Advice Needed for Adopting Adult Cats

"Karen" wrote in message
...

"Philip" wrote in message
k.net...

"Karen" wrote in message
...
in article

Stress is very often a factor. There was a little Persian at our vets
that
sucked the tip of her tail raw. She was an "ornament" in her home.The
people
did not want to "deal with" why she was doing this. So my vet took her
in to
adopt out. The day I saw her, I found out my supervisor's parents
beloved
older cat had passed away the week before. The mother was bent on
getting
another Siamese type, but I told her about this *adorable* tiny Persian
lady
kitty. She called her mom who came in and did *not* pass go to adopt
this kitty.

Curious, do you know why the mom was turned down for adoption? Do you
know
if she obtained a replacement for her deceased Siamese elsewhere?


Apparently, I was unclear. The mother was NOT turned down for adoption.
She
took in the little persian cat. "did not pass go" just a phrase meaning
she
didn't even stop to think NOT to run to the vets to adopt this cat.

If you are using an old copy of Outlook Express without OE QuoteFix patch,
please get it. The bad word wrapping makes your quoted text a pain to
repair.

The cat is now a *pampered* pet who is allowed to go where she wants
in the house and travels with them in the camper.

So somebody else has this "Persian lady cat" now. What made these other
people qualified to adopt?

I didn't think I was that unclear, however, it was early when I wrote
that.
Or else you are *trying* to be funny. Ha. Ha.

Your use of the phrase "did not pass go" is misleading except .... to those
who will come running to defend you from me. ;^)

"Lee" wrote in message
ups.com...
I wrote:

The time has come for us to open our hearts to some kitties who need a
permanent home. It has been a long time since we adopted cats, and
they have always been kittens. This time, we would like to adopt two
adult cats together, preferably two who have been companions.

I have never adopted adult cats before, only kittens, and need to know
how to make the transition from shelter to new home less stressful for
the cats.

They will have full run of the house, and will be indoor only. There
are no children or other animals in the house. They will have several
scratching posts and toys, as well as a cat shelf and a cat tree near
windows. We are not newbies to cats, only to adopting adult cats!

Any advice on what to expect when adopting adult cats would be
appreciated!

Well, we've been watching Petfinders for awhile and visited some
no-kill shelters. What we found was that we needed a little more time
to work through the grief over the loss over our last senior kitty, so
we stepped back and continued to watch the Petfinder listings.

A local shelter had a listing for two brothers and we thought we'd like
to see them. However, one of the bothers was already adopted.
Yesterday we returned to the shelter and decided to take home the
remaining brother. He's huge - he's got to weigh about 20 lbs, and
totally laid-back. There was another boy there who caught our eye, a
Maine Coon mix. When we introduced the two boys at the shelter, there
seemed to be no issues. One of the boys is 6 years old, they think (he
was a stray rescued from a kill shelter), and the other may be 3 or 4.
We will be bringing them home today! I'm a little bit nervous and hope
they will be happy here.

However, the Maine Coon boy has some partial hair loss/ severe thinning
on one flank and part of his tail. The shelter lady said that this
sometimes happens due to stress. The skin under these areas was
totally clear with no inflammation or anything like that. Does anyone
have any thoughts on this? We will, of course, take them both to our
own vet ASAP.

Wish us all luck!

Lee, very excited.


Lee, wonderful news!! Your new cats sound great. I wanted to tell
you that I do have a cat that grooms herself bald when stressed. She
may pull some of it out, but the way it looks when "in process" I really
think she just licks it out. As you say, the skin is perfectly pink and
smoothe. My guess is that once your boy is home and settles in, he
will be fine. (I solved my cat's stress situation and all her lovely
fur came back in! We have another cat that was invading her "turf"
in order to be closer to me. I stopped this by spending more time with
the other cat elsewhere so she stopped coming up to where the
bald kitty likes to call her own.)

Please, if you have time, keep us apprised of how it goes. And
we love kitty pics! You can make an album at Yahoo or any
number of free web sites. I am so happy for you, and for these
deserving boys. I hope they bring your home lots of joy. I
can just imagine how happy they will be to be out of the
shelter.

I wrote:

Well, we've been watching Petfinders for awhile and visited some
no-kill shelters.

A local shelter had a listing for two brothers and we thought we'd like
to see them. However, one of the bothers was already adopted.
Yesterday we returned to the shelter and decided to take home the
remaining brother. He's huge - he's got to weigh about 20 lbs, and
totally laid-back. There was another boy there who caught our eye, a
Maine Coon mix. When we introduced the two boys at the shelter, there
seemed to be no issues. One of the boys is 6 years old, they think (he
was a stray rescued from a kill shelter), and the other may be 3 or 4.
We will be bringing them home today! I'm a little bit nervous and hope
they will be happy here.

However, the Maine Coon boy has some partial hair loss/ severe thinning
on one flank and part of his tail. The shelter lady said that this
sometimes happens due to stress. The skin under these areas was
totally clear with no inflammation or anything like that. Does anyone
have any thoughts on this? We will, of course, take them both to our
own vet ASAP.

