Adopting a Cat: Part 2
Friday, March 1, 2019 13:49
% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.
Like a new baby, you need space dedicated to the new member of the family. So, ask yourself again, do you have an isolation room or a space that can be devoted to the new kitty for anywhere from a few days to a few months? Regardless of any past experiences you may have taking cats into your home, you must have a special space– spare bathroom, spare bedroom, a crate – set up for the new feline. It has to be a space that kitty doesn’t have to share with anyone.
And, yes, you read that correctly: a few months. As I said in the previous installment, regardless of your past experiences with cats, regardless of how experienced you are with cats, each feline member of the household is and should be different. With Luna, her isolation lasted about 2 weeks, primarily because she had fleas when she adopted us; she had been abandoned in the street. With Sage, her isolation was only a few days, because she kept escaping the room. By not having her isolated and not integrating her properly, the first 5 or 6 months was a bit bumpy as Luna got used to Sage as the new member of the house. There was quite a bit of distance between them for the first year.
With Potato? She was a different case entirely and as I said before, she was a cat that needed rehabilitation alongside integration. I made a lot of mistakes with her and had I known what I know now, what I’m sharing in these articles, her isolation time might have been shortened radically. And, the time might have had a lot less stress, for her, for my husband, and for me. As it is, she was in isolation, with the door shut to her room for a full 6 months, then with gates blocking her room for another 6 months. After that, we put up gates when we weren’t home and she “lived” in her room until we moved last year. So, in our last home, she was in some form of isolation for almost 2 years. Now, her home-base is our bedroom, but she does wander around the house, when the other 2 are sleeping. There are some minor quibbles, but they can all share space together for hours with no supervision and without any problems.
| A supervised visit, one of the first, a year after we adopted Potato. These typically lasted 5 minutes or less. |
Isolation Room or Crate?
One of the problems I had with all the other articles and resources I read, they all discuss having an isolation room. I advocate for that whenever possible. A dedicated room was doable in my last apartment. But, when we moved to our current house? Despite it being a larger place, there was no isolation room option.
If you’re living in a one-room apartment or a situation like I’m in now (a living space without an “extra” room), then consider getting a large crate, pet-safe playpen, or cage. You’ll need something much larger than a carrier so kitty can move around freely; something to house a full-sized litter box; something with enough room to give kitty food and water at least a foot or two away from the box. (I learned the hard way that cats won’t eat in the same area that houses their litter box.)
| Luna eating outside Potato’s room, with Potato watching from inside the doorway. |
It may sound inhumane to crate or cage your new family member, but it’s more inhumane to bring a cat into your home with no safety zone for her. When we moved last summer, we were moving from our medium-sized apartment to a comfortably sized house. Potato was still not fully integrated into the family and we had to consider the other 2 cats as well. Despite having a moderately harmonious household, moving put us all back to the beginning because we had to introduce the cats to their new home and reintroduce them to each other. I was also concerned that being in a ranch house with several entrances at ground level, where before our apartment was on an upper floor with no direct access to the outside, any of the cats might try to escape. Several years ago, when my mother cat-sat Luna in this same house, Luna escaped out the front door and wandered the woods around the house for a while until she decided to let my mom tackle her and bring her back inside. Twice in the space of 3 days. Now living in the same home with my aged parental unit, we have an array of neighborhood wanderers (Felidae, Leporidae, and Sciuridae) alongside a scattering offerals who often sit in the front or backyard with the express purpose of checking out the new kitties on the block..
