Are we being adopted?

Heroditas

I have a feeling I already know the answer to the question in the title.

Anyway, we already have two indoor cats - brother and sister who get on great, very healthy, lots of cuddles etc.

A few weeks ago a very young cat appeared in the back and kept approaching the back patio window. Our own two went wild but the weird thing was that the other cat appeared to want to play with them. It kept nuzzling the window where the others were standing, as if to actually try and nuzzle them.
It eventually disappeared and we didn't see it for ages until last week when I spied it on the road.

It appeared again yesterday afternoon and has been sitting outside staring in at us ever since!
My wife gave it a small bit of chicken and this seems to have given it some encouragement and it doesn't appear to have moved from the patio table since this morning when I went to work.
Are we in the process of being adopted? It's still very timid and runs when I open the back door but it seems to be getting a bit bolder and doesn't bolt as quickly.

From what I can see, it seems reasonably healthy apart from a dirty nose. Of course if I could feel the fur and catch a whiff of the cat I'd have a better idea how healthy it is.
At this very moment, it's watching me through the patio window and is shivering on the table. My heart goes out to it but I'm uncertain what we should do.

I guess it's very much an open-ended thread but I'd be interested to see what fellow cat owners think!

Thanks in advance!

Poochie05

Sounds very much as if you have been ear-marked as potential parents!

Heroditas

Like the (stupid) big softies we are, we gave it a bit more food this evening.
Still sitting gazing in through the patio window but still runs away whenever we open the door and go out towards it.

We did leave the kitchen door open for a while and it sneaked in and helped itself to a few munchies before legging it again.
We then let the other two into the kitchen and they didn't seem too upset, although they certainly are peeing a lot more than usual! No surprise there.

We're really just digging a bigger hole for ourselves, aren't we..... :rolleyes:

theghost

I think the adoption process has begun. Have you a shed or something where you could put a box with some newspaper with a blanket over it so your prospective adoptee could sleep until he plucks up the courage to stay in the house?

The Sweeper

If he has a crusty nose, he could have a bit of a URTI - upper respiratory tract infection. It's not usually too serious - can be a result of feline herpes (very common) or something else hammering his immune system, leaving him a bit snotty and miserable. These things are usually contagious, so I wouldn't be letting him eat from the same bowl as your own cats.

I say 'him' but of course it could be a her, unless you've had a good opportunity to look under its tail you won't know for sure either way with cats.

Make a decision - is it your cat, is it your 'secret cat', or is it a stray and you don't want it?

1) Your cat:

You need to catch this cat and quarantine it in your bathroom or another room in your house away from your own cats. Keep it in there for a week and feed it and spend time with it to calm it down.

Use a feliway diffuser for your own cats to help soothe them so they don't get too frazzled at the sight of a newcomer. When the visiting cat has been fed up and calmed down a bit, take a trip to the vet for an assessment, and to book desexing. The cat should also be treated for worms and fleas. The vet may run a blood test to check for other diseases because the cat is a stray.

Once the cat has the all-clear and a desexing appointment, you can begin to slowly integrate it into your household, taking your time to ensure your existing cats aren't too put out. Generally the cats can cohabit happily if you take your time with the introductions.

2) Your secret cat:

The notion of a 'secret cat' is one introduced by RSPCA Australia I believe, possibly following an example from the US. A secret cat is one that you don't necessarily admit to owning (because you never went out and bought it), but you feed it, and it hangs around your house and garden.

With your secret cat, you need to take it to the vet at least once for desexing and vaccinations. You apply an all in one worm and flea spot-on to the cat when you can get close enough to it (back of the neck application to the skin, easier than pilling a nervous cat) and you feed it every day, but you don't necessarily treat it as your own.

The notion is that, desexed, treated for parasites and fed, this unwanted cat will have a better chance than a stray that is not cared for. It will occupy the territory of your yard and surrounding area, but it will run the risks that outdoor roaming cats run. It may just not come home one day. (It's not that different to how a lot of peple care for their cats when you think about it - possibly better in that the secret cat is routinely wormed and flea-treated!)

