- Joined
- Sep 23, 2015
- Messages
- 5
- Purraise
- 1
Hi all!
New here and pretty much signed up because of the situation I'm about to explain...
My parents are retired and live in Lasalle county, Illinois. Before going to deeply in this story I must remind you that they are "dog people" and have never had a cat and honestly never cared for cats. However they recently lost their dog, Bob, last year so due to their age they've decided not to get any more dogs and don't have any pets.
In May they started seeing a cat head peek out of the bottom of their deck one morning and realized it was living there after a few days of seeing it every day. The cat wouldn't come out to see my parents but they started leaving a bowl of cat food out and water and noticed it was empty every morning. Eventually they started putting the food out on the deck in the daytime and slowly but surely the cat would come out on the deck when they were outside but couldn't get it to come up to them and say "hello." So that's when I told my Mom to just let her arm hand down and wiggle her fingers, at the cat's eye level, and that's when they made first contact. Within a couple days they started having George, that's what they called it, sitting up on a counter outside peaking in the window meowing for it's morning food which they obliged. Then the one day, as my Mom is sitting in her chair outside drinking coffee, George comes up to her, meows and then jumps on her lap. So they don't let it in, but pretty much allowed adpoted the cat and made outside arrangements so it would have a more "cozy" life. As a few months go by they start to realize that George is a girl, they don't changer her name lol, because her belly is growing and my Mom can start to feel "things" moving in her belly. Then about 2 months ago she has a litter of 4 kittens. So my Mom goes out and buys a cat bed for them, makes a makeshift cardboard house for them and really starts to get excited about the kittens. A few weeks go by and my Mom says that she's really starting to like cats, but... they don't let them indoors. During that time, as my Mother and my niece are acting as step Moms to the kittens and George, George brings a bird to my Mother and drops it at her feet... So her and my niece google that and realize that that's George's way of saying "thank you" for everything they've done and of course my Mom and niece start crying. So they find homes for the kittens and it's back to just having George. Fyi, we think George-ette is 6 - 10 months years old. Probably an abandoned cat. So during this time my Father bought a cooler, cut out some holes in it and have decided to make that George's winter home. Mind you, I have issues with this because I have a cat and knowing George hasn't had to deal with a winter... So in the back of my mind I'm trying to find a way to get George inside before the cold, brutal midwest winter hits and she has to sleep outside their door.
Well finally the opportunity to turn George into an indoors cat seems possible. A week and a half ago, Sept 14th they have an appointment for George to get fixed so they don't have to worry about her having winter babies. Everything went great. She handled the carrier well and didn't fuss at all. So after the surgery the vet advises my parents that she will have to be inside for a couple days, as she heals. So they buy a cat bed for her, litter box and 2 new food/water bowls and put her in the sun porch so she can heal. Well of course, she does very well and even uses the kitty litter box with no issues or hesitancy. On day 3 my Father asks my Mother, "so I know you don't want a dog but a cat is the next best thing. What do you think about letting George stay inside?" It was hard for my Mother to say yes, but she buckles and says yes. So then they go out and get George more kitty litter, a scratch post and catnip and again... She takes to that very well and starts scratching. Although they don't let her stay indoors when they're gone... They have a huge house, they give her the ability to go inside and outside when she wants and put her up in the sun porch at night. Days go by and everything is going great. George seems very happy and actually starts purring for the first time My Mother is even taking pictures of George laying on their rugs, drinking from my Mother's water glass (I'm soooo amazed she didn't freak out when George started doing it) and falling asleep on the couch while they're watching tv. George finally has a taste of the "good life" and seems to be very very happy.
