- Joined
- Oct 1, 2013
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I have so many questions that I don't know how or where to begin.. Growing up, I've only ever had dogs and small animals. When I moved in with my boyfriend over a year ago, I was already very familiar with his cat named Trouble, and she's now my best friend. (seeing as my friends and family all live about 3 hours away from me lol!) The thing is, his cat acts EXACTLY like a dog. Cuddles, plays, sleeps with us, eats treats. So she's amazingly easy to take care of and has the best disposition in the world. My boyfriend got her AFTER she'd been rescued, spayed, vaccinated, all of that!
Here is where I need your help: I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO TAKE CARE OF A NEW CAT!! For the time being, we have taken in a "stray" cat. I am not SURE if it's a stray, I am not SURE if it's someone's pet that they keep outside. And while I wait for someone to claim her, I have many questions and many uncertainties that are STRESSING me out!
I'm going to explain the story of the stray and ask for any advice at all:
Friday 9/27 I went outside to get something out of my car. As I was walking down the driveway, I saw a cat start to walk towards me. I froze. I love petting neighborhood animals, and have even been known to slowly befriend wild rabbits, but I know how skittish they are and that they can cause some damage if approached the wrong way or if they're just too "wild". The cat stared at me for about 2 and a half minutes, and didn't move. Not wanting to upset it, I decided to open the door of the car and get my things. The cat then started walking towards me, and I thought it was going to try to get in the car! It just rubbed its head against my leg and purred. I thought this was strange, coming from a cat that I'd never met. I petted it for a bit longer, and it laid on its back and put its legs up in the air - exposing its belly! After a matter of maybe 7 minutes. Gingerly, I went to pick her up. She let me! I held her and she melted into my arms. My mom was visiting me at the time, so I had her run and get some wet and dry food.
We put some wet food ontop of dry food in one bowl and I put some water from the hose in the other I came back out to check about 15 minutes later, and saw her eating out of the bowls through the window. She ate the rest of the food, had a drink, cleaned herself off under my car and meandered off. I thought to myself, "Well good, maybe she is just a pet that was left outside or got out for the night.. cats have a great sense of GPS, maybe she'll get home tonight."
Saturday night, I left one whole bowl of dry food and one whole bowl (1 large can) of wet food.. just in case. I left it out around 7 and went back to check around 7:45. I stepped outside and saw a larger black cat eating out of the bowl. The cat RAN as soon as I opened the front door and lo and behold, the stray came out from under my car and began to eat the remaining food. I sat there and cooed to her: "It's OK darling, I will keep watch. You eat and eat, I won't let anyone get you." (I know she can't understand me, but yeesh! I felt for her.. she's a fairly small cat out there on the streets, if even for a night left out by an owner, I felt bad). There was about half a can of wet food left, which she ate all of. Then she moved onto the dry food and ate the WHOLE BOWL. She kept awkwardly biting the bowl, and couldn't seem to properly eat. I was worried for her, but knew that if I brought her in.. it would be a huge responsibility on my shoulders. Needless to say, I shouldn't have set the food out if I didn't want to deal with it, but I have never lived in a place where there were many strays around.. I was just trying to be kind.
Finally, Sunday night, when she came around I showed her to my boyfriend who had been out of town. He told me to bring her in, and he took our cat into the bathroom. I held the stray outside of the bathroom door and Trouble was YOWLING and hissing and so scared out of her mind, trying to run through the wall opposite of the door. This stray just sat on my lap and looked a bit intimidated. My BF told me to get our extra unused litter box for her, because he knew as soon as I brought her in.. I couldn't just let her back out. Our garage was really cluttered so he suggested we put her up in our guest bedroom. I gave her food, litter, water, a brand new un-used toy and a cardboard box with a freshly laundered sheet to hide in. After visiting with her for about an hour before bed, she MEOOOOOOOWed, then MEEEEEOWed, the MEOWMEOWMEOW constantly.. so I went back in, took a pillow and one blanket, and laid on the bed. She went between trying to run through our second story window to get ouside, meowing to get outside and coming to sniff and hug me. I think I fell asleep sometime around 6:30am.
