It's a Boy!!

Kat0121 · Jan 12, 2015

I have mentioned this little guy in a post about permanent fostering vs adoption but here's an official introduction. I wasn't looking for another cat but stumbled across this sweet boy picture and bio on a local shelter's website. I thought he had the sweetest face and then I read his bio and knew I had to go get him.

Chico is a six year old boy who has lived at the shelter all of his life. Although he was shy around people for several years,

he has recently decided to trust people and he has become very affectionate and sweet.

Chico would make a great companion in a calm adult household. All he needs is a chance.

My daughter and I went to meet him on Saturday. He was a little nervous at first but warmed up to us quickly and came over for pets. He rubbed his cheeks all over me then went to my daughter to do the same then curled up in a ball on her feet and started nibbling her toes. Sophie does the same thing with DD. We decided to give him a chance and I picked him up after work today. I have him set up in a spare room with a new litterbox, dishes, toys and a nice, soft bed. He came right out of the carrier when I opened it and started exploring. Aside from vet visits, this is his first time out of the shelter. He was calm but a touch nervous and found a spot to relax. There are windows looking into the room from the hall so I can see in and can keep an eye on him even with the door closed.

Bailey (12 year old border collie) is beside herself. She is thrilled and has an ear to ear grin on her face. She wants to to go in and say hello so bad she can taste it. She did sniff the carrier as I brought him in. He didn't hiss or anything. He didn't react at all. Bailey is a very gentle old soul. She loves other animals.

Sophie is curious but not overly so. She knows he is in there and has been poking around by the door a little. Lilith knows he's in there too, and couldn't care less. She looked at him through the window and went to eat her dinner. She is the 6 pound queen of the house. Sophie is her understudy.

He is a sweet, healthy boy. His new name is Henry.

duck2swan · Jan 12, 2015

So sweet and wonderful!! I love the expression on his face. Looks like the transition will go smoothly. Congrats and welcome, Henry!

catnamedpanda · Jan 12, 2015

Welcome!

Henry is very handsome. I am sure he will blend in with the others in no time.

Kat0121 · Jan 14, 2015

Henry isn't happy. I know it's soon but he's been in the shelter his whole life and this is the first time he's been alone. He used the litter box this morning and ate a little. I spent some time with him last night and while he kept his distance he didn't growl or anything if I went near him. The girls obviously know he's there and are curious but they are going about their lives as usual other than peeking in the window of his room from time to time or sniffing at the door.
Would it be catastrophic if I let one of them meet him? They were among a large group rescued from an abandoned house when they were found and he was in a room of about a dozen cats who he got along so all 3 are used to other cats being around. I haven't done anything. Maybe meeting one of them would calm him? I put a feliway diffuser in his room last night.

duck2swan · Jan 14, 2015

Kat I have never had to do this process, but I think your maternal instinct is directing you correctly. Maybe you could open the door when one of the girls are there to see if they come to one another?

Kat0121 · Jan 14, 2015

They do stop by the door now and then to check things out. I know it's not standard to do this but I think he might adjust better with other cats around him as a reassurance. It would be more like what he's always been used to

Kat0121 · Jan 16, 2015

Update on Henry. He has the best vanishing act in the world. He is in his safe room but I have NO idea where. I looked everywhere. That being said, he's been with me now since Monday. I have seen him once since Wednesday night when he very briefly got out of his room and had an encounter with Lilith and Bailey (the dog). The encounter was brief and I was able to get him back into his safe room without any incident. No growling, hissing or anything else from any of them. The whole thing was calm and if anything,a little awkward.

He's back in his room. Like I said, I don't know where. He knows there are windows that look out into the hall and avoids them. He does not come out from his hiding spot while I am awake. I keep fresh food in there 24 hours a day to encourage him to eat. I took Lilith in there for a bit last night to play with the wand toy hoping it would pique his curiosity and encourage him to come out. Nope. Nothing. I put a Feliway diffuser in there and he has his water bowl, his litter box, some toys and a bed.

Of course, he also has his Batcave

I should have named him Bruce or Wayne.

The upside is that he is eating a little more every day, is drinking and is using his litter box. Not one accident out of the box. He's such a good boy!!

That was/is my #1 concern. He really needed to be encouraged to eat. I have been using every trick I can think of (Gerber stage 2 meats, sardines, Fancy Feast kitten and classics). He eats, drinks and uses the litter box in the middle of the night and while I am at work. That's fine. As long as he's doing these things, I am happy. Whatever time he wants is OK with me. I know the rest will come in time.

Every time I go in there I tell him what a good boy he is, how happy we are that he's here and how proud I am that he's eating and is using his litter box. Sophie is so cute. She looks in the windows of the room trying to see him. The windows go almost to the floor so she puts her feet on the bottom of the window and puts her nose to the glass to peek in.

