I rescued a nine month old (at the time) feral cat off of the streets that was emaciated and sickly. He ended up having pneumonia and all kinds of worms. The first night that he was with us we kept him in a dog crate with a litterbox and food, and he peed all over the sides of a sheet I put over the cage. That has been the only potty incident he's ever had.
Well two months later he is now a healthy, happy cat that enjoys human company and loves to play. He is still being kept in a dog crate in our garage, but I let him out daily to play in the closed-up garage. He uses the litterbox well, but because he gets so bored in his crate he tends to pull the poop out of his litterbox and play with it, even though he has toys to play with in his cage.
So I have a few questions.
1) I've been hanging posters up for two months now, and I also have had a rescue group make a courtesty post for him on petfinder.com No one has even inquired about this boy. I'm beginning to think that no one is ever going to adopt him. Which brings me to my question...we have the option of moving him to our basement to give him more space to run (and so he won't have to live in a cage all the time). We are unable to actually adopt him because we have a cat in our house that doesn't take well to other cats. I'm not so sure that the feral foster cat would take to adult cats, either. Is there any chance that if we would move the foster cat down to the basement that he would start peeing everywhere? My parents are terrified of this, and will not allow it.
2)If the whole basement thing would work out, is it a wise decision or a not-so-wise decision to get the foster cat a playmate? We know from experience that he adores kittens. Would it make sense to get him some company so he wouldn't get lonely in the basement? (I'd still visit him often, of course!) Is there any chance that after the kitten is grown that the foster cat would suddenly not like the other cat anymore, or would their bond just continue to grow? Would a female or male be better (the foster cat is a neutered male...and the other cat would get spayed/neutered)
Well two months later he is now a healthy, happy cat that enjoys human company and loves to play. He is still being kept in a dog crate in our garage, but I let him out daily to play in the closed-up garage. He uses the litterbox well, but because he gets so bored in his crate he tends to pull the poop out of his litterbox and play with it, even though he has toys to play with in his cage.
So I have a few questions.
1) I've been hanging posters up for two months now, and I also have had a rescue group make a courtesty post for him on petfinder.com No one has even inquired about this boy. I'm beginning to think that no one is ever going to adopt him. Which brings me to my question...we have the option of moving him to our basement to give him more space to run (and so he won't have to live in a cage all the time). We are unable to actually adopt him because we have a cat in our house that doesn't take well to other cats. I'm not so sure that the feral foster cat would take to adult cats, either. Is there any chance that if we would move the foster cat down to the basement that he would start peeing everywhere? My parents are terrified of this, and will not allow it.
2)If the whole basement thing would work out, is it a wise decision or a not-so-wise decision to get the foster cat a playmate? We know from experience that he adores kittens. Would it make sense to get him some company so he wouldn't get lonely in the basement? (I'd still visit him often, of course!) Is there any chance that after the kitten is grown that the foster cat would suddenly not like the other cat anymore, or would their bond just continue to grow? Would a female or male be better (the foster cat is a neutered male...and the other cat would get spayed/neutered)