First of all, I'm new to the forums here, but this site was recommended to me so I know it will be great. I'll tell my cat story first, then the questions.
My girlfriend and I moved into a house near our university in June with 2 other people. Whenever we sat on the porch, there was a full grown cat that would come over and let us pet her. Then she had babies. All but one were taken in less than 5 weeks. They were born and living under the porch next to us. Those people couldn't feed them and the pound wouldn't take them so they were cold, wet, and not getting fed. We started putting food and clean water out because we felt bad for them, and when it got very cold we built them a house to stay in on our porch, where they had taken up residence. We asked the neighbor if the cats were hers. She said the mom had been but her roommote made her get rid of it. Anyway, she just gave the mom and last kitten to us. The day before it was time to go to the vet (we wouldn't let them in until they had been to the doc) the kitten disappeared, so we put up flyers and she was returned to us this evening due to the combined efforts of our postal worker, a homeless man, and 2 patrons in a blood-donation place (it sure is a convaluted story). It is too cold to leave her outside so we put a flea collar on the kitten and brought her in, though we have since found some live but sick and dying fleas on her (OH NO!).
We have food, toys, etc except a litter box. Our thought was to let the mom out to use the bathroom and play, and that has been working fine for a week. No accidents - she is about 18 mos old (according to the vet) and very nice, well-behaved, etc. Now for my questions.
#1 - how can we get them spayed cheaply? We are all in college and have little money for caring for pets. They chose us as much as we chose them. The office bill for mom was over $130!
#2 - baby has already pooed on the carpet, though I think it was due to her being very scared. Is this normal and will she 'go' outside with the mom?
#3 - mom is very bossy with our food. She always has food in her dish, and often warm can food and kibble, but she still jumps on the dinner table, noses into your plate, and pesters us so badly when we eat we often have to put her outside. How can we treat this?
#4 - what else do we need to know? I have been reading the Humane Society website for a couple of hours, but still know very little about cat behavior/psychology, care, training, etc. I only have experience with dogs.
#5 - do they make cat treats (same idea as dog treats) to train them with?
Please address as many questions as you can, we need an infusion if cat knowledge before they drive us nuts!
My girlfriend and I moved into a house near our university in June with 2 other people. Whenever we sat on the porch, there was a full grown cat that would come over and let us pet her. Then she had babies. All but one were taken in less than 5 weeks. They were born and living under the porch next to us. Those people couldn't feed them and the pound wouldn't take them so they were cold, wet, and not getting fed. We started putting food and clean water out because we felt bad for them, and when it got very cold we built them a house to stay in on our porch, where they had taken up residence. We asked the neighbor if the cats were hers. She said the mom had been but her roommote made her get rid of it. Anyway, she just gave the mom and last kitten to us. The day before it was time to go to the vet (we wouldn't let them in until they had been to the doc) the kitten disappeared, so we put up flyers and she was returned to us this evening due to the combined efforts of our postal worker, a homeless man, and 2 patrons in a blood-donation place (it sure is a convaluted story). It is too cold to leave her outside so we put a flea collar on the kitten and brought her in, though we have since found some live but sick and dying fleas on her (OH NO!).
We have food, toys, etc except a litter box. Our thought was to let the mom out to use the bathroom and play, and that has been working fine for a week. No accidents - she is about 18 mos old (according to the vet) and very nice, well-behaved, etc. Now for my questions.
#1 - how can we get them spayed cheaply? We are all in college and have little money for caring for pets. They chose us as much as we chose them. The office bill for mom was over $130!
#2 - baby has already pooed on the carpet, though I think it was due to her being very scared. Is this normal and will she 'go' outside with the mom?
#3 - mom is very bossy with our food. She always has food in her dish, and often warm can food and kibble, but she still jumps on the dinner table, noses into your plate, and pesters us so badly when we eat we often have to put her outside. How can we treat this?
#4 - what else do we need to know? I have been reading the Humane Society website for a couple of hours, but still know very little about cat behavior/psychology, care, training, etc. I only have experience with dogs.
#5 - do they make cat treats (same idea as dog treats) to train them with?
Please address as many questions as you can, we need an infusion if cat knowledge before they drive us nuts!