Interesting times ahead

It looks as if I might be adding to Rudi and Little Cow.
The rescue from whom I got Little Cow got in touch with me yesterday to tell me the sad story of a little 12-18 month grey and white girl.
They are having trouble homing her as she has a bit of an incontinence problem. Sounds like she leaks a little bit of urine now and then, completely unknown to her. This particularly happens overnight, but also from time-to-time during the day. The vet has told them that it's mechanical, not something that can be cured.
Apparently she's incredibly sweet and friendly but is really not coping well with being cooped up in a little pen at the rescue (because of the wee problem, she's isolated). Moreover, the family who handed her in had also kept her in a little pen for a few weeks because of her wee problem (they had other cats and young children) and it sounds like she's going stir crazy and needs a proper home.
So the shelter are trying desperately to find her somewhere. They aren't overkeen on the idea of a pure farm cat as they think she's too affectionate for that, but they've asked me to consider her, given that I think farm cats are there for both work and play!
I'm going to see her next week. My concern isn't over her wee problem, but more over how she'll get on with Rudi and affect the status quo of the farm. He is king of the castle, sweet with adults but mean to other cats. If I do take her, the plan is:
* home her in the utility room at the back of the house in a nice big dog-type cage with a bed and a couple of litter trays, although she'll have free run of the whole room. We'll pop by and give her all the affection we can. The floor is tiled, so she can't cause too much damage.
* the utility room is how all of us - including Rudi - enter the house. If and when Rudi comes in the house (which he likes to with increasing frequency), we'll make sure she's in her cage. This way we can hopefully introduce them without danger - although I'd expect a bit of hiss and spit.
* over time, they will hopefully make friends or, at worse, get along. As and when this happens, we'll give her the possibility to roam around the farm and, if she wants, come back in to the utility room at the end of the night.

Hopefully this will work for her, but any suggestions welcomed! As I say, it's not a done deal, but it sounds like they've exhausted most of their options. I've told them that she can be a farm cat with benefits, so hopefully they'll go for it!

In other news:
* Rudi still lovely to everyone except Little Cow
* Little Cow coming round a little bit more every week. I have realised that Catnip is her Kryptonite!
* am feeding neighbours two indoor cats at the moment while they are on holiday. How the other half live! Bless, they are very sweet things (a 10 year old virtually blind persian and a mischievous little 2 year old tabby boy), and it's so different so see them come to me for food as soon as I walk in and then devour it within 2 minutes.

Originally Posted by dunnyboy69

I've told them that she can be a farm cat with benefits, so hopefully they'll go for it!

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Yes, it is the optimal solution in such cases.

This is surely why they did approached you, they hoped for it.

To let a cat be farm- or stable cat isnt that difficult. The problem is, far from all farmers / stable owners are good cat owners. You are, but not all others...

Lets hope for the best with your residents!

Good luck!

Good luck!! I hope it all works out for you! We recently moved to the country on 5 acres. Nora, Walter, and Thomas are indoor only as they were that way when we lived in the city and don't know any different. Hazel wandered up to our house a couple weeks ago, and she will be our spoiled rotten farm cat. Walter doesn't handle other cats very well, so I don't think she would ever be able to come inside. She gets tons of love and attention, though, and access to my husband's air conditioned/heated shop when it is too hot or cold out. She is also fed very well. Completely different than our neighbors that feed their cat and dogs the same food at the same time, and the cat has to fight to get food from the dogs.

Oh that sounds like the perfect solution for this poor sweet baby girl!

I also don't expect you'll have too many problems introducing them. The utility room has become part of his territory - but it's not completely "his" yet - is it?

If he's going to be isolated from the utility room for a few days, you might want to prepare him for the idea that there's another cat in there by rubbing her all over with a towel and putting it under his food dish. He'll get the scent of her - but hopefully associate it with "good."

As Stefan said, let's hope for the best with your residents!!!!

