Mom's cat, Muffin, has a home.

Muffin will become a RugCat, at least for now. I will either bring her home tonight or tomorrow night. Rick’s co-worker was not at work again today (her fiance had a heart attack last Thursday) and I can’t continue to visit the cat twice a day. It’s hard on my gas quota and it’s hard on my wallet, not to mention that between visiting Muffin and dealing with my mother is really taking its toll on me emotionally. Rick is not happy and I cannot honestly say that I’m particularly happy about it either, but it’s not fair to her to continue to stay there by herself. I will continue to try to find a home for her. Failing that, I won't let her down.....she can stay a RugCat for as long as she needs.

I'm particularly concerned about Mollipop as she tends to be quite jealous at times and I'm worried how she will do with Muffin in the house. I need to let her know that she is still my heart kitty. Please send vibes that this transition will be smooth for everybody, but especially for both Miss Muffin and, especially, for my PopperGirl. (And that eight cats won't break the bank. We are worried about that, too.)

Thank you.

(As God is my witness, I will never have more than eight cats!)

that everything works out for everybody concerned. Who knows, maybe Muffin and Mollipop will become BFF.

I'm sure that everything will be just fine, but I'm sending vibes for all concerned.

I think, if you advertise in the right places, finding a good new home for a young, spayed, de-clawed , well-behaved cat shouldn't be impossible. Sadly, a lot of people want their cats de-clawed and so would consider that a plus. I know you can't re-home her yet, but when the time comes I think it can be done. that everything works out OK! (and I won't scare you with what I said back when I only had 8 cats :tongue2

Pam you are a saint and so is your hubby. I often think what we're going to do when my Mom can no longer take care of her herself or her cats. She loves them dearly and they are elderly also. I just dread making the decisions for the cats, though my brother will help....maybe. Best of luck with your addition to the cat family, lots of for everyone getting along.
 

it all works out. :cross:

Thank you. Thanks so much for keeping us in your thoughts. I'm worred that eight cats is just too much. Willowy? Don't think I want to know what you said when you only had eight cats! I'm telling you this is our limit. I swear.

With the seven cats, we've only had five litterboxes. I simply scoop, scoop, and then scoop some more and it's worked. But now? Well, I'm going shopping this afternoon. Muffin does have her own box, so that's six. I'm going to buy two more boxes, so that will bring us up to eight. I know I should have one more, but honestly, we don't know where to put them.

As it is, we have three in the bathroom and two in the kitchen. Muffin's box will be in the computer room, since she'll be spending time here until introductions are over and I feel comfortable tossing her to the wolves (cats, I mean cats. sorry). Once she leaves the computer room, I can stick another box back here. And a litterbox in our bedroom (I really never wanted a litterbox in the bedroom or the computer room, but the house is small and there are no other options at this point.) We've never had any litterbox issues with this gang either and I worry that yet one more cat may be the final straw. (I really do worry about these things.)

Our cats use Tidy Cats, both scoopable and regular. Muffin uses Yesterdays News. I think I'm going to try Arm & Hammer in the two new boxes and see what happens. My sister uses it and her cats don't have an issue with it. I've taken care of her cats when she's been away and I certainly didn't see anything wrong with it.

Muffin is free fed with dry cat food only; Mom said that canned food made her vomit sometimes, so her vet put her on strictly dry. My cats are fed canned food twice a day with dry snacks in between. I can't free feed as we have two "Old Ladies" who will, quite frankly, eat until they can't eat anymore, then vomit it up, and go back for more until the bowls are clean. Then they'll eat their vomit, puke that back up, and eat it again. (sorry for being graphic, but it's the truth....that's what they do). That's why I don't free feed. So it's going to take Muffin awhile to get used to the different routine.

So clearly, there will be some issues until we all get used to the way things are. It's been a long, long time since we've brought an adult cat into the mix. BooBoo always had issues with adult cats, especially adult males. Since Muffin is a girl and BooBoo seems to enjoy having his harem and being the only feline male in the house, hopefully, things will go OK. (And did I mention that dear Richard is not amused?)

Thank you for the vibes and good thoughts.

She's home. She is not amused. The language that came out of her mouth on the way home! Oy!  First time I ever heard her hiss!

Molli is patrolling the hallway and is very curious about Muffin. The other kids? They don't care.

ETA: The closet in the computer room has mirrored doors. I think it's the first time she ever saw herself in a mirror. She just spit at herself!

Pam, I had a feeling that Muffin would join your family. I hope adjustments are made and they learn to accept each other. It's got to be doubly hard of Muffin since she was an only cat. While your 7 may not like her, at least they're accustomed to many cats around. Rick sounds like a wonderful person; he may complain about the number of kitties but I'm sure he loves them all and wants only the best.

Congratulations on your newest baby. Oh and I love the name Muffin. When we lived in New York our neighbor had a cocker spaniel named Muffin and every time our doors were open (this was in an apartment buidling) Muffin would run into our house for a snack and then run back home.

Let's talk soon.

Pam, I think this will all work out just fine. I totally get the worrying part though. Can't be helped when we add ONE more cat. Muffin really sounds pretty sweet and easy going. Good idea on adding more boxes in the initial stages of when you begin intros. Eventually, you can probably go down to six boxes. It sounds like you are a good scooper and that is how less boxes can become more . I just started using the Arm and Hammer litter. I love that litter and am so glad I tried it. My parents use it and when we were there last weekend visiting, I noticed it was dust free too. Great litter. Will be checking in to see how it is going.

Thanks, guys!