3) A stray cat:

If the cat is stray, and you're not accepting it as yours or yours secretly, you need to stop feeding it. Consider trapping it and turning it over to a shelter for rehoming or euthanasia, which is a better result than a potential painful death resulting from lack of nourishment, high parasitic load, disease, or misadventure. If you feed it but don't take the responsibility of desexing it, you essentially create a whole load more cats, because by feeding it you're contributing to its physical condition and enabling it to breed - either by winning fights as a tom, or by having larger litters as a well-fed queen.


Pick one of the three (the first one! the first one!) and go with it!

Heroditas

Thanks for the advice guys.
The cat disappeared just before we went to bed last night and we thought he was off the hook. However, he was back sitting on the table again this morning when we got up!
It's definitely getting a bit more courageous now and doesn't run off as quickly when we open the back door.

I can't use the garden shed for a shelter because the door is hanging off the hinges, however I can make a little "shelter" from the BBQ cover and the empty gas canister. I have a feeling the cat has already been using that for shelter!

Our own cats seem to have grown accustomed to it sitting outside all day and ignore it most of the time but occasionally get worked up and charge the window! The rest of the time they just do their own thing (fight/play with each other, sleep)

I have a feeling we've just unwittingly taken on a whole new project. :rolleyes:


I have a few pictures so I'll post them up later on and keep everyone updated. It'll be like an adoption blog!

anniehoo

Awwww LET HIM ADOPT YA....gwan gwan gwan!Dont fight it you know you want to

Amberjack

Good luck, I'm sure you will be greatly rewarded by your new pet. Once you have managed to tame him/her, no harm getting kitty spayed/neutered as females can come into heat as young as 4 months. I have 3 cats ranging from 2 - 18 and they are great company (along with my 3 dogs) the cats don't all neccesarily get on with each other, but have learned the art of toleration. I think it's lovely when a cat decides to adopt you, it says a lot about your character.

Heroditas

Update. Apparently he/she wasn't around when my wife came home from work but magically appeared after a few minutes.
Adopted their usual spot and sat down watching us.
It's definitely getting a bit bolder and seems to trust my wife a lot more than me (probably because she's done the majority of the feeding). She crouched outside the back door holding a ball with catnip and the cat came right up to her, sniffed her hand and then padded away to a safe distance again.
We stuffed some old towels onto the shelf under the BBQ and it's nice and sheltered in there on all sides so it can sleep in there tonight if it gets too cold. The weather seems a bit miserable and chilly this evening. We may or may not have given it some more food. :P

Oh and as promised ..... some pics!

theghost

He's a beautiful little cat. Good luck with the adoption (because you will adopt him, you know )

pokertalk

looks in good condition could be female because if it was a male you would totally be smelling it from marking by now.if its a tom and there is no smell chances are somebody already owns him and has already had a trip to the vets to be neutered.

The Sweeper

That cat appears to be in good nick. It wouldn't look that good if it wasn't being fed by other people. You need to call around the neighbours and see if anyone owns it - it's important if you're involved in a 'shared care' cat to know who owns it and what they're feeding it, because you may end up interfering with a diet the cat should have for health reasons.

It's not uncommon for a cat, left to its own devices by its owners, to find a household where it gets more attention. That could very well be the case in this instance. This throws up difficulties in terms of worm and flea treatments and desexing -you can only desex a cat once, but you don't want to be worming or flea treating your 'secret cat' to discover the neighbour's only wormed and flea-treated their cat a week earlier.

Take a pic and put it in the letterboxes with your number on it if you like, see if someone will call you and say 'oh yes, he's ours' - least that way they know he could be at your place of an evening, and you know there's someone else who is supposed to be responsible for his veterinary care.

Shenshen

Heroditas wrote: »

Update. Apparently he/she wasn't around when my wife came home from work but magically appeared after a few minutes.
Adopted their usual spot and sat down watching us.
It's definitely getting a bit bolder and seems to trust my wife a lot more than me (probably because she's done the majority of the feeding). She crouched outside the back door holding a ball with catnip and the cat came right up to her, sniffed her hand and then padded away to a safe distance again.
We stuffed some old towels onto the shelf under the BBQ and it's nice and sheltered in there on all sides so it can sleep in there tonight if it gets too cold. The weather seems a bit miserable and chilly this evening. We may or may not have given it some more food. :P

Oh and as promised ..... some pics!

