Buddy's Mom wrote:

We will all tell you to go slowly introducing Lucy to your other
kitties and to the house. Take it room by room and kitty by kitty.
There are many recent posts regarding this very thing. When I first
brought my latest shelter kitty home, we kept him in the kitchen and
laundry room for the first week. Then every couple of days we would
allow him to explore another room for a few hours and then put him back
into his comfort room. He was probably here for a month before he had
the entire house to himself. We also tried to move very slowly around
him at first. No fast moves and no loud noises. We don't have other
kitties, but you introduce them slowly just like rooms of your house.
After a couple of weeks, our kitty seemed to act as if he really
belonged here and had lived here all of his life. He is very laid back
and not afraid of any people who may come to the house.

Good luck and keep us posted with details about this wonderful story
for the new year!
Thanks.
It Is hard to know what Is right or wrong, because, as you know each
kitty is so different.Big fat old Ringo sauntered in as though he owned
the house & we have never had a spot of trouble intergrating him, but
Lucy is an altogether different issue.I don't know any of her prior
history, which would have been helpful If we were able to access It-In
It's absense,We will just have to go a day at a time

I think If she feels most comfortable with Tilly, then we should allow
her to go up to her room If think this is where she feels most
comfortable.We keep a hooded kitty litter in the bathroom opposite her
bedroom, so at least there are some toileting facilities available for
her to use, without having to come downstairs past the other cats, just
to use them.Problem Is that I don't know whether she will use them.I
can only try I guess.

Tilly has decided that she wantes to bring Lucy(fur) in for the night,
& has collected her out of her run & taken her up to bed with her.I did
point out the possible pitfall's to her, but she Insist's that It Is a
worthy cause.I hope that she doesn't mind using them, as this would be
a perfect answer.I can stop all of the other cats from going up stairs
for the present simply by shutting the door to the stairs from the
living room.This would shut Lucy off from all of the other rooms, other
than Tilly's room, the bathroom & the landing, where there Is a perfect
window half way up the stairs for her to watch the world go by from..It
would cause no disruption either to any of the children or the feline
family either.The only cat that we are going to have to keep an eye on,
Is Ringo Super star~He thinks we all belong to him..(which we do of
course!!)

Ringo act's as though he has lived here all of his adult life.He stalks
around like a strutting peacock displaying his full feathers..and
wonder's from room to room,face rubbing all the shoes that he can
find.He looks like he is in utter extascy while performing this task,
which he seems to take very seriously.When not hunting for portable
scent emitters, he can be found like Goldilocks, trying every bed out
In the house, making sure that each bed is of a certain satisfactory
standard.The test for this is to roll over and over on each bed until
he purr's himself silly.Once he has tested all of them, he makes his
way to todays especially comfortable bed, then lolls out all over
it,burying himself as deep into it.He really is such an extrovert and a
show off.

He has in fact met Lucy, but for all of her anxiety, he doesn't even
seem to notice it;If he does, It doesn't show!
He tried to play friends with her earlier, but she wasn't quite so
anxious to take part in that game..all he got for his efforts was a
very unhelpful hisssss, to which his reply was... pfft!!Then sauntered
off to find the softest bed again.Once found, he adopt's the pose of
the dying fly with all 4 paws in the air, all bent at the joints so
that they fold over as though in a begging position -flat on his
back,lol;o)

He still knocks at the door when he wants to come In-I have to admit
that It is rather a good party piece & we throughly enjoyed showing off
with him all over xmas with all of our visitors

All of the other cats simply avoid her in bewilderment....Why would
anyone not want to play with them?
They really can't quite grasp that one
Hisssss...why?????

Other than not wishing to be involved with the riff-rafs silly
come-chase-me & role over-& die game's, she Is quite happy to observe
them, just as long as she is not required to take part in them.

Lucy enjoys a diet of anything that doesn't walk off whilst she is
devouring it..Guaging her interest in birds, & the stance she takes out
in the pen when she see's them-I get the impression that she has had to
hunt for her dinner before now, upsets me to think that someone has
neglected her so, in the past.
I could be wrong, but I don't think so In this instance, because she Is
lighting quick in her responses.

I can't help but wonder at her discomfort around other cats.It makes me
wonder whether she has had to fight for her food and position before we
knew her?
If one thing Is obvious to me, It Is that It will definately take us
more than a month to have her ready to rehome her again.

I did have one lady come round to look at all of our community bowl
feeder's & a small litter of kittens(4) that we weaned recently - who
agreed to have Lucy.This woman has never had a cat before & I didn't
think that a small kitten would be the most suitable cat for someone
that works all day .She said that she would call by as often as she
could to see Lucy,& that she would drop by from time to time to see how
we are getting on with trying to rehabilitate her. She gave us a month
to do It In,but It is perfectly clear to me that It is going to take
longer than that.It has also made me question whether this would be the
most suitable home too.I have 3reasons for reaching this conclusion,
other than the fact that we have not heard from her at all since , or
seen her either.If I were adopting a cat, I would want to get to know
that cat really well before allowing one to move in with me....

showed us how well a
situation can change as long as you have the time & attention to do
so.In this case, all of the credit goes to Tilly who has become firm
friends with her & loves her dearly as well.

1:It take's as long as It take's for Lucy to recover physically..never
mind mentally!As It is not possible to see the mental scar's, but only
the physical one's-I have no idea how long that will be.

2:Is this the most suitable home that I can find- Or, did I settle for
the home simply out of desperation because I do not want to just let
her go free again once she had been spayed?Or, can I take all the time
that Lucy needs to recover, then start considering the possiblity of
rehoming her all over again, rather than allowing her to go to an
inexperienced owner ,who might not know how to deal with her-thus
allowing both cat & new owner to become disillusioned with one another,
& the possibility of the whole cycle starting all over again?

3:I can feel the bond between Tilly & Lucy strengthening each day.If I
were to be honest with all of you & my self too,It Is crystal clear
that Tilly(10yrs old), has done all of her rehabilitation almost single
handedly.She has done everything from cleaning her wounds to dressing
them alone & under supervision.Tilly has not complained one about
cleaning out her kitty Pen(I do the litter because I fear the risk of
toxoplasmosis)..& her patience with this particular cat is remarkable,
& It Is also clear that that Lucy Is particularly responsive to Tilly
alone.If I allowed her to do the litter changing, I do in fact believe
that she would attend to that too!!

There are of course, pro's & con's to each case & It has to be said
that we already have 6 fulltime residents-so taking on another cat Is a
reponsibilty not to be taken lightly
There are vets fee's to consider,up keep & geeral care too.
I have no doubt in my mind that Tilly would never shirk her
responsibilites,but nevertheless, all of these considerations must be
considered before accepting her as a full time family member.

Tilly Is terrified that If I let her go out again unaccompanied that
she might not return again.
I don't think that this will be the case having got this far, but I
must take it into account before allowing her to go out again.I have
considered the option of allowing Tilly to take her out on reins once
she has receoverd fully
Would It be best, once all of her physical scar's are mended to allow
Tilly to turn her loose again?
I ask this question with one thought In mind.

I think It *would* be cruel to try & turn her into an indoor cat,having
had all of the freedom that she is used to.

I really would like a few other people's opinion's on this debate, as I
have never been faced with this dilema before, ever?
If we are going to decide to keep her, I would like to chip/tag her
just to make sure that If she ever lost her way again(doubtful, yet
possible), that anyone who finds her,can find out where we are & return
her to us-I don't think that she would be stolen-better safe than
sorry!

S)