Curtis wrote:

Update on the kitten. He/she now comes
into the house when we open the screen
door. It will play on the carpet for a
while and then bolt back outside. It
still much prefers being outside and
loves to play with the falling leaves.
Then again, who wouldn't when the
October temps in Minnesota are 85
degrees. I am really tugging at whether
it will accept an indoor only
environment as it really does enjoy the
outdoors (bet it will change its mind
when it is 20 below out).

It will adapt to indoor life just fine. Without exception, every feral I
have taken in has.

We are going
to bring it in this weekend and see how
it does. We are also scheduling a vet's
appointment to get the necessary shots.
Looks like our weekend will consist of
buying a litter box and scratching post,
and spending lots of affectionate time
with the kitty. Our daughter moved our
recently so we have a spare bedroom that
it can have all to itself.

One thing you should be aware of is that the cat may not know what the
litterbox is for. This is easy to remedy. Get two boxes and put dirt
from your yard in one of them. Hopefully the cat will use the reglar
litter and this won't be an issue, but if it takes a little bit to
figure it out it will use the dirt in the second box. You can start
adding regular litter to the dirt and gradually switch to just litter
over a few days time.

A couple
areas of concern are the playful but
painful biting the kitty does when we
pet it. I'm sure this is affectionate
biting (if there is such a thing) but
man, the teeth are real sharp. A loud NO
will usually stop the biting, but
then...right back at it.

Don't pet the kitty if it bites. It wouldn't hurt to run over to
Menard's and buy a pair of their welding gloves to wear until you can
redirect the cat's biting to something else(they are blue suede and cost
about $5) Get a small stuffed animal and let kitty bite that or distract
it with a feather wand or something similar. This is how young cats play
and since ths one doesn't have another cat to roughhouse with you are
the next best thing. Don't react to the cat with anything negative, just
redirect it's attention to an appropriate item.

Another very
difficult decision has to be made about
declawing. I want the kitty to have the
run of the house and really hope it
adopts the scratching posts.

Kitty will. Get the cat used to having its claws trimmed. Keeping them
short pretty much eliminates any damage they can do. Make sure to choose
scratching posts it likes. Cardbard scratchers are heap popular and it
would be wise for you to get the cat a floor to ceiling cat tree too.
You can see a picture of one as well as an excellent scratching post
available at Petsmart he
http://community.webtv.net/zuzu22/scratch
Placement of the posts are important and should be close to where kitty
spends a lot of time. The entryway to a room where kitty spends a lot of
time is another good place for a post. I have one right by the doorway
to my bedroom and the first thing the cats do when they come in is
scratch it. :-)
I have never had any of my ferals even look sideways at the furniture.
They use the cat trees and posts exclusively for all their scratching.

I have
talked to vets and they only say it is a
personal decision. Most are unaware of
behavior problems with declawed cats,
but it just seems to me that the
procedure is rather inhumane.

It *is* inhumane and that is why it is considered animal cruelty and
banned or illegal in most of the world. Most American vets that do this
horrific thing to cats are more interested in making money off of the
procedure rather than educating clients on how to train their cats,
which is VERY easy. Give the cat something *of its own* with a surface
that it likes to scratch, place it in a good location and you won't have
any problems.

One vet
did mention that the cat may start
biting since it has lost its main means
of self-defense. Rare, but it does
happen.

It's NOT rare. Ask anyone who has worked as a vet tech or in a shelter
for any length of time. Behavior problems are generally not reported to
vets because the majority of people that declaw are ignorant as to what
the procedure is and don't understand that the declawing is the reason
Fluffly starts biting because she has no other defense or refuses to use
the litterbox because she has suffered excruciating pain and it hurts
her poor little mutilated paws to dig in the litter.

I guess if the kitty does not
adopt the scratching posts and its
scratching becomes a problem, I could
keep it in a separate room, free of
anything of value, and then let it
outside on occasion, and also let it
roam the house when we are there to
watch it.

I really doubt that will be an issue. :-)

I hate calling kitty "it'. Need to
determine the sex real soon!

Especially if it's a girl as you will have a pregnant cat on your hands
very soon if she is not spayed and left outside. :-(

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray