Who to adopt (long)?

I would appreciate some thought and opinions!

I've had cats for the past 20 years and have always adopted rather shy
shelter cats who were difficult to place. Went to a shelter last
weekend to look at another one of those: 8 years old, been in the
shelter for about 1 1/2 years, as soon as she is approached she will
hug the floor and scrurry away.

As I was about to leave, the shelter employee commented that if I
really wanted to adopt a pour soul, she could show me a few more cats.
OK, I'm a sucker so we go up to the isolation area, where I am greated
by a bunch of incredibly friendly cats. I mean super curious and
affectionate! Issue is that they all have chronic upper respiratory
infections, they came from a condemmed house. But they did get me
thinking that I may be ready for once to adopt a friendly cat instead
of waiting months or years before I can touch a new addition...

And to make things even more difficult, an acquainted rescuer would
like me to take one of her cats if I get a new addition. Her adoptable
cats are friendly and healthy, but some of them have been in the rescue
way too long. Though they are well cared for and 'safe', they just
don't get the attention they deserve.

So now I am wondering...
Which cat(s) are most in need of a new home?
What would you say is easier to place: a very shy cat, or a friendly
but chronically ill cat? About half of the URI kitties are under three
years, the other half around ten, with some other neglicence signs like
missing teeth.
Lastly, my current cats are rather independent. They don't fight, but
they have little in common. How would a very social cat like the ones
from the condemmed house adjust to such an environment? And no, due to
my lease conditions I can't take two of them!

While I know that noone can make the final decision for me, I would
really appreciate some advice!

Petra

wrote in message
oups.com...
I would appreciate some thought and opinions!

I've had cats for the past 20 years and have always adopted rather shy
shelter cats who were difficult to place. Went to a shelter last
weekend to look at another one of those: 8 years old, been in the
shelter for about 1 1/2 years, as soon as she is approached she will
hug the floor and scrurry away.

As I was about to leave, the shelter employee commented that if I
really wanted to adopt a pour soul, she could show me a few more cats.
OK, I'm a sucker so we go up to the isolation area, where I am greated
by a bunch of incredibly friendly cats. I mean super curious and
affectionate! Issue is that they all have chronic upper respiratory
infections, they came from a condemmed house. But they did get me
thinking that I may be ready for once to adopt a friendly cat instead
of waiting months or years before I can touch a new addition...

And to make things even more difficult, an acquainted rescuer would
like me to take one of her cats if I get a new addition. Her adoptable
cats are friendly and healthy, but some of them have been in the rescue
way too long. Though they are well cared for and 'safe', they just
don't get the attention they deserve.

So now I am wondering...
Which cat(s) are most in need of a new home?
What would you say is easier to place: a very shy cat, or a friendly
but chronically ill cat? About half of the URI kitties are under three
years, the other half around ten, with some other neglicence signs like
missing teeth.
Lastly, my current cats are rather independent. They don't fight, but
they have little in common. How would a very social cat like the ones
from the condemmed house adjust to such an environment? And no, due to
my lease conditions I can't take two of them!

While I know that noone can make the final decision for me, I would
really appreciate some advice!


I'd take the first one. 'Friendly' & gregarious cats are more likely to be
adopted by others & less likely to be returned by someone with less patience
than yourself.
--

Niel H

On Mon, 21 Aug 2006 11:11:44 +0100, "Niel Humphreys"
wrote:

wrote in message
roups.com...
I would appreciate some thought and opinions!

I've had cats for the past 20 years and have always adopted rather shy
shelter cats who were difficult to place. Went to a shelter last
weekend to look at another one of those: 8 years old, been in the
shelter for about 1 1/2 years, as soon as she is approached she will
hug the floor and scrurry away.

As I was about to leave, the shelter employee commented that if I
really wanted to adopt a pour soul, she could show me a few more cats.
OK, I'm a sucker so we go up to the isolation area, where I am greated
by a bunch of incredibly friendly cats. I mean super curious and
affectionate! Issue is that they all have chronic upper respiratory
infections, they came from a condemmed house. But they did get me
thinking that I may be ready for once to adopt a friendly cat instead
of waiting months or years before I can touch a new addition...

And to make things even more difficult, an acquainted rescuer would
like me to take one of her cats if I get a new addition. Her adoptable
cats are friendly and healthy, but some of them have been in the rescue
way too long. Though they are well cared for and 'safe', they just
don't get the attention they deserve.

So now I am wondering...
Which cat(s) are most in need of a new home?
What would you say is easier to place: a very shy cat, or a friendly
but chronically ill cat? About half of the URI kitties are under three
years, the other half around ten, with some other neglicence signs like
missing teeth.
Lastly, my current cats are rather independent. They don't fight, but
they have little in common. How would a very social cat like the ones
from the condemmed house adjust to such an environment? And no, due to
my lease conditions I can't take two of them!

While I know that noone can make the final decision for me, I would
really appreciate some advice!


I'd take the first one. 'Friendly' & gregarious cats are more likely to be
adopted by others & less likely to be returned by someone with less patience
than yourself.

But it also depends on financial circumstances. A chronically ill cat
is going to cost quite a bit over time and that is beyond the ability
of many folks to handle.

Why would a cat have a chronic URI?

dgk schrieb:

Why would a cat have a chronic URI?

They were rescued out of a condemmed house where the former owner did
not take proper care of them. Chronic URI occurs subsequent to a
regular URI which has not been treated and keeps getting passed on
under crowded conditions. Cats which are malnourished and crammed
together often do not have enough antibodies to fight off the initial
secondary infection and thus get chronically infected. They may or may
not be contagious, depending on the type of infection, and you can
often achieve partial remission with good care (and l-lysine in the
case of a herpes virus infection), but they essentially remain lifelong
snifflers, sneezers or eye discharge kitties.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I would appreciate some thought and opinions!

I've had cats for the past 20 years and have always adopted rather shy
shelter cats who were difficult to place. Went to a shelter last
weekend to look at another one of those: 8 years old, been in the
shelter for about 1 1/2 years, as soon as she is approached she will
hug the floor and scrurry away.

As I was about to leave, the shelter employee commented that if I
really wanted to adopt a pour soul, she could show me a few more cats.
OK, I'm a sucker so we go up to the isolation area, where I am greated
by a bunch of incredibly friendly cats. I mean super curious and
affectionate! Issue is that they all have chronic upper respiratory
infections, they came from a condemmed house. But they did get me
thinking that I may be ready for once to adopt a friendly cat instead
of waiting months or years before I can touch a new addition...

And to make things even more difficult, an acquainted rescuer would
like me to take one of her cats if I get a new addition. Her adoptable
cats are friendly and healthy, but some of them have been in the rescue
way too long. Though they are well cared for and 'safe', they just
don't get the attention they deserve.

So now I am wondering...
Which cat(s) are most in need of a new home?
What would you say is easier to place: a very shy cat, or a friendly
but chronically ill cat? About half of the URI kitties are under three
years, the other half around ten, with some other neglicence signs like
missing teeth.
Lastly, my current cats are rather independent. They don't fight, but
they have little in common. How would a very social cat like the ones
from the condemmed house adjust to such an environment? And no, due to
my lease conditions I can't take two of them!

While I know that noone can make the final decision for me, I would
really appreciate some advice!

Petra

When I adopted my cat Isaac in April he had an URI. He had come from the
main city intake, where cats with all sorts of problems are jumbled
together, and was taken in by a smaller shelter. At the smaller shelter he
was on medication for the URI and the first time I saw him, he was not ready
for adoption. He was a super friendly little guy and I thought about him
all week. When I went back a second time they told me that he was finished
with his URI medication but was on a different one for diarrhea, but that
wouldn't interfere with his adoption. I decided to take him. I had him
isolated in my bedroom, since I had another cat already, and within a couple
of days he had an eye infection and was coughing and sneezing and looking
very miserable. His diarrhea also had not cleared up. Luckily the shelter
had a two week "warranty" so I was able to bring him back for a checkup and
a bag full of medications at no cost. It took a couple more weeks before he
was truly over everything and he's been fine since.

So, while a cat with an URI might not seem like a good choice at first, it
probably isn't going to be a long term problem and you will end up with a
fantastic, healthy kitty. I knew Isaac wasn't feeling that great when I
adopted him but he was so sweet & friendly and funny looking and I fell in
love. I did look at those other cats who were huddled in a corner of the
cage. Some of them seemed like perfectly great cats, but I thought one who
was more outgoing would be a better match for my other cat, Otto. My
original cat had just passed away in March and he seemed lonely so I wanted
a cat he could interact with.

