Need home for my 2yr old cat

I have a 2yr domestic short hair female cat, Thea, who is declawed, spayed, and up-to-date on all vaccinations.

I have had Thea since she was 6 weeks old and she means the world to me. It upsets me to even have to write this or attempt to look for a new home for her, but she has become threatened by my 1yr old son now that he is crawling around. We have put her on Paxil (antidepressant) under the guidance of our vet to try and calm her down a bit and maybe take away some of the anxiety she is feeling towards my son. We have kept her in the basement while my son is awake and roaming around to let the medication take effect. Once he is in bed or out of the house, she has her normal full roam of the house. It has been a few weeks now since we started her on the meds and we have started to let her out of the basement with the baby around, but she is still hissing, growling, and getting in complete defense mode when she sees him moving about on his own. She has not bitten him (and I am afraid one day she may).

When she is with us alone or around other adults she is such a sweetie pie - she is loveable and kind - and means the world to me. My vet cannot help me any further now and I am up against a brick wall now. It is too stressful having to consistently keep them apart, worry, etc... I will only have peace of mind knowing she will be at the shelter until someone - with NO CHILDREN - can take her.

Can anyone help?

theasmom...the best way to rehome your cat will be to ask friends, family members and coworkers. There is a really good PDF called "how to find homes for homeless pets". You can find it here:

http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehom...mesforpets.pdf

It would also help if you were to supply your city and state as other may have suggestions on things to try.

I would highly recommend NOT dropping her off at the shelter. It is the middle of kitten season and most cats do not get a lot of time before they are euthanized.

Katie

How long ago was she declawed and have you had her health checked out by a vet?

I am just wondering if you have tried every soltion. I have and have had many patients (tiny children, toddlers) and see very few problems that you mention. I gather if you are at the stage of advertising, you may well have but just thought I'd bring it up in case you have not. Cats become very stressed with change and a new home would e extradordinarily stressful for a kitty who has lived her entire life - esp when she left her own mom prematurely and had bonded with your family. There are some very sucessful ways of teaching toddlers to handle kitties and as you already know, any household with animals and toddlers requires supervision. Is there a way to have the two in seperate places while they are both on the prowl so to speak. I know one mom with two year old toddlers and two cats and two dogs and she has her hands full (needless to say!) but has a routine down. Would it help if you paired with somoene like that in a parenting group who could help you to keep your beloved pet? One of her cats had similar problems to yours and while it was difficult, she managed to save her kitty AND ensure that the health of her babies was cared for.

Although I know personal examples do not necessarily help others, in my own family, when my brother was born, we had two kitties and a fox terrier and they all followed him around and he grew up to be a total animal advocate.

There are some excellent resources on introuding cats to children. It would seem Thea feels threatened by your son and if she can be convinced that he is not a threat to her territory (is she an alpha cat?), perhaps you coud work with a behaviourist to teach them to get along. This is what another parent did and they all lived happily ever after - for the most part.

I am sure this a heartwrenching decision. I know I could not do it. Declawed cats are particularly vulnerable to feeling threatened because they have lost their defences and this behavious might well have showed up if you had another cat as well. Thus, it is not inconcievable that she will be like this in any similar situation and you have to ask yourself if you - who loves her dearly - is willing to give her up - if a stranger is willing to take on a kitty with these issues. Very many of the cats brought in to shelters or Rescues for behavioural problems are a result of declawing and it is just a sad situation all around. In one sense, though, at least she won't scratch him though cat bites can be dangerous. I wish you luck in rehoming her - I have to admit I am so saddened by this situation and just wanted to be sure you had examined every possible method of keeping both of your babies. Good luck!!