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What to Do - Abandoned Kitty



 
 
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  #11  
Old October 8th 03, 05:29 AM
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Figure out if you really are ready to
commit to domesticating this cat and
caring for it the remainder of its life. If not,
then do the right thing and turn it over to
the Humane Society or another agency
that can handle finding someone to adopt
it.


There are no agencies in his area (which is where I also live) that are
going to take the time to socialize a feral cat and find it a home. They
will consider it unadoptable and kill it. This is the fate of most
ferals that are handed over to "humane" societies, no matter where you
live. It's unrealistic and irresponsible to recommend that as an option.

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


  #12  
Old October 9th 03, 05:00 PM
Curtis Fox
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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). 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 hate calling kitty "it'. Need to determine the sex real soon!


"Linda Terrell" wrote in message
...
Keep several scratching posts around the house.
I have 2 in living room and one in the hallway.
Ideally, there should be one in each room.

LT



  #13  
Old October 9th 03, 05:18 PM
Curtis Fox
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After posting my previous message I did more research on declawing. After
reading more and more about declawing, I couldn't in good conscious do this.
I really never gave this a second thought until a poster here mentioned how
cruel and inhumane the procedure is. I have a brother and sister who have
purebred cats and they had to sign a form saying they would not mutilate
(declaw) the cats. My sister has leather furniture and her cat loved
scratching it. She now takes it to a vet and has these caps put on the
claws. I think the caps last about a month. Has anyone had any experience
with these caps or soft paws?

"Curtis Fox" wrote in message
...
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). 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 hate calling kitty "it'. Need to determine the sex real soon!


"Linda Terrell" wrote in message

...
Keep several scratching posts around the house.
I have 2 in living room and one in the hallway.
Ideally, there should be one in each room.

LT





  #14  
Old October 9th 03, 05:40 PM
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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


  #15  
Old October 9th 03, 06:37 PM
LauraK
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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.


Offer the kitten a variety of "legal" scratching surfaces and praise it
lavishly when it uses them. A couple of my cats have loved the corrugated paper
scratchers. Another one ripped the top off of three tunnels. These are carpeted
"pipes" with a solid base. She could really get a good grip on those.
Others have loved a cheap scratching post I got at a grocery store. I've got
tree trunks, sisal, etc.
Just because the kitten doesn't use one post doesn't mean it can't be trained
to scratch in appropriate places.
You also need to cover with heavy plastic areas that are too tempting to
resist, at least at the start. A taut upholstered front of the arm on my couch
is much too tempting to mine. I gave away a set of fully upholstered
parsons-type dining room chairs after the cats ripped them up. I saw chair,
they saw the world's greatest scratching post. I've had stray cats run into my
house, scratch on those chairs and then run out again.
More dining room chairs with wooden legs and backs and upholstered seats are a
better choice for households shared with cats.


http://www.madmousergraphics.com
web design, print design, photography


  #16  
Old October 9th 03, 10:02 PM
m. L. Briggs
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On Thu, 09 Oct 2003 16:18:06 GMT, "Curtis Fox"
wrote:

ast about a month. Has anyone had any experience
with these caps or soft paws?

Yes, I've had two sets of Soft Paws for TuTu. She never tried to
scratc the furniture -- I have several scratching things for her --
plus the carpet (which I am going to replace anyway as soon as I can
get the energy to shop). She no longer tries to scratch me (in play).
If I see an inkling that she is thinking that way I say loudly "NO
CLAWS" and she stops. I don't know if I will go for a third set or
not. They lasted about 3 months each and she spent a lot of time
trying to bite them off.

A squirt bottle is a good teaching tool. Good luck. MLB
  #17  
Old October 10th 03, 06:20 PM
Kalyahna
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wrote in message
...
There are no agencies in his area (which is where I also live) that are
going to take the time to socialize a feral cat and find it a home. They
will consider it unadoptable and kill it. This is the fate of most
ferals that are handed over to "humane" societies, no matter where you
live. It's unrealistic and irresponsible to recommend that as an option.

Megan


I'm glad you qualified the statement with "most," Megan. I work at the Dane
County HS in southern WI. We have a feral program that practices alter and
release where the cats can't be rehabilitated and moved into foster homes.
Somewhere around 200 cats were saved last year with that program. I realize
it doesn't exist everywhere, but are there no foster homes that would be
willing to work with what amounts to an undersocialized kitten?


  #18  
Old October 10th 03, 09:04 PM
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I'm glad you qualified the statement with
"most," Megan. I work at the Dane County
HS in southern WI. We have a feral
program that practices alter and release
where the cats can't be rehabilitated and
moved into foster homes. Somewhere
around 200 cats were saved last year with
that program.


That's good to hear. Too bad there aren't more of them. :-(

I realize it doesn't exist everywhere, but
are there no foster homes that would be
willing to work with what amounts to an
undersocialized kitten?


Everybody is full. There is no room at the inn. And when space opens
socialized cats are the first to fill them because those are the ones
that can be adopted out the quickest so more can be rescued. We had a
terrible kitten season this year because of a mild winter with not a
whole lot of snow and the shelters and animal control were/are
overflowing. The smaller rescues took out as many as they could, but it
didn't make a dent. The flow didn't stop and mothers and entire litters
of kittens have been euthanized regularly non stop.

When you're dealing with this kind of situation, rescues can ill afford
to give space to a cat that may take weeks/months to socialize and
sacrifice *several* cats as a result of not being able to take them, and
many rescues have no resources/experienced people to do this in the
first place. I have a friend that runs a rescue and took a feral into
her program that she herself had trapped. It's been a year and a half
and he is *still* in a foster home, now waiting to be adopted, filling a
space that possibly 20 or more cats could have used. I'm glad he's
there, alive and doing well and don't begrudge him that for a moment. He
deserves to have a happy life as all cats, feral or not, do.

I'm just illustrating the bigger picture, the philosophy of which most
rescues is to save as many lives as they can. Nobody likes or wants to
see cats and dogs rot away at animal control, then be killed because
there is nowhere for them to go. It sucks that rescues are unable at
this time to do more in the area of socializing ferals, but it's,
unfortunately, reality.

I don't ever promote relying on rescues to take care of someone's stray
cat problem anyway. With the vast resources available on the net and in
newsgroups such as this, I would rather see someone that has found an
undersocialized kitten take the responsibility for socializing it and
finding it a home themselves. That relieves the rescues of an extra and
unnecessary burden and the people that take the responsibility for the
cat will have done a really good thing. It's win-win. :-)

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


  #19  
Old October 11th 03, 05:38 AM
Cheryl
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In ,
Kalyahna composed with style:

I realize it doesn't exist everywhere,
but are there no foster homes that would be willing to work with
what amounts to an undersocialized kitten?


It depends on the time of year. I have a semi-socialized young cat
who when I trapped her it was along with a bunch of older cats who I
intented to trap, neuter, release. At the time that I trapped her,
she was too young to release but none of the groups around here would
take her so I had the moral decision to either release her or have her
vaccinated for FeLV and pray for her health and keep her. I have a
FeLV+ cat, and another who also has to be vaccinated yearly (the
positive cat became positive at 10 years of age from a transfusion).
If I had turned her "over" to the shelter she would have been killed.
She is solid black and there are too many black cats here and no one
wants black cats for some reason.

If she wasn't trapped in May, but maybe in November, a feral group may
have taken her.




  #20  
Old October 11th 03, 08:07 AM
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Cheryl wrote:
I forgot to say that she was totally feral
when I trapped her.


You also forgot to say that after several months of great work on your
part she now worships your feet. :-)
(And never ever scratches the furniture!)

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


 




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