Actually, it's not going badly. Tuesday was stressful for Muffin more so than anybody, unless maybe Molli, who's not a happy camper. Bless Tabby's heart, she wants to play with Muffin so badly...she keeps coming in and checking her out. And while we had hisses before, those have even calmed down. When we're home, I keep the computer room door open, so that if Muffin wants to leave, she can. And she's been checking out the bedroom....with Amber (another orange tabby) in tow! I took off work Tuesday and yesterday. I kept the computer room door closed on Tuesday, just to give her time to settle in by herself. But yesterday, the door was open all day....cats came in, cats went out. So did Muffin. She's very curious about her new home.  And yesterday afternoon, I got Da Bird out and Muffin, Tabby, and Amber all played in the computer room, with hardly any hissing at all.

Whisper gave her a "Hello" lick and that was that. Pepe tried to eat Muffin's food (I knew that would happen). Neither Bootser nor BooBoo have come back to visit. So Muffin has met five of the seven. She's not really comfortable, but she's doing OK, everything considered. And I think it will get better as we go.

She's pretty much made herself at home on my computer desk; she flops down right in front of the monitor and will lie there and purr. And as much as she goes from my desk to the filing cabinet and back, she has yet to knock anything over *knock on wood*.

Molli came in this morning. Muffin was lying on the filing cabinet and Molli didn't see her. She kept looking and looking. Finally Muffin gave a hmpf! Molli looked up, saw Muffin way up high and ran out of the computer room. Backward. Sorry, but I had to laugh. Molli is still sleeping in my arms, so she's not too angry with me.

Rick went right back as soon as he got home from work both Tuesday and Wednesday to talk to her and play for awhile. And since the door was open, she came out to the hallway yesterday to greet him. She just loves the attention. She's eating. She's pooping and peeing fine. She's doing well, I think.

I realize that keeping the door open may be pushing it a bit. But really, we don't have a choice at this point. She needs to become part of the clan and the sooner the better. We're putting kitchen stuff in the computer room and there won't be room for her in there. I hate to do it this way and I hope that, by rushing the intros, I don't set things back to the point where it gets ugly. I'm at work today, so she's in the room and the door is closed while we're gone. She wasn't happy about the closed door; she was meowing away when I left to come into work.

And we may have a home for her. I talked to my petsitter; she found somebody who might be interested, so I emailed some pictures. We'll see. I'm leery because I want her to have a really, really, REALLY good home! (Like ours.....sorry)

Thanks for the review on the Arm and Hammer, Lauren! I think that's the one we're going to, too. It will have to wait for the weekend until I get some time to hit the store.

Tell Molli she gave me a laugh just now reading your update. :lol3: Really, though, it sounds incredible to me, Pam. And, honestly, I think the way you are going about intros is just fine. Leaving the door open like that when you are home is a great plan. When you leave, close her in. Easy to do. Muffin will figure this all out very soon. The new routine. Just in time for her to go to a new home!!!! I am sure that you will be interviewing any new prospective home for Muffin with a "flea comb" to REALLY, REALLY make sure it IS a great home. Of course, anyone who you approve will stay in touch and close contact with you. I am also certain that you will make sure that IF things did not work out for Muffin, she would be returned to you and you only. :nod: Keep the wonderful updates coming. I think it is so cute that Tabby and Amber are welcoming Muffin so sweetly. :rub:

It sounds like things are going really well, so even if the potential new home doesn't pan out (:cross: that it does), you shouldn't have too much stress in the household.

Re. where to keep litter boxes: I actually have one of mine in the living room, and I've not had any issues. I tend to scoop as soon as they go, anyway, so very little smell. Ooh! You could try one of those pretty "litter box hider" things, you know, looks kind of like a coffee table or a cabinet or something, and you put the litter box underneath, so the cat has privacy and the visitors can't tell right away that it's a litter box. If you're crafty, you could probably make your own out of wood. (If you do, you simply must post pictures.)

Pam, sounds like the intros are going very well. I hope things work out so that Muffin becomes part of your family. I know it's easy for me to say that, but after all she is "family". And if not I'm sure that you will be extra cautious to find her the best home possible.

Things are going well, as long as it's only one or two cats at a time. She tried to come out to the living room last night and all seven cats were there. She hissed and spat and high-tailed it back to her safe room. (And everybody else looked at each other and said, "What the heck was that all about??") But if it's just Tabby and Amber, she does fine now. And, for awhile last night, Muffin was in the catnapper in the bedroom. Then she came over to me and flopped down next to me in bed. Much to Molli's dismay. Thank goodness, she didn't stay long because Mollipop was not amused. She left and Molli settled back down. Molli has to get used to Muffin being here, but Molli also has to be reassured that she's my baby girl. I'm trying.

I don't want to throw Muffin out of the computer room until I really think she's ready to be on her own with the others and that will take awhile. But I think that tonight, I'm going to keep the room door open for her to come and go throughout the night and see what happens. If it gets ugly, I'll put her back in the computer room and shut the door again. But she's already getting to the point where she just hates being shut up and she's cries when I shut the door. And that gets the others upset, too.

The problem is that she is free-fed, so she nibbles throughout the day and the night. If I keep the door open, I'll have to put her food away because Pepe has already been at Muffin's food, scarfing away. And I don't want that either as Ms. Pepe has a bit of a weight problem as it is. Having one cat free-fed and seven others on a schedule is going to be difficult. I'm hoping to get Muffin on a schedule as well, but we're trying to take things slowly....or as slowly as we can.

The woman who had expressed an interest in Muffin said she wasn't interested after all. Bummer......not!

Sounds like it is all going OK so far. Continuing the and :cross:

Yep - just take things slowly!!! If you have to close her in for her meals, she will soon get with the program. :nod: Muffin is so appreciative that she has that safe room!! Kitties are so smart. :rub: Most kitties will be that way and only venture out little by little and run back when they feel unsure. I think things are going VERY well, Pam. Your doing great!!!! Good luck tonight in leaving the door open. Continued and a BIG HUG for your efforts in this!!