I just wonder if she's allowed to have more exercise if her "mechanical" problem will resolve itself - or maybe she just needs some hormones - like, ??? maybe she was spayed too young ???

If she's been confined a lot, the ability to be more active would be very helpful for her - I can't imagine her life is better caged rather than being allowed to be a pampered "barn cat" ??

thanks for the positive comments. Let's hope she likes me when I go to see her next week...my heart's about 90% set on her, but if someone comes in who can give her an even better home, then it's not meant to be.
To answer queries:
* apparently the urine problem has been happening for many, many months. The family she was with initially thought it was one of their young children, apparently. They then realised it was her. She was initially treated for cystitis but that did no good so they handed her to the rescue. The rescue have limited funds (very understandable) and while they, sensibly, had her spayed, the vet also looked into it and said it was mechanical. I'm hopeful that getting her more active and giving her TLC will help. It sounds like she'll have some dietary issues (wet only - something to do with crystals in her wee?), but that's not a problem.
* that's a great tip, LDG. They've said that, while she's loving, she's also no-nonsense: so it could be she'll stand up to Rudi (Little Cow just runs from him)
* my dear-departed farmer grandfather wasn't much of a cat lover and would be your typical 'farm cat owner'. He'd just pop a load of food out every night, but he loved them in his own way. And moreover, they loved him back - as I boy, I felt he was like the Pied Piper, cats winding round his legs when he came out with a big bowl of feed.
* Karaleigh....I love your Hazel tales, btw. She and her kittens are sweet

Originally Posted by dunnyboy69

* that's a great tip, LDG. They've said that, while she's loving, she's also no-nonsense: so it could be she'll stand up to Rudi (Little Cow just runs from him)

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Oh that is great news!

I do hope it works out - for her, for you, and for your existing rescues.

Sounds like a pretty good setup! Only thing I would worry about is her pee triggering others to pee on ground when shes allowed access to the utility room-Is there any way that that could be her room alone and no one passes in/out of it when she has more privlages?

This does sound like a good solution for the little girl. Although, I wonder if she has ever lived outside??? Did I miss that part, sorry if I did. I just wonder if she could adjust to that. I surely think she could become friends with Rudi and Little Cow. But I would make sure you keep her in that utility room for quite a bit of time so she doesn't disappear or even get chased off by Little Cow and Rudi. A bit tricky but it can be done. Last year at the barn where I boarded my horse, we took on a friendly cat from a TNR org. that needed to be in a barn situation because they could not find a home for her and we kept her in the tack room for a couple of weeks then in a large dog crate in the area of the barn we wanted her to stay and get accustomed to living. We kept her in that crate for about a week or so then just left the door of the crate open so she could come out on her own. She did disappear for a few days and I was worried about her and felt terrible. But about four days later, she came around one morning like she owned the place . Much luck in your decision!!!

hopefully going to see her Monday afternoon.
If she comes home with us, then big changes will happen! More than anything, I suspect we'll have to start using the other outside doors to stop her dashing out and Rudi wandering in. The farmhouse is essentially two cottages kocked together, so there's another two doors we can use - another back door and one front door. It'll take some acclimatising but we'll manage.
At this juncture I'm not sure how bad her pee problem is. I have been told she uses a litter tray just fine and isn't smelly but just 'drips a bit'. But I do know that, at the moment, I'm not worried about the others following her lead and weeing on the floor. Little Cow is so terrified of Rudi that she doesn't come near the house really, while Rudi - who pops in once or twice a day via the utility room (when we leave the door open ... I'll be in the kitchen and suddenly hear him being his noisy, lovable self) - has never gone to the toilet in the house. I've seen him do his business at various spots around the farm, so I suspect/ hope he'll be alright on that front.
Best case scenario: she joins the family, is a total lovebug, her pee problem isn't bad and begins clearing with TLC and exercise, she becomes friends with Rudi, brings Little Cow out of her shell and basically loves life with us as a farm cat with benefits. Not a lot to ask! And there are always alternatives if things don't go to plan; there's plenty of room on the farm for me to dip into my savings, buy an outside cat pen/ run and let her have that to call her own. But think I need to try her as an indoor 'utility room' kitty first off, for at least a month.
I'm probably over-thinking it all - not something I normally do! - but I want to make this work for everyone in the family, human and feline.

Did you get to see her today?

And we all specialize in overthinking when it comes to our kitties.

TOTALLY!!!!

I was wondering too another , there is a medication you can give a cat/dog that helps tighten up the urinary tract sphincter muscle. I had to use it for a dog many years ago and it worked miracles. I am sure there has been more research and betterment of the drug since I used it. Maybe the vet has already thought of this, I am sure. Just a thought.....

Greetings from an England that is going mad (I assume the news of the big city riots has crossed the Atlantic?)...

Anyway, I didn't get to see her yesterday but I popped along a couple of hours ago. I think describing her as a playful, affectionate, big kitten would just about do her justice! And she is gorgeous, a bluey grey colour with a white bib - just a few shades lighter than Rudi. She loved being petted and is clearly going mad with boredom in her pen/ cage. Part of her playfulness is nipping (but not breaking the skin), but having gone through that with Rudi, I reckon I can deal with it (a firm 'Ouch! No!' worked for him).

I have a teensy bit of family arm-twisting to do to clinch the deal (they think I'm going soft or mad, or maybe a bit of both), but all will be good and she'll melt their hearts soon enough. As I've said to them - 'look, if Ruby hadn't run off we'd have three anyway!'.

Using new doors etc will take a bit of re-conditioning for us humans, but it'll only be for a bit. I'm sure at some point we'll forget, but having been spayed, her likelihood of wanting to slink out is lessened, I hope. Apparently her first family let her go outdoors from time-to-time, which is great, as I'd like her to contribute to rodent patrol. That said, how much she's out and about will be down to her and, of course, the Rudicat. The introduction between them needs to be very gradual, starting with scent-based and am crossing my fingers that they get on.

(talking of rodent patrol, btw: remains of 3 rabbits killed by LC and Rudi found around the farm this Sunday...not nice but, boy, are they earning their keep)

So, I'll pick her up the middle of next week - got friends coming to stay for a few days, so best to get that out of the way first.

Finally, by the way, am going to call her Tili. As in 'uTILIty room cat'. Oh how we English like our terrible puns....

cheers for now
(p.s. there will be photos. And then some.)
(p.p.s.s. and I will look into vet stuff once she's settled - interestingly, when I saw her today, the kindly lady at the shelter said she hadn't 'dripped' overnight, so it may be that she's improving naturally as she's grows up)

Have fun with your friends - and then share your new addition with us!

Tili!!! What a cute name for her, she will love it. I am sure she will be so very happy at your place. A perfect situation and home for her. Keep up posted

hi all,

well, 'Tili' is here, has now been here for about 3 hours. What a boisterous character she is! Here are some photos

http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/...nt=inroom1.jpg

http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/...nt=inroom2.jpg

http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/...theshelter.jpg

Two inter-related changes have happened:

1) we realised that it wouldn't make sense to keep her in the utility room given all our comings and goings. So we've made up the spare room. Given her potential pee problem (on which more another time), we've covered the floor in old duvet covers. We've also added 2 litter trays, 2 cat beds (actually, just carriers with towels in - means they can be changed) a scratching post/ toy and loads and loads of toys, mainly gifted by the shelter.
2) given that she's not going to be a utility room cat, we've realised Tili doesn't work. So as we are all Star Wars fans, she's Padme or 'Padders' for short.