They boys have been in their new home with us for about three weeks
now, and have adjusted well. They like to be together and have been
perfect gentlemen. They haven't jumped up on counters (off limits to
cats in our house), and are only scratching/clawing where they're
supposed to. We took them to our vet, and both got treated for ear
mites and got their rabies shots.

Alex, the Maine Coon mix, is estimated to be 2-4 years old and weighs a
solid 14 lbs. He's a bit high strung and is always on full alert, but
in time we think he'll relax. His fur is starting to come in again,
but it will be awhile before it's all back. Apparently Alex was a
rescue from a cat hoarder and had been at the shelter for over a year
because he was part of "evidence" for the ongoing legal case. Alex
loves all his toys. Every morning I put them all back in a basket
under the cat tree, and by the afternoon, most of them are scattered
througout the house. He's a joy to watch when he plays!

Smitty, our huge boy, weighed 20 lbs., but is down to 19, probably due
to increased activity and not living in a cage. The vet said that he
doesn't need to be on a diet - he's just extra large. His age is
probably 9-10, not the 6 years the shelter thought. He's going in for
dental work next week for some serious gingivitis and tarter. He's a
totally laid-back cat, and I can't believe that he was turned in by his
original owner. He is the sweetest cat I have ever known, loves to get
on any available lap (not that he fits), and he rolls over for tummy
rubs. He clearly has some meezer in him, because he has dark points
and blue eyes, but he rarely talks, and when he does, it's a tiny
little high voice - hilarious coming from such a big boy!

In general, Alex tends to hang around with Smitty. He just seems to be
more at ease when Smitty is close by, and they haven't fought at all.

We couldn't be happier with our decision to adopt hard-to-place adult
cats. These two guys are the best! Thanks for the words of wisdom
from you all that helped us make this wonderful decision!

Lee

"Lee" wrote in message
oups.com...
I wrote:

Well, we've been watching Petfinders for awhile and visited some
no-kill shelters.

A local shelter had a listing for two brothers and we thought we'd like
to see them. However, one of the bothers was already adopted.
Yesterday we returned to the shelter and decided to take home the
remaining brother. He's huge - he's got to weigh about 20 lbs, and
totally laid-back. There was another boy there who caught our eye, a
Maine Coon mix. When we introduced the two boys at the shelter, there
seemed to be no issues. One of the boys is 6 years old, they think (he
was a stray rescued from a kill shelter), and the other may be 3 or 4.
We will be bringing them home today! I'm a little bit nervous and hope
they will be happy here.

However, the Maine Coon boy has some partial hair loss/ severe thinning
on one flank and part of his tail. The shelter lady said that this
sometimes happens due to stress. The skin under these areas was
totally clear with no inflammation or anything like that. Does anyone
have any thoughts on this? We will, of course, take them both to our
own vet ASAP.

They boys have been in their new home with us for about three weeks
now, and have adjusted well. They like to be together and have been
perfect gentlemen. They haven't jumped up on counters (off limits to
cats in our house), and are only scratching/clawing where they're
supposed to. We took them to our vet, and both got treated for ear
mites and got their rabies shots.

Alex, the Maine Coon mix, is estimated to be 2-4 years old and weighs a
solid 14 lbs. He's a bit high strung and is always on full alert, but
in time we think he'll relax. His fur is starting to come in again,
but it will be awhile before it's all back. Apparently Alex was a
rescue from a cat hoarder and had been at the shelter for over a year
because he was part of "evidence" for the ongoing legal case. Alex
loves all his toys. Every morning I put them all back in a basket
under the cat tree, and by the afternoon, most of them are scattered
througout the house. He's a joy to watch when he plays!

Smitty, our huge boy, weighed 20 lbs., but is down to 19, probably due
to increased activity and not living in a cage. The vet said that he
doesn't need to be on a diet - he's just extra large. His age is
probably 9-10, not the 6 years the shelter thought. He's going in for
dental work next week for some serious gingivitis and tarter. He's a
totally laid-back cat, and I can't believe that he was turned in by his
original owner. He is the sweetest cat I have ever known, loves to get
on any available lap (not that he fits), and he rolls over for tummy
rubs. He clearly has some meezer in him, because he has dark points
and blue eyes, but he rarely talks, and when he does, it's a tiny
little high voice - hilarious coming from such a big boy!

In general, Alex tends to hang around with Smitty. He just seems to be
more at ease when Smitty is close by, and they haven't fought at all.

We couldn't be happier with our decision to adopt hard-to-place adult
cats. These two guys are the best! Thanks for the words of wisdom
from you all that helped us make this wonderful decision!