Since he didn't show any aggression towards Lilith and the dog, I was thinking about letting the girls in the room for a while to see if they can encourage him to come out. He may be neutered, but what boy can resist 2 pretty girls?

I want him to be happy. I want him to know that he can relax and come out of his Batcave. I just ordered him this cat tree from Kohl's. With my discount code, the free shipping code and the $10 code they sent me for my birthday, I got it for $56 shipped. I figured that since he likes to hide, the cubby would be good for him. I already have a bigger cat tree that the girls use in the living room. Fingers crossed that he likes it.

micknsnicks2mom · Jan 16, 2015

Kat0121 said:
Update on Henry. He has the best vanishing act in the world. He is in his safe room but I have NO idea where. I looked everywhere. That being said, he's been with me now since Monday. I have seen him once since Wednesday night when he very briefly got out of his room and had an encounter with Lilith and Bailey (the dog). The encounter was brief and I was able to get him back into his safe room without any incident. No growling, hissing or anything else from any of them. The whole thing was calm and if anything,a little awkward.

He's back in his room. Like I said, I don't know where. He knows there are windows that look out into the hall and avoids them. He does not come out from his hiding spot while I am awake. I keep fresh food in there 24 hours a day to encourage him to eat. I took Lilith in there for a bit last night to play with the wand toy hoping it would pique his curiosity and encourage him to come out. Nope. Nothing. I put a Feliway diffuser in there and he has his water bowl, his litter box, some toys and a bed.

Of course, he also has his Batcave

I should have named him Bruce or Wayne.

The upside is that he is eating a little more every day, is drinking and is using his litter box. Not one accident out of the box. He's such a good boy!!

That was/is my #1 concern. He really needed to be encouraged to eat. I have been using every trick I can think of (Gerber stage 2 meats, sardines, Fancy Feast kitten and classics). He eats, drinks and uses the litter box in the middle of the night and while I am at work. That's fine. As long as he's doing these things, I am happy. Whatever time he wants is OK with me. I know the rest will come in time.

Every time I go in there I tell him what a good boy he is, how happy we are that he's here and how proud I am that he's eating and is using his litter box. Sophie is so cute. She looks in the windows of the room trying to see him. The windows go almost to the floor so she puts her feet on the bottom of the window and puts her nose to the glass to peek in.

Since he didn't show any aggression towards Lilith and the dog, I was thinking about letting the girls in the room for a while to see if they can encourage him to come out. He may be neutered, but what boy can resist 2 pretty girls?

I want him to be happy. I want him to know that he can relax and come out of his Batcave. I just ordered him this cat tree from Kohl's. With my discount code, the free shipping code and the $10 code they sent me for my birthday, I got it for $56 shipped. I figured that since he likes to hide, the cubby would be good for him. I already have a bigger cat tree that the girls use in the living room. Fingers crossed that he likes it.

may i ask -- is there a (human) bed in henry's safe room? i'm asking because if you could alternate where you sleep at night, one night in with henry and the next night out with your girls and bailey, that might help henry become more comfortable around you and get to know you over time. i did that when jasper, our foster, first got here and continued doing that for a couple months. so jasper got used to my scent and was able to snuggle in bed with me at night. to help your henry get used to your voice, you could spend time in his safe room with him softly talking to him or even softly reading a book out loud.

Kat0121 · Jan 16, 2015

mickNsnicks2mom said:
may i ask -- is there a (human) bed in henry's safe room? i'm asking because if you could alternate where you sleep at night, one night in with henry and the next night out with your girls and bailey, that might help henry become more comfortable around you and get to know you over time. i did that when jasper, our foster, first got here and continued doing that for a couple months. so jasper got used to my scent and was able to snuggle in bed with me at night. to help your henry get used to your voice, you could spend time in his safe room with him softly talking to him or even softly reading a book out loud.

No there isn't. It's not a bedroom, it's a den. I go in there frequently to check on him, talk to him, check his food/litter box. I think a lot of his problem is that he's never been alone before. He's been in a room full of other cats his whole life and probably has no idea why he no longer is.

micknsnicks2mom · Jan 17, 2015

Kat0121 said:
No there isn't. It's not a bedroom, it's a den. I go in there frequently to check on him, talk to him, check his food/litter box. I think a lot of his problem is that he's never been alone before. He's been in a room full of other cats his whole life and probably has no idea why he no longer is.

awww...poor guy! i'm sure it's not easy making such a big (but ultimately going to be wonderful) adjustment.

is there a couch in his room -- maybe you could relax in there with henry, or take a nap on the couch.

another thought, do you know if henry had a friend or buddy cat there at the shelter? if he did, it might help to have a friend with him making this big adjustment. would it be possible, are you able/willing to consider adopting such a friend/buddy cat along with henry?

duck2swan · Jan 17, 2015

Kat Ive been thinking of Henry. This is a total life change for him. He probably misses his old family so much that he is mourning a little. But Im sure he will come around. Maybe just let him be for awhile as he adjusts. Putting myself in his paws, I would be shellshocked a sad. So he is doing well considering how soon it is. I like the idea of just sitting in his room quietly for an hour or so everyday. Let him come out to you. One thing we know about cats is they are stubborn! Just make silent visits to clean and sit and after about a week, I believe he will make a surprise appearance as your turn pages in your magazine! It will all be ok. Thank you for the update on him.

stewball · Jan 17, 2015

My fingers are crossed so I hope he doesn't take too long to come out..:-)

duck2swan · Jan 29, 2015

Hey Kat, how goes it with Henry?