He looks almost exactly like the cat that is currently in the process of adopting us!!! :eek:

You don't live anywhere in Cobh, by any chance?
The one that picked us showed up a while back, apparently interested in our own cat (she's not too sure about it, but he is being such a sweet and non-aggressive one, she can't hold a grudge). He looked starved, you could almost see his ribs, so we started feeding him.
He was a little shy at first, but he will now come up and have a cuddle with me, but he's still cautious around my husband...

We tried letting him inside the house, but him being a non-neutered tom started spraying, so I had to compliment him out again. If anybody has any tips on how to stop him doing that, we could offer him a warm and cozy home for the winter.

Dixie Chick

I think once you have made sure s(he doesnt belong to anyone else, then you will adopt her. Cmon, whats one more little cat?:D

Rochester

We have a secret cat as well, also a black and white one. He is very timid and wary of our male (neutered) ginger cat. He clearly has not been neutered which I would like to do but he is not catchable at the moment. It is funny to see the two cats play with each other and the contrast between their colours is stunning.

Good luck with your adoption.

Nasty_Girl

Just a cautionary tale.

My mother's friend was adopted by a young cat.

After asking around the area it seemed no one owned the cat so shebrought her to the vet and had her spayed and bought a cat basket, collar the whole lot and settled their new pet in nicely to the delight of her young daughter.

About two weeks later a neighbour knocked on the door asking could they have their cat back.

They had been on holidays for a few weeks and their elderly father had just been calling up and leaving the food out for cat.

They were bemused that the cat had been neutered.

Heroditas

Nasty_Girl wrote: »

They were bemused that the cat had been neutered.

Bemused? They should have been bloody grateful!
Anyway, my wife left the kitchen door open earlier and it stuck its head in a couple of times.
She also put a treat on her hand and it came very close to her to sniff it but stopped just short of taking it from her. It did eat the treat though when she put it on the ground beside her. It's getting very confident around her at this stage.
However, we're going away until Sunday lunchtime so the in-laws will be over the feed our own two terrors. They're going to be delighted when we tell them they also need to put some food outside for the third terror! :pac:

We're a bit worried that the weekend away will put back the confidence-building but there's no rush when it comes to something like this...


Oh and to the poster wondering if we're in Cobh? Don't worry, we're in Dublin.

Shenshen

Heroditas wrote: »

We're a bit worried that the weekend away will put back the confidence-building but there's no rush when it comes to something like this...


Oh and to the poster wondering if we're in Cobh? Don't worry, we're in Dublin.

I wouldn't worry about that, our adoptive tiger didn't mind that one bit when we were away for a weekend in August, he was happy enough as long as the food kept coming

Glad to know we're not both being adopted by the same cat!

Heroditas

Oh and I'm starting to have very strong suspicions regarding if the cat is "tame" in any way, shape or form.
It left a very squishy number two on the lawn so that could mean it's sick/been sick/poor diet.
Also, whenever I open the back door I get quite a strong "catty" smell.
That could mean it's an un-neutered male. It's quite a distinct pong.

Sassy58

Hey, just curious is the tip of the cats ear missing - the reason I ask is that if I get feral cats neutered/spayed I always ask the vet to clip the top of one of their ears off - so if the tip of its ear is missing it maybe that she has been trapped at some stage and spayed or neutered.

Most people who neuter/spay feral cats do just makes it easier to know at a glance when you are doing a colony of cats who are done and who are not.

Heroditas

Sassy58 wrote: »

Hey, just curious is the tip of the cats ear missing - the reason I ask is that if I get feral cats neutered/spayed I always ask the vet to clip the top of one of their ears off - so if the tip of its ear is missing it maybe that she has been trapped at some stage and spayed or neutered.

Most people who neuter/spay feral cats just makes it easier to know at a glance when you are doing a colony of cats who are done and who are not.

Why yes actually, yes it is!
The tip of its left ear is missing! :eek:

That would mean the smell is poor grooming (due to being outside all the time maybe) instead of spraying.

Sassy58

It could very well be that the cat has been trapped at some stage and neutered.

Not sure where you are based but I have cat traps but the downside to that is if the cat has been in a trap once it more then likely is trap shy.

