- Joined
- Nov 3, 2014
- Messages
- 6
- Purraise
- 2
Let me first start by saying that I have never owned a cat but there's a stray that has stolen my heart.
This cat has been "visiting" our house for about 3 weeks now.
We have lived here for 2 years and I have never seen him out and about until recently.
I have asked around in the neighborhood but no one knows who's he is. My assumption is that someone dropped him off here, but you never can tell. He appears not to be neutered (hence my fear of bringing him into our home-spraying).
He came right to me when I first saw him and had no problem with me feeding him and petting him while was eating. =)
He wasnt emaciated, although he was on the skinnier side, and his fur looked to be in good shape.
I have been feeding him twice a day for the entire time since I first saw him. I did make him an outdoor shelter with a rubbermaid tub, I cut a hole in it and provided warm bedding inside. I placed this below our sreened in porch area of the the deck to keep him from the rain as best that I could. I tried to introduce it to him by putting treats inside, he went in and ate the treats,and walked back out of it. I seriously doubt that he sleeps in it.
As soon as I come down to get my morning coffee I always run to the window to look for him and he is coming from the woods most of the time. When he leaves (for short times) during the day, I come back out to call him he comes nearly immediately, and its from our woods (he visits several times a day or lays on the basement patio area). I do believe that he is living inour woods.
He is SUPER loveable, loves to rub my legs, sits on my lap and snuggles right in, nuzzles my face and wants love and attention nearly the entire time of our visits. We have a dog- a chunky chi mix (he's lived with a cat before). My husband introduced the cat & dog on the driveway the other night and the cat had no real fear and rubbed on the dog. We lso have a 2year old daughter that he loves too and is very affectionate with.
We live in Cincinnati, and winter weather is already starting to move in and temperatures are dropping during the evening. I tried to bring him in the garage last night. I made a bed, had a litterbox reay for for him etc etc. With the weather change he's here nearly all day and sometimes sits at our basement door staring in and meowing at times (this happens at night too).
I did make him an appointment to neutered for Monday bc I want to bring him in sooner than later.
I figured that i would bring him into the garage in the evenings (until the neuter time), providing him with a warm bed and a safe place to sleep at night. Last night I called him and he came (from the woods) and followed me up to the garage. I sat down and he immediatedly fell asleep on my lap, after a bit I showed him his bed and he setteled right in (as if he was completely exhausted). I went to put the garage door down and it scared the living daylights out of him and he ran out of the garage, coming back a few mintues later. He did come back after a few minutes, I tried wrapping him a towel and holding him while I pused the garage button again and he escaped my arms and ran once again. I eventually gave up, left the garage lights on , left his bed in place and left the garage door cracked in case he chose to come back and sleep for the night.
I was going to give the garage thing a try again this evening but Im pretty confident that he will run out again. My husband is currently out of town for work, so it's me trying to do this alone.
I also considered going ahead and purchasing a carrier to possibly place him in while I put the gargae door down and letting him to roam the garage once the door is back down.
We also have a portion of our basement that is unfinished that we also considered placing him until he gets neutered. The basement area is relatively large and i wasnt sure if that was the best idea as far as spraying goes. There are lots ofplaces to hide but I do thnk that he'd come out immediately when I called him.
HELP! I'm not sure what to do here.
Also any advice for after the neuter? I figured the unfinished part of the basement would be best for him to be for a few days (of course with lots of visits from me). We dont have a door on our laundry room so leaving him in there is not an option and our spare bathroom contains the only bath tub for my 2 year old so that isnt an option either. We do have a spare bedroom but I was concerned about the litter box training and spraying.
I was also curious what items I need to purchase for him. I dont mean to sound dumb or oblivious and I do know the obvious, but I have never owned a cat. My husband has but like I stated h is traveling for business and he informd me that this is "my project" to get started while he is away. I have read some articles and realize that a scratching post is necessary. Should I purchase the cat condo type of thingy? Do I need 2 ltter boxes? We dont have an endless supply of money to spend but i want to accomodate the cat the best that I can w/o spending a fortune. Any advice would be much appreciated!!!!! THANKS!!
