Temporary Cat-Sitting (Long Post)

Sometime in March or April I might be cat-sitting for a friends older female (spayed) cat. They are having a baby and would like time for themselves to get adjusted and then being Cleo back home to have her get adjusted. Cleo is used to be uprooted all the time (her parents work for nuclear plants and travel a lot) so that is not an issue. I volunteered for babysitting her because at this moment Cleo is in an office/garage because Christines MIL and FIL are "allergic" to cats. I REALLY DISLIKE that they have done that, to them cats are second class citizens. Hence the reason I volunteered to take Cleo when the baby is born. She is a sweet cat and I want to make the transition easy for her because she has never been around any other cats before. I think her and Fatman would be great together they are both fat and lazy and can sleep the days away in bed.

The first thing Im worried about is her being able to jump over the baby gate to the cat room. Should I lift the gate so the cats can crawl under it. I would have to raise it enough for her and Fatman to fit but Im worried that it will be too high and my litter sniffing mini doxie will get into the cat room. Hes not allowed in because he has a family history of cat food allergies (hes never been allowed to eat cat food) and he is just obnoxious enough to try and eat cat poop! So there is dillemma number one.

Number two is her litter box and bed. One Im worried that Fatman will pee in her bed but Cleo loves to sleep in it so I dont think she would be ok without it or I just wouldnt bring it over. Also Cleos litter box is this giant igloo thing so my worry there is she will have bathroom issues because what if my cats use her box. Shes not used to other cats and Im a little worried she wont know how to handle it. However Ive had a lot of luck with mixing animals and so far they have all done really well without ever being seperated.

And finally number three, FOOD! Cleo is on a crappy diet of whatever they get at the grocery store. All the times Ive been to their house Ive never once seen the same type of cat food there. I would like to approach her parents about switching her onto the same food that my cats have. Obviously its a temporary thing for her to be at my house but I cant put my cats on a whatever diet and I think Cleo would benefit from a steady diet. Her fur is HORRIBLE (they actually shave her [Im not happy about it] because her fur gets matted and they dont brush her.) She looks (Im going from what her tail and head look like) a short hair cat so I dont understand how she gets matted. But anyways I think that Cleo could really benefit from a diet change and some good old fashioned healthy living. So how to I approach them about it. I dont mind just giving her my cats food thats no big deal but Id like to get them a starter tote of TOTW and Purina Indoor mix so they have it at home and dont have to worry about going to get it after the babies born.

Cleo is the sweetest cat ever and so lovey dovey so I really just want to help her parents give her the best. I know that they are both ambivolent about caring for her aside from regular vet visits but neither of them seem to realize that its more than vet visits to make a happy healthy cat. All I want to do is just help them adjust a little bit so Cleo is healthier. Mostly the food thing just kills me because if they took a little time and effort into it they wouldnt need to shave her. I find shaving her completely ridiculous and stupid its not hard to brush a cat so Im hoping that when Cleos here Ill be able to get her into good enough shape all they would have to do is keep up with it!!!

I volunteered to take her because I dont like the way she is being treated by the people who normally take her. Its not fair, out of the family Im the ONLY cat advocate there. I dont treat them like second class citizens like everyone else I go above and beyond to give my babies the best life. The dog and cats are equals in my eyes. If the cats get treated one way the dog gets the same.
I dont think its right that Cleo is being denyed interaction and left locked in the office with only other room to go into is a garage. And the shaving thing!! Dont even get me started! I love her parents to death they are great people. I just worry this baby thing has them neglecting a "child" they already have. And if Cleo ends up finding her furever home here well then so be it she will have a happy healthy life here and hopefully find her kitty mate in Fatman!

