3+1 makes 4.... Maybe... oh boy!

Well... Some of you might know by now the story with my neighbor's Senior Kitty, Gracie...
I am not going into details, but my cat family might get bigger Monday, and I am freaking out a bit... need advice, reassurance, vibes, tips, etc, etc!

Here, is a short background: Gracie was a stray 10 years ago, when was taken in by my neighbor - she is now probably 11-12 years old. She has always been an inside/outside cat. My neighbor suffers from Alzheimers and is no longer capable of taking care of her. Gracie was placed outside since a couple/few months ago, and has been out of her Thyroid medication since April.
I started giving it to her again 2 days ago.
Her husband agreed to take her to the vet with me on Monday to get her tested to FeLV, FIV and get a complete Blood Panel. He wants to discuss with the vet if it is best for Gracie to put her to sleep, or leave her as an inside cat, leaving with me...
I told him I will take her if she doesn't have FeLV... I am also praying to God her kidneys and heart didn't get affected by not being medicated for so long...
Anyways... Monday we might have a new resident......... and with 3 cats in a one bedroom apartment, I need to make sure I whatever I can to minimize the stress here... specially since Bugsy's UTI was believed to be caused by stress...
One thing I have going is LOTS of vertical space. I have cat shelves on the walls, window sills, a big cat tree...
Got Feliway too - in the living room, bedroom but also got an extra plug that I can put it in the bathroom when I bring her in.
Right now I got 3 litter boxes....
Food.... She is eating junk; she will have to go into my schedule - Z/D no budging there
Whatelse?????
For how long should she stay inside of the bathroom?
Is this the best thing for her? Or is rehoming her too much?
Are my babies going to be ok with this?
She keeps pretty much to herself... She is sweet... Not too much, she will hiss, but not fight or anything... She like pets on her head, but not on her body; will come over for loving... I think with some TLC she will be just fine... God, I hope!

I totally understand where you're coming from since we faced many of the same questions this summer when we added Tumbles into our family. One thing I can tell you is that it's probably much better for her to be with you than with her previous owner who's no longer able to give her the medical attention she needs. You might be amazed with how well she makes the transition.

Oh yeah, about the food, you'll want to transition her to the Z/D so be sure to get some food from her current owners.

How long she should stay in the bathroom depends upon the reaction of the other kitties.

If you're able to pet Gracie, you can actually bring her scent inside ASAP. I'd grab a few rags, rub her all over, and put it under the kitties' food dish(es). Maybe put some "Gracie" scented rags (we use wash cloths) in their favorite sleeping places... and see what happens. But if she ends up coming home with you Monday, at least she won't be a complete surprise.

Originally Posted by LDG

How long she should stay in the bathroom depends upon the reaction of the other kitties.

If you're able to pet Gracie, you can actually bring her scent inside ASAP. I'd grab a few rags, rub her all over, and put it under the kitties' food dish(es). Maybe put some "Gracie" scented rags (we use wash cloths) in their favorite sleeping places... and see what happens. But if she ends up coming home with you Monday, at least she won't be a complete surprise.

Click to expand...

This will sound completely stupid, but I will ask nonetheless... Is this safe to do even if she is FeLV positive? She is UTD on her shots, and I never known of her been involved in fights, as she doesn't really leaves the building... The chances of her having something as slim, but I want to be safe...

I'm betting that since she's been under the care of a vet she's going to be FeLV negative. However, I'm with you. I'd rather wait to be sure before chancing it.

FeLV is transmitted by saliva - usually by bite wounds or grooming, and sometimes (though infrequently) by sharing food & water dishes and litterboxes. It survives outside of the body for only a few hours:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/felv.html

So if you want to be extra safe, rub her with them this evening or tomorrow morning, leave them in a cabinet or something for three hours or so, and then put them out.

I randomly test one of my farm cats about every year, just pick one & test them. That said, I just had Squishy & Goat-Head in my bathroom w/o them being FeLV tested. I'm a bit nervous on one hand, but on the other I think I'm marginally safe in regards to wandering/etc.

As for intros - just go really slowly. Give everybody plenty of time to adjust. Can you install a screen door to the room where she'll be living temporarily?

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I randomly test one of my farm cats about every year, just pick one & test them. That said, I just had Squishy & Goat-Head in my bathroom w/o them being FeLV tested. I'm a bit nervous on one hand, but on the other I think I'm marginally safe in regards to wandering/etc.

As for intros - just go really slowly. Give everybody plenty of time to adjust. Can you install a screen door to the room where she'll be living temporarily?

Click to expand...