Lee


Lee--they sound wonderful!! Bless you. I also have adopted adult cats and
have
never been sorry. Yours sound so polite. Smitty sounds totally adorable, and
it
chokes me up to think about how he feels to be getting love and a good home
at
9 or 10 years old. I really love blue eyes and Siamese coloring. Have you
got a
picture site up yet? Or maybe some to post to
alt.pictures.binaries.animals??

in article , Lee at
wrote on 7/3/05 9:56 PM:

I wrote:

Well, we've been watching Petfinders for awhile and visited some
no-kill shelters.

A local shelter had a listing for two brothers and we thought we'd like
to see them. However, one of the bothers was already adopted.
Yesterday we returned to the shelter and decided to take home the
remaining brother. He's huge - he's got to weigh about 20 lbs, and
totally laid-back. There was another boy there who caught our eye, a
Maine Coon mix. When we introduced the two boys at the shelter, there
seemed to be no issues. One of the boys is 6 years old, they think (he
was a stray rescued from a kill shelter), and the other may be 3 or 4.
We will be bringing them home today! I'm a little bit nervous and hope
they will be happy here.

However, the Maine Coon boy has some partial hair loss/ severe thinning
on one flank and part of his tail. The shelter lady said that this
sometimes happens due to stress. The skin under these areas was
totally clear with no inflammation or anything like that. Does anyone
have any thoughts on this? We will, of course, take them both to our
own vet ASAP.

They boys have been in their new home with us for about three weeks
now, and have adjusted well. They like to be together and have been
perfect gentlemen. They haven't jumped up on counters (off limits to
cats in our house), and are only scratching/clawing where they're
supposed to. We took them to our vet, and both got treated for ear
mites and got their rabies shots.

Alex, the Maine Coon mix, is estimated to be 2-4 years old and weighs a
solid 14 lbs. He's a bit high strung and is always on full alert, but
in time we think he'll relax. His fur is starting to come in again,
but it will be awhile before it's all back. Apparently Alex was a
rescue from a cat hoarder and had been at the shelter for over a year
because he was part of "evidence" for the ongoing legal case. Alex
loves all his toys. Every morning I put them all back in a basket
under the cat tree, and by the afternoon, most of them are scattered
througout the house. He's a joy to watch when he plays!

Smitty, our huge boy, weighed 20 lbs., but is down to 19, probably due
to increased activity and not living in a cage. The vet said that he
doesn't need to be on a diet - he's just extra large. His age is
probably 9-10, not the 6 years the shelter thought. He's going in for
dental work next week for some serious gingivitis and tarter. He's a
totally laid-back cat, and I can't believe that he was turned in by his
original owner. He is the sweetest cat I have ever known, loves to get
on any available lap (not that he fits), and he rolls over for tummy
rubs. He clearly has some meezer in him, because he has dark points
and blue eyes, but he rarely talks, and when he does, it's a tiny
little high voice - hilarious coming from such a big boy!

In general, Alex tends to hang around with Smitty. He just seems to be
more at ease when Smitty is close by, and they haven't fought at all.

We couldn't be happier with our decision to adopt hard-to-place adult
cats. These two guys are the best! Thanks for the words of wisdom
from you all that helped us make this wonderful decision!

Lee

That is just lovely to hear. May they have many happy years yet.

"Lee" wrote in message
oups.com...
....
We couldn't be happier with our decision to adopt hard-to-place adult
cats. These two guys are the best! Thanks for the words of wisdom
from you all that helped us make this wonderful decision!
Lee


Congratulations on the additions to your family.
Thank you for taking in two adult cats and allowing them to enrich your
life.

Annie

"Annie Wxill" wrote in message
...

"Lee" wrote in message
oups.com...
...
We couldn't be happier with our decision to adopt hard-to-place adult
cats. These two guys are the best! Thanks for the words of wisdom
from you all that helped us make this wonderful decision!
Lee


Congratulations on the additions to your family.
Thank you for taking in two adult cats and allowing them to enrich your
life.


They're the best!!

"Lee" wrote in message
oups.com...
Smitty, our huge boy, weighed 20 lbs., but is down to 19, probably due
to increased activity and not living in a cage. The vet said that he
doesn't need to be on a diet - he's just extra large. His age is
probably 9-10, not the 6 years the shelter thought. He's going in for
dental work next week for some serious gingivitis and tarter.

Glad to hear your new family members are settling in so well. In view of
Smitty's revised estimated age, I'd strongly recommend running bloodwork
before allowing the dental work to be done. I'd also advise following these
precautions:

http://www.felinecrf.org/related_dis...al_precautions

HTH

Helen

Helen wrote:

Glad to hear your new family members are settling in so well. In view of
Smitty's revised estimated age, I'd strongly recommend running bloodwork
before allowing the dental work to be done. I'd also advise following these
precautions:

http://www.felinecrf.org/related_dis...al_precautions

HTH

Thanks, Helen. We had bloodwork done on both cats at their first vet
appointment just to make there weren't any surprises, and happily, the
results for both were within normal ranges. (We've been through a
hyperthyroid condition and CRF with previous cats, and early detection
made these more easily manageable.) My vet recommends a "senior panel"
every year for older cats, and we always have done this with previous
cats.

Lee