I would maybe get a worming tablet from the vet and crush it and put it in the food, if could be that it has worms or fleas and unfortunately the only flea treatment that you could get for feral cat Program is no longer availalbe in Ireland, you can still buy it in the UK etc.

Maybe work on getting the cats trust.

Saaron

Something like this happened my friend, except it was her cat that was being encouraged by people down the road. Her cat lives outside a lot but is very loved and a big softy towards it's owners. It sleeps inside on her bed and is fed all the time. She's had it for so many years.

Recently she had noticed it coming home less and less and eventually realised people down the road had been feeding it. She asked them to stop as this was her cat whom she loved very much. Unfortunately her neighbours didn't listen and the cat hasn't come home in months.

She's pretty upset and hasn't gone to complain as the cat seems to choose to go there..

Just make sure someone doesn't own that cat. It can be so upsetting when you lose a much loved pet

Sassy58

I guarantee you that is NOT a domestic pet - vets do not nick the ears of domestic pets they only do it to feral cats - plus if the cat has a snotty nose etc if it did have owners they clearly are not looking after it as if one of my cats had a nose like that they would be in the vets straight away

Heroditas

This is as about a good a shot as I can get of it

Irish-Lass

I guarantee you that cat has been spayed/neutered at some stage in the passed - I collected a feral cats from the vets tonight same ear same sort of cut

pokertalk

id say this cat is playing ya as it is a very good weight your probably not the only people he has adopted he probably has a few customers in the neighbourhood:D

Amberjack

Lovely looking kitten (I think black and whites have the best temperament) would also agree with other posters about the ear being nicked, I've seen it done to feral cats loads of times in the vets. If it was from a fight it would be slightly torn and nowhere near as neat as it is. Good luck with your new bundle!

Heroditas

Anyway, we went away for the weekend, leaving instructions for the in-laws to feed the two monsters and the garden-squatter.
We got back yesterday afternoon and there was no sign of the waif. Apparently there was no sign of him when the in-laws came over on Saturday afternoon to carry out the "grandparent duties".
"Oh well, maybe he's gone somewhere else" we thought.
My wife went out in her car to get a couple of bits and pieces yesterday evening and lo and behold, as she pulled into the drive when she came back, the cat appeared at the back window! He must recognize the sound of her car.
So we've fed him a couple more times and my wife made some real progress in that he very gently nuzzled her hand yesterday and even took a tiny piece of ham from her hand this morning. He still won't allow her rub him though but that might not tak too much longer with this rate of progress.
From my own point of view, he squeaked at me earlier instead of hissing!
I'm working from home today and it appears that he's disappeared again. No doubt he'll magically appear once my wife's car pulls into the drive.

I'm getting the feeling that he was staking out the house for the last few days to determine our patterns and habits ..... oh and also to figure out what time the meals were distributed! Now that he has all this figured out, he turns up at meal times and then fecks off!

Shenshen

Heroditas wrote: »

Anyway, we went away for the weekend, leaving instructions for the in-laws to feed the two monsters and the garden-squatter.
We got back yesterday afternoon and there was no sign of the waif. Apparently there was no sign of him when the in-laws came over on Saturday afternoon to carry out the "grandparent duties".
"Oh well, maybe he's gone somewhere else" we thought.
My wife went out in her car to get a couple of bits and pieces yesterday evening and lo and behold, as she pulled into the drive when she came back, the cat appeared at the back window! He must recognize the sound of her car.
So we've fed him a couple more times and my wife made some real progress in that he very gently nuzzled her hand yesterday and even took a tiny piece of ham from her hand this morning. He still won't allow her rub him though but that might not tak too much longer with this rate of progress.
From my own point of view, he squeaked at me earlier instead of hissing!
I'm working from home today and it appears that he's disappeared again. No doubt he'll magically appear once my wife's car pulls into the drive.

I'm getting the feeling that he was staking out the house for the last few days to determine our patterns and habits ..... oh and also to figure out what time the meals were distributed! Now that he has all this figured out, he turns up at meal times and then fecks off!

I wouldn't at all be surprised if he started staying around for longer as it get colder and wetter.

We've been to the cat show here in Cobh on Sunday, and had a chat with a vet. We'll try and bring our little visitor to her cat clinic, to be checked out, vaccinated, de-wormed and ... well, de-balled, as it were.
According to her, there's a very high chance of him stopping to spray once he's neutered. And that would allow us to actually bring him into the house for winter...

