Rehome an elderly cat or leave her at home?

Queries and discussions about cat rescue & rehoming
Post Reply
paulaJ
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2017 1:47 am

Rehome an elderly cat or leave her at home?

Post by paulaJ »

Hi

I need advice on what's best for a cat I've inherited. Smudge is a 17 year old moggie and her owner died in August. We'd always promised to look after Smudge if anything happened to her owner and this we will do. Smudge currently lives alone in her own bungalow and summer house and we visit twice a day to feed her and stroke her as much as she will allow. I can't bring her home because I have two large dogs, one of which is very intolerant of cats sadly. I would also worry that Smudge would try to make her own way home if she got out if she were living here, or anywhere else for that matter.

Smudge currently has access to the bungalow, summer house and garden whenever she wishes so she has freedom but what she isn't getting is attention and company.

When we started looking after Smudge she was very skinny, her coat was coarse and her skin scaley and she hadn't been to a vet in 16 years so i took her. She has rotten teeth which can't be treated because she also has a bad heart. She has hyperthyroidism and her kidney function test wasn't brilliant either. She's been on better food and medication since early September and has put weight on, her coat is beautiful and she's on pain meds (Metacam) for her teeth and probable arthritis, and a thyroid drug of course - which is clearly helping but she's still eating 250g of cat food per day which I'm told is a lot but she does need some weight on in this cold weather. (I've put a radiator in the summer house for her now because it's so cold).

My husband thinks we could bring her home and keep her in a cage, at least for a while until "the dogs get used to her". I think this would stress her out, particularly with an Alaskan Malamute staring at her all day and night - plus the loss of her freedom, I think it would be too stressful (and I do not trust the Malamute enough to even want to try it though I'm pretty sure the German Shepherd would be okay - not that Smudge will know that).

There's going to be a lot of work done on the bungalow shortly but the summer house will not be touched - I'm feeding her in there now to make it hers and the work on the bungalow won't bother her in there. We are both concerned about the lack of company and attention, our twice daily visits are relatively short compared to the company she used to have when her owner was alive.

So what's best? Leave her where she is or try to rehome her for the company that she'd get? I know dogs better than cats and I know a dog, whatever the age, would prefer a new home than be left alone but i'm not so sure about cats. Smudge has her territory and rarely leaves the property so far as I can tell. She's safe there from traffic - the road outside is a very quiet one and it's a very quiet area. I really don't know what to do for best for her.

Any opinions from people who know cats really well will help me enormously - either to ease my guilty feelings that she's so alone or push me to having her rehomed (though then I'd worry that she'd try to get back to the only home she's known all her life).

Thanks for reading, sorry it's so long
Paula
User avatar
Ruth B
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 1998
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2016 11:31 am
No. of cats in household: 3
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Rehome an elderly cat or leave her at home?

Post by Ruth B »

Poor Smudge, it sounds like she has had a bit of a hard life as it is.

While cats are seen as more independent than dogs they do respond to company, friendship and affection, particularly as they get older. They also need somewhere warm, comfy and safe to sleep.

As for what is best it is a bit of a difficult one, her age and medical conditions will count against her when it comes to being rehomed. While there are people who will take on cats like this they are far rarer than those that turn up wanting kittens. At the same time being confined to a summer house and garden, even with the radiator in the summer house is not really fair on her old bones and is likely to make her medical problems worse.

Keeping her in a cage at yours with the dogs in not a good idea in my mind. The dogs staring at her would likely stress her out (again this could lead to further medical problems) and unless it was a large cage it would be far too confining for even an elderly cat, after all you would need to make sure there was room for water, food and a litter tray to be place in it but far enough apart to be hygienic. If you had a spare room you could give over to her, this might be an option even with the dogs as they would be kept out of the room and she would feel she had room to escape them if she could hear them on the other side the door. Eventually after a long introduction period of exchanging smells etc, you might find the dogs would accept her, but that would be months in the future.

The other alternative I could see would be to ask if any of the neighbours near the bungalow would be willing to take her in, you might want to offer to pay the vets bills for the medication so you wouldn't be asking them to take on so much.

Finally I would suggest contacting charities, explain the situation and see if any of them would be willing to take her as a long term resident if they couldn't rehome or find a foster family for her.
paulaJ
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2017 1:47 am

Re: Rehome an elderly cat or leave her at home?

Post by paulaJ »

Thank you for your reply.

Her owner said a couple of years ago that Smudge was getting intolerant and unsociable, staying outside a lot. I know now that that was because she wasn't well - he didn't realise. He had no idea that she was ill and obviously didn't take note of the condition of her coat and skin or the fact that she was so skinny - and yet the last thing he said before he passed away was "What about Smudge" and I had to assure him that she would be looked after. People have different ideas of what loving an animal entails and I was quite annoyed with him when I started seeing to Smudge, I didn't see much of her prior to him passing away. It took a few months to gain her trust, she's still quite bad tempered but you can't blame her considering the stress she's been through.

I would be worried if I contacted charities that she would be kept confined til the end of her days, I don't know whether her freedom is more important, cats being so independent? There is a neighbor who has five cats of her own so obviously a big cat lover, I could ask her and I'm fine with paying for her food and vet bills - so long as Smudge has everything she needs. And she'll know the cats because i'm pretty sure I've been putting biscuits out for them too as I can't see how Smudge could eat so many biscuits with her teeth being bad. I know she gets her food because I stay til she's finished that, just in case.

I really wouldn't want to cage her in the hopes that our dogs will accept her and possibly find that the situation is a dangerous one for Smudge. Even a large cage is confinement and if she reacted like she does to the cat carrier I take her to the vets in then it would just be cruel. My husband seems to think that would work out but I'm not sure at all about that option - I don't think it would be worth months of stress for such an old cat.

If I were to ask the neighbour how would we best get Smudge to move over to her? Would the neighbour have to keep her in for a period? My neighbour here probably would take her but there are a lot of roads between my house and Smudge's bungalow and if she were to try make it home I can't bare to think of the dangers.

Smudge isn't "Poorly" - she's doing remarkably well given all her problems and her age, she moves well and her coat is soft, thick and shiny now. I know they hide illness so as not to show weakness but she's got a good appetite and is drinking plenty of water (more so since I started giving her bottled water, she didn't like tap water). The vets are happy that she's gained weight and there's another round of blood tests planned for our next visit.

I like the idea of her staying around her own territory - the neighbour I'm thinking of lives behind the bungalow and there's a ten-foot in between so it's quiet and i could change the gate so that she can still be home if she wants to be but get back to the neighbour too, Smudge hasn't been seen on that side of the wall for quite a while apparently so I'm guessing jumping over the wall isn't an option for her now. Sounds like too perfect a solution for it to happen this way but it's worth a try.

Thanks for your reply, I know now that keeping her where she is isn't the best thing so I'll start with the neighbours and see whether I can get her to accept a move. Fingers crossed.
Post Reply