Yesterday I woke up, we took pics of her (with her eyes closed) and put a gender-neutral post on craigslist along the lines of: "found: small white and grey cat" and asked people to verify the sex and gender if they believe it's theirs. I have put up flyers around the neighborhood and plan to copy about 20 more that said the same thing as the CL post. Throughout the night last night, she pooped in her litter box, peed in her litter box, did not spray the room or claw and curtains or bedsheets. She did attempt to jump through our blinds, and has a HORRIBLE time covering up her poo. Throughout the day yesterday, we visited with her and she was very content, laying and sleeping on the spare bed and now meowing. We inspected the poo, and saw no signs of worms. We checked around her bum as much as we could without upsetting her and saw no signs of worms or redness. I checked her coat, and there's no irritation on the skin and there ARE a few teenie black dots, but I couldn't make out any fleas and saw no movement.
*I DO know that fleas can be present that aren't easily seen and SAME with the worms* I know you must think I'm crazy to have her around sheets and curtains and MYSELF that could get contaminated. But I just.. as long as there wasn't a way for her to stress out my other animals, I couldn't live with leaving her outside! And then to bring her inside, trap an outdoors cat in one room, and not visit it? I just couldn't. Currently, as I type this, it's going on Tuesday.. well, here I am again at 6am actually. There was about 3 hours of quiet time this evening where she slept next to me, and each time I'd shift around (I was reading) she'd move so that her head was closer to mine. I thought she was sound asleep, I got up to take a benedryll or 20 and soon after heard "MEEEEEEEEEOW, MEOOOOOOOOOW" and had to come back to the room. When I came back she ate some more, pooped again and then started her routine of trying to run through the window and meow to get outside (around 4am). She's now even venturing towards the door to the bedroom and scratching around it. Her meow is strange tonight, it's not desperate and deep like it was last night.. it's kind of high pitched and and sounds like "wwhhhhhyyyyyy eeeeyyyyeeeee" and lots of "eh" and "meh" sounds. This evening I noticed that she either has VERY TEENY top and bottom front teeth or none at all. I don't want to bother around her mouth too much, but it looks like her sharp ones are all still there and doesn't smell bad.
Oh my.. She's come back from the door now.. and is cleaning herself on the bed. (I SERIOUSLY PRAY SHE DOES NOT HAVE FLEAS OR WORMS! that will be major clean up stress for me) But I'm telling you, she is the SWEETEST cat.. even more docile than mine, which I truly thought was impossible! I've read online that pregnant cats are sometimes very friendly.. so I wonder, have you encountered a stray cat that was especially friendly because it was pregnant? She's skinny enough to feel her spine but not skinny enough to look sickly. Her belly doesn't have a huge buldge, maybe a VERY very slight one in the lower belly, but I think it might be from eating so much food?
My vet sometimes takes patients on a same day basis if it's urgent and you call at 8am. So in two hours, I am going to call and see what they suggest. Now that I've told you my story, let me sum up some questions I have:
1.) Have you ever heard of a stray being extra friendly like this? Allowing a stranger to pick it up? Have you ever heard this was because they were pregnant?
2.) Where should I draw the line at vet bills? We're not sure if our cat will accept a new animal and are unwilling to compromise her happiness. So, if the owners DO claim the cat.. should I expect them to pay any of the vet bills that we incur while she's in our care? If I can find a family/owner to rehome her with, what's the max that I should ask for a rehoming fee to cover some vet bills? What does a typical vet visit cost if a cat isn't up to date on vaccines and has fleas, worms, or other health issues? God forbid, what if she's pregnant? Do cats incur extra medical expenses if they become pregnant?
3.) What can I do if no family claims her and no rescue takes her? What if no shelters are accepting cats and our cat is too depressed around another cat? I can't let her back on the streets and worry about her... and it will break my heart if she keeps returning for food at night. I just can't do that. We rent a townhome and the neighborhood doesn't allow for animal shelters unless they're in your fenced in portion of the yard, and we need to keep our gate locked to keep unwanted animals/strangers out of the yard, which is also a safe space for Trouble. I'm the kind of person that would stress to the point of sleeplessness if I went on vacation for a week, and no one else fed her. If we moved.. what then?