So, to keep the girls more secure, I opted for a portable, soft-sided pet-safe playpen. One per cat. It was perfect to house a kitty and litter-box with enough space for food and water at a comfortable distance from the box. I’ll share more moving tips in another article. This brand came in 2 sizes. The smaller size was perfect for Potato with a kitten-sized litter-box, which is all she needed in that space, but it was also a good size for Sage, a full-sized cat with normally sized litter-box. Granted, the disposable box Sage was using while she was in the crate was just a bit smaller than her regular one, and the space was a bit tight for her, but as I started opening up her crate to give her some time to explore, she seemed to adjust better. But, again, it took time. For our largest and eldest kitty, we opted for the larger sized crate by the same company. It was perfect for Luna and her large litter-box. On retrospect, I probably should have gotten the same size for Sage because it took her a few more weeks to feel completely comfortable in the home; that larger crate might have saved her some of that stress. In all, the isolation for the girls in their crates lasted about 2 months and then once out of their crates, another month in their shared space, our bedroom. Luna, the most confident of the 3, was the first to explore the house and oddly, Sage was the last. But now, they all move freely and comfortably about the space.
Isolation Room: Gates & Doors
Ideally, the new cat’s room needs to have a door that closes. If you have a room, but no door, consider installing a door (see Jackson Galaxy’s suggestions about installing a screen door which he mentions on many an episode of My Cat from Hell as well as his article “Do’s and Don’ts of Introducing Cats”); or get a few baby and pet gates. Be careful about what kind of gate you get. Initially, I got a standard baby gate, but had to return it because Potato is so tiny, I was afraid she could squeeze through the bars, which did happen to a full-sized cat on an episode of My Cat from Hell last season. Iopted for the My Pet wire mesh dog gate. It has a cross-hatch wire mesh that even the tiniest kitten can’t
squeeze through. It was also much sturdier than a baby gate. Although, no single gate will do it. Cats can jump and depending on the cat, they can jump pretty high. So I got a baby gate of a similar style to stack on top of the dog gate. Then to block the view, I hung a curtain in the doorway.
When I first brought Potato home I used the gates and curtain, despite having a door to the room that could close. I didn’t think it through and had initially thought what worked for the previous kitty, would work for Potato. It took me almost a full month before I hit the reset button, removed the gates and curtain, and closed the door. Several missteps on my part made Potato’s rehabilitation that much longer.
Once you determine how you’re going to close off the room, door or baby gate, the space needs to be baby-proofed. You are essentially bringing a new baby into the house, regardless of that baby’s age. Make sure you leave nothing in the room that can hurt kitty. No furniture that will easily topple if kitty jumps on it. No knicknacks or chatchkas that kitty can choke on, break, or urinate on. Bookcases and bureaus need to be stable. Books on shelves need to be stable as well because kitty will climb. Breakables and family heirlooms need to be put away. And make sure there are no spaces that kitty can crawl into and get stuck. Block off under furniture. If there’s a bed in the room, block underneath. If there’s a closet, make sure kitty can’t get inside. Also make sure if the room has a window, the screen and window are secure so that if kitty sits on the sill, she won’t risk falling out. Again, keep in mind simple things like your new cat is not like your old cat. Just because Fluffy never eats plants or knocks over gammy’s prized Hummel, doesn’t mean the newcomer won’t. I’ll say it again: make sure there is nothing in the room that can hurt kitty or would devastate you if there’s a catastrophe that destroys that object.
Food & Litter
The room also needs to have water, food, and litter readily available. Both the food and litter should be the same brand, or as close as possible, to whatever kitty’s been used to at the shelter or rescue. If a shelter or rescue doesn’t give you a sample of food, don’t be afraid to ask for the brand name they used. Ditto on the litter. While cats might be more accepting of different food brands, litter is something they’ll be more finicky with. Once she’s adopted you and your home is her forever home, if you want your cat to use a different litter or food, you can transition her to it– slowly after she’s transitioned to the house first.
Food is the easiest thing to transition, if the cat is young enough. Older cats and cats with special needs may have more difficulty. When I adopted Sage, our middle furbaby, there was no transition time at all. On Day 1, she refused the bag of dried kibble the rescue gave me and devoured the bowl of higher-quality wet food I had prepared. Even though the rescue told me their cats were fine on dry kibble, I only give high-quality dry food as a treat or food topping, not as a main food source. I make food from scratch, using human-grade ingredients with supplements designed for feline nutrition.
