In a quandary about cat in Shelter

[artiemom]

Your older guy will be fine. Just bring them together slowly. Keep her on the medication until she adjusts to life with you. It is too late not to take her now. I'm afraid she will no longer adjust to anyone else. They will end up having to put her to sleep. She has already bonded with you. You are the one she trusts. She does not trust anyone else. Please take her home. Keep her separated from your older guy. Give him lots of extra spoiling with love until they reach an understanding. Please do not turn your back on her.

I am sorry, but I really have to disagree with you.. I appreciate the support you have given me, but my priority right now is my own guy. Last year, I discussed the possibility of getting another cat, with my Vet. She said absolutely not. That Artie is to sensitive and nervous to have anything upset his current balance. The amount of time he spent, 3 months, of being shuffled around from one home to another, with all of the upsetting circumstances.. first one owner died, then the other, then a new home with a new cat and dog, then the foster home where he was kept for 2 weeks in the cellar with 8 other cats. He also saw a cat have a few seizures, right in front of him.. and then he came to me.. that is too much for any cat; and he is a senior...

Angel is right now at her foster home. I am waiting for word about how it goes. 

I will find out tonight. 

Angel will not be euthanized. She belongs to our organization. We are a no kill shelter. I mean it, no kill. If the worse thing  happens, and this foster does not work out, she will either try another foster home, or she will be sent to be a farm cat in a shelter environment. She will survive...

My priority right now is Artie, BTW, he is sick right now with a flare up of his IBD.. I cannot rock his boat.. 

 

[babyhuffman]

I'm so sorry about your older guy and the whole situation you are in. I'm sure you've done your best and that truly is all anyone can ask.I'm also sorry for putting it on you to save Angel. If it were Baby in your older guy's situation, I would feel as you do. Your older and especially sick baby will always come first.

Will you please keep us updated on Angel? I too feel invested in her through you. God bless you for loving her and caring for her while she's with you.

 

[artiemom]

Angel is in her new foster home. She has a new bed, scratching post, a window to look out, and a sock filled with cat nip..

I really think this is going to work out. She investigated the room, loved the catnip sock, and was just kind of investigating things.. 

She really wanted out of PetSmart. 

They are keeping the bedroom door closed. A very kind older couple have her as their foster.. fingers crossed...

As I get updates, I will let you know...

Angel in her new foster home:

image1.jpeg

• artiemom
• Aug 27, 2016

 

[basschick]

sounds good!  thanks for keeping us in the loop - we all want the best for angel

 

[DreamerRose]

So happy for Angel! I do hope this works out for the best for her. A nice, quiet home is what she needs.

 

[handsome kitty]

She looks happy in the photo.  Maybe you can visit her once in a while.

 

[rubysmama]

Just came across this thread. Glad to see Angel is in her foster home. Sending vibes that all works out and the foster home becomes her forever home. 

 

[misty8723]

I have been lurking, but just want to say that Angel looks pretty comfortable in her new foster home. And God Bless you and the fosters for being willing to work with poor, scared Angel.  I hope everything works out the best for Angel.

 

[belochka]

What a hopeful update. Praying and keeping fingers crossed it will all work out for her.

 

[whatsonemore]

Artiemom, thank you so much for being so kind to Angel and making sure she's doing ok.  I'm sure it is emotionally draining to deal with cats that are in need of good homes.  Thank you for being one of those people that despite what an inconvenience and stress and toll it is, you are willing to be one of the good ones that do it and do it beyond the minimum.  

I don't know Artie's back story on his health or IBD, but in case this is helpful to you or anyone else, here's my story.  My 2nd rescue, Julien, showed up one night a few years ago.  During his first three months, we struggled with Julien's tummy issues.  Almost every time he would eat, he would immediately jump into the litter box and have liquid diarrhea.  It was so bad, I can't even tell you the number of times we had to give him a foot bath afterwards to clean up his feet, which would get messy from the ordeal.  If I heard the litter box, I would run into the room to try to catch him before he got out and made a mess on the floor, which he did do a few times.  I researched and researched trying to figure out what was wrong with him.  I had wormed him and aside from the diarrhea, he was in very good health and acted like any normal young cat.  I tried different foods, different potions and pills, to no avail.  Finally, thinking it was something much more serious than I could handle, I broke down and took him to the vet.  Normally, I reserve going to the vet until I have the new animal healthy...no worms, no health issues and no owner coming forward.  Once we are good and I feel like the animal is mine, I take them to be checked for microchips, shots and spay/neuter.  I had wanted to get Julien healthy and over this hurdle before doing that, but it wasn't working out that way.  The vet I took him to was new, since I'd stopped going to my regular long term vet after she killed one of my dogs with a prescription medicine (Previcox) that had dangerous side effects she didn't warn me about.  Anyway, this new vet was an older woman 50's? and I wasn't really impressed with her and didn't get a good feeling of confidence from the clinic or her.  She was kind of stuck on just using and doing things she'd learned in school in the 70's.  She tested him for some diseases, which he tested negative for, prescribed some meds that were similar to what I had been treating him with and sent us home with some special science diet food, which I was opposed to due to the ingredients, but at this point, I was pretty desperate.  Nothing worked.  I was beginning to see why Julien had just suddenly showed up.  Someone who couldn't be around him all the time would have had a much harder time keeping him and their house clean.

Finally, determined to find a cure, I got online and spent several more hours researching what could possibly be causing his issues.  I finally found something about cats developing allergies to food if they are fed it for too long.  At that time, I already had one rescue, KK, whom was a pretty picky eater.  He'd eat a brand/flavor of food for about a week and then be done with it.  We went through that several times.  It seemed to be his favorite flavor of food was chicken, so that's all he had been getting (in addition to whatever he caught and ate outside) and so had Julien.  Deciding that that might possibly be the issue, I researched a different protein besides chicken that didn't have any chicken of any kind at all in it.  That was extremely hard.  Every food I found had some sort of chicken by-product in it.  The article had said they needed absolutely none of the offending protein for their gut to heal.  I finally found Nature's Logic Rabbit.  After about a week, Julien's diarrhea stopped and he's been fine ever since.  I now rotate between the chicken and rabbit formulas, which I buy in the dog food cans because it's cheaper, but is the same formula as the more expensive smaller cat food cans.  All six cats eat it just fine without hesitation and they are all very healthy, shiny, happy with good stools. 

Diet does not get the credit it deserves a lot of times, and for some reason, vets seem to be oblivious to this as well, but like with people, if you give them good quality food, you'll have less health issues. 

If anyone is interested, I'm pretty sure if you contact Nature's Logic, they will send you a free sample to try to make sure your cat will eat it before you buy a case of it.  I buy it online and find the best prices for the chicken are from chewy and the rabbit from amazon.  They have really good ingredients in all of their formulas