New family member?

The declawed bit worries me a little - especially since Melly absolutely
REFUSED (vehmently) to have her own claws clipped in deference to the
newcomer's lack of natural defenses - but judging by the lack of any
real friction so far, it looks as though I'll be buying rations for two,
again.

If you don't have a second person to pin Melly while you clip, maybe
you could take her to a groomer or vet who will do it for you.

It took us 3 sessions to get the bitties to stop screaming while we
clipped (we had people at the door asking what we were doing to the
animal/baby) and Nox was surly for several months, but now they are all
used to it (Smokey just doesn't give a care about anything we do to
him)

While I am disgusted by people who move out and leave their cats behind
in their apartments as though they were furniture (Who do they THINK is
going to take responsibility?) at least Jasmine is one cat better off
with YOU than with her initial owner, IMHO.

--Fil

On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 22:49:20 -0800, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:

The young man in the apartment across the hall moved out
over the weekend (sort of - he took his TV set and stereo,
but left most of his furniture, some of his clothes, and his
cat). He was under notice of eviction, since he hadn't paid
his rent for three months, carefully avoided any encounter
with the building manager, and ignored any written notices.
He did leave food and water for her - plus a litter box
that reeked of ammonia (no wonder she'd been using the
carpet, instead). Since Melisande is a sociable sort, and I
know badly misses her former roommate (Patches, RB) I said
I'd take this one on until they can find a home for her. We
named her Jasmine (if the neighbor ever named her, he didn't
share that information), and if things continue as
peacefully as they've started out, it looks like Melisande
has a new companion.

The manager would take her, but her neutered male snowshoe
started protesting before they even got the little orphan
inside their door. (He likes dogs, but not other cats, it
seems.) She's adorable, very tiny (at least compared to
eleven pound Melly) a black and white splotched domestic
short-hair, and (we discovered to our dismay) declawed.

Melly's approach to her has been cautious, but amiable - no
growls, just a few curious sniffs, and a great deal of quiet
observation. The newcomer, also, hasn't really puffed up
and hissed (just a small, warning spit when Melly got too
friendly). However, now she's beginning to feel more at
ease, I've been hearing the most alarming growls and yowls
from that direction. She's very timid, so apparently hasn't
the courage to attack (or the armament - which for the
moment may be fortunate), and Melly just walks away when she
starts cutting up, but it's Melisande's home, and I don't
quite know how to convince the newcomer that it is SHE who
is the guest, here!

The declawed bit worries me a little - especially since
Melly absolutely REFUSED (vehmently) to have her own claws
clipped in deference to the newcomer's lack of natural
defenses - but judging by the lack of any real friction so
far, it looks as though I'll be buying rations for two,
again. We'll see how it goes tonight (and if they let me
sleep). The way my small apartment is laid out, I don't
have any way of segregating the two, but if they continue
their current behaviour, I shouldn't need to.

Ptttfffthhh on the guy who left the cat, but bless you for taking her
in. Congratulations on the new member of the family :-) Give it a
little time, and I'm sure she and Melly will work things out on their
own.

Ginger-lyn

Home Pages:
http://www.spiritrealm.com/summer/
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....mmer/index.htm (genealogy)
http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against
Animals in Movies Website)

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:

The young man in the apartment across the hall moved out over the
weekend (sort of - he took his TV set and stereo, but left most of his
furniture, some of his clothes, and his cat). snip
Melly's approach to her has been cautious, but amiable - no growls, just
a few curious sniffs, and a great deal of quiet observation. The
newcomer, also, hasn't really puffed up and hissed (just a small,
warning spit when Melly got too friendly). snip


Sound like it's going really well!
Lots of purrs and best wishes,
Polonca and Soncek

Purrs and prayers they integrate well and bless you for giving the baby a
new home.
Lily & her mama

