hi! i'm new... i am also a cat lover, i am here looking for help & advice.
My husband and I are newlyweds and we just moved into this apartment complex. We already have two 3 year old cats, 1 male and 1 female and they both are spayed and in great health condition. They are inside cats. Our apartment complex does have a high request of keeping all cats indoors.
There has been this pretty little kitten, must be not older than 6 months, that has been hanging around outside everyday. Everytime I leave to go to work, he is always hanging out by my car. Everyday my husband comes home from work, he comes running and starts rubbing against his leg. We talked to the managers about this cat and they said that the owners live closeby but doesn't really seem to care for the cat much.
One day the cat was limping around, we thought his arm was broken but it was just a sprain but it concerned me that the owners still pushed the cat outside in the cold. I noticed that his nose was all chapped. i felt so sorry for the cat. I told my husband i wanted to take him in and give him a better life. But we were nervous about that because the cat does have owners. they are just neglecting the cat and obviously not caring for it much.
Finally my husband said fine. We came home ready to bring in this cat, but he was nowhere to be found. However, right before we went to bed I thought i'd look out my window one last time, and there he was! Sitting on our doorstep! I was thrilled. We let him in. He was friendly and all purrring. I had my two other cats locked in the bedroom while we let this new one in. He immediately started exploring and playing with toys and being friendly to us. We discovered that this cat is male and not neutrered. This made us a bit nervous. We were worried about him spraying around. He is a dark colored cat, but on his back theres a small round white spot on the hair, i checked to see it was a ringworm but no it is not. i felt it, and there were a few very small bumps. I don't know what it could be.
We set him up in the bathroom for the night with litter box, food, water and an old towel. In the morning, I went to check on him and i found him sleeping in the litter box (was cute) but he hadn't gone potty or pooped yet. He was excited to see me, was all purring and being friendly. I let him out for a few hours while i kept the cats in other rooms. He hung out with me while I made banana bread and some breakfast. He really made himself at home really fast.
I really wanted to introduce him to the other cats so i put him in a glass door in my entertainment stand. I let the other cats out. new cat didn't freak out, hissed a few times but lucy, my girl, was frightened and she kept her distance. Tommy, the male hissed and growled a lot. I smacked his nose a few times but he still wouldn't stop.
I put Lucy back in the bedroom, I let the kitten out of the glass door after Tommy went under the end table. Kitten paid no attention to him, basically ignored him and took several naps all day... often came up and cuddled with me on the couch. Tommy growled and hissed a lot... but kept his distance and did not try to attack the kitten.
But now, here's the thing.... tommy is starting to growl and hiss at LUCY too now... Lucy is being really sweet, she isn't hissing or growling... just keeping her distance and letting me pet her and hold her. She's fine. I even brought the kitten in my arms face to face, they smelled eachother and stimanteously hissed. but thats all. i think they'll be ok.
I am worried about Tommy. Now I have to keep Tommy away from the kitten AND lucy. Lucy and Kitten in same room, they re fine... dont pay attention to eachother and they keep their distance.
I will have to take the kitten to the vet tomorrrow, get him checked out. I am worried about the costs.... especially now at this time of the year. We don't have a lot of money. We will have to get him spayed, get that spot on his back checked out, and who knows if hes got any shots at all. He does have a flea collar on his neck. Our cats recently had fleas and i just put flea collar on their necks recently too.
Oh by the way, hes used the litter box twice now... hes trained. *whew*
What do you think? any ideas? Advices?
My husband and I are newlyweds and we just moved into this apartment complex. We already have two 3 year old cats, 1 male and 1 female and they both are spayed and in great health condition. They are inside cats. Our apartment complex does have a high request of keeping all cats indoors.
There has been this pretty little kitten, must be not older than 6 months, that has been hanging around outside everyday. Everytime I leave to go to work, he is always hanging out by my car. Everyday my husband comes home from work, he comes running and starts rubbing against his leg. We talked to the managers about this cat and they said that the owners live closeby but doesn't really seem to care for the cat much.
One day the cat was limping around, we thought his arm was broken but it was just a sprain but it concerned me that the owners still pushed the cat outside in the cold. I noticed that his nose was all chapped. i felt so sorry for the cat. I told my husband i wanted to take him in and give him a better life. But we were nervous about that because the cat does have owners. they are just neglecting the cat and obviously not caring for it much.
Finally my husband said fine. We came home ready to bring in this cat, but he was nowhere to be found. However, right before we went to bed I thought i'd look out my window one last time, and there he was! Sitting on our doorstep! I was thrilled. We let him in. He was friendly and all purrring. I had my two other cats locked in the bedroom while we let this new one in. He immediately started exploring and playing with toys and being friendly to us. We discovered that this cat is male and not neutrered. This made us a bit nervous. We were worried about him spraying around. He is a dark colored cat, but on his back theres a small round white spot on the hair, i checked to see it was a ringworm but no it is not. i felt it, and there were a few very small bumps. I don't know what it could be.
We set him up in the bathroom for the night with litter box, food, water and an old towel. In the morning, I went to check on him and i found him sleeping in the litter box (was cute) but he hadn't gone potty or pooped yet. He was excited to see me, was all purring and being friendly. I let him out for a few hours while i kept the cats in other rooms. He hung out with me while I made banana bread and some breakfast. He really made himself at home really fast.
I really wanted to introduce him to the other cats so i put him in a glass door in my entertainment stand. I let the other cats out. new cat didn't freak out, hissed a few times but lucy, my girl, was frightened and she kept her distance. Tommy, the male hissed and growled a lot. I smacked his nose a few times but he still wouldn't stop.
I put Lucy back in the bedroom, I let the kitten out of the glass door after Tommy went under the end table. Kitten paid no attention to him, basically ignored him and took several naps all day... often came up and cuddled with me on the couch. Tommy growled and hissed a lot... but kept his distance and did not try to attack the kitten.
But now, here's the thing.... tommy is starting to growl and hiss at LUCY too now... Lucy is being really sweet, she isn't hissing or growling... just keeping her distance and letting me pet her and hold her. She's fine. I even brought the kitten in my arms face to face, they smelled eachother and stimanteously hissed. but thats all. i think they'll be ok.
I am worried about Tommy. Now I have to keep Tommy away from the kitten AND lucy. Lucy and Kitten in same room, they re fine... dont pay attention to eachother and they keep their distance.
I will have to take the kitten to the vet tomorrrow, get him checked out. I am worried about the costs.... especially now at this time of the year. We don't have a lot of money. We will have to get him spayed, get that spot on his back checked out, and who knows if hes got any shots at all. He does have a flea collar on his neck. Our cats recently had fleas and i just put flea collar on their necks recently too.
Oh by the way, hes used the litter box twice now... hes trained. *whew*
What do you think? any ideas? Advices?