Im going to try and get some good pictures of her as soon as I can. She is tiny and petite like GiGi however she is as fat as Fatman. Its not good for her. She looks like an over stuff kielbasa with legs. I would love to get her to lose some weight and get some good laser pointer interaction. Plus maybe some of my Auntie Em toys will help her get moving. I think regardless of whether she stays or ends up going back with her current owners Im going to switch her food and start grooming her, baths, combing, and nail trimming. Especially if she does stay here she is going to have to get used to the fact that its a part of life in my house, and with my pets they either tow the line or no sleeping with mommy and daddy. I just get so mad about them shaving her because if someone would take the time just a couple minutes a day and comb her she would be fine. I dont think that a short hair cat should be shaved at all, its ridiculous and unnessecary. Im just hoping that BF doesnt kill me (not seriously) if Cleo does end up here for good. Atleast the plus side is shes already spayed! Oh yeah shes also about 15 yrs old!

They know that I will take the cat no matter what. I keep trying to gently tell them that if they put Cleo on a better diet and did some minor daily grooming they wouldnt need to shave her. I just dont think they get it. Its not as if there is no time or money she doesnt work and he makes over 100K a yr. So to me Im not seeing a problem with putting her on better food or taking the time to give her a little brushing or combing. But thats just me. I cant stop thinking about this poor cat and it just bugs me that everyone else in BFs family either doesnt like cats or treats them like rodents. When we were looking into buying my BFs dads business and house my main concern was it being a one bedroom we wouldnt have enough room for all the cats and Franklin. And I stressed and put my foot down that I was NOT getting rid of any of my animals if we moved we had to accomedate EVERYONE. Well BFs step mother threw a hissy fit saying well put the cats in the office and I said NO they all sleep in bed with us and Im not shunning them out into nowheresville and put their lives at risk with customers coming in and out and potentially letting them out when theres a big highway right out front of the lot AND the back of the house if they managed to go down the hill theres an even bigger highway! So yea my cats stay INSIDE with me!!!! I would be more than willing to have multiple cat/dog doors installed so they had room to go back and forth but there was no way in H-E-double hockey stix I was just leaving them out there!! So thru all that stuff going on it just irritates me that they do this to Cleo. She doesnt deserve this, they dont even turn the heat up a little for her because its oil heat in the office....too expensive....my left toe its too expensive. Sometimes Im just half tempted to drive the 20 minutes and pack her and her crap up and bring it to my house regardless of what anyone thinks or feels about it.

I really dont know what her "parents" are going to do after the baby is born and I worry that they will just pass her onto someone else. Im going to fight tooth and nail to make sure that someone else is me. We already have three cats honestly what is one more! Especially knowing that deep down BF would tolerate it because he cant stand to see harm come to an animal any more than I can. Thats how I got him to let me keep GiGi when I found her. Hes such a softy he doesnt even discipline the animals except when Franklin whines because he will do it NON STOP! So regardless of what happens with Cleo if she stays here thats fine with me but if they do want her back then Im going to make sure that Christine learns how to groom her (so they dont have to shave her) and that her food gets switched over to something healthier especially for a senior cat. But if they ONCE EVER bring up declawing her because of the baby Im going to snatch that cat right out from under them and beat them both senseless with a phone book from Philly!!! I wont let them do that to her!

If it wasnt snowing right now Id go get her but for me to get to where she is now I have to go up and down a mountain. As much as I trust my car in the snow I dont trust other drivers nor do I feel comfortable traveling with a cat up and down a mountain. As of right now Im pushing and pushing for her to be at my house because when they have the baby they have already stated about it not being there right away. Once I get my hands on her Im just going to adjust her to my cats way of life and not give her back. Ive made up my mind already about it and BF likes Cleo so as long as she is happy and ok here she is staying and thats that. Now to just get ahold of her now! Unfortunately her parents are living in jersey till next weekend I would prefer to take her without having to steal her so Im going to get her parents to agree to let me take her and use the excuse that I already have cats I have a dog-free zone in my house and since they know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE my kitties she will be in amazing hands with me. So basically in about a weekish Im going to have Cleo to myself. Now Im just going to start reconfiguring the cat room to be senior friendly and rearrange their towers to make room for Cleos bed and litter box and also get some extra food bowls and water dishes to make up for the extra kitty. Im thinking about figuring out how to block off my closet from the dog and putting a litter box and Cleos bed in there. Its a favorite hiding spot of Fatmans so she might like it in there where its dark and closed off as a hiding spot. Hmmmmmmmmmm.....Whelp I guess Im getting another cat LOL!