Advice Needed for Adopting Adult Cats

Mary wrote:

and only cats are just not as happy as cats with feline companions.

Except Luna, queen of thy house.
Too bad for her though. Jasper is KING! :-)
I bet she'd miss him if he were gone. Who else would she pick on and his
at and act like a big old drama queen?

kudos to you, Lee!
Pam

On Wed 18 May 2005 08:47:05p, Lee wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
oups.com):

I am, however, concerned about keeping them confined for the
first few days. Our house is open concept. The only rooms with
doors are the two bedrooms and the bathrooms. Would it
overwhelm the cats to let them wander and discover (and hide if
they feel like it) at their own pace? And how do you "teach" an
older cat where the litterboxes are, anyway?

In my experience, all cats whether they be babies or grownups will
find the box if you show them where it/THEY(!) is/are. The problem
with kittens is that sometimes they can't get there in time. Older
cats usually do, even in the beginning. I've never had to show my new
adults cats more than once where the boxes are.

--
Cheryl

"The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited
breath."
- W.C. Fields

You might want to find out what type of litter they are used to -- and
use that kind at first. That should help their aim. After they learn
where the boxes are, you can slowly change to another type of litter if
you'd like.

Some shelters have big cat rooms where several cats live together. Our
Humane Society has one of those. That's another way to find cats that
you know would like other cats.

Let us know as soon as you have them!

Rhonda

Lee wrote:

I am, however, concerned about keeping them confined for the first few
days. Our house is open concept. The only rooms with doors are the two
bedrooms and the bathrooms. Would it overwhelm the cats to let them
wander and discover (and hide if they feel like it) at their own pace?
And how do you "teach" an older cat where the litterxes are, anyway?

Lee wrote:

Any advice on what to expect when adopting adult cats would be
appreciated!

Lee

I highly reccomend it. If your looking for a chill cat.

Very affectionate. They know all the rules...there's something about a
cat that never seems to get old, yet, there's nothing graver than an
older cat.

Ruprecht my cat Im not sure how old he is, but he is not a spring
chicken.

Cheryl wrote:
On Wed 18 May 2005 08:47:05p, Lee wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
oups.com):


I am, however, concerned about keeping them confined for the
first few days. Our house is open concept. The only rooms with
doors are the two bedrooms and the bathrooms. Would it
overwhelm the cats to let them wander and discover (and hide if
they feel like it) at their own pace? And how do you "teach" an
older cat where the litterboxes are, anyway?


In my experience, all cats whether they be babies or grownups will
find the box if you show them where it/THEY(!) is/are. The problem
with kittens is that sometimes they can't get there in time. Older
cats usually do, even in the beginning. I've never had to show my new
adults cats more than once where the boxes are.

****. My 14 year old, deaf and BLIND cat has NO trouble *finding* the
box and using it. When he came to us last august, we just showed him
where it was (not knowing he couldnt see!!!!) and he sniffed it out from
then on! You should have no trouble at ALL, Lee! :-)

pam

Pam

I wrote:

The time has come for us to open our hearts to some kitties who need a
permanent home. It has been a long time since we adopted cats, and
they have always been kittens. This time, we would like to adopt two
adult cats together, preferably two who have been companions.

I have never adopted adult cats before, only kittens, and need to know
how to make the transition from shelter to new home less stressful for
the cats.

They will have full run of the house, and will be indoor only. There
are no children or other animals in the house. They will have several
scratching posts and toys, as well as a cat shelf and a cat tree near
windows. We are not newbies to cats, only to adopting adult cats!

Any advice on what to expect when adopting adult cats would be
appreciated!

Well, we've been watching Petfinders for awhile and visited some
no-kill shelters. What we found was that we needed a little more time
to work through the grief over the loss over our last senior kitty, so
we stepped back and continued to watch the Petfinder listings.

A local shelter had a listing for two brothers and we thought we'd like
to see them. However, one of the bothers was already adopted.
Yesterday we returned to the shelter and decided to take home the
remaining brother. He's huge - he's got to weigh about 20 lbs, and
totally laid-back. There was another boy there who caught our eye, a
Maine Coon mix. When we introduced the two boys at the shelter, there
seemed to be no issues. One of the boys is 6 years old, they think (he
was a stray rescued from a kill shelter), and the other may be 3 or 4.
We will be bringing them home today! I'm a little bit nervous and hope
they will be happy here.

However, the Maine Coon boy has some partial hair loss/ severe thinning
on one flank and part of his tail. The shelter lady said that this
sometimes happens due to stress. The skin under these areas was
totally clear with no inflammation or anything like that. Does anyone
have any thoughts on this? We will, of course, take them both to our
own vet ASAP.

Wish us all luck!

Lee, very excited.

in article , Lee at
wrote on 6/10/05 6:12AM:

I wrote:

The time has come for us to open our hearts to some kitties who need a
permanent home. It has been a long time since we adopted cats, and
they have always been kittens. This time, we would like to adopt two
adult cats together, preferably two who have been companions.

I have never adopted adult cats before, only kittens, and need to know
how to make the transition from shelter to new home less stressful for
the cats.

They will have full run of the house, and will be indoor only. There
are no children or other animals in the house. They will have several
scratching posts and toys, as well as a cat shelf and a cat tree near
windows. We are not newbies to cats, only to adopting adult cats!

Any advice on what to expect when adopting adult cats would be
appreciated!