I’m about due for a homemade kitty food recipe update but there are several comprehensive recipes posted already. If you have the gumption, homemade is the best. Over the years, I’ve managed to streamline my process and with aging kitties, their dietary needs have changed. With homemade, you have the most control over the quality and it’s far cheaper. But, if you don’t have the time or inclination, just make sure whatever you feed kitty has high-quality protein, no by-products, no fillers (like ash, silica, wood-pulp, or clay), and nothing toxic to cats.
Ideally, you’ll make sure the food is made in the US or Canada. Many manufacturers of petfood outsource ingredients overseas, ingredients which can be contaminated. The most trusted brand for me, was Candidae, until all three became violently ill. I switched to Blue Buffalo, until there was a recall, and now use Merrick, but only certain formulas. There are a lot of mixed reviews on Merrick, but thus far I’ve had no problems with it and they are made in the US. Check out pet food recalls at Petful and the FDA.
In many ways, litter is more difficult than food. If the litter and the box aren’t exactly what a cat is looking for, kitty will find a better alternative. But, better for kitty is not better for you. We found this out, also the hard way.
Litter should be exactly what kitty was using in the rescue, or as close as possible. If you’re able, get a sample from the shelter or rescue, or at least get the brand they used. I’d highly recommend NOT using any litter with deodorizers. But, if that’s what the rescue used, use it until you can get kitty using something else. Any litter with an added deodorizers can cause health issues for cats. Anitra Frazier, in The New Natural Catclaims deodorizing crystals in cat litter can cause everything from kidney failure to cancer. Many of the additives found in those litters are toxic. Several formulas have household cleaners as litter additives. Things like baking soda, perfumes, and pine sol can cause organ failure. Why add baking soda to a cat box if baking soda is toxic to cats? Phenol, a main ingredient in many pine-scented litter, in many cleaners, and in pine litter that is not kiln dried is highly toxic to cats.
| The gates and playpen are still up in this pic, taken a little under 2 months after our move. |
There is a LOT of controversy about cat litter. Should it be self-cleaning? Should it smell nice? Should it biodegrade? My decision not to use regular clay litter wasn’t an environmental one– even though clay litter is an environmental disaster. I had to find an alternative because Luna is horribly allergic to clay litter. Again, it took a year or so to figure it out, but after the vet told us to keep her on allergy medication to control horrible hives that swelled her eyes shut and after I saw a story about how clay litter is the product of strip mining, I thought about finding an alternative. I also thought about the silica dust from the litter after I had a horrible asthma attack while changing the litter. It took me a little while to find something else she would use and that I felt comfortable about using, but once she acclimated to a new litter, there was no going back. I initially tried a litter that I thought was made from wheat hulls. I was told by the pet store it was made from the byproducts of making flour. Actually, it isn’t. Most of the wheat and corn litters are industrially grown for litter. I was horrified at the concept of our society being so wasteful as to allow our pets to use foodstuffs for a toilet. Then in a matter of a day or so after this discovery, I found a weevil infestation in the kitchen with the wheat litter as the source. Now, we use Feline pine litter and so far haven’t had problems. Feline Pine kiln dries their litter, which removes harmful phenols, and they don’t use virgin trees in their litter, but only reclaimed wood.
The litter box is another issue. In all honesty, if you have cats, you have to get used to a box kitty will crap in. Don’t hide it. Don’t make it pretty. And don’t train kitty to use the toilet. Thinking we were doing a good thing, I bought the same litter box that Potato used in her rescue– basically a closed box that looked like a rubber-maid tub with a hole in the cover. I thought she’d be more comfortable. But, she refused to use it and thus started the saga of her peeing on the bed instead of in the box. It was one thing that could have broken my resolve. Especially since she peed on the bed once while I was sleeping in it.
