If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Up date On Lucy.
We have just had Lucy indoors for the first time today, since she was
spayed, & the vet took that terrible embedded collar out of her neck. I was rather nervous about the idea, thinking that It might be a bit too soon.Nevertheless Tilly, my daughter went outside to feed her a couple of hours ago, & brought her indoors to see how she reacted.I can't explain how I felt when she quite happily trotted up the stairs behind Tilly & followed her straight into her bedroom & hoped on to her bed.I was delighted ,but nervous for her. She paid no attention at all to the other felines who came looking, until one of them tried to get on the bed with her..all she did was growl at Lilly, who dutifully got off again and retreated out of the room rather rapidly with her tail between her legs.Poor Lilly didn't understand at all-everyone loves Lilly.... She allowed me into the room too, & but made It clear that petting her was acceptable, but that would be quite enough for today, thank you very much. Her appearance Is so different to the day we managed to catch her.She looks super clean, with a soft shiney glossy coat (with a few patches missing on her leg, where she was spayed & also where the collar was embeded too).We have discovered that she has a purr like a V8 engine & a mieow that Is so loud that It seemed strange coming out of her. Lucy(furr), as she was affectionatly renamed Is doing so well, that we have decided that as of tomorrow we will bring her indoors & see how she copes with it all, & deal with It all on a need to basis.If she feels the need to go back out, we will take her out to the run again for a bit of solitude and fresh air. We have had many cats and kittens over the years that have come to stay, but never one quite like Lucy who was so timmid when we first met her. If any one has any tips on how to help her intergrate with the other cats, I would be interested to hearing them please? She is clearly quite happy in Tilly's company, but Is still very nervous and shy around other humans & cats, including myself.We want her to feel as at home as Is possible, & that there Is nothing to fear from the other cats who only want to be her friend & play with her. I will try & get a photo of her in the morning When Tilly brings her in again so that you can see the before and after photos.I am sure that you will be as amazed as we are.I really can't explain how delighted we all are, because from day one, we didn't expect too much of her.However, she has put us all in our place's & 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. S. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Up date On Lucy.
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! sheelagh wrote: We have just had Lucy indoors for the first time today, since she was spayed, & the vet took that terrible embedded collar out of her neck. I was rather nervous about the idea, thinking that It might be a bit too soon.Nevertheless Tilly, my daughter went outside to feed her a couple of hours ago, & brought her indoors to see how she reacted.I can't explain how I felt when she quite happily trotted up the stairs behind Tilly & followed her straight into her bedroom & hoped on to her bed.I was delighted ,but nervous for her. She paid no attention at all to the other felines who came looking, until one of them tried to get on the bed with her..all she did was growl at Lilly, who dutifully got off again and retreated out of the room rather rapidly with her tail between her legs.Poor Lilly didn't understand at all-everyone loves Lilly.... She allowed me into the room too, & but made It clear that petting her was acceptable, but that would be quite enough for today, thank you very much. Her appearance Is so different to the day we managed to catch her.She looks super clean, with a soft shiney glossy coat (with a few patches missing on her leg, where she was spayed & also where the collar was embeded too).We have discovered that she has a purr like a V8 engine & a mieow that Is so loud that It seemed strange coming out of her. Lucy(furr), as she was affectionatly renamed Is doing so well, that we have decided that as of tomorrow we will bring her indoors & see how she copes with it all, & deal with It all on a need to basis.If she feels the need to go back out, we will take her out to the run again for a bit of solitude and fresh air. We have had many cats and kittens over the years that have come to stay, but never one quite like Lucy who was so timmid when we first met her. If any one has any tips on how to help her intergrate with the other cats, I would be interested to hearing them please? She is clearly quite happy in Tilly's company, but Is still very nervous and shy around other humans & cats, including myself.We want her to feel as at home as Is possible, & that there Is nothing to fear from the other cats who only want to be her friend & play with her. I will try & get a photo of her in the morning When Tilly brings her in again so that you can see the before and after photos.I am sure that you will be as amazed as we are.I really can't explain how delighted we all are, because from day one, we didn't expect too much of her.However, she has put us all in our place's & 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. S. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Up date On Lucy.
