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Adopting a Cat: Part 1

Wednesday, February 20, 2019 15:07

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I’ve had cats in my life for the last 30 years, almost without interruption. I am more “in tune” with cats than most cat guardians I’ve met, but I am by no way, shape, or form a cat behaviorist. Adopting my most recent kitty, Potato, in the fall of 2016 really opened my eyes in many ways. I have always had a profound respect for Animal Rescue organizations (as evidenced from our collection Tails from the Other Side: Pets & the Paranormal)and the folks who do the rescuing.

But, until adopting little Potato, I supposed I didn’t fully understand the level of work, dedication, and fortitude necessary in rescuing and rehabilitating. I did understand, but from a more academic perspective. While I’ve always adopted, I’ve never had to truly rehabilitate a cat.

At the time I first began this article, in 2017, Potato had been with us for 7 months and she still was not integrated into the house. At the time, we lived in a modest apartment, she spent most of her time in “her room,” and we had to have baby-gates up to keep the peace. When I first began thinking about writing this piece, a mere 2 months after we adopted her, it was daunting because it seemed that there had been absolutely no progress. By that time in the process, I did understand it wasn’t just integration, but rehabilitation and I thought perhaps Potato may have started to understand she wasn’t in a place that would dispose of her. Despite a lot of chaos– peeing outside the litter box, biting and scratching (me), a flea infestation– in retrospect, I can see there had been some movement forward, however minuscule; she was vocalizing to us, was making eye contact, and was not trying to escape via an inter-dimensional portal located behind our deep-freezer at the rear wall of the house.

We adopted Potato from a local superhero kitty rescuer, Christopher Mancuso, who was director of a local shelter, the foster dad to about a dozen cats, and the cat daddy to about a dozen more. He and his brilliant wife have together, single-handedly, saved hundreds of cats and with volunteers, saved thousands of cats, Potato being only 1. Potato had been the product of the Animal Care Centers of NYC and from my understanding was on the kill list when she was a kitten. She had been adopted and returned because she wasn’t considered “friendly,” more than once. By the time she came home with us, she had been in at least 4 different ‘homes’ (if you count whatever was before ACC & ACC as a ‘home’). And she was in the Hotel Mancuso twice.

Potato around when she was rescued.

I have to admit after the first 2 months, I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision, but I wasn’t going to give up. At that moment, when I sat with my laptop, on Potato’s bed, with her watching me from a shelf about 3 feet above my head –which was where she would spend most of her days, curled up with her back to the wall, the ceiling about 6 inches above her, and a full view of the entire room and half the apartment so as to prevent ambush– I wasn’t sure if our home was the right one for her. She wasn’t as terrified, but having a flea infestation on top of everything else certainly made her backslide a bit.

But after 7 months? I thought that even by that time, an experienced Cat Mama like me would have had a harmonious household kitty-wise. At the time, while the journey with Potato was still new to me, I thought I I had a bit more of an understanding if someone with lesser kitty skills gave up and put a cat up for adoption. Now though, sitting here in our new home with Potato curling against my legs after she let me actually pick her up and cuddle her a few minutes ago? Now, I’m not as understanding. When we live in a world where dogs and cats die in the millions because of irresponsible humans? When people buy cats because of visual aesthetics? It’s almost a given that not everyone has the patience or the commitment a cat, let alone a homeless cat or a cat with special needs. But, those folks shouldn’t place themselves on that path at all. If you don’t have the fortitude and aren’t going to commit yourself to an animal, then don’t bring one into your home. Period. Hopefully this piece will give some folks ideas about how to approach a hard-to-integrate kitty into the home while also giving other folks a little pause before committing themselves, their families, and their homes to integrating and rehabilitating a cat.

This piece isn’t to dissuade anyone from adopting a cat, dog, ferret, or Shetland pony. If you have the means, the wherewithal, and the heart– save a life and adopt. However, there are some definite do’s and don’ts, along with some stuff that even a tried and true Cat Mama like myself needs to know before adopting or during the first stages of adoption, in addition to the basics.

There are scores of articles out there giving the basics of how to introduce a cat to a new home. All the basics are very similar, but there are lots of things to consider BEFORE kitty comes home. A really good resource is Jackson Galaxy’s Total Cat Mojo: The Ultimate Guide to Life with Your Cat.

In it, Galaxy outlines everything you need to know about what motivates a cat, how to catify your life to make having a cat as harmonious as possible. I am a believer in Jackson Galaxy’s strategies, but I also am skeptical about how easily he achieves wins on his show My Cat from Hell. It’s not that those wins are concocted or aren’t achievable; it’s just the timing that makes me doubtful. With Potato, a cat who I would classify as being borderline feral when she came home with me, rehabilitation took a lot of time. But, I have noticed that Galaxy has been a bit more transparent in the more recent seasons and has noted that rehabilitating a cat is an investment in time.

Step One: Consideration and Education

First, to quote another cat behaviorist Pam Johnson-Bennet: “Cats are not dogs.”

Yes. It does sound silly, but as Johnson-Bennet notes that “many people expect cats to act like dogs and then become disappointed when they don’t.” Cats don’t do what you expect. Cats are more intelligent and are very prone to boredom. Cats aren’t spiteful and don’t act poorly to piss us off, but cat behavior should be taken as a communication tool. So be ready to communicate the minute you meet your new kitty.

But, even before you meet him or her and bring that newbie home, as with any of my guides, the first

Luna sleeping on my bed.

step is to educate yourself. Read what you can. This article is a good start, but it shouldn’t be your only resource. Don’t jump into adoption as a whim. It’s like having a baby. You don’t just wake up one morning and decide you want to come home with a child. Adopting a cat is exactly like having a child, just one you don’t have to clothe and put through college.While you’re reading up on cats and deciding that adopting a cat is for you, give some serious consideration to who lives in the space with you. While you’re still in the search stage, well before you bring home the new kitty, consider who will be sharing the home with the new cat. Do you have other cats? Dogs? Animals? Children? What are the ages? Genders? And then consider the space. Are you in an apartment or habitat with limited space? Or will you have a room to devote to the newbie as his or her safe zone or isolation area? All of that will dictate different approaches to the introduction process.

Sage and Potato in a calmer face-off.

Even if you’re like me, someone who has had cats forever and always, careful consideration is needed. Don’t just introduce the new cat cold and let everyone work it out. If you want to minimize problems, and have a harmonious household, a certain amount of preparation has to be done. And, as any cat guardian knows, no two cats are the same, so no two cat introductions will go the same. Just because one cat seemed to acclimate to the house immediately, that doesn’t mean the next cat will. That was a source of frustration with adopting Potato– that it took so long to acclimate and assimilate her to us and to the home. But, the minute I realized she was unique and a case not so much of assimilation but rehabilitation, my frustration eased, and her personality blossomed, albeit slowly.

Introductions aren’t uniform. You don’t introduce cats the same way to other cats, to small children, to dogs, to parakeets, and to the space that will be her new forever home. Cats are sensitive to high-pitched sounds, so there are preparation techniques for introducing cats to small children and babies. Cats are sensitive to sound, period, so be mindful about ambient sounds from outside. It took a while for me to realize that since Potato had been living in a space that was in a busier neighborhood, with more street traffic and more ambient noise, moving to our home, in a quieter neighborhood, actually made her more frightened because the noise wasn’t constantly in the background. That made the noise less predictable for her.

Also, cats are small and, while it may sound obvious, we aren’t. Cats react differently to us than dogs do– and believe it or not, the sheer size, volume, smell, and clumsiness of humans might be enough to make cats feel uncomfortable, frightened, and defensive. As a vertically challenged person, I never thought my size would be enough to frighten a cat until we brought Potato home. And, if she was scared of my 2-apple-high self, my husband who towers over me terrified her. Had I considered the world from her perspective and prepared accordingly, we might have had a better rapport earlier on. At the time of her adoption, Potato was only 4 pounds– and she was fully grown. Now, she’s still the size of an 8 month old kitten and she weighs about 5 pounds.

There are a lot of resources out there for helping you to introduce a new cat or kitten to your home, and there are lots of resources for helping you introduce new cats to old kitty residents, canine residents, and human residents. A great resource is Cat vs. Cat by Pam Johnson-Bennet and of course Jackson Galaxy who in addition to his Total Cat Mojo, has dozens of articles and clips to help you prepare for introductions.

If you’re considering a new adoption– to a catless household or a catfull household, I’ll say again: please read as much as you can to glean as many ideas as you can. Educate yourself regardless of how much or how little you know about cats. And, no matter the situation, know there are resources to help you and help the kitty. If you have difficulty assimilating a new cat to your home– speak with the rescue or adoption center, speak with your vet, or find a local rescue that can provide some advice. If money is no limit, speak with a reputable cat behaviorist. Some tips on finding one can be found in the article I quoted from earlier.

Read all about introductions to the house here, introductions to other cats here, and check out what the Cat Daddy, Jackson Galaxy, says about kitty introductions here and here.

As you consider, think about the cat specifically. Do you want a specific breed? If you do, then do more homework about that breed. Many people want the latest fad, and unfortunately, the breeds that are “in” are high maintenance animals. Shelters and rescues are inundated with Bengals and Himalayans. The former need a lot of stimulation and the latter are prone to respiratory complaints.

Sage, a few weeks after we took her home.

After adopting my middle girl, Sage, I had suspicions that she might have some Bengal in her. After adopting Potato, I know she has some Bengal in her and more than Sage. It’s not that I think every tabby is part Bengal, but as I started reading some of the introduction articles specific to Bengals, I learned about something I had been suspicious about for some time: Backyard Breeding (ByB). One article lamented how unscrupulous persons wanting to make a buck off his or her purebred Bengal tries to breed that cat with a tabby (or another specific breed to try to create something new). The article didn’t do more than note ByB in passing. But, after doing more research while editing our book Tails from the Other Side: Pets & the ParanormalI discovered that not only is this unofficial breeding going on, in some areas, it’s at epidemic proportions. And, then consider that when you have “official breeding” what do those official breeders do with unwanted kittens from a litter? Where to these “misfit kitties” go? Dump them in a shelter or foist them on a rescue. The cats resulting from ByB often may have uneven temperaments and health problems. I first became aware of this phenomenon before I knew it had a name. An acquaintance bought a white Toy Tiger from a “local” breeder. I’m no expert on all the new-fangled breeds, but aren’t Toy Tigers orange and black with a white tummy? It seemed that a local resident had started breeding white Toy Tigers and my acquaintance found them so irresistible that she plunked down several thousand dollars to purchase a kitten for herself and one for her sister. Several weeks later, her sister’s cat was diagnosed with several cancerous tumors and had to be euthanized. My acquaintance’s own cat had some health issues, as well as some instability in terms of mood, well beyond simple kitty aloofness.

The best bet is to go to a shelter or rescue. If you truly must have a specific breed, there are many rescues that specialize. Please don’t think of these rescued pure-breeds as rejects. Many of the animals given up or those rescued have temperaments typical of their breed. Many of those that buy a cat because it’s fashionable or neat have no idea about the needs of that breed.

Another thing to consider are the costs of having a cat in your life. Again, it’s like having a child– a forever toddler. Like with a child, you have the basics to think about: food, shelter, and medical care, all of which cost money. Make sure you won’t make the mistake I was forced into when I was a kid. One of my cats from childhood fell desperately ill and my mother refused to take on the expense of a vet visit for something she thought was the cat being spiteful. Being a child, I had no resources of my own and I was forced to accept that a member of our family wouldn’t be getting medical treatment. Ultimately, after doing the only thing I was able to do– pitch a fit that included my going off food as well as going off any communication with my mother. But it was too late, our Pattycake went into liver failure, and even though she lived for another 2 years, with lots of care, the damage was done. Had we gone to the vet immediately, she might not have progressed into liver failure and would have lived a longer, healthier life. I have 3 cats now and don’t have ready money for medical insurance for them, or for a vet visit. But, there are options like vets who take installments in payment (very few do, but there are some) and Care Credit, a credit card that can be used for medical expenses, for humans or animals.

Consider food and other recurring expenses like litter, but you also have to consider the emotional life of the animal as another investment of a kind. A really great site despite the small text is Messy Beast run by Sarah Hartwell. It’s chock full of articles, advice, and resources. Some excellent resources are Hartwell’s pieces on Cat Communication.

As you consider and educate yourself, make a plan, include your family in the process and, once the wheels are moving toward bringing a kitty home, move onto Step Two.

At this ponit, Spring 2018, Potato was still opening up. She was comfortable leaving her room at times, but I couldn’t touch her, except in her room, and under specific circumstances. But, just sharing space was enough. Here, she sat with me while I graded end-of-term student papers.

Source: http://www.green-and-growing.com/2019/02/adopting-cat-part-1.html

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