So Saturday the 19th comes and George is far away from her kitty litter box and is in my Parent's room. That's when my Mom looks at her and says to my Dad, "I think she's peeing in our bedroom." My Dad says "no she isn't" but yes, it appears she peed in their bedroom. My belief is that since she hasn't been in a house very long, and is far away from her kitty litter box, that she unintentionally pees where she's not supposed to. Well that screwed up everything and George, at the moment, was turned back into an outside cat No more couches, no more cat bed, no more indoor anything... Back outside in her cooler home and no clue what happened to her And this is really bothering me. I've actually cried about it, think about her all the time and to top it off... I haven't even met her
Sooo... If I can't find a home for her by mid/end of October I'm going to take her in but I need to know if I should or if she could do alright outside on her own. So here's my situation... First off I have an unfixed, 9 year old male cat that has not lived with any other cats or pets ever. He has aggressive tendencies, and has hissed and tried to attack me a couple times a few years ago... But I just attribute that to being unfixed, being slightly territorial and filled with hormones. I have recently moved to the suburbs of Chicago (Hoffman Estates) and since then he has been great with no hissing issues, so I'm almost thinking that it was a neighborhood cat that was causing him to be slightly agitated at my old spot since he hasn't acted up since the move in July. He's a great cat though! I live in a 2 bedroom Townhouse and work about 8 - 12 hours a day. I'm single, don't have many friends or family around me, don't party, drink or go out much so I'm pretty much around in the weekends and when I'm not working so "not being around" isn't much of an issue when I'm not working. But during the weekdays I'm usually around and awak only 6 - 8 hours a day.
I want to bring George in but I'll have to keep her locked up in the spare bedroom (15'x15' room) and not sure if that's bad for a cat that has been outdoors for most of this year. Plus, it'll be hard to spend much quality time with her, since it is in the spare bedroom and Steve (my cat) will be very aware of her in the room. Also, I plan on getting Steve fixed when I can afford it (probably mid November or after December if Christmas takes a lot of my money) but know that I won't be able to introduce them two for at least a couple months after he's fixed. Also I'm not sure if it's safe in my neighborhood to have her walk around. I live a block away from a very very busy street (more busy than any streets near my parent's, where she walks around) and in an apartment/condo neighborhood so there's lots of kids and people around. I have a small fenced in patio, but there are many escape routes for her to get out of there.
So what should I do? Should I take George in, if I can't find anybody I trust to take her, or should I just let my parent's have her stay outside in the cooler/house during the winter since she'll still have her freedom? I think it would be horrible for her to be outdoors during that time but it's going to be a huge life change to take her and basically I just want her to be happy, healthy and safe.
Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated and sorry if my grammar or run on sentences make this hard to read. I'm typing fast so I can get ready to work and will try to re-read and edit so it reads better but I think , if you've made it this far, that it should make sense. Here's a couple pics of her too... The first one is her with her babies, and then the second one is her 3rd night of enjoying the "good life" :*/
Thanks!!!
New here and pretty much signed up because of the situation I'm about to explain...
My parents are retired and live in Lasalle county, Illinois. Before going to deeply in this story I must remind you that they are "dog people" and have never had a cat and honestly never cared for cats. However they recently lost their dog, Bob, last year so due to their age they've decided not to get any more dogs and don't have any pets.
In May they started seeing a cat head peek out of the bottom of their deck one morning and realized it was living there after a few days of seeing it every day. The cat wouldn't come out to see my parents but they started leaving a bowl of cat food out and water and noticed it was empty every morning. Eventually they started putting the food out on the deck in the daytime and slowly but surely the cat would come out on the deck when they were outside but couldn't get it to come up to them and say "hello." So that's when I told my Mom to just let her arm hand down and wiggle her fingers, at the cat's eye level, and that's when they made first contact. Within a couple days they started having George, that's what they called it, sitting up on a counter outside peaking in the window meowing for it's morning food which they obliged. Then the one day, as my Mom is sitting in her chair outside drinking coffee, George comes up to her, meows and then jumps on her lap. So they don't let it in, but pretty much allowed adpoted the cat and made outside arrangements so it would have a more "cozy" life. As a few months go by they start to realize that George is a girl, they don't changer her name lol, because her belly is growing and my Mom can start to feel "things" moving in her belly. Then about 2 months ago she has a litter of 4 kittens. So my Mom goes out and buys a cat bed for them, makes a makeshift cardboard house for them and really starts to get excited about the kittens. A few weeks go by and my Mom says that she's really starting to like cats, but... they don't let them indoors. During that time, as my Mother and my niece are acting as step Moms to the kittens and George, George brings a bird to my Mother and drops it at her feet... So her and my niece google that and realize that that's George's way of saying "thank you" for everything they've done and of course my Mom and niece start crying. So they find homes for the kittens and it's back to just having George. Fyi, we think George-ette is 6 - 10 months years old. Probably an abandoned cat. So during this time my Father bought a cooler, cut out some holes in it and have decided to make that George's winter home. Mind you, I have issues with this because I have a cat and knowing George hasn't had to deal with a winter... So in the back of my mind I'm trying to find a way to get George inside before the cold, brutal midwest winter hits and she has to sleep outside their door.
