Older cats do make
wonderful companions for elderly people - they just love a lap to curl up
on! |
Olive &
Barley are settling in quite nicely and they are proving wonderful
company for my mother during the day - not hiding away too much but equally not
under her feet all the time. Olive loves sleeping on mum's bed with her in the
evening, and Barley sits with me while I type my emails! So we are shared out
about equally. Hopefully a happy ending finally for them...I do hope
so. |
I have left Clare's
letter intact as she has a lot of experience with stressed cats and offers
sensible advice for all new cat owners. The message is 'give your new pet time
to settle in'.
We’ve had a few problems with Susie (now known as
Sonar due to the amazing similarity of her meow to a submarine’s
sonar device!) She was very stressed when she came to us and wasn’t 100%
clean, she wouldn’t even use the litter tray provided for her. We were so
worried that we were very close to bringing her back. Scruffy (now known as
‘Boy’) was completely fine though and fitted in incredibly
well from day 1! He proved to be of little comfort to Sonar, his mum, showing
no signs of missing her in his excitement at his new found
freedom. |
We really
didn’t want to split them up though, or give them both back so we
persevered with Sonar (she didn’t seem unhappy and was still eating). We
let her have her own room where no other cats could get in, but left the door
slightly open so that she could hear and smell what was going on. We gave her a
hot waterbottle that seemed to give her comfort, and used Felaway around the
house. We kept her in the room until she let us know that she was ready to come
out. At first, we let her out at night when she insisted on sleeping on the
bed, purring all night. Initially we put her back in her room during the day
though to make sure that it wasn’t too much for her all in one go. However
over 10 days ago she was given the run of the house and garden and we
haven’t had any problems. This might be useful for other people who have
had stressed cats and thought that the situation would never improve. It is
impossible to imagine what these cats have been through, when stability and
familiarity with their surroundings are so important to them. As you will see
from the photo Sooty has accepted them, and they are pretty relaxed
now. |
It is not a bad thing
for cats to be wary of strangers - there are some not very nice people out
there! I am impressed that you have managed to persuade them to abide by the
house rules! |
Pippin
& Tomasina (now Millie) have been with us since May 2004 and are a
delight. Pippin was immediately at home, she was confident and made herself
comfortable from the word "go" although she was very watchful of Millie in the
early days. Millie less so. It took her two days to allow us to touch her and
only now after 5 months will she join us on the couch. The first morning here,
we found two cats with black faces and grey paws. It did not occur to us that
they would try to escape by climbing the chimney ! We finally knew that
everything was going to be ok on the first day that we let them out of the
house. Millie boldly ventured through the fence into next door's garden and was
immediately chased by our neighbour's red setter! She disappeared in through
our back-door in a blur of fur and hotly pursued by Pippin - they had made up
their minds where their home was! Both are still slightly wary of people that
they do not know and both disappear when they hear children. Smart girls! You
told us that Pippin was adorable and that Millie would grow to be adorable and
you were so right. They know the rules - no sleeping on beds, no going out
after dark, no tom-cats to be brought home (!) and they seem happy to comply.
We are still working on teaching them the rule about no birds or mice in the
house but that one seems to be taking a little longer to sink in! Thank-you,.
Lin & Helen |
 |
Spud (now Smudge) came to live with us at the beginning of
September. He certainly had some issues, but has calmed down a lot and likes
living here. He particularly enjoys eating and taking up as much of the sofa as
possible! He doesn't like being away from the house for too long. It's good to
have him around. Helen
I am not sure what the issues
were but he looks very comfortable and laid back now! |