Well, we've been watching Petfinders for awhile and visited some
no-kill shelters. What we found was that we needed a little more time
to work through the grief over the loss over our last senior kitty, so
we stepped back and continued to watch the Petfinder listings.

A local shelter had a listing for two brothers and we thought we'd like
to see them. However, one of the bothers was already adopted.
Yesterday we returned to the shelter and decided to take home the
remaining brother. He's huge - he's got to weigh about 20 lbs, and
totally laid-back. There was another boy there who caught our eye, a
Maine Coon mix. When we introduced the two boys at the shelter, there
seemed to be no issues. One of the boys is 6 years old, they think (he
was a stray rescued from a kill shelter), and the other may be 3 or 4.
We will be bringing them home today! I'm a little bit nervous and hope
they will be happy here.

However, the Maine Coon boy has some partial hair loss/ severe thinning
on one flank and part of his tail. The shelter lady said that this
sometimes happens due to stress. The skin under these areas was
totally clear with no inflammation or anything like that. Does anyone
have any thoughts on this? We will, of course, take them both to our
own vet ASAP.

Wish us all luck!

Lee, very excited.

Stress is very often a factor. There was a little Persian at our vets that
sucked the tip of her tail raw. She was an "ornament" in her home.The people
did not want to "deal with" why she was doing this. So my vet took her in to
adopt out. The day I saw her, I found out my supervisor's parents beloved
older cat had passed away the week before. The mother was bent on getting
another Siamese type, but I told her about this *adorable* tiny persian lady
kitty. She called her mom who came in and did not pass go to adopt this
kitty. The cat is now a *pampered* pet who is allowed to go where she wants
in the house and travels with them in the camper. No tail sucking issues
have ever surfaced again. Obviously, this cat was totally stressed in her
former environment and her only way of dealing with it was sucking the tail
until raw. Now, there can be other reasons, and certainly allergies can play
a part, but it is quite possible is just the stress of being a shelter
kitty. Congratulations!

"Karen" wrote in message
...
in article

Stress is very often a factor. There was a little Persian at our vets that
sucked the tip of her tail raw. She was an "ornament" in her home.The
people
did not want to "deal with" why she was doing this. So my vet took her in
to
adopt out. The day I saw her, I found out my supervisor's parents beloved
older cat had passed away the week before. The mother was bent on getting
another Siamese type, but I told her about this *adorable* tiny Persian
lady
kitty. She called her mom who came in and did *not* pass go to adopt this
kitty.

Curious, do you know why the mom was turned down for adoption? Do you know
if she obtained a replacement for her deceased Siamese elsewhere?

The cat is now a *pampered* pet who is allowed to go where she wants
in the house and travels with them in the camper.

So somebody else has this "Persian lady cat" now. What made these other
people qualified to adopt?

"Philip" wrote in message
k.net...

"Karen" wrote in message
...
in article

Stress is very often a factor. There was a little Persian at our vets
that
sucked the tip of her tail raw. She was an "ornament" in her home.The
people
did not want to "deal with" why she was doing this. So my vet took her
in
to
adopt out. The day I saw her, I found out my supervisor's parents
beloved
older cat had passed away the week before. The mother was bent on
getting
another Siamese type, but I told her about this *adorable* tiny Persian
lady
kitty. She called her mom who came in and did *not* pass go to adopt
this
kitty.

Curious, do you know why the mom was turned down for adoption? Do you
know
if she obtained a replacement for her deceased Siamese elsewhere?

Apparently, I was unclear. The mother was NOT turned down for adoption. She
took in the little persian cat. "did not pass go" just a phrase meaning she
didn't even stop to think NOT to run to the vets to adopt this cat.

The cat is now a *pampered* pet who is allowed to go where she wants
in the house and travels with them in the camper.

So somebody else has this "Persian lady cat" now. What made these other
people qualified to adopt?

I didn't think I was that unclear, however, it was early when I wrote that.
Or else you are *trying* to be funny. Ha. Ha.

"Lee" wrote in message
ups.com...

Well, we've been watching Petfinders for awhile and visited some
no-kill shelters. What we found was that we needed a little more time
to work through the grief over the loss over our last senior kitty, so
we stepped back and continued to watch the Petfinder listings.

A local shelter had a listing for two brothers and we thought we'd like
to see them. However, one of the bothers was already adopted.
Yesterday we returned to the shelter and decided to take home the
remaining brother. He's huge - he's got to weigh about 20 lbs, and
totally laid-back. There was another boy there who caught our eye, a
Maine Coon mix. When we introduced the two boys at the shelter, there
seemed to be no issues. One of the boys is 6 years old, they think (he
was a stray rescued from a kill shelter), and the other may be 3 or 4.
We will be bringing them home today! I'm a little bit nervous and hope
they will be happy here.

However, the Maine Coon boy has some partial hair loss/ severe thinning
on one flank and part of his tail. The shelter lady said that this
sometimes happens due to stress. The skin under these areas was
totally clear with no inflammation or anything like that. Does anyone
have any thoughts on this? We will, of course, take them both to our
own vet ASAP.

Wish us all luck!

Lee, very excited.


Congrats on your new boys! The Maine Coon probably does have some stress
licking. Usually when the hair loss is in the back like that, that's what
it is. It can also be from rubbing against the cage. Of course, have the
vet look at it and check him for fleas.

Good luck

-Kelly