlist for cats that I found on spotify.
I have her in my closet. I have a litter box, a few toys, a box, a bowl of water and some of her favoirte wet food. I brought her home today. I know that she will need to get used to the new enviorment. Since she has been her about 2 hours she has just stayed in the box, she is laying there in what appears to be a relaxed postion. What are some tips that will help with me making her comfortable with me.
Picture of pretty girl included: I want to name her Charlie as she has a smoky charcoal color.