Heroditas

It would appear that this little guy has a thing for our female cat!
He gets very animated when she appears and gets into a panic when she disappears from view. Also he head butts the glass when she sits beside it, as if to cuddle up to her. He doesn't do this to her brother. In fact he ignores him.

IvySlayer

Heroditas wrote: »

It would appear that this little guy has a thing for our female cat!
He gets very animated when she appears and gets into a panic when she disappears from view. Also he head butts the glass when she sits beside it, as if to cuddle up to her. He doesn't do this to her brother. In fact he ignores him.

Is she neutered? He probably isn't and with another male, asking for trouble. That or s/he wants a friend.

If you're serious about adopting him/her please do it soon, as Hallowe'en is coming, and pets need to be inside.

Heroditas

IvySlayer wrote: »

Is she neutered? He probably isn't and with another male, asking for trouble. That or s/he wants a friend.

If you're serious about adopting him/her please do it soon, as Hallowe'en is coming, and pets need to be inside.

Oh of course. Both she and her brother got the snip early last year.
Other posters here reckon he's neutered because the tip of his ear appears to have been snipped off, a sign of a feral cat being neutered.

I reckon we'll get him indoors by the end of the week. He's trusting us a lot more with each passing day but it's a very slow process. He still flinches and runs if we come too close.

The Sweeper

Heroditas, be prepared if he comes in and you shut the door behind him, he may go up the walls. He could end up running from windows to doors in a blind panic - he'll know if you cut off his escape route. If that happens and you have to let him out again, it could traumatise your own cats and him to the point where it sets you back a couple of weeks.

Heroditas

The Sweeper wrote: »

Heroditas, be prepared if he comes in and you shut the door behind him, he may go up the walls. He could end up running from windows to doors in a blind panic - he'll know if you cut off his escape route. If that happens and you have to let him out again, it could traumatise your own cats and him to the point where it sets you back a couple of weeks.

Oh don't worry, we have no intention of doing that.
We're going to just leave the door open and let him gradually build up his confidence and take everything at his own pace.
The other two don't seem too disturbed by his scent. I had one of them leaning out the window earlier looking at him and neither of them seemed too upset, although he was desperately trying to reach up to her as if he wanted to play!

With each passing day, I'm more and more sure that he's looking for a cat to play with! (the food is also greatly appreciated I'm sure)

Heroditas

I was a bit brave/foolish this morning and when I got up, our male cat was sprawled on our bed and the female was in the basket in the kitchen. Hmmmm, I closed the door into the hall and decided to open the back door to see what would happen.
She came face to face with our little friend and promptly ignored him and started inspecting the patio window instead. The poor guy was distraught! He seemed awfully upset he was being ignored and let out a few gurgles and started trotting around after her. They eventually came face to face and very gingerly sniffed each other's nose.
No reaction from our cat but she did crouch down in a defensive pose and watch the little guy trot around it front of her.
I eventually grabbed her and brought her in. Her heart was going quite fast but not as fast as when she goes hyper with her brother every evening.

Meanwhile her brother was staring out the patio window with what can only be described as a look of thunder on his face. He was not impressed. Whether this was because the other cat was nearby or because his sister got to go out and play, I'm not sure. I think it might be the latter.

All in all, another promising little development. I won't do it for another while because I don't want the concerned parties getting too distressed.
The little guy will now ever so gently touch my wife and delicately nuzzle her hand but he still won't allow us pet him.

Also, he's definitely using the little nest we made for him on the shelf under the BBQ so at least he's getting some shelter from the rain and might keep a bit warm.

theghost

Hopefully you can get him to stay in the house before the fireworks season starts.

Heroditas

He'll now let my wife tickel and scratch his head. In fact, he absolutely loves it. He let her do it for about 5 minutes last night.
She also let him into the kitchen when our female cat was there and the reaction was a lot different compared to when I let her out yesterday afternoon.
She hissed quite loudly at him so it appears that our cats aren't too concerned with another cat outside oru house but once it sets foot insde, it's very definitely on their patch. Still, small steps etc ... she didn't attack him.

He also let me gently scratch his ear this morning.