I simply cannot believe how quickly Padders seems to be settling. She was a bit fretful in the car (probably because she thought we were taking her to the vet!) but as soon as she got in her room she started playing and exploring. Indeed, we realised we hadn't closed the door behind us and so she bolted into one of the other rooms, ran around under the bed, dashed out and back into her room. This is a girl who needs a lot of love and attention, as the shelter said. She's hopping onto laps, running around like a crazy thing and basically acting like a big kitten, including the play nipping - ouch! My hands are her toys - any tips welcomed. Rather splendidly, she also wolfed a packet of wet food within 30 minutes of being her, once we'd left her on her own for a bit.

I've been given a load more background on her and I'll share this and more photos soon. Not sure 'ferals and strays' is the right place, mind!

PADDERS is a very, very pretty girl !!!! I just love her face . Actually, I am relieved that you are putting her in the spare room . I really feel that this will be better for her at least until she is totally settled in and knows you and her new home. I was worried she might run outside and just run and get lost. I have known a few cats to do that if you don't keep them confined long enough. They try to find the safety of their old territory. So this is great and she looks so happy and content. And how extremely nice that the shelter donated so many toys for her new home too. Interested in hearing about what you found out about her background . I think this thread is fine here in the stray forum. She is a rescue after all!!!

"Padders." Let's hope that in the end it's because she pads about, not because she needs the washable padding.

Oh she is a beauty! I will say - she does have mischief in those eyes! What a delightful character! I have high hopes that she and Rudi will get on grandly, because WHAT a gorgeous pair they'll make!

I don't know what info the shelter gave you, but it's a good idea to keep her in for three weeks to a month before letting her out. It gives her time to make your home her territory, so she won't run away, as Feralvr pointed out.

As to the nipping - you and everyone in the home must be REALLY consistent about NOT letting her get away with the nipping. This behavior is correctable, but it takes patience. When she nips, say "OUCH!" loudly, followed by "No" firmly. Grab a toy (best to use a wand toy - something on a string attached to a stick so the toy she plays with is NOWHERE near your hand). When she redirects to the toy, praise the heck out of her. Cats will learn from "no," but do far better with positive reinforcement - knowing what IS ok. (Cats, after all, are all about "what's in it for me?" ). If she continues to try to play with hands or feet, you have to walk away and ignore her. These are the only ways she'll learn that playing with people's appendages is not ok: she either plays with toys and gets reward with praise (and maybe some treats), or she gets ignored.

I'm excited to learn about her. Poor thing obviously has a story given the little bit we've got so far, and she seems like such a love - but with some issues. SO wonderful of you to give her this chance for love and happiness!!!!

Thanks for the feedback, guys. She's now been here just over 24 hours and seems extraordinarily settled.
This email might be a long and rambling one, so warning in advance! Still, I've 10 minutes spare so let me tell you her story as I know it and then I'll tell you more on day 1 here and plans/ thoughts from here. As ever, any and all advice welcomed.

HER STORY
She was born at the end of January 2010, which makes her just over 18 months old. For the first 11 months of her life she lived with the lady whose cat had her. All I know from that time is that she was a good eater and enjoyed hot and spicy things, which sounds a little odd. There is no indication of her wee problem at this time. At Christmas 2010, she was bought by a RELATED (apparently) family who had 4 young children and already had 2 other cats and a Staffordshire terrier dog. She apparently got on brilliantly with everyone and everything. However they noted lots of damp patches around and ultimately realised it was her. At this point in time her many vet visits began. Initially the vet felt it may be cystitis but after treatment for this she was no better. They noted that she dripped when touched near her tail and when touched firmly near her belly, and they found her bedding was often wet. With their youngest child being at the crawling stage, their vet advised them that she needed to be caged. After a period like this they took her to the shelter and there she was for about 3.5 months till yesterday. The shelter have fallen in love with her. With their limited resources, they've had lots of vet trips with her (including a spay) and the ultimate conclusion from the vet has been that it is a mechanical issue, not a medical one. Why the shelter approached me - and this isn't something I've mentioned before - is that the shelter management were in two camps on her; half were worried about her quality of life and felt that they might need to consider putting her to sleep, the other half (the ones who initially contacted me) were of the opinion that she needed every chance and wouldn't countenance such a step. We're none of us here to judge and, having spoken with people in both camps, I'm not sure that the PTS message would have ever come to fruition, even though it was mentioned on the web site. In her time at the shelter, they felt her pee problem was 'up and down': some days her bedding would be damp, others it wasn't; some days they would notice a few damp spots, others just the one, others none. When I picked her up yesterday, they showed me a little damp corner of her cage by the litter tray - it was clear that she had 'squirted' a little bit out of her tray.

