Trying to do the right thing!!!

Hello
I have a kitten who will be one year old on March 24th. He is a wonderful kitten who loves dogs, kids, and attention. I absolutely adore him, but I have a problem. I got my kitten (his name is Paka, it means Cat in Swahili) before moving to Atlanta, but in coming here, I met a man whom I will be marrying in the future. The problem is that my future husband is dreadfully allergic to cats. We have tried many different things to fix it, but it is a severe allergy. We live in a studio apartment downtown, so it's not feasible to make Paka an outdoor cat either. I don't know what the most humane thing is for me to do. I love Paka, but cannot keep him. I have asked all of my friends, and none of them are able to keep a cat either. Is a no kill shelter the most humane way to go? What is life like for cats at a shelter? I'm very concerned with Paka's happiness and don't know how to go about taking care of him at this point. Does anyone have any advice????

I don't know what actual things you have done for the allergy, and I don't know how far your future hubby is willing to go for your kitty. But dealing with the allergy, of course, is the most humane thing to do.

Cover comfy chairs and couches with throws. Wash them weekly - but hubby can remove them when he's going to sit on them. Fold them up when company comes over.

Make the bedroom (if you have one - if your studio is actually a studio, then cover the bed and pillows ENTIRELY with a blanket that you remove and fold up before you go to sleep - but wash it weekly like you would your others) a "kitty free" room. Buy ear plugs, because if Paka has made that part of his territory he's going to voiciferously let you know he wants it back. It'll take about a week, give or take, before he figures out his crying won't get him back in.

Use Febreeze allergan reducing spray on your furniture and drapes (and the blanket you have covering the pillows and bed) daily. Consider replacing drapes with blinds and some type of window treatment at the top to make it pretty. If you stick with drapes or some type of cloth covering, wash them at least monthly, if not more frequently. If you can switch to blinds, vacuum or dust them before vacuuming daily.

Go with hardwood floors and throws over carpet. But if you have carpet and don't want to change your flooring, vacuum daily if possible. If not possible, just vacuum as frequently as possible. A HEPA type vacuum is best - like a Dyson or something.

Have a HEPA filter in each room (or the room), and clean the filter (with a vacuum) weekly, and replace the filter every six months or so.

Buy the waterless kitty wipes, and wipe Paka down frequently - this will help reduce the dander that comes off of him. One with a moisturizer can be used every two or three days.

You can also purchase a grooming brush - it removes most of the hair they would shed. Our kitties - after getting used to the idea of a brush - LOVE being brushed. They all go nuts for it. We brush them at least once a day - but even more wouldn't hurt at all. If you combine a thorough brushing with one of those grooming brushes followed by the kitty wipe, that will greatly reduce the amount of dander floating around. Brush Paka in the bathroom, wipe him down with the kitty wipe, then vacuum the studio, starting in the bathroom.

I am severly allergic to cats. I use Ultravete 0.1% steroid cream for when I get hives. I use eye drops with antihistimine when my eyes get itchy or watery - but they don't, usually, because I use Zyrtec. Zyretc and Ultravete are prescription medications. My insurance pays (mostly) for them. The Zyrtec has almost completely alleviated the cat allergy - but that's in combination with all of the above.

If you've tried all of the above, or if he's unwilling to take medication and the combination of other suggestions doesn't work, then here are tips to finding homes for your kitty:

Here's a brochure about how to find homes for pets: http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehom...mesforpets.pdf

Here's an article about how to write an effective adoption notice/profile: http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehom...tionblurbs.pdf

Here's a link to help you make a flyer: http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehom...flyermaker.cfm

Obviously, trying to adopt him into a good home is the second best alternative.

However, if you are unable to make that work, as your absolute last resort, search for no-kill shelters in your area. This is a good place to start: http://www.pets911.com.

There is also a list of links here where you can conduct further searches: http://www.savesamoa.org/html/rescue.html

I hope you're able to keep your Paka!

Laurie

Life at a shelter is NOT fun for cats. Cats older than 2 -3 months are difficult to adopt out (as you are discovering). While shelters are better trained than you are at finding homes, they have FAR more cats.

Cats live in a cage at a shelter. They don't really get to interact with people or other cats in a social fashion.

Your Paka would not be happy in a shelter. With luck, he would be adopted quickly. But some cats live out their lives in no kill shetlers. Some spend just a couple months. Others spend years. There's just no way to know. This really must be considered as an absolutely last resort.

Laurie

my boyfriend is also severly allergic to cats. When we started dating, the first thing that I made clear was that my cats were going nowhere, and he would have to take measures to be able to tolerate them. Fast forward 2 years, we live together and we have 6 cats, plus any number of fosters. He has survived. He also has allergy induced asthma, and had an asthma attack the first time he came to my house. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Eric dearly, but I'll be honest, if it had come down to him or my cats, the cats would have won, and he knew that.

A warning about shelters. The number 1 reason that people give when they turn in their pets is that someone in their household became allergic. Having volunteered in one, I can tell you that they never believe that story. Doesn't matter if it is the truth, it is just an abused reason. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of sympathy.

Don't go the shelter route. As LDG stated, once past a few months old, cats can languish in a cage for years with little attention. It is a horrible place for a cat to go. If you find an open shelter environment, you will most likely be placed on a waiting list - they have to place all of the other hard to adopt cats out first to make room for yours. Owner turn ins are placed at the bottom of the list - homeless pets will always take priority over one that is currently in a home.

The advice from Best Friends is probably the best route to go provided that you have exhausted all attempts at relieving the allergy symptoms. I know a lot of pet owners that are allergic to their animals and it just doesn't matter - they find a way to make it work.

I think the boyfriend should at least try some things before getting rid of the cat, He should be willing to at least do that for you. I know I would try something.

a no kill shelter is fine for cats. Most have foster homes too that would be able to have your kitty live in a real home while waiting for a forever home. I guess not all no kills are like that, but check around. Where are you located?

Originally Posted by LDG

Life at a shelter is NOT fun for cats. Cats older than 2 -3 months are difficult to adopt out (as you are discovering). While shelters are better trained than you are at finding homes, they have FAR more cats.

Cats live in a cage at a shelter. They don't really get to interact with people or other cats in a social fashion.

Your Paka would not be happy in a shelter. With luck, he would be adopted quickly. But some cats live out their lives in no kill shetlers. Some spend just a couple months. Others spend years. There's just no way to know. This really must be considered as an absolutely last resort.

Laurie

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I work at a no kill in PA and we do NOT cage our cats! they live together in separate rooms and people come throughout the day to care for them. We also have foster homes and have an adoption center at Petsmart. So, while no all shelters are like ours, we dont all keep them in cages. She is going to have to investigate that