It's been 4 1/2 months and I wonder if getting a shy cat wouldn't have been
better. Otto used to love to jump on Tiger, chase her around and be a pain
in her butt. Now Isaac does the same to him and he wants no part of it
(usually). Since Tiger passed away Otto seems like a completely different
cat, almost like he aged 5 years overnight (he's just turned 7, Isaac is 2).
I wonder if a shy cat would have worked better, and maybe a female. Otto
will sometimes play with Isaac but not several times a day as Isaac would
like.

I'm sure some of those shy cats are still at the shelter. It is hard when
you go in to look and you're instantly drawn to the cats who are at the cage
door, sticking their paws out trying to grab your arm as you walk by. It's
easy to overlook the ones who aren't doing anything except trying to make
themselves as small as possible in a back corner.

--
Liz

Elizabeth Blake wrote:
So, while a cat with an URI might not seem like a good choice at first, it
probably isn't going to be a long term problem and you will end up with a
fantastic, healthy kitty.

I do think their URI is permanent - not that that would bother me.
They've been at the shelter for a few weeks and have been in isolation
that long because it keeps flaring back up. The older cats all have
corneal ulcers and are partially blind, which is a potential
complication of untreated URI with conjunctivitis, so it seems likely
that they've all had it for quite a while.

In article .com,
says...
I would appreciate some thought and opinions!

I've had cats for the past 20 years and have always adopted rather shy
shelter cats who were difficult to place. Went to a shelter last
weekend to look at another one of those: 8 years old, been in the
shelter for about 1 1/2 years, as soon as she is approached she will
hug the floor and scrurry away.

As I was about to leave, the shelter employee commented that if I
really wanted to adopt a pour soul, she could show me a few more cats.
OK, I'm a sucker so we go up to the isolation area, where I am greated
by a bunch of incredibly friendly cats. I mean super curious and
affectionate! Issue is that they all have chronic upper respiratory
infections, they came from a condemmed house. But they did get me
thinking that I may be ready for once to adopt a friendly cat instead
of waiting months or years before I can touch a new addition...

And to make things even more difficult, an acquainted rescuer would
like me to take one of her cats if I get a new addition. Her adoptable
cats are friendly and healthy, but some of them have been in the rescue
way too long. Though they are well cared for and 'safe', they just
don't get the attention they deserve.

So now I am wondering...
Which cat(s) are most in need of a new home?
What would you say is easier to place: a very shy cat, or a friendly
but chronically ill cat? About half of the URI kitties are under three
years, the other half around ten, with some other neglicence signs like
missing teeth.
Lastly, my current cats are rather independent. They don't fight, but
they have little in common. How would a very social cat like the ones
from the condemmed house adjust to such an environment? And no, due to
my lease conditions I can't take two of them!

While I know that noone can make the final decision for me, I would
really appreciate some advice!

Petra



Let the cat choose you. That's how I ended up with two of my three cats.

I admit to a bias towards shy cats, but if you are asking who needs you
most, my contention has always been that it is the shy one who fare the
worst in the rescue system. There are so few people who would even
consider a cat that frightened and at eight years old, I would doubt
there would be any takers if you decide against her.
Take the shy one!

Just my vote ....

wrote:
dgk schrieb:

Why would a cat have a chronic URI?

They were rescued out of a condemmed house where the former owner did
not take proper care of them. Chronic URI occurs subsequent to a
regular URI which has not been treated and keeps getting passed on
under crowded conditions. Cats which are malnourished and crammed
together often do not have enough antibodies to fight off the initial
secondary infection and thus get chronically infected. They may or may
not be contagious, depending on the type of infection, and you can
often achieve partial remission with good care (and l-lysine in the
case of a herpes virus infection), but they essentially remain lifelong
snifflers, sneezers or eye discharge kitties.

I would not expose my cats to a new cat with a chronic URI. Adopt the
first kitty - 1.5 years in a shelter is enough - and if that has been
spent in a cage, it is worse than euthanasia.

Another option would be to adopt a cat on death row from a kill
shelter. Nothing more noble than saving a life!

-L.

wrote:
I admit to a bias towards shy cats, but if you are asking who needs you
most, my contention has always been that it is the shy one who fare the
worst in the rescue system. There are so few people who would even
consider a cat that frightened and at eight years old, I would doubt
there would be any takers if you decide against her.
Take the shy one!

Just my vote ....

I agree. Not many people would even look at a shy cat who's 8. This is
the kind of cat whose personality will blossom once s/he's out of a
shelter environment.

While I understand this is a tough choice, remember that it's win/win.
Any one you pick from a shelter is getting a second chance at a happy
life.