Yes, dh and I may need to have our heads examined. We really do not
have to have another cat. Especially having one boy who was dx 3 months
ago with renal failure :-( It pushed us over the top though on Monday
when "Whitey" was out in the rain and finally found some underbrush in
the back of our yard. Thoughts were the cat slept in a drainage pipe
adjacent to the woods at the back of our property, so needless to say,
in rain needs to go elsewhere.
Dragged out the Hav-a-hart late yesterday and dh was out of practice.
Set the trap, Whitey went in at the wet food AND tuna, turned around
and split. We couldn't leave the trap out over night because we would
have ended up with oppusum instead. Set out 2 traps this a.m. One where
we trapped it yesterday in our backyard (under the bird feeder of
course) and the other on our front porch where the food is placed every
morning.
When I awoke, Whitey was already in the trap. Usual amount of ugly
reaction on his part. Thankfully a very calm quiet ride to the vets.
Left him there with instructions for checking him out. Called me about
45 minutes later to say that he was a SHE, about 3 years old and very
sweet, but VERY scared AND declawed in the front (grrrrrrhhhh!). We've
been feeding this stray since the end of November, but had no ideas
about the claws. Also the cat is also spayed. The vet is wondering if
perhaps the cat was "dumped" because it had been spraying??? I am
praying that the cat was dumped because someone was just not interested
in keeping her any longer. We already have 1 cat with spraying problems
and is on Paxil for that :-(
Vet called again 2 1/2 hours later saying the leukemia and FIV were
negative. Besides vaccinations and de-worming, I asked them to "try" to
bath her to rid her of some of the Georgia clay, but that evidently did
not go over too well. Rather than sedate her just for the bath, we
figure we'll skip it. Put some Advantage on her and ready for pick up
in a couple of hours.
So...do you all think Whitey is an appropriate name for a female cat?
She has all white underneath and at the base of all 4 paws with tiger
stripes all over her top.
Is there a chance, (actually there has to be because I don't know what
to do if not), that ONE female can co-habitate with FIVE males, TWO of
whom are in a constant power struggle to be the leader?
When I bring Whitey home I will set her up in our smallest spare
bedroom. For some entertainment, she will have a beautiful window to
view her old stomping grounds bird feeder and all. Knowing that she is
scared, except for food and water what else can we do to comfort her
and not make the situation worse? No way will we even consider
introductions to the 5 gentlemen until she feels comfortable in her new
environment. That hurdle we can tackle when the time comes. Just need
some ideas on how to make her feel most comfortable, less frightened.
Any suggestions? Thanks all in advance
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