On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:59:59 -0800, sheelagh wrote:
We have just had Lucy indoors for the first time today, since she was spayed, & the vet took that terrible embedded collar out of her neck. I was rather nervous about the idea, thinking that It might be a bit too soon.Nevertheless Tilly, my daughter went outside to feed her a couple of hours ago, & brought her indoors to see how she reacted.I can't explain how I felt when she quite happily trotted up the stairs behind Tilly & followed her straight into her bedroom & hoped on to her bed.I was delighted ,but nervous for her. She paid no attention at all to the other felines who came looking, until one of them tried to get on the bed with her..all she did was growl at Lilly, who dutifully got off again and retreated out of the room rather rapidly with her tail between her legs.Poor Lilly didn't understand at all-everyone loves Lilly.... She allowed me into the room too, & but made It clear that petting her was acceptable, but that would be quite enough for today, thank you very much. Her appearance Is so different to the day we managed to catch her.She looks super clean, with a soft shiney glossy coat (with a few patches missing on her leg, where she was spayed & also where the collar was embeded too).We have discovered that she has a purr like a V8 engine & a mieow that Is so loud that It seemed strange coming out of her. Lucy(furr), as she was affectionatly renamed Is doing so well, that we have decided that as of tomorrow we will bring her indoors & see how she copes with it all, & deal with It all on a need to basis.If she feels the need to go back out, we will take her out to the run again for a bit of solitude and fresh air. We have had many cats and kittens over the years that have come to stay, but never one quite like Lucy who was so timmid when we first met her. If any one has any tips on how to help her intergrate with the other cats, I would be interested to hearing them please? She is clearly quite happy in Tilly's company, but Is still very nervous and shy around other humans & cats, including myself.We want her to feel as at home as Is possible, & that there Is nothing to fear from the other cats who only want to be her friend & play with her. I will try & get a photo of her in the morning When Tilly brings her in again so that you can see the before and after photos.I am sure that you will be as amazed as we are.I really can't explain how delighted we all are, because from day one, we didn't expect too much of her.However, she has put us all in our place's & 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. S. We are purring that Lucy will adjust and become a comfortable family member. Happy New Year! MLB |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Up date On Lucy, & also Ringo Super star too
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) |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Up date On Lucy, & also Ringo Super star too
On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 18:45:34 -0800, sheelagh wrote:
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) After facing all the trials of the wild, she may just love the safe feeling of your house. Let us purr for that. MLB |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Up date On Lucy.
mlbriggs wrote: On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:59:59 -0800, sheelagh wrote: We have just had Lucy indoors for the first time today, since she was spayed, & the vet took that terrible embedded collar out of her neck. I was rather nervous about the idea, thinking that It might be a bit too soon.Nevertheless Tilly, my daughter went outside to feed her a couple of hours ago, & brought her indoors to see how she reacted.I can't explain how I felt when she quite happily trotted up the stairs behind Tilly & followed her straight into her bedroom & hoped on to her bed.I was delighted ,but nervous for her. She paid no attention at all to the other felines who came looking, until one of them tried to get on the bed with her..all she did was growl at Lilly, who dutifully got off again and retreated out of the room rather rapidly with her tail between her legs.Poor Lilly didn't understand at all-everyone loves Lilly.... She allowed me into the room too, & but made It clear that petting her was acceptable, but that would be quite enough for today, thank you very much. Her appearance Is so different to the day we managed to catch her.She looks super clean, with a soft shiney glossy coat (with a few patches missing on her leg, where she was spayed & also where the collar was embeded too).We have discovered that she has a purr like a V8 engine & a mieow that Is so loud that It seemed strange coming out of her. Lucy(furr), as she was affectionatly renamed Is doing so well, that we have decided that as of tomorrow we will bring her indoors & see how she copes with it all, & deal with It all on a need to basis.If she feels the need to go back out, we will take her out to the run again for a bit of solitude and fresh air. We have had many cats and kittens over the years that have come to stay, but never one quite like Lucy who was so timmid when we first met her. If any one has any tips on how to help her intergrate with the other cats, I would be interested to hearing them please? She is clearly quite happy in Tilly's company, but Is still very nervous and shy around other humans & cats, including myself.We want her to feel as at home as Is possible, & that there Is nothing to fear from the other cats who only want to be her friend & play with her. I will try & get a photo of her in the morning When Tilly brings her in again so that you can see the before and after photos.I am sure that you will be as amazed as we are.I really can't explain how delighted we all are, because from day one, we didn't expect too much of her.However, she has put us all in our place's & 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. S. We are purring that Lucy will adjust and become a comfortable family member. Happy New Year! MLB They are very gratefuly received too.As I type, she is having a little snack of sardines in Her room,or is it Tilly's..hard to tell these days lol! S;o) |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
The Silly Cat Survey | Enfilade | Cat anecdotes | 50 | July 17th 05 06:45 PM |
Lucy has found her place | Lorraine | Cat anecdotes | 2 | April 16th 05 05:30 AM |
Goodbye, dear Lucy Girl... | onlyTwoSeemsSoFewCats | Cat community | 44 | November 8th 03 03:19 AM |