Looking back on the last 9 days, we've made huge progress. He's still very timid but compared to last week, he's become a lto tamer.
Also, he's in much better condition and appears to be cleanin himself a lot more. In fact, he seems to pick up a lot of habits from watching the other two through the window.

Dixie Chick

Heroditas wrote: »

He'll now let my wife tickel and scratch his head. In fact, he absolutely loves it. He let her do it for about 5 minutes last night.
She also let him into the kitchen when our female cat was there and the reaction was a lot different compared to when I let her out yesterday afternoon.
She hissed quite loudly at him so it appears that our cats aren't too concerned with another cat outside oru house but once it sets foot insde, it's very definitely on their patch. Still, small steps etc ... she didn't attack him.

He also let me gently scratch his ear this morning.

Looking back on the last 9 days, we've made huge progress. He's still very timid but compared to last week, he's become a lto tamer.
Also, he's in much better condition and appears to be cleanin himself a lot more. In fact, he seems to pick up a lot of habits from watching the other two through the window.

If its like that after 9 days, it will be a monster by the end of the month:D

theghost

Heroditas wrote: »

He'll now let my wife tickel and scratch his head. In fact, he absolutely loves it. He let her do it for about 5 minutes last night.
She also let him into the kitchen when our female cat was there and the reaction was a lot different compared to when I let her out yesterday afternoon.
She hissed quite loudly at him so it appears that our cats aren't too concerned with another cat outside oru house but once it sets foot insde, it's very definitely on their patch. Still, small steps etc ... she didn't attack him.

He also let me gently scratch his ear this morning.

Looking back on the last 9 days, we've made huge progress. He's still very timid but compared to last week, he's become a lto tamer.
Also, he's in much better condition and appears to be cleanin himself a lot more. In fact, he seems to pick up a lot of habits from watching the other two through the window.

Cats will tolerate a strange cat outside but will not be so accepting when it comes into their own home. They'll soon accept the newcomer though.

You've made great progress with him in 9 days. Well done

Heroditas

Not too much of an update unfortunately.
He seems to have figured that we're his "patch" now so he'll wander off at various points during the day and then magically appear around mealtimes.
We let our own two out to "play" with him and for the most part they are tolerant of him until he goes near the back door. Then they get crabby and start growling and making weird noises at him.
He's still very wary of me but seems happy enough to be around me so long as it's on his own terms. He definitely prefers my wife though and is much bolder with her.

What concerns us now is the fact that ANOTHER kitty has been sniffing around for the last few days. I have no idea if it's a stray or not.
I think it looks like a cat that some of the local kids were looking for a few weeks ago. I bloody well hope so anyway!
It's quite cheeky and has marched up to the back door a few times and tried to rob some food off the plate that we put out for the little guy.

At this rate we'll be a kitty soup kitchen before too long.

Mr Benevolent

Heroditas wrote: »

At this rate we'll be a kitty soup kitchen before too long.

And you'll be known as 'Crazy Cat Guy'

Heroditas

Well we're now over two weeks into being adopted and I haven't given an update for a while.
We have named the cat Shmuel. I'lltell you all why we called it that later, when I can post a picture. It'll make sense then!
Anyway, there might be a complication withthat name because it looks like Shmuel is a girl. Shmuel seems to have anatomy similar to our own female cat. No way of 100% determining this until we get it to a vet though.
Shmuel is still absolutely adorable with our own two and we're starting to let them out into the garden to play with her. She is delighted to see them and runs up and prances around them and tries to gently head-butt them but they aren't having any of it, particularly our female cat who appears to have developed a pathological hatred for her. Plenty of growling and hissing.
Shmuel now allows both of us to pet her after a bit of cajoling and absolutely loves it. She disappears off for parts of the day now but arrives back when it's time to be fed. Her fur has improved an awful lot in the last two weeks and is starting to get glossy. Also, her paws are a lot cleaner.
My wife brought her into the kitchen the other evening and closed the back door. She got a bit worried but then calmed down as soon as she opened the door again. Small steps but significant ones...

Also, we had her in the kitchen with our own two. As you can guess, they were not impressed but they weren't overly aggressive with her. They didn't chase her but just made noises whenever she went near them. It's a real pity because she absolutely craves attention from our own cats but they're not at all interested.
I think this is going to be a tough task to get them to accept her but we've made massive progress in a relatively short space of time.
However, we have to give our own cats loads more attention than normal recently because they've been very anxious. I suppose it's understandable. They must be worried that we don't like them anymore.