HER FIRST 24 HOURS HERE
On her character, I'll just say she's adorable, adventurous and boisterous. Padders wants to rule the house and be with people! Her room, whilst 50 times the size of her cage and with a lovely window view, is not big enough - she wants to explore the rest of the house. In terms of eating, I'm feeding her high quality wet food (a brand called Encore -very, very pricey, about 75% meat apparently) and she eats the instant the food leaves the tin and hits the bowl. At one point this morning I was convinced she was going to eat her litter; she'll have been well-fed in the shelter, I'm sure, but I think she might just have a 'piggy' personality.

I've not had any more nipping incidents yet: am following advice given and it seems she's a good learner.

On her pooping and peeing, she is definitely using the litter tray - actually saw her have a pee this morning, and it all seemed to go in the tray. I have noticed one or two very small, coin-sized damp patches in the room and her bedding was ever so fractionally damp. Joe, my nephew, is playing with her loads and he said that it was a little damp near her tail yesterday at one point. One thing we've all noticed is that the back of her legs look slightly discoloured. She has big white socks and they look a bit 'muddy' round there. It could be the litter/ the wee problem - I'll try and get a picture.

MY INITIAL THOUGHTS
Looking back over her story, I can't help thinking that - while she undoubtedly has a little pee problem - it has been exacerbated by her situation. There is no evidence that she had any issues in her first 11 months with her 'mother', although it could be they were only very minimal. Moreover, with her second family being related to her first, it is would seem bizarre that they would take on the cat if they knew there was an issue. So I can't help wondering if her issues commenced in the home with the kids and other cats and dogs. Could be diet/ stress; any number of things. Whatever, it's clear that, at the shelter, the problem hasn't been as bad. So maybe a bit of TLC will improve the situation.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE
All being well....

weeks 1 and 2 - she's in that room only (it's upstairs, btw)
week 3 - a couple of times, I'm going to let her explore just outside her room. There's a corridor that leads to the stairs. I'll make sure all doors are shut and supervise her explorations. I have a feeling she'll run around having the time of her life.
week 4 - the start of some outdoor/ meeting Rudi and Little Cow time. Assuming the weather is decent, I'll pop her in a big dog crate with food, litter tray and some toys and she how she is outside for a few hours. Technically I'm not allowed to have indoor pets and, moreover, this is a big farm, so I need to get her adjusting but knowing she's safe inside and outside. Sadly no cat flap permitted either.

And then we'll take it from there. There are loads of options available dependent on her health and how she gets on with Rudi and LC, and we'll review those as and when they arise. The utility room may actually get another look in!

Oh I'm happy and sad all over again. You're such a love for giving this precious girl a new lease on life, but what the poor thing has been through!

That background does make you wonder. I know there are cats that have had problems with pee leaking. Some were treatable, others weren't. Don't know enough about it. We can hope it's a stress reaction, and that this MUCH calmer home will solve the problem soon enough!

But I wouldn't be surprised if the back of her legs are stained from pee, especially as she's continued to have the problem but been in a cage. I'm sure they'll clean up now.

It sounds very much like she'll love being an indoor/outdoor kitty. I'd start getting Rudi and LC used to her smell by rubbing her all over with two clothes, and setting those cloths under their food dishes. You may want to rub Rudi with one and put it under hers. The good association with something they love (food) certainly cannot hurt!