This cat has been "visiting" our house for about 3 weeks now.
We have lived here for 2 years and I have never seen him out and about until recently.
I have asked around in the neighborhood but no one knows who's he is. My assumption is that someone dropped him off here, but you never can tell. He appears not to be neutered (hence my fear of bringing him into our home-spraying).
He came right to me when I first saw him and had no problem with me feeding him and petting him while was eating. =)
He wasnt emaciated, although he was on the skinnier side, and his fur looked to be in good shape.
I have been feeding him twice a day for the entire time since I first saw him. I did make him an outdoor shelter with a rubbermaid tub, I cut a hole in it and provided warm bedding inside. I placed this below our sreened in porch area of the the deck to keep him from the rain as best that I could. I tried to introduce it to him by putting treats inside, he went in and ate the treats,and walked back out of it. I seriously doubt that he sleeps in it.
As soon as I come down to get my morning coffee I always run to the window to look for him and he is coming from the woods most of the time. When he leaves (for short times) during the day, I come back out to call him he comes nearly immediately, and its from our woods (he visits several times a day or lays on the basement patio area). I do believe that he is living inour woods.
He is SUPER loveable, loves to rub my legs, sits on my lap and snuggles right in, nuzzles my face and wants love and attention nearly the entire time of our visits. We have a dog- a chunky chi mix (he's lived with a cat before). My husband introduced the cat & dog on the driveway the other night and the cat had no real fear and rubbed on the dog. We lso have a 2year old daughter that he loves too and is very affectionate with.
We live in Cincinnati, and winter weather is already starting to move in and temperatures are dropping during the evening. I tried to bring him in the garage last night. I made a bed, had a litterbox reay for for him etc etc. With the weather change he's here nearly all day and sometimes sits at our basement door staring in and meowing at times (this happens at night too).
I did make him an appointment to neutered for Monday bc I want to bring him in sooner than later.
I figured that i would bring him into the garage in the evenings (until the neuter time), providing him with a warm bed and a safe place to sleep at night. Last night I called him and he came (from the woods) and followed me up to the garage. I sat down and he immediatedly fell asleep on my lap, after a bit I showed him his bed and he setteled right in (as if he was completely exhausted). I went to put the garage door down and it scared the living daylights out of him and he ran out of the garage, coming back a few mintues later. He did come back after a few minutes, I tried wrapping him a towel and holding him while I pused the garage button again and he escaped my arms and ran once again. I eventually gave up, left the garage lights on , left his bed in place and left the garage door cracked in case he chose to come back and sleep for the night.
I was going to give the garage thing a try again this evening but Im pretty confident that he will run out again. My husband is currently out of town for work, so it's me trying to do this alone.
I also considered going ahead and purchasing a carrier to possibly place him in while I put the gargae door down and letting him to roam the garage once the door is back down.
We also have a portion of our basement that is unfinished that we also considered placing him until he gets neutered. The basement area is relatively large and i wasnt sure if that was the best idea as far as spraying goes. There are lots ofplaces to hide but I do thnk that he'd come out immediately when I called him.
HELP! I'm not sure what to do here.
Also any advice for after the neuter? I figured the unfinished part of the basement would be best for him to be for a few days (of course with lots of visits from me). We dont have a door on our laundry room so leaving him in there is not an option and our spare bathroom contains the only bath tub for my 2 year old so that isnt an option either. We do have a spare bedroom but I was concerned about the litter box training and spraying.
I was also curious what items I need to purchase for him. I dont mean to sound dumb or oblivious and I do know the obvious, but I have never owned a cat. My husband has but like I stated h is traveling for business and he informd me that this is "my project" to get started while he is away. I have read some articles and realize that a scratching post is necessary. Should I purchase the cat condo type of thingy? Do I need 2 ltter boxes? We dont have an endless supply of money to spend but i want to accomodate the cat the best that I can w/o spending a fortune. Any advice would be much appreciated!!!!! THANKS!!