But, detective work and more education helped me to translate what Potato was telling me. She didn’t like her box. It smelled and she was afraid of being ambushed while using it. And, peeing on me was her messed up, frightened, confusticated way of telling me that she wanted to mingle her scent with mine. She wanted to be part of my family.
Most cats don’t like the closed in space of a covered box. A closed box provides no line-of-sight and while using the box, a cat needs to feel secure. If she thinks she’ll be attacked mid-use, she won’t use that box. In Potato’s isolation room, there was a twin daybed along the far wall. It was a high-point in the room, topographically speaking, and since it was along a wall, no ambush could take place from behind. It was Potato’s litter box for about 6 months. Keep in mind, her actual box was on the floor near the doorway to the room. Since the room was a semi-storage room, it was home to our chest freezer and several bookcases. So we didn’t have any other place for a litter-box except where we placed them, just inside the door. But, after we ditched the covered boxes, kept the door closed, and stopped feeding her near the boxes, she stopped using the bed as her go-to-potty-place. We also started feeding her on the bed, which helped immensely.
When Luna started having litter-box issues several years ago, again detective work told me that as
she was aging, arthritis started settling into her hips and she wasn’t able to position herself properly in her regular-sized box. She kept missing the box, even though she stood in it to go. After switching to the Smartcat Ultimate Litter box, which is shaped sort of like a child-sized bathtub, Luna has never had a litter-box mishap again.
Here are some helpful pieces if your kitty develops litter-box problems, or some things to keep in mind to prevent future litter-box problems: from the ASPCA and from Cats International.
While on the idea of litter, a related issue is what gets deposited in the box and how to clean it. It almost goes without saying that before you bring kitty home, make sure you have an enzyme cleaner in the house, along with plenty of paper towels, and garbage bags. You may want to get a black light to help in the detective work should you have any urination outside the box. The black light helps see urine. Also, you’ll want something handy to bag up solid waste, so biodegradable pet waste bags are good. Do NOT flush cat feces down the toilet. Cats can harbor pathogens that we really don’t want in our water supply like Toxoplasma,which can wreak havoc in the environment, kill sea life, and cause serious neurological harm to human fetuses (hence why pregnant women shouldn’t clean cat litter-boxes.). And, if you use conventional litter it can seriously mess up your plumbing.
Many folks I know who opt for deodorizers in their cat litter do so because they feel the scent helps control the cat-box odor. Ditto for most folks with covered litter-boxes, any of those litter-boxes masquerading as planters, or self-cleaning litter-boxes. If your cat has special needs, like CH, a covered box can help kitty stabilize herself in order to use the box. (Read all about CH kitties here in this awesome piece by Potato’s rescue daddy Christopher Mancuso )
Deodorizers, as I said earlier, can slowly kill your cat. Ditto for cleaners. Again, as noted before: do NOT under any circumstances use any pine sol, lysol, Mr. Clean, ammonia, or any similar cleaning agent around any cat. The chemicals in those cleaners will build up in your cat’s system. As she uses the box, walks on any surfaces where you used that cleaner– hint hint: the floor– she’ll lick it off her paws and ingest small amounts of it. Multiply that by the number of times a cat cleans herself daily. Multiply that by every day in the week and you get the idea. I lost a cat to liver failure and another to kidney failure because the damage was already done before I knew I was causing the damage with the cleaners I used on and around their boxes. Now, I only use natural cleaners, mostly DIY and I only use dish-soap on their litter boxes. Yes. Dish-soap on litter-boxes.
If you clean your cat’s boxes routinely, at least once a week, if not twice, then no smell will infiltrate the box itself. If you scoop the waste throughout the day– at least two or three times– and stir around the litter to help absorb any standing liquid, the stink won’t infiltrate the rest of the house. We have 3 boxes which have to be cleaned every 4 days.
