We adopted a cat

[Luis G]

His name is Toto and he's 3 years old. He belonged to my uncle's dad, who passed away about a month ago. Turns out that my uncle's mom is allergic to him, why did she never said anything before is beyond me. The cat was moved to another house and he remained alone for over 3 weeks, time in which other cats fought him to eat his food.

Needless to say, he's still scared and skinny. It's been 2 nights now and it seems like he's getting used to the house and us, but still spends most of the time searching the house and hiding.

 

[Nixy]

Very cute.

My friends just adopted a cat who was found mangled in a snow bank and nursed back to health by the humane society. They think she was beat up by other cats and also pushed around by a snow plow. They were going to put her down because she doesn't like other cats. My friends adopted her and after less than a week she has warmed up to them very nicely. She still doesn't LIKE the other cat but she doesn't get bothered either, she just walks away. They are moving in August, at that time she'll be the only cat because the other one will stay with my friend's parents...which is where they currently live. Hopefully Toto will warm up to you guys just as quickly.

 

[Gonz]

New pussy is always good.

 

[Inkara1]

Shit... now "Africa" is stuck in my head.

 

[greenfreak]

While I'm not a cat person (and am allergic to boot), I must admit that he's a pretty fellow. I hope he gets used to you and becomes friendly towards you soon!

 

[BeardofPants]

What a beautiful looking cat!
Took our guy a good 2 weeks to settle in. Then the confidence comes and you never get peace ever again.

Is he an indoor cat? Or indoor/outdoor?

 

[Luis G]

We are keeping him indoors while he gets used to us and "needs us". We kind of fear that something scares him and leaves to a neighbouring house or runs down the street. Anyway, I think he's more of an indoor cat, he likes small and dark places.

By the look of things he's getting used to us fast. Yesterday he ate more and followed me (aware and scared thou) around the house. He purrs within 5 seconds of touching him.

He's fixed so I think that's probably why he's so scared and also explains how easily one can approach him so easily. The first time I touched him he cornered and lowered his head as if I was going to attack him and he was helpless. All in all, I like him and hope the best for him.

 

[Inkara1]

Just hope you don't end up in my situation... my cat went to the pet hospital last night with a urethra blockage. His bladder was the size of a lemon, and the condition can be fatal. I was told by the vet he's doing better this morning... but I'm looking at about a grand to pay for it all.

 

[BeardofPants]

I'm sure he will get his confidence soon. It's good that you are giving him a second chance. re: indoor/outdoors - you should check that his 'fair' skin doesn't leave him susceptible to the sun. I guess you'll also need to check how he is once he settles in (re suitability/temperament toward being an outdoor cat).

You rock.

 

[Nixy]

Just hope you don't end up in my situation... my cat went to the pet hospital last night with a urethra blockage. His bladder was the size of a lemon, and the condition can be fatal. I was told by the vet he's doing better this morning... but I'm looking at about a grand to pay for it all.

My aunts have to feed their male cats special food to prevent such things.

 

[Inkara1]

Yeah, I'm going to be switching back to the same prescription food I used to give him after his last urinary tract problem.

 

[BeardofPants]

Have you tried a catit drinking fountain?

 

[Inkara1]

catit drinking fountain? I have one of those ones where you fill up a bottle and it keeps the lower bowl constantly full... I usually run the water through the Brita pitcher so he gets really good quality water... although when I moved here, I refilled it with tap water because I hadn't moved the Brita pitcher yet.

 

[BeardofPants]

The catit fountain is good, because it's running water (which cats like). I'd never seen a cat drink so much since we had it. Might be worth a shot if your cat isn't drinking as much as he should.

http://www.hagen.com/usa/cats/addinfo/catit_fountain.html

 

[Inkara1]

What does one of those cost? And how loud is it?

 

[BeardofPants]

Not sure about the US, but it was a little pricy here (just under NZ$ 100), and no, it's not noisy at all. Only starts gurgling when it's running on empty. Well worth it though, if only to forgo another $1000 vet bill.

Actually, I just checked ebay, and it's like way cheaper in the US: http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=catit+drinking&category0=

The only thing is, you gotta change the filters every 3 mths or so.

 

[Inkara1]

The real issue is what the filters cost... the idea being to make sure it's not like buying a $49 printer that takes $35 ink cartridges.

 

[BeardofPants]

Seems reasonable to me: http://cgi.ebay.com/Set-6-Replaceme...yZ116364QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Luis G]

Just hope you don't end up in my situation... my cat went to the pet hospital last night with a urethra blockage. His bladder was the size of a lemon, and the condition can be fatal. I was told by the vet he's doing better this morning... but I'm looking at about a grand to pay for it all.

That sucks man, I hope he heals soon. We don't have vet problems, my uncle and cousin are vets so we can always take him to them and pay only the meds (at a discounted price).

I'm sure he will get his confidence soon. It's good that you are giving him a second chance. re: indoor/outdoors - you should check that his 'fair' skin doesn't leave him susceptible to the sun. I guess you'll also need to check how he is once he settles in (re suitability/temperament toward being an outdoor cat).

You rock.

He's making good progress. This morning when I opened the door of the bedroom he was there, waiting for me. He even put himself on his back so I could touch his neck and belly.

The quantity he eats is still not as good as it should, but he already cleaned (almost perfectly) all of his fur and looks a whole lot better.

 

[Inkara1]

OK, allow me to share my experience with what a piece of shit the catit fountain is.

First of all, the little plastic "flower" that's the carry handle for the water tank has very weak threads, meaning you can't actually use it to carry the tank if there's water in it or else you'll drop the tank while the flower is still in your hand. Then, then you put the tank on, it opens the valve but hardly any water comes out, so when you plug in the fountain all you get is noise unless you take another cup of water and pour it over the dome to get more water to the pump. Then the filters... three months? It's actually less than a week before the thing is totally covered in nasty crap, not to mention it lets as much around the top and bottom of the filter as it catches.

Oh, and the pump died today. Judging by the date stamps on the posts I made before where I hadn't heard of the pump, that means I got less than four months out of the pump.

Worse yet, there are two cats here and the one with the bladder problems, who I bought the pump for in the first place, never took a single drink from it.

Anyone who's thinking of getting one... don't waste your money unless you can get the New Zealand version somehow.