I am so stressed out I just need help. She's currently looking at the wall and yowling again.. she wants to go back outside. Maybe I should have left her alone, and never brought her inside. But now that I have, I can't turn my back on her. I keep thinking, "it's for the best that she's safe inside for now" but what happens after the "for now"?! I am REALLY stressed I KNOW I'm rambling, but this is my second sleepless night. She is now curled up at the end of the bed, quiet. She's confused, I'm confused. Please help...
Here is where I need your help: I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO TAKE CARE OF A NEW CAT!! For the time being, we have taken in a "stray" cat. I am not SURE if it's a stray, I am not SURE if it's someone's pet that they keep outside. And while I wait for someone to claim her, I have many questions and many uncertainties that are STRESSING me out!
I'm going to explain the story of the stray and ask for any advice at all:
Friday 9/27 I went outside to get something out of my car. As I was walking down the driveway, I saw a cat start to walk towards me. I froze. I love petting neighborhood animals, and have even been known to slowly befriend wild rabbits, but I know how skittish they are and that they can cause some damage if approached the wrong way or if they're just too "wild". The cat stared at me for about 2 and a half minutes, and didn't move. Not wanting to upset it, I decided to open the door of the car and get my things. The cat then started walking towards me, and I thought it was going to try to get in the car! It just rubbed its head against my leg and purred. I thought this was strange, coming from a cat that I'd never met. I petted it for a bit longer, and it laid on its back and put its legs up in the air - exposing its belly! After a matter of maybe 7 minutes. Gingerly, I went to pick her up. She let me! I held her and she melted into my arms. My mom was visiting me at the time, so I had her run and get some wet and dry food.
We put some wet food ontop of dry food in one bowl and I put some water from the hose in the other I came back out to check about 15 minutes later, and saw her eating out of the bowls through the window. She ate the rest of the food, had a drink, cleaned herself off under my car and meandered off. I thought to myself, "Well good, maybe she is just a pet that was left outside or got out for the night.. cats have a great sense of GPS, maybe she'll get home tonight."
Saturday night, I left one whole bowl of dry food and one whole bowl (1 large can) of wet food.. just in case. I left it out around 7 and went back to check around 7:45. I stepped outside and saw a larger black cat eating out of the bowl. The cat RAN as soon as I opened the front door and lo and behold, the stray came out from under my car and began to eat the remaining food. I sat there and cooed to her: "It's OK darling, I will keep watch. You eat and eat, I won't let anyone get you." (I know she can't understand me, but yeesh! I felt for her.. she's a fairly small cat out there on the streets, if even for a night left out by an owner, I felt bad). There was about half a can of wet food left, which she ate all of. Then she moved onto the dry food and ate the WHOLE BOWL. She kept awkwardly biting the bowl, and couldn't seem to properly eat. I was worried for her, but knew that if I brought her in.. it would be a huge responsibility on my shoulders. Needless to say, I shouldn't have set the food out if I didn't want to deal with it, but I have never lived in a place where there were many strays around.. I was just trying to be kind.
Finally, Sunday night, when she came around I showed her to my boyfriend who had been out of town. He told me to bring her in, and he took our cat into the bathroom. I held the stray outside of the bathroom door and Trouble was YOWLING and hissing and so scared out of her mind, trying to run through the wall opposite of the door. This stray just sat on my lap and looked a bit intimidated. My BF told me to get our extra unused litter box for her, because he knew as soon as I brought her in.. I couldn't just let her back out. Our garage was really cluttered so he suggested we put her up in our guest bedroom. I gave her food, litter, water, a brand new un-used toy and a cardboard box with a freshly laundered sheet to hide in. After visiting with her for about an hour before bed, she MEOOOOOOOWed, then MEEEEEOWed, the MEOWMEOWMEOW constantly.. so I went back in, took a pillow and one blanket, and laid on the bed. She went between trying to run through our second story window to get ouside, meowing to get outside and coming to sniff and hug me. I think I fell asleep sometime around 6:30am.