Lots of cuddles usually helps though ..... as well as a few treats!

The biggest worry is that Shmuel appears to have a "friend" who has been hanging around a bit recently. The "friend" is absolutely petrified of us and runs as soon as it sees us. We have to do this because 4 cats might be a step too far.
As it is, we're trying to decide how to handle three ctas. Our own two have always been indoors cats but Shmuel is an outdoors cat. It'll be difficult to juggle the two lifestyles but we're taking each day as it comes.
I think or own two are also reasonably happy that we're allowing them out a bit more into the garden for "supervised play time"

Rochester

Your adoptee has a little friend, the word is out!!! Bet the little friend has another friend - guess where I am going with this.

Trying to get our adoptee to trust us a little, he is hungry and when I open the oven door or the fridge he is at the back door within seconds. Definitely a male cat in our case but he is not neutered:(. If I can get my hands on him he will be. He is a lovely contrast in black and white to our ginger cat and they look very cute during their boxing matches.

Shenshen

Well, out little adopter is now getting settled.
He had been around every evening for the last couple of weeks, but I was careful about letting him into the house what with him spraying and all.
So on Thursday, we let him inside and took him to the vet on Friday morning. We had him checked for FIV andthe other thing, cat leucemia, can't think of the official abreviation now, and it turned out he's just fine, a healthy 2 year old tom.
So he got the snip, a flea-and ringworm treatment, and vaccinations.
He was quite out of it when we brought him back home yesterday, disorientated and very timid, but today he's getting more and more cheeky by the hour.

We called him Sylvester, and I'll post some pics when I get a good chance of taking some.

The Sweeper

Shenshen wrote: »

We had him checked for FIV andthe other thing, cat leucemia, can't think of the official abreviation now, and it turned out he's just fine, a healthy 2 year old tom.

So he got the snip, a flea-and ringworm treatment, and vaccinations.

You've made my day with that. Another happy kitty with a home and years and years of love and entertainment to give, instead of a short life on the streets!

By the way, it'll have been just a flea and worm treatment - ringworm is a different kettle of fish entirely, it's a fungal infection and it's contagious so if he had ringworm, the vet would have advised you to keep him away from your own pusses, plus he'd have one or more round bald patches on his skin.

Shenshen

The Sweeper wrote: »

You've made my day with that. Another happy kitty with a home and years and years of love and entertainment to give, instead of a short life on the streets!

By the way, it'll have been just a flea and worm treatment - ringworm is a different kettle of fish entirely, it's a fungal infection and it's contagious so if he had ringworm, the vet would have advised you to keep him away from your own pusses, plus he'd have one or more round bald patches on his skin.

It was an all-in-one treatment for skin parasites, he'll be getting his worm treatment later this week when we go for a check-up to make sure everything's healing as it should.

Seems to be going just grand, though, he's the most affectionate cat I've ever known, a big soft cuddly puss, who will purr just because he's spoken to...

The only thing I find a little strange right now is that he seems to be itching a lot around his ears. Does anybody have any idea why this could be? At first I thought it might be the micro-chip, but he seems to be itchy on both sides of his head.

hadook

He may have ear mites, have a quick look in his ears and see if you can see little black spots in there.

If he does, or if the itchiness doesn't clear up over the next day or so, then he needs a quick trip back to the vet.

Shenshen

hadook wrote: »

He may have ear mites, have a quick look in his ears and see if you can see little black spots in there.

If he does, or if the itchiness doesn't clear up over the next day or so, then he needs a quick trip back to the vet.

That's the thing, the vet found those, and the treatment should have got rid of them, too...

Well, we'll bring him in at the end of the week anyway, so I'll ask her about it if it doesn't clear up.
Thanks.

hadook

A bad case of earmites often requires followup treatment. The last (not very friendly) foster cat I had with them needed a 2 week course of twice daily drops before it cleared up but we both survived

Dixie Chick

I agree the earmites is a nasty one to budge. Mine took a lot os canaural drops and still a monthly stronghold treatment. Good for you, the cat has picked its new slave well