Hi Nat, Thanks for the Tips!
I rather really test her... She is late on her Senior Panel anyways, and we need to know if her heart and kidneys were not affected by the lack of meds... Hoping not... But a bit more of blood for the test to be extra safe will make me feel much better about bringing her in... Bugsy's immune-system is already compromised as it is, the last thing I want to is to put my baby in risk in any way shape or form.
I rent, so I am not sure about the screen door... Unless I can find one that doesn't do much damage. My landlord is pretty nice, as you can tell by my cat shelves on the wall , but that is dry wall, easily fixable... Not sure about the door wooden frame. I will take a look at Home Depot or Lowes - hopefully they have something that works!

As another alternative, you can look into baby gates. In an emergency situation I've used 3 of them "layered" to make a temporary screen door. Depends on how desperate you get, or if they're necessary for this intro.

I decided to put a screen door on my bedroom door, for Lola's safety (to confine her when needed, like when repair men are around, etc). I decided to look into Menards, however they didn't have anything that I wouldn't have to put hinges on & attach to the door frame.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

As another alternative, you can look into baby gates. In an emergency situation I've used 3 of them "layered" to make a temporary screen door. Depends on how desperate you get, or if they're necessary for this intro.

Click to expand...

Good idea!
I will start with the door closed and see how it goes... But I plan to make this a slow intro - not only she is older and recovering, but Bugsy had an stress induced illness not too long ago... so it might be a good idea to do a see through intro before putting them face to face...

You know, my biggest hope is that she becomes Bugsy's buddy - she is older and laid back... He is also laid back, very sweet, lazy and left out by Hope an Lucky... Hopefully both of them will become a pair

You're right to want to test her before you let them interact in any way. We had to keep Ming Loy at the vet in boarding until we were SURE she was parasite free, not going to develop a URI or anything and fully tested before we introduced her to our crew because of Tuxie's autoimmune disease.

And as to intros, like Nat says, just take it really slow. I know it's hard not to dote on the newbie (if it comes to that), but ALWAYS give your kitties food, play, and attention first.

As you probably know, we had to introduce Chumley this summer. We were so worried about so many things... was he going to be aggressive? Was he going to stress Spooky (who has had problems with stress peeing in the past & overgrooming)? And now that Tuxie's doing better... was HE going to be excessively aggressive? That was just the tip of the iceberg. We did scent swapping for about three weeks (swapping brushes, beds, putting kitty scented cloths under food dishes, etc.) before beginning actual physical intros. Then we started with those really slowly - like 20 minutes, then a little longer each day. We just lengthened it a little bit each day over a period of 3 weeks/a month, and then it was done. Chumley's been inside here with us full time for three months, and he's still not entirely comfortable. Of course, we're in a REALLY small space with 8 cats. It took Billy a full year to be completely at ease.

We make sure to keep up the Feliway and use Bach's Rescue Remedy religiously.

She is on the way to the vet now... if all her tests go ok, and her problem is thyroid only, I am going to have a 4th kitty here this afternoon.... Vibes for the little old lady!
She spent the day outside yesterday and she was sooooo happy ... With me she will be an inside only... Hopefully it will be the best for her... I hope so... Oh boy, I hope I am doing the right thing, for all of us...
Vibes would be highly appreciated!

Oh Carolina!! Too bad your apartment isn't as big as your Heart!! I had a feeling, when I read your first thread about Gracie, that you would be taking her in...
You've gotten good advice!! I'm sending lots of that Gracie gets an A+++ at the vet.
Vertical space is important when you live in a small apartment. I had 5 cats in a little one bedroom apartment. They love the height!!!
Good Luck and Bless You for doing the right thing

How'd it go????????????????

All the best!

Still sending mega to you and Gracie. Hang in there.

for Gracie and you

Well.... She is home, and she is one stressed out little lady
God, I just hope and pray this is the best thing for her

She went to the vet, and thank goodness, her only problem seems to be Thyroid... I do not have a copy of her test, but I know she got tested for FeLV and FIV and both came back negative, she also got a full CBC and Chem 6, and T4 Snap test.

I think I will call tomorrow to ask for her numbers, but the vet said she is ok, and she does have some time and quality of life into her - he said nothing shows kidney failure, and he did not advise putting her down unless she became really really depressed and we had no other options...

One thing he noticed, and I noticed too, is that she is panting... But, she is old - nobody knows how old she is... she can be 15, she can be 17... Who knows....

So....... Here I am.... I am going to try to give this little old lady some loving for the time she has left; the vet said provided she has the meds, she is healthy
The poor thing is skin and bones... and fur - lots and lots of fur...
She is sooooo stressed out! I really really truly hope I am doing this for the best... For now she is in the bathroom... I am not even going to start the scent exchange until tomorrow when she settles down a bit. She did eat a little tough, which is good...
Please ,please send a lot of vibes our way... To her and my kitties too... We will all need it...

And without further ado, here is the new resident of the clan!

for ALL of you!