Yesterday I woke up, we took pics of her (with her eyes closed) and put a gender-neutral post on craigslist along the lines of: "found: small white and grey cat" and asked people to verify the sex and gender if they believe it's theirs. I have put up flyers around the neighborhood and plan to copy about 20 more that said the same thing as the CL post. Throughout the night last night, she pooped in her litter box, peed in her litter box, did not spray the room or claw and curtains or bedsheets. She did attempt to jump through our blinds, and has a HORRIBLE time covering up her poo. Throughout the day yesterday, we visited with her and she was very content, laying and sleeping on the spare bed and now meowing. We inspected the poo, and saw no signs of worms. We checked around her bum as much as we could without upsetting her and saw no signs of worms or redness. I checked her coat, and there's no irritation on the skin and there ARE a few teenie black dots, but I couldn't make out any fleas and saw no movement.
*I DO know that fleas can be present that aren't easily seen and SAME with the worms* I know you must think I'm crazy to have her around sheets and curtains and MYSELF that could get contaminated. But I just.. as long as there wasn't a way for her to stress out my other animals, I couldn't live with leaving her outside! And then to bring her inside, trap an outdoors cat in one room, and not visit it? I just couldn't. Currently, as I type this, it's going on Tuesday.. well, here I am again at 6am actually. There was about 3 hours of quiet time this evening where she slept next to me, and each time I'd shift around (I was reading) she'd move so that her head was closer to mine. I thought she was sound asleep, I got up to take a benedryll or 20 and soon after heard "MEEEEEEEEEOW, MEOOOOOOOOOW" and had to come back to the room. When I came back she ate some more, pooped again and then started her routine of trying to run through the window and meow to get outside (around 4am). She's now even venturing towards the door to the bedroom and scratching around it. Her meow is strange tonight, it's not desperate and deep like it was last night.. it's kind of high pitched and and sounds like "wwhhhhhyyyyyy eeeeyyyyeeeee" and lots of "eh" and "meh" sounds. This evening I noticed that she either has VERY TEENY top and bottom front teeth or none at all. I don't want to bother around her mouth too much, but it looks like her sharp ones are all still there and doesn't smell bad.
Oh my.. She's come back from the door now.. and is cleaning herself on the bed. (I SERIOUSLY PRAY SHE DOES NOT HAVE FLEAS OR WORMS! that will be major clean up stress for me) But I'm telling you, she is the SWEETEST cat.. even more docile than mine, which I truly thought was impossible! I've read online that pregnant cats are sometimes very friendly.. so I wonder, have you encountered a stray cat that was especially friendly because it was pregnant? She's skinny enough to feel her spine but not skinny enough to look sickly. Her belly doesn't have a huge buldge, maybe a VERY very slight one in the lower belly, but I think it might be from eating so much food?
My vet sometimes takes patients on a same day basis if it's urgent and you call at 8am. So in two hours, I am going to call and see what they suggest. Now that I've told you my story, let me sum up some questions I have:
1.) Have you ever heard of a stray being extra friendly like this? Allowing a stranger to pick it up? Have you ever heard this was because they were pregnant?
2.) Where should I draw the line at vet bills? We're not sure if our cat will accept a new animal and are unwilling to compromise her happiness. So, if the owners DO claim the cat.. should I expect them to pay any of the vet bills that we incur while she's in our care? If I can find a family/owner to rehome her with, what's the max that I should ask for a rehoming fee to cover some vet bills? What does a typical vet visit cost if a cat isn't up to date on vaccines and has fleas, worms, or other health issues? God forbid, what if she's pregnant? Do cats incur extra medical expenses if they become pregnant?
3.) What can I do if no family claims her and no rescue takes her? What if no shelters are accepting cats and our cat is too depressed around another cat? I can't let her back on the streets and worry about her... and it will break my heart if she keeps returning for food at night. I just can't do that. We rent a townhome and the neighborhood doesn't allow for animal shelters unless they're in your fenced in portion of the yard, and we need to keep our gate locked to keep unwanted animals/strangers out of the yard, which is also a safe space for Trouble. I'm the kind of person that would stress to the point of sleeplessness if I went on vacation for a week, and no one else fed her. If we moved.. what then?
I am so stressed out I just need help. She's currently looking at the wall and yowling again.. she wants to go back outside. Maybe I should have left her alone, and never brought her inside. But now that I have, I can't turn my back on her. I keep thinking, "it's for the best that she's safe inside for now" but what happens after the "for now"?! I am REALLY stressed I KNOW I'm rambling, but this is my second sleepless night. She is now curled up at the end of the bed, quiet. She's confused, I'm confused. Please help...