Well finally the opportunity to turn George into an indoors cat seems possible. A week and a half ago, Sept 14th they have an appointment for George to get fixed so they don't have to worry about her having winter babies. Everything went great. She handled the carrier well and didn't fuss at all. So after the surgery the vet advises my parents that she will have to be inside for a couple days, as she heals. So they buy a cat bed for her, litter box and 2 new food/water bowls and put her in the sun porch so she can heal. Well of course, she does very well and even uses the kitty litter box with no issues or hesitancy. On day 3 my Father asks my Mother, "so I know you don't want a dog but a cat is the next best thing. What do you think about letting George stay inside?" It was hard for my Mother to say yes, but she buckles and says yes. So then they go out and get George more kitty litter, a scratch post and catnip and again... She takes to that very well and starts scratching. Although they don't let her stay indoors when they're gone... They have a huge house, they give her the ability to go inside and outside when she wants and put her up in the sun porch at night. Days go by and everything is going great. George seems very happy and actually starts purring for the first time My Mother is even taking pictures of George laying on their rugs, drinking from my Mother's water glass (I'm soooo amazed she didn't freak out when George started doing it) and falling asleep on the couch while they're watching tv. George finally has a taste of the "good life" and seems to be very very happy.
So Saturday the 19th comes and George is far away from her kitty litter box and is in my Parent's room. That's when my Mom looks at her and says to my Dad, "I think she's peeing in our bedroom." My Dad says "no she isn't" but yes, it appears she peed in their bedroom. My belief is that since she hasn't been in a house very long, and is far away from her kitty litter box, that she unintentionally pees where she's not supposed to. Well that screwed up everything and George, at the moment, was turned back into an outside cat No more couches, no more cat bed, no more indoor anything... Back outside in her cooler home and no clue what happened to her And this is really bothering me. I've actually cried about it, think about her all the time and to top it off... I haven't even met her
Sooo... If I can't find a home for her by mid/end of October I'm going to take her in but I need to know if I should or if she could do alright outside on her own. So here's my situation... First off I have an unfixed, 9 year old male cat that has not lived with any other cats or pets ever. He has aggressive tendencies, and has hissed and tried to attack me a couple times a few years ago... But I just attribute that to being unfixed, being slightly territorial and filled with hormones. I have recently moved to the suburbs of Chicago (Hoffman Estates) and since then he has been great with no hissing issues, so I'm almost thinking that it was a neighborhood cat that was causing him to be slightly agitated at my old spot since he hasn't acted up since the move in July. He's a great cat though! I live in a 2 bedroom Townhouse and work about 8 - 12 hours a day. I'm single, don't have many friends or family around me, don't party, drink or go out much so I'm pretty much around in the weekends and when I'm not working so "not being around" isn't much of an issue when I'm not working. But during the weekdays I'm usually around and awak only 6 - 8 hours a day.
I want to bring George in but I'll have to keep her locked up in the spare bedroom (15'x15' room) and not sure if that's bad for a cat that has been outdoors for most of this year. Plus, it'll be hard to spend much quality time with her, since it is in the spare bedroom and Steve (my cat) will be very aware of her in the room. Also, I plan on getting Steve fixed when I can afford it (probably mid November or after December if Christmas takes a lot of my money) but know that I won't be able to introduce them two for at least a couple months after he's fixed. Also I'm not sure if it's safe in my neighborhood to have her walk around. I live a block away from a very very busy street (more busy than any streets near my parent's, where she walks around) and in an apartment/condo neighborhood so there's lots of kids and people around. I have a small fenced in patio, but there are many escape routes for her to get out of there.
So what should I do? Should I take George in, if I can't find anybody I trust to take her, or should I just let my parent's have her stay outside in the cooler/house during the winter since she'll still have her freedom? I think it would be horrible for her to be outdoors during that time but it's going to be a huge life change to take her and basically I just want her to be happy, healthy and safe.
Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated and sorry if my grammar or run on sentences make this hard to read. I'm typing fast so I can get ready to work and will try to re-read and edit so it reads better but I think , if you've made it this far, that it should make sense. Here's a couple pics of her too... The first one is her with her babies, and then the second one is her 3rd night of enjoying the "good life" :*/
Thanks!!!