Catification
Catification is a big step and it has to be done BEFORE kitty comes home. Most of the stuff I just went through can be considered part of the overall catification process, but after the basics of setting up the space as a safety zone for the new arrival, think beyond food, water, and litter-box.
| Potato’s Cat TV in the apartment. |
Cats will need territory to own and to help them truly master their space, to feel comfortable, to feel they belong and the space belongs to them, that means snuggle spots, activities to keep them stimulated, and vertical space. Have an array of toys, interactive games, shelves, perches, and so on. You want the room totally catified. Any quick Google search can give you ideas and a more in-depth search can help you catify without spending a fortune. Cats need a lot of stimulation. Even devout cat guardians may not realize how much energy cats need to expel, and unlike dogs, you can’t easily take any cat out for a walk. I’ve tried with mine without success. Having perches and places to lounge in high places gives cats stimulation, especially if situated near a window. Cats can spend hours staring outside, watching whatever happens to be on “Cat T.V.” Having vertical space allows scaredy cats to become confident kitties as well.
| Potato prefers live Cat TV in our new abode. |
In Potato’s isolation room, we already had 1 large shelf installed, so we cleared our junk from that and added more shelving. We had plans to complete the circuit around the room, but we moved before that goal was realized. Throughout the apartment we had perches in every room, enough for each cat should they all converge on the same room at once, which never really happened in that apartment. Once Potato was in the room, it was too stressful for her to do any kind of intense catification (shelf installation, moving furniture). In the new house, we weren’t able to catify before they moved in. (That’s what happens when you move in with an elderly hoarder and need to deal with the overall living space, as well as get the feline living space up to standard). But, we do have perches, shelves, and snuggle spots for all the girls throughout the house, and the shelves in the bedroom, their main base of operations, is nearly complete. We’re hoping to finish it this weekend.
For ideas about how to catify on a budget check out this Pinterest page. I got a lot of ideas from this. Check out these simple tips and here are some shelving ideas from Hauspanther’s Pinterest page.
So, the room needs to have a snuggle spot for kitty set up. You can use the carrier she comes in as that snuggle spot, just make sure it opens securely enough that kitty won’t get stuck inside. But, if kitty is anything like Sage or Potato, the carrier might be a source of fear instead of comfort. Before you bring kitty home, put a towel or small cloth inside the carrier. Once kitty is home, use the cloth as a sent source for new kitty. I did this when we brought home Sage and Potato, and was happy I did so because neither wanted anything to do with the carrier once I opened it to let them out. I removed the cloth and placed it in what would become their snuggle spot of choice. If possible, see if you can get the bedding kitty used in the shelter or rescue. When I took Sage home, the rescue gave me that option, but I declined. I shouldn’t have. Having that might have saved her some stress. When bringing home Potato, because she had never really integrated into her foster home and never really settled on a place that she could claim as her own while she lived there, there wasn’t any bedding or item that properly had her scent on it.
A word on toys, make sure they aren’t dangerous and don’t have bits that can be easily chewed and swallowed. Also make sure they aren’t too large. I made the mistake of offering Potato a toy style that Luna loved and she freaked. It wasn’t that the toy was Luna’s, with Luna’s scent on it. It was a brand new toy, but it was simply too large. Potato is 1/3 the size of Luna and it took me a little while to realize that while Potato was finding her mojo, toys for her needed to be smaller than toys I might use for the other cats. An amazing book is Playtime for Cats by Helena Dbalý Stefanie Sigl. If you can get it, it’s worth it and gives you ideas about how to entertain kitties, again without spending a fortune.
At the very least, get some interactive toys– cat wands are the best– as they could help establish trust, which would increase new kitty’s confidence. If I had the insight to use play earlier and more consistently, then Potato might have been more easily integrated into the house.