--

Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
...
The young man in the apartment across the hall moved out over the weekend
(sort of - he took his TV set and stereo, but left most of his furniture,
some of his clothes, and his cat). He was under notice of eviction, since
he hadn't paid his rent for three months, carefully avoided any encounter
with the building manager, and ignored any written notices. He did leave
food and water for her - plus a litter box that reeked of ammonia (no
wonder she'd been using the carpet, instead). Since Melisande is a
sociable sort, and I know badly misses her former roommate (Patches, RB) I
said I'd take this one on until they can find a home for her. We named
her Jasmine (if the neighbor ever named her, he didn't share that
information), and if things continue as peacefully as they've started out,
it looks like Melisande has a new companion.

The manager would take her, but her neutered male snowshoe started
protesting before they even got the little orphan inside their door. (He
likes dogs, but not other cats, it seems.) She's adorable, very tiny (at
least compared to eleven pound Melly) a black and white splotched domestic
short-hair, and (we discovered to our dismay) declawed.

Melly's approach to her has been cautious, but amiable - no growls, just a
few curious sniffs, and a great deal of quiet observation. The newcomer,
also, hasn't really puffed up and hissed (just a small, warning spit when
Melly got too friendly). However, now she's beginning to feel more at
ease, I've been hearing the most alarming growls and yowls from that
direction. She's very timid, so apparently hasn't the courage to attack
(or the armament - which for the moment may be fortunate), and Melly just
walks away when she starts cutting up, but it's Melisande's home, and I
don't quite know how to convince the newcomer that it is SHE who is the
guest, here!

The declawed bit worries me a little - especially since Melly absolutely
REFUSED (vehmently) to have her own claws clipped in deference to the
newcomer's lack of natural defenses - but judging by the lack of any real
friction so far, it looks as though I'll be buying rations for two, again.
We'll see how it goes tonight (and if they let me sleep). The way my
small apartment is laid out, I don't have any way of segregating the two,
but if they continue their current behaviour, I shouldn't need to.

Enfilade wrote:
The declawed bit worries me a little - especially since Melly absolutely
REFUSED (vehmently) to have her own claws clipped in deference to the
newcomer's lack of natural defenses - but judging by the lack of any
real friction so far, it looks as though I'll be buying rations for two,
again.


If you don't have a second person to pin Melly while you clip, maybe
you could take her to a groomer or vet who will do it for you.

Well, actually this time there were THREE of us getting in
the act (the building manager, her husband and me). Melly
always does hate having her claws clipped, so I usually have
the vet do it periodically. (This was just a precautionary
measure - or would have been, if we'd succeeded). Being a
long-hair cat who doesn't go out, the fur between her toes
gets awfully long, so it's hard to isolate the individual
claws. When she was about three, she sustained a severe
break in her left hind leg, managed to rebreak it while
still splinted, and was in a cast form April 2 until
November 3, that year! Apparently as a consequence, two of
the claws on that foot have grown rather crooked and
hoof-like, so clipping them is even more difficult.
However, I think this time she was just too stressed by the
presence of the other cat to allow herself to be restrained.

wrote:


Ptttfffthhh on the guy who left the cat, but bless you for taking her
in. Congratulations on the new member of the family :-) Give it a
little time, and I'm sure she and Melly will work things out on their
own.

Yeah, I'm quite hopeful. They may be avoiding each other,
but that's better than fighting for dominance. I've renamed
the newcomer, though - most of my cats have had operatic
(or at least musical) names. (Melisande is named for the
heroine of "Pelleas & Melisande".) I think my new girl will
be officially "Cendrillon" ("Cinderella" in French - an
opera by Massenet), but she'll probably be called "Cinders"
or "Cindy" for short.

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
snipped

I said I'd take this one on until they can find a
home for her. We named her Jasmine (if the neighbor ever named her, he
didn't share that information), and if things continue as peacefully as
they've started out, it looks like Melisande has a new companion.

Purrs for a successful integration.

--
Sam, closely supervised by Mistletoe