I've been putting this "HELLO" off because I'm unable to get kitty photos, etc. for my Signature.... I'm just plain 'ole behind :-)
ANYway, I found this forum when we suddenly became a multi-cat family. I knew there must be some do's and don'ts when bringing new "people" into a household that already has a resident cat. We've been a one-cat=at-a-time household for MANY years, but YIKES, what were we getting ourselves into???, so I turned to the kind folks in this forum for some "brain storming", and have received thoughtful help.
My husband was on a business trip to Phoenix, and stopped in on his niece. The thing was (1) my two year old was needing more "fun" in his life ... I could only crawl on the floor and chase him so much (I'm over 60 :-) ).... (2) her mommy cat just had a litter of 4, and they were ready to be adopted out. I told them to email me photos, and maybe I'd fall in love with one. HA! Sure, try to pick!!, Well, I chose the little girl - thinking that it would be easier to bring her in with my altered 2-year old. Oh, yes, THE LOOK, you know THE LOOK, she drew me in! ....
But, I told my husband he was there, he had a better "feel" about the personality, so, I mostly left it up to him to decide. DECIDE he did, NOT!, he brought home a little boy, too - these two kinda looked like they had the same Pa .
SO..... this was even more of a reason to REACH OUT!, and this forum will help me when issues come up ... I need as wide a range of opinions - and like some, I understand that my Vet has medical knowledge, but - I'm really more in to Holistic sort of help - like taking care of the cats so they won't have to be seen by a VET any more than necessary.... AND, places like this forum offers ideas and thoughts OUTSIDE of the medical box, which I value. I'm from Missouri, the Show Me State, and I'm not easily "won over" just because someone says something, I research it, and then make my own conclusions - this forum helps with that "research".
My location: Cathedral City, CA - most people would know the area as Palm Springs. I am "retired" from a computerized player piano manufacturer business, my husband is "retired" from the Navy Exchange - but he had to get out of the house so, he's found a job that "keeps him busy". We love the desert.
We have two adult children (a son and a daughter), and 8 grandchildren. And, now we have new children - a two-year old - all black - male cat (KiKi - short for Kingdom Kitty, and now a little boy (Simon), and a little girl (Phoebe) that will be 14 weeks old on Thursday, July 13.
We've kept the older cat separated from the kittens because the two-year old is between 16 and 18 pounds, and thinks the kittens are his stuffed animals -- they're just too small right now for me to trust him, even with me right "there". They play through the bars of the gate, talk to each other, etc..... KiKi wants to be with them so badly, but, Mommy is being very cautious, I just didn't like the actions he took with one of them, he climbed on top of one, and grabbed the neck, the little one was yelling, but he didn't release, so I intervened - that was a couple of weeks ago. They're getting a little bigger, but I'd say they're not ready yet, their 3 lbs, to his 16+ lbs - things are not close to being safe yet, at least in my mind :-).
I appreciate those that have already welcomed me - Thank You!
Blessings,
Gloria
ANYway, I found this forum when we suddenly became a multi-cat family. I knew there must be some do's and don'ts when bringing new "people" into a household that already has a resident cat. We've been a one-cat=at-a-time household for MANY years, but YIKES, what were we getting ourselves into???, so I turned to the kind folks in this forum for some "brain storming", and have received thoughtful help.
My husband was on a business trip to Phoenix, and stopped in on his niece. The thing was (1) my two year old was needing more "fun" in his life ... I could only crawl on the floor and chase him so much (I'm over 60 :-) ).... (2) her mommy cat just had a litter of 4, and they were ready to be adopted out. I told them to email me photos, and maybe I'd fall in love with one. HA! Sure, try to pick!!, Well, I chose the little girl - thinking that it would be easier to bring her in with my altered 2-year old. Oh, yes, THE LOOK, you know THE LOOK, she drew me in! ....
But, I told my husband he was there, he had a better "feel" about the personality, so, I mostly left it up to him to decide. DECIDE he did, NOT!, he brought home a little boy, too - these two kinda looked like they had the same Pa .
SO..... this was even more of a reason to REACH OUT!, and this forum will help me when issues come up ... I need as wide a range of opinions - and like some, I understand that my Vet has medical knowledge, but - I'm really more in to Holistic sort of help - like taking care of the cats so they won't have to be seen by a VET any more than necessary.... AND, places like this forum offers ideas and thoughts OUTSIDE of the medical box, which I value. I'm from Missouri, the Show Me State, and I'm not easily "won over" just because someone says something, I research it, and then make my own conclusions - this forum helps with that "research".
My location: Cathedral City, CA - most people would know the area as Palm Springs. I am "retired" from a computerized player piano manufacturer business, my husband is "retired" from the Navy Exchange - but he had to get out of the house so, he's found a job that "keeps him busy". We love the desert.
We have two adult children (a son and a daughter), and 8 grandchildren. And, now we have new children - a two-year old - all black - male cat (KiKi - short for Kingdom Kitty, and now a little boy (Simon), and a little girl (Phoebe) that will be 14 weeks old on Thursday, July 13.
We've kept the older cat separated from the kittens because the two-year old is between 16 and 18 pounds, and thinks the kittens are his stuffed animals -- they're just too small right now for me to trust him, even with me right "there". They play through the bars of the gate, talk to each other, etc..... KiKi wants to be with them so badly, but, Mommy is being very cautious, I just didn't like the actions he took with one of them, he climbed on top of one, and grabbed the neck, the little one was yelling, but he didn't release, so I intervened - that was a couple of weeks ago. They're getting a little bigger, but I'd say they're not ready yet, their 3 lbs, to his 16+ lbs - things are not close to being safe yet, at least in my mind :-).
I appreciate those that have already welcomed me - Thank You!
Blessings,
Gloria