Kat0121 · Jan 29, 2015

duck2swan · Jan 29, 2015

Yay thats great! Its moving right along! :-D

natalie_ca · Jan 30, 2015

Congrats on Henry! He sounds like a sweetie and is a handsome guy!

Can you stack up some baby gates at the door? Here is what I did when I was ready to show Spence and Katie to Abby. Those are 2 baby gates stacked on top of each other so that none of them could jump over.

I think you need to let Henry adjust in his own time, rather than force the issue. Right now he has his safe room, but if you let other cats or the dog in, it won't feel so safe for him. And with the door closed, they can't see each other, or sniff out one another in safety.

Perhaps let your other cats and dog sleep on a towel or something for a day or 2 and then put that towel into the room with Henry so he can become accustomed to it. And do the same with something Henry has slept on for your other pets.

But the baby gates work really well. Everyone can see each and smell each other from a distance.

Kat0121 · Jan 30, 2015

Thanks. He is very handsome and he's a very good boy!!

He's actually met them a few times already. Just not for any real length of time. He was very calm around them. He has not shown any type of aggression at all. Not towards me or them. He spent 8 years in a shelter with who knows how many other cats coming and going into his life on a continual basis so I don't he's even remotely fazed by them. They find him fascinating and they want to go into his room very badly. They sit by the door and by the windows that look into his room from the hall trying to see him. They showed no aggression at all towards him either during their brief encounters. I was considering doing the baby gate thing but I really think he would be able to scale it and get out. There are a million hiding places in the rest of the house and I know finding him would be very difficult if he got out.

The bed that is in the box that he's hiding behind was originally bought for the girls (who rejected it) but they have been in it (briefly) so it does smell like them. The whole room does. They like to hang out in there usually. DD used that room to keep her computer desk and they frequently went in there to visit her.

stewball · Jan 30, 2015

GrtHe's really got you under the pad of his paw. Midnight snacks. He'll get used to calling you for food and getting it . The first time he may just have wanted you. Did his meow sort of end a question if you see what I mean. Blighty does that when he's calling whisky.

Kat0121 · Feb 12, 2015

So tonight we had the big introduction. I put the girls in the room with Henry. I went in by myself for a while and chatted at him. He was pretty relaxed. I went and got Sophie and brought her in. She sat beside me for a minute and looked at him in the box. They sniffed each other and she went off to poke around the room. They both handled everything very calmly and I kept an eye on body language to see if either became agitated. They did not. While Sophie poked around the room I left the room to find Lilith. I went back in the room and Henry was out of the box with Sophie. They were both relaxed and quiet. As soon as I opened the door,he jumped into the cubby in the tree.

I brought Lilith in. She walked over to the tree and checked him out. They sniffed each other and she walked away. They were both very calm. Lilith went over to the tree and started climbing it. Henry was still in the cubby.

I left the room. He wasn't coming out of the cubby with me in there. That was for sure. I stayed in the hall and looked through the windows. The girls acted like nothing was different. They climbed on the tree, poked around in the playpen (which turned out to be useless. He won't go in it so it's going back) and occasionally checked him out. I looked in the window after a bit and he finally came out and interacted with them. They were all curious about each other but no one was upset. Of course, as soon as he saw me looking in the window, he went back in the cubby.

I ended up leaving them in there for about 40 minutes or so. There was no drama or anything. He seemed happy to see them but I think he wished I'd stop looking in the damn window. Someone ate some of his dinner while they were all in there. No idea who. It wouldn't surprise me if it were one of the girls (miss Sophiesaurus would be my first guess). Whoever it was ate the fortiflora off his food. She has developed a taste for it.

I'm going to put them in there for a while every day. I really think it's going to help him. He's never been alone before and being around other cats is probably the thing that will help him become more relaxed and at home here.

Kat0121 · Feb 13, 2015

When I got up this morning, both Lilith and Sophie ran over to the door to his room so I think that wanted to go say hello. They will have to wait until I get home from work. The dog was already over there despite not having gone in last night. I wish I knew that he has a fan club. The dog is the president.

She is just beside herself with excitement that he's in there. Unfortunately, her enthusiasm might be a sensory overload for him right now. L&S have a much more laid back approach to him.

It's a Boy!!

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