• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

New owner of...

snakemom1961

snakemom1961

Spring is here!
Another cat...lol
This isn't just any cat we adopted this is an 11 year old cat that I've known since the day she was born. She is the daughter of a cat we adopted 12 years ago and before we could get her fixed gave us a litter of 3 kittens.
I found good homes for all 3, one of the homes being my sisters. My niece wanted on of the kittens very badly and chose the black and white tuxedo kitten.
Fast forward 11 years and my niece is now a mother. Her life has taken a turn that can't accommodate her cat the way it could before she had her son.
I was asked if we could take Muffy so they didn't have to have her taken to the shelter or put to sleep.
Of course I said we would try her. I only worry because my sister chose to have her declawed and I have chosen NOT to have my two cats Cyrus and Pita declawed. I have her locked in my bedroom right now till she gets use to her new surroundings, and as of right now she's not a very happy camper. She's never been a very affectionate cat other then with my niece, but to have a cat growling at me every time i try to check on her(twice yesterday) is a little disconcerting...lol
Any advice on how we can safely integrate her into our cat family would be very much appreciated.
Seeing as she's the daughter of our cat that was probably taken by coyotes a couple of years ago is what is driving me to really make this work. My daughters are very much wanting to be able to keep her. If I can't get this to work, I'm afraid our only other alternative is to have her put to sleep.
Please help us with being able to make a great home for her and our other 2 cats.
 
I just had to introduce my 2 year old, Sterling, to Evie the kitten. I did what you did for maybe a day and a half and then Evie wanted OUT. She was impossible to contain. Sterling was angry about the new intruder. He ignored me for days and would hiss, growl and give all of us the stink-eye everytime she came near him (which, unfortunately, was often because she is curious as anything). Eventually they sniffed noses. Then when I was brushing her on the floor, Sterling got down off his perch and came over and smelled her over good. From then on it got progressively better. Now about three weeks later they are playing together all the time.

From what the shelter told me, swapping places can help too. Put your cats in her room and let her explore your house without harassment. And they will get to smell her scents in the room while she does this. You can do the same thing with favorite blankets or pet beds.

Good luck!
 
THANKS! I like the idea of swapping place with them. I feel badly that she's locked up in my bedroom without being able to discover her new home. If she wasn't declawed I wouldn't worry as much about her, but she is defenseless with my 2 cats.
Thanks again for the great advice.
 
Being that she is declawed, she will be indoor only, right? Wasn't sure if your other two were since you mentioned loosing one to a coyote. I chose to keep my cats clawed too, and they are both indoor only. I have to deal with scratching on door jambs and some furniture/carpet damage, but all of that is replaceable. Their mental and emotional health isn't.
 
Both the cats I have now have been indoors since we found them as kittens. The mother that got taken by coyotes was in indoor/outdoor cat. I disagree with declawing and have no problems with my cats scratching on furniture or woodwork. I think because I made them a good scratching post that they both seem to love. And yes muffy has been an indoor cat since my sister took her as an 8 week old kitten.
 
That's what I would suggest as well, the other cats won't feel as threatened being trapped in a room, and letting the new kitty roam around and smell the scents should help her adapt. If she plays with toys, or likes any certain food (tuna, canned cat food, chicken), you could use that to build a positive association to your house as well. I would also let her roam around with noone else in the house, and the other kitties in a separate room. Then leave little dishes with small amounts of her favorite foods/treats, as I've heard that leaving little goodies for the cat to find also builds a positive association to your house. And when she gets used to that you should put the dishes on clothing/blankets that have your other cats scent, and this might cause her to be more curious to investigate the smells, and also find treats to feel comfortable with their presence.
I also wouldn't be too worried about her interacting with you for the moment, as soon as she feels comfortable in your house she'll come around. You don't want her to feel forced to interact, and if she already feels threatened she might not come around as quickly. I Hope any of this helps!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top