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- Dec 17, 2021
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Hi everyone! First time posting here but I’ve been lurking for a few days reading through relevant threads.
So about a month ago, my mom found a kitten under her neighbor's house and took it in. The neighbor has refused to fix her cat, so there is pretty much a revolving door of kittens coming through my mom's house to be taken care of and adopted out when they're older.
This kitten is older (my best guess is 4-6 months, but I'll post a pic in the thread) and obviously hadn't really interacted with humans before my mom found her. She's still extremely skittish; the first time I saw her she was hiding under a dresser and it took about 10 minutes of gentle coaxing and sweet talk just to get her to come out so I could see her. Later that day, she actually let me hold her and was purring for a minute until she decided she was done.
After thinking about it, I told my mom I'd like to adopt her. Since she's still very skittish and shy around people, I think my house might be a little calmer for her than my mom's, which is a lot more active with people over a few times a week. I do have two small senior dogs that she'd have to get used to. They've lived with a cat before in relative harmony and with a recent cat visitor, they followed him around to sniff him and figure out what he was doing there, but weren't aggressive by any means, so I'm hopeful that they'll come to terms with a new cat pretty easily.
I'm planning on bringing her home right after the holidays when we won't have any family in the house. I'll have a week off of work to spend with her and take her to the vet. She'll have her own room with a baby gate that she'll stay in separate from the rest of the house so she has a safe space until she's ready to explore more. My grandmother also lives with me and is home during the day, so after I go to work she'll still have someone there to look after her.
But anyway, that's a very long ramble to say: any advice on how to bring her home and settle her in as smoothly as possible? This is my first time owning a cat, though I've been around them a fair amount and know the basics of taking care of them, and I know it's going to take a long time for her to really get comfortable with the house, me, and the dogs.
Also, I've booked a vet appointment for her a few days after she comes home with me. I'm not sure if this is the best idea as I'm sure she won't be happy to be taken to a new strange place, and I'm not even sure how she'll handle a carrier, but I'm really worried she could have fleas, parasites, etc. from living under that house for so long and I want her to get her vaccinations and vet exam done quickly so we can address any health concerns she may have. Any tips on this?
Here’s a (blurry) picture from about a week ago. She gets along great with my mom’s big, laidback ginger boi.
And below is her the first time I saw her. She didn’t want to come out from under the dresser and I didn’t want to push her so I turned to leave and she snuck right out to look at me go!
So about a month ago, my mom found a kitten under her neighbor's house and took it in. The neighbor has refused to fix her cat, so there is pretty much a revolving door of kittens coming through my mom's house to be taken care of and adopted out when they're older.
This kitten is older (my best guess is 4-6 months, but I'll post a pic in the thread) and obviously hadn't really interacted with humans before my mom found her. She's still extremely skittish; the first time I saw her she was hiding under a dresser and it took about 10 minutes of gentle coaxing and sweet talk just to get her to come out so I could see her. Later that day, she actually let me hold her and was purring for a minute until she decided she was done.
After thinking about it, I told my mom I'd like to adopt her. Since she's still very skittish and shy around people, I think my house might be a little calmer for her than my mom's, which is a lot more active with people over a few times a week. I do have two small senior dogs that she'd have to get used to. They've lived with a cat before in relative harmony and with a recent cat visitor, they followed him around to sniff him and figure out what he was doing there, but weren't aggressive by any means, so I'm hopeful that they'll come to terms with a new cat pretty easily.
I'm planning on bringing her home right after the holidays when we won't have any family in the house. I'll have a week off of work to spend with her and take her to the vet. She'll have her own room with a baby gate that she'll stay in separate from the rest of the house so she has a safe space until she's ready to explore more. My grandmother also lives with me and is home during the day, so after I go to work she'll still have someone there to look after her.
But anyway, that's a very long ramble to say: any advice on how to bring her home and settle her in as smoothly as possible? This is my first time owning a cat, though I've been around them a fair amount and know the basics of taking care of them, and I know it's going to take a long time for her to really get comfortable with the house, me, and the dogs.
Also, I've booked a vet appointment for her a few days after she comes home with me. I'm not sure if this is the best idea as I'm sure she won't be happy to be taken to a new strange place, and I'm not even sure how she'll handle a carrier, but I'm really worried she could have fleas, parasites, etc. from living under that house for so long and I want her to get her vaccinations and vet exam done quickly so we can address any health concerns she may have. Any tips on this?
Here’s a (blurry) picture from about a week ago. She gets along great with my mom’s big, laidback ginger boi.
And below is her the first time I saw her. She didn’t want to come out from under the dresser and I didn’t want to push her so I turned to leave and she snuck right out to look at me go!
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