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Another furry feline has made its way into my life, although she runs counter to some of our original plans.
My fiancee and I bought a townhouse back in November, and over the last several months we'd noticed two stray cats in the area. Yesterday, my brother in law went out to make friends with one, and it was so immediately affectionate and docile that we thought for sure it had to have been a house cat that had gotten loose, or perhaps an indoor/outdoor cat.
I asked my neighbor if she knew anything about it, and it apparently belonged to the people living in another townhouse in the unit... who had moved out and abandoned the cat (which had to be sometime before September when that unit went up for sale).
Originally, they had moved out when the house was foreclosed upon and left the cat inside with no food/water. Eventually, the true owner of the unit (who had been subletting it to the people who moved out) came and released the cat into the neighborhood, without finding a home for it or giving it to a shelter.
So, the cat has been living outside for at least 6 months now. We brought her inside last night.
Initially, she bolted for the door and hit the glass sliding door at full force. She then tried to jump at the door, reaching about 6 feet or so before sliding back down. After that she hid in a corner behind a garbage can... with food, water, and a litter box a couple feet away. She stayed there for about 4 hours without coming out.
Just before we went to bed, she came out to explore a bit, and allowed us to pet her. She curled up next to us on the floor and stretched out comfortably. Unfortunately, this was around midnight and we had to go to bed.
The cat is very dirty, and we did not want her in the bedroom (for a time - getting her a bath today). She cried off and on all night in the hallway (which I knew to ignore), and has been very vocal this morning, following us around the house.
We're goint to the vet today, and to get her bathed. Hopefully there's nothing seriously awry.
Unfortunately, it's not the best financial time for a cat to be entering our lives... and (although I'm a cat person) we were considering getting a dog as our pet, given the condo association's "one pet" policy and my fiancee's inclination toward dogs.
Any advice for any other cat folks regarding things to consider bringing her into our home? She's obviously an indoor cat, but she has spent half a year outside hunting for her own food at night. Has anyone else recently gone through bringing a cat into their home who wants to share any advice?
The last time I did this was 20 years go... and I was 10 at the time.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Just a few thoughts from me (forgive me if these are obvious):
-is the cat spayed or neutered? If not, get this taken care of. -I am generally opposed to declawing, and I encourage you to research the process and common objections heavily if you are thinking o having the process done. -cats that you keep indoors tend to live longer than indoor/outdoor cats.
Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I took two ferel cats in last year. One didn't take, and escaped at the first opportunity. Her brother is the best cat I ever owned. My tips, are make sure the cat is nutered. And use soft paws instead of considering the declawing. They are a little bit of work to keep them on. But, they take care of any bad clawing habits he/she might have picked up out on the street.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Definitely having her spayed if she isn't already. Have a vet's appointment at 3 o'clock, and they're checking for the works.
Won't get her declawed, and likely won't use the soft paws. She's pretty good about touching her feet - and I've always been one to trim my cats' nails down a bit with a clipper.
Definitely going to be a 100% indoor cat, as well, as my previous cats have been.
So far, she's been great. Been laying with me on the couch all day. I think she's young and was weened too early, because she makes as if she's suckling the blanket while she kneads... rather than just kneading.
Will update after the vet's visit.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Ooh, I wonder if her time trapped indoors with no food or water has her terrified to be caught inside, and that's why she ran for the door at first? Whoever did that to her should probably be fined a stiff fine for animal cruelty, if not jailed.
Glad she's settling in. I adopted a completely feral kitten when she was hit by a car and left on the roadside to die. I scooped her up and took her to the vet and together we nursed her back to health. She was my favorite cat ever. She was the cutest sweetest bossiest smartest and most loving cat I've ever had. She has so much personality. I still miss her a whole lot.
It sounds like you know what to do. Be sure to get her dewormed, of course, and de-flea-ed. You also should probably test her for FLV, FIV, etc. before having her immunizations done. Cats who live outside get exposed to a lot.
I'm so glad she found a good home! Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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You know, I recently read an ad about some organization of realtors that specifically deals with this issue. Apparently, there are lots of JERKS who move out and abandon their pets inside homes, and real estate agents are often the ones who end up dealing with the issue. I wish I could remember the name of the organization, but I can't.
Anyway--I bumped my cat story (Cat Behavior question) with an update. It sounds like your kitty's adaptation to indoor life is going a bit smoother than mine did. But all's well that ends well. Good luck!
Oh - and he doesn't do that sucking on my neck thing I started that thread out with much anymore. However, he will still sort of do a licking his chops thing when being petted. I think it's another suckling behavior.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Well, the vet told us that his estimation is that it is definitely a female and is likely 1 to 1.5 years old. He gave her rabies and distemper shots.
We have an appointment to bring her back for a bath tomorrow, at which point they will check for the scar to see if she has been spayed. They're also going to be taking the blood for FLV/FIV tomorrow, as well as checking a stool sample we are bringing them.
We've been nudging her awake this evening to tire her out before bed, hoping she'll be less active tonight. She's been very drowsy the last few hours, which is a good sign - though she's of course had a long day.
It may be interesting getting her back into the cat carrier tomorrow, though she was very well behaved at the vet.
She has so far shown no interest in the few toys we bought today, nor in the catnip-dusted cardboard scratching pad.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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The vet came back with relatively good news. No FLV/FIV, but she does have roundworms. We're getting a prescription today to clear that up.
Other than that, we're realizing that she suffers pretty clearly from separation anxiety. She follows us room to room, meows constantly when we're out of sight (even as much as going behind a bathroom door), obsessively grooms one spot behind her shoulder, and compulsively goes to her food dish to eat a few bites every time she gets anxious about anything.
We've been ignoring the bad behavior (constant meowing in the mornings and evenings, and when we leave or return to the house) - in fact, we're taking the internet's advice and ignoring her for about 15 minutes before leaving/going to bed, and 15 minutes after arriving/waking up so as not to reinforce the meowing with positive attention.
We've also been keeping her awake during the day so that she's tired at night. This has been working, as she didn't meow at all last night - likely because she was so pooped from not having naps at all during the day.
She has also started to play, which is good, though she hasn't quite figured out what the scratching box is for (though she doesn't scratch anything else, either).
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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