Neighbor in hospital - need advice

[mikex]

I am taking care of two cats for him while he's in the rehab hospital (he's 80). He's been there for 2+ months now, so I'm starting to be concerned about some things regarding his cats. Need two pieces of advice -

A. He uses the crystals (they look blue/white) and I am not familiar with how they work