Rehome an elderly cat or leave her at home?
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 2:24 am
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
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