Hello Finally

I've been here almost 2 weeks getting to know TCS and posting on different threads here and there. I guess it's time to introduce myself. My family always had cats when I was growing up. Mostly they were all outdoor/indoor cats. Then I moved out and didn't have a cat again for several years until I got a kitten, Boogie Bear, a pretty, feisty calico. A year later, my sister found a little kitten near where she used to work. So Boogie Bear got a stepbrother, Sgt Pepper, a sweet, handsome black cat. They have been indoor only since kitten-hood. I figure I've spent too much money on them getting them fixed and on shots and checkups to let them out to possibly run off. Besides that, I know they are safer and healthier indoors. She is 10 now and he is 9.

 
A few years ago, along came Jumbo. I estimate he is about 8. He is another black cat. He used to belong to someone who had him neutered and declawed, but then abandoned him to the outdoors. He lived in my empty shed and hung out on my patio. But didn't trust me at first and always ran off. He didn't stop that until he saw me being nice to his tabby friend. It took months of coaxing. A year later he got into a fight or something and his nose was severely injured. I tried to treat it myself with ointment, but it didn't help. My heart hurt looking at his face like that, especially since he so much like Sgt Pepper. I managed to get him in the carrier and to the vet. He got steroid and antibiotic shots. I took him home and let him back in the backyard. But by 2 or 3 months later, he still wasn't healed and his front legs were rubbed raw too. Then there was a weird thing with one eyed that I was freaking out about. I took him back to the vet where he got more steroid and antibiotic shots and they gave me an oral antibiotic to give him for a week. He stayed in the house after that. He had 3 or 4 more rounds of steroid and antibiotic shots over the next 8 months for so before the skin and fun on his nose and legs finally grew back. On top of all that he also had a severe flea allergy messing up other parts of his skin. The poor cat didn't belong outside.


Jumbo is a really sweet lap cat when it's just him. He doesn't like Boogie Bear and Sgt Pepper and they hate him. That is pretty much the reason I found this forum. But I'll get into that a later in the behavior section. I'm really glad I found this community, I wish I'd known about it years ago.

I am by no means an expert on this site, but what got my attention right away is the fact that you have a cat that has been de-clawed living outside. You must never allow him outside, he has no way of defending himself against the wiilds. You keep in inside exclusively, he will stay physically safe. Living in a "shed" is the same as living "in the out of doors".

A belated welcome to TCS!  I've seen your posts in other threads so am glad to see your introduction.  Your kitties are beautiful and you have been a real angel to Jumbo who really needed help.  I'm sure he's so relieved being indoors where he is safe.  I also love black cats - my Paul is a great big boy and Ive had three other black cats over the years.  They are gorgeous, I think!

mazie, I don't think you read my post thoroughly. Please, don't judge me and scold me without reading everything. I am not the one who had him de-clawed! He was obviously someone's former cat, that was either abandoned or lost somehow. If my post wasn't clear, please ask me to clarify without jumping to conclusions.

It took over a year for him to not run from me and to trust me. He lived in my yard until we built a trust, before I could even attempt to try and get him in a carrier to see a vet. After the 1st time I took him to the vet, they assured me the shots would heal his injuries in a about a month. I didn't bring him inside permanently at that time because of my other 2 cats. Two months later, he was actually worse so I took him back to the vet. He DID NOT go outside again! He HAS NOT been outside since. Honestly, I was doing more for him, taking care of him outside, than anyone else around was doing for him, which was NOTHING. I made sure he had food and water every morning and every night and tended his wounds as best as I could. I showed him the love of a human, which he did not seem to have before.

Thank you Margd! I've seen you around too  I think Jumbo still hears the call of the wild, especially at night. But he is much healthier indoors these days. Really his only problem now is fighting with my other 2 cats. We've been working on it recently, but the struggle is real.

You've gone above and beyond with Jumbo, really invested yourself. Kudos to you!

Thanks PushPurrCatPaws! I think any pet is an investment really. You chose to care for these creatures, there's no giving up on them. Luckily, Boogie Bear and Sgt. Pepper came to me as kittens and didn't have any big problems like Jumbo did. I still wonder what exactly happened to him before his life with me.

By the way everyone, if you couldn't already tell, the cats in my avatar right now are my cats. Boogie Bear is the top one, Sgt. Pepper is in the middle and Jumbo is one on the bottom.

You have done a great thing for Jumbo. Welcome to the thread. Don't fret about others who judge before reading the whole story. There are several around her and you just have to look over them.

I'm glad Jumbo was able to survive outside as long as he did and you were finally able to get him to trust you enough. He may not ever get along with your other two but I hope for everyone's sake they will eventually learn to deal with each other.

kntrygrl256 said:

 
You have done a great thing for Jumbo. Welcome to the thread. Don't fret about others who judge before reading the whole story. There are several around her and you just have to look over them.

I'm glad Jumbo was able to survive outside as long as he did and you were finally able to get him to trust you enough. He may not ever get along with your other two but I hope for everyone's sake they will eventually learn to deal with each other.

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Thanks! I'm pretty sure that person read "de-clawed" and stopped reading immediately.

For the record, I'm anti de-clawing. When I first got Boogie Bear, I google searched all kinds of cat info. Since I had had cats before, but not strictly indoor cats, I wanted to make sure I was taking good care of her. When I read about the de-clawing procedure, my stomach churned. Basically it's like cutting off the top knuckle on a human, on purpose. Terrible. I won't bash people for choosing to do it, but I don't support it and would urge them to read about it and reconsider. Boogie Bear and Sgt. Pepper are NOT de-clawed.

I don't expect all 3 to ever get along. Boogie Bear really just tolerates Sgt. Pepper. He's like her annoying little brother. But they can be together and everything is okay. Maybe a little bickering if he tries to play with her. I will settle for a mutual indifference. 

Yes, my Aunt had her cat de-clawed and a good friend of mine had his also. I didn't hold my tongue about it either but the good thing is that neither did ever go outside. The people who had Jumbo declawed should have their fingernails snatched out and see how well they work and feel afterwards.

It is definitely a sickening procedure that I think should be illegal but if you end up with one that has been de-clawed you can't help it and can only take care of them the best way you can which is what you have been doing.

A mutual indifference is always a welcome adjustment.

I apologize CatMinion Jess. You and the others are correct, I did not get the facts straight and for that I am very sorry. I never intended to come of abrasive, but reading back, I can see that I did. With that and not getting the facts straight, I feel badly and again, I apologize. You are indeed doing a great job by this little fellow. Now with my tail between my legs, I will retreat.

No worries Mazie. De-clawing is clearly a hot topic with cat lovers. They can still be healthy cats, but they can't the same fun stuff they could do with claws. It's just really sad for them.

Sometimes I notice that he doesn't realize his front claws are gone. This is Jumbo "scratching" on a post. I see him do that every single day. He "scratches" on the base like the other do too.

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But he can't figure out how to climb on top of the entertainment center, like Sgt, Pepper does all the time.

Thank you for not holding that against me, He is truly a lucky boy to have you as his mommy!!!!

Boogie Bear and Sgt. Pepper are probably feeling left out. "Jumbo getting all the attention from our human again. We hate him."

Here are collages of Boogie Bear I made for our 10 "cativersary" last week.

    
And here's more of Sgt Pepper just being handsome.

They are beautiful babies.
All three of them

Thank you everyone! I'm really glad to be here. I hope to learn how to ease their aggressive behavior towards each other. I'll post more about all that soon in the proper section. It will be a looong post. I also hope I can help other kitty caretakers with my own experiences.