Still on the room. If there’s a bed in the room, prepare the bed ahead of time. Get a waterproof, zippered cover to protect the mattress from accidents. A really good one– breathable, washable, and cheap is by LinenSpa. The material is lightweight. It does make a mattress retain heat a bit, but it does protect against insects as well as liquids. Don’t put blankets, pillows, or anything that you will freak out over if kitty pees on them. If you do have any pillows that must be on the bed, get one of the pillow protectors from LinenSpa. They’re as durable as the mattress protector, inexpensive, and usually sold 2 in a package.
But, be prepared, if kitty is a hider, you might want to remove the bed or mattress and box-spring so kitty won’t have a hiding place like this. Having a comfortable place– a snuggle spot– isn’t the same as a hiding spot. You want kitty to feel safe, but hiding will make kitty less confident and ultimately
feel less safe. This was one of the things I realized was a mistake on my part because Potato spent the first week hiding under the bed in her room. In the scheme of things a week doesn’t seem like much time, but considering everything with her, that week could have been a major factor.
And, it took us way more than a week to realize we needed a mattress cover. Initially, we seized the opportunity to ditch the old, funky mattress and box-spring that had been in that room for the last decade. We bought a new-fangled foam mattress with matching mattress foundation– only to have her decide to start peeing on the new mattress. Again, playing Monday-morning quarterback, moving the mattress and foundation in and out of her room, repeatedly over several weeks time was more than harrowing. It basically set us back to zero, over and over.
You could also opt for starting off kitty with a pheromone to make the overall transition smoother. Again, the pheromone wasn’t something I even considered until we were almost at a breaking point. After the flea infestation started, on a really bad day that included breaking up 2 cat fights, cleaning up multiple urine spots (in her room), and finally combing over Potato’s room with a black-light and then enzyme cleaner to get everything,
I actually considered returning this kitten who had already been returned to the rescue. I didn’t think about it long, but the thought had crossed my mind as the urine, cat fights, and fleas began to erode our lives. But, after I regained my composure, and after Potato sat within arm’s length from me for the first time every, I was not going to let a little urine –and a few fleas– deter me.
But, having a pheromone like Feliway or ComfortZone (both the same manufacturer) are helpful. Having the Diffuser was the final puzzle piece in solving the urine issue and it has been the saving grace during our move to a new home. As I said, we did have to do some serious detective work. After I discovered that the litter box style was wrong (covered litter-boxes trap urine odors which can deter cats), the position of the litter-box vs the food station was wrong (cats won’t eat where they urinate or defecate so the food station must be on the opposite side of the room to the litter-box), and a host of other things including too much stress (new home for her, cat fights, and fleas), and a preference for peeing on fleece blankets as opposed to kitty litter, we were able to reduce the number of incidents from daily to weekly to monthly to nothing. After our move, Potato has urinated outside the box exactly once and that was a warning sign to us that her litter-box needed a better location. Once we found where she wanted it, she hasn’t had any issues.
Now, going on 3 years with Potato, I have very few regrets, and those revolve around how I approached the situation– as though she would be like the other cats I’ve adopted before. I was over-confident and didn’t consider her as unique. Had I done that, had I been a little more prepared, I think I could have sidestepped a good many of the more stressful moments. Now, my day is not complete without this forever kitten) who couldn’t stand being touched in the beginning) perching on my shoulder to snuggle during TV-time. Now, I can appreciate the milestones as they happen. A scant day or two ago, she let me clip her nails, for the first time.
Stay tuned for some tips about moving & fighting fleas without chemicals.
| The norm: Sage and Potato hanging out. They’ll do this for hours without a problem. |
Source: http://www.green-and-growing.com/2019/03/step-two-catify-and-prepare-space.html
Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!
Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!
HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.
Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.
MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)
Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!
Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.
Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).
MOST RECENT
HELP KEEP NEWS FREE
DONATE
HERE
| Online: | |
| Visits: | 1,604,169,302 |
| Stories: | 8,152,499 |
Wanted: Citizen Reporters,
Whistler Blowers, Insiders
Whistler Blowers, Insiders
"Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Zechariah 4:6
Today's Top Stories
Featured
Top Global
Top Alternative