Preparing to home a cat

[Kay]

the other alternative, if practical, is to establish a place as far from the house as possible to put down some biscuits for the neighbours' cats - after a few days they would hopefully wait there for their daily treat - your new cat will have to meet them eventually but it would postpone it for a while at least

[Ruth B]

You aren't overthinking things, if you are unsure of anything it is better to ask and to be prepare than assume you know the answer and have things go wrong.

I have read of cases of 'redirected aggression' where a cat will appear to attack an owner for no reason. It normally happens in indoor only cats that don't have enough to keep them occupied through the day. They see another cat through the window and it is the most exciting thing that has happened to them for weeks and all the instincts kick in, all in over drive. The owner goes over to see what is wrong and presents themselves as a target for all that the cat is feeling. The owner ends up scratched and bitten, the other cat is either hidden or walked away and the owner is left wondering why her beautiful friendly baby suddenly became the monster from hell.

I very much doubt you will have anything like this as your new cat will have plenty to occupy it for the first few weeks, exploring the house, getting to know the family members etc. Once she is let out then she will have plenty to keep her amused and will soon learn her place in the local cat population pecking order.

I notice you now always refer to the new cat as 'she', does this mean you have chosen a specific one, or just that you have decided a female would fit the family best?

[don1976]

You aren't overthinking things, if you are unsure of anything it is better to ask and to be prepare than assume you know the answer and have things go wrong.

I have read of cases of 'redirected aggression' where a cat will appear to attack an owner for no reason. It normally happens in indoor only cats that don't have enough to keep them occupied through the day. They see another cat through the window and it is the most exciting thing that has happened to them for weeks and all the instincts kick in, all in over drive. The owner goes over to see what is wrong and presents themselves as a target for all that the cat is feeling. The owner ends up scratched and bitten, the other cat is either hidden or walked away and the owner is left wondering why her beautiful friendly baby suddenly became the monster from hell.

I very much doubt you will have anything like this as your new cat will have plenty to occupy it for the first few weeks, exploring the house, getting to know the family members etc. Once she is let out then she will have plenty to keep her amused and will soon learn her place in the local cat population pecking order.

I notice you now always refer to the new cat as 'she', does this mean you have chosen a specific one, or just that you have decided a female would fit the family best?

Yes - that's the sort of thing I was thinking. Either aggression towards us or maybe towards furniture - or even could cause some toiletting in unwanted places.
Frankly, when it's dark outside and I see the neighbours cat peering through our kitchen window, it scares ME to death, so I can imagine it might freak out our cat as well.
I've been referring to 'she' as we've got our eye on one particular kitty at a local shelter that we're due to visit at the weekend. Speaking with the shelter volunteers (booktigger, on this forum), this particular cat would seem to be a good match for our family.
In addition, all the cats I've ever owned have coincidentally been females, so it's also a bit out of habit me referring to as a female.

[booktigger]

Hope the visit goes well - I'll still have internet access next week

[meriad]

and best of luck from me as well

[don1976]

She's finally home, and settling in.

[Ruth B]

Congratulations.

[Lilith]

YAY!

Wishing you all many happy years ahead together

[booktigger]

Congratulations

[Mayday21]

That's great news. Keep us posted on your family fur babe. No doubt your daughter's over the moon. And when you can love to see a pic it two. From Vivian & the famous 4 from Oz - Lilith again has thought of an appropriate label for mine

[don1976]

She’s slowly settling in.

Day 1 she came out of the carrier straight away in the bonding room to greet us. Seemed happy albeit wouldn’t really eat much. It was impossible to keep her in the bonding room. She stayed in there about 6 hours before she forced her way out of the door as we were coming in. Once she had her freedom, and was then put back in the bonding room, she was unbearable, scratching and hissing, which doesn’t seem like her at all. We relented and opened up a couple more rooms for her.
She cried all through the night and we found the following morning that she’d pee’d in her bed - she had used her litter as well though, so I think it was probably down to anxiety.

Day 2 she seemed much more relaxed – lots of sleeping, still being a bit of a fussy eater. I made her a scratching post and positioned it at the bottom of the stairs, as that’s where she has taken a liking to scratching.
The night was much better. She has a cushion and fleece as well as a warm snugglesafe, and we didn’t hear a thing from her all night.

Her claws are really sharp, catching on everything – whilst she will snuggle up next to us, she’s not comfortable enough with us yet for us to touch her paws properly to trim them, so we’re popping to the vets this evening for a quick claw clipping. Hopefully we can pick up some tips on how best to go about it.

In summary – early days but thinks are looking hopeful.

I'll have to work out how to properly post photos on here - my last attempt failed.

[booktigger]

Glad she is settling well - which vets have you gone with?

[Lilith]

Bless her, she's obviously full of confidence and determined to make herself at home; it can be awkward at first when you don't know what the cat wants to do - but they generally make their wishes known sooner or later and all goes smoothly - please give her a love from me if she'll allow it, and good luck with the claw clipping; you're doing the right thing. My older two let me do theirs but I felt so guilty the other day; Emily (avatar cat) jumped down from her favourite chair and the throw came with her, hooked on to a paw ... thank goodness I was there at the time

[don1976]

2 weeks on, and Minne seems well at home. We bought her a new igloo bed and put in near the radiator in the living room so now she likes to spend a lot of her sleeping time in there as opposed to on the top of the sofa, watching the hamster

This weekend she seemed to take an interest in going outside, which she hadn't before. She had been sat looking at the back door all day, so I decided I'd let her out for a short time. I made sure she was hungry when I let her out, and she went outside for a bit of a sniff around. I only let her out for 10 mins or so, and then I rattled her dry food in her bowl, and she shot inside to eat.
I think we'll continue to do this, letting her out a bit longer each time.

However, I'm still terribly paranoid about the 'letting the cat outside' business - I'm scared something will happen to her.

[booktigger]

Aww, glad she is settling in well, impressed she likes the igloo bed, I've found very few who will sleep in one. It is scary, letting them out.

[don1976]

Fast asleep . . .

[don1976]

Perched on the sofa - her lookout spot, where she likes to watch for the hamster (cage is behind).

[Ruth B]

She is a beautiful girl.

It doesn't matter how many cats you have it is always nerve wracking when you first let them out. Hunger and bad weather always seem good incentive to them coming back in.

One bit of advice, when you feed her always call her name a bit, even if she is at your feet, she will learn to associate her name with food which can help encourage her to come in when called.

[Lilith]

Aww what a gorgeous Madam, with a right glint in her eye

Doing sentry by the hammy, I see ...

The other day a neighbour called round to say that his next door neighbours were moving and had a big cage of hamsters they couldn't take with them, so could I ...

HAMSTERS! With THREE very predatory cats (2 ex-ferals and a ginger ninja) and a python???

Sounds like Minnie's settling in fine, congrats

[booktigger]

She looks very settled

[Mayday21]

Hi there that's ESP for you- was only thinking yesterday how your fur babe was settling & low & behold read your post & pics of Minnie this morning. She looks adorable. My 4 are only allowed out with me watching guard. Three are well behaved but Harper's so dam quick ... grabbed her from the neighbours fence on Sunday afternoon. So I gather your wife's concerns are no longer ... fusses & ear rubs to the lovely Minnie. Vivian

[Summercat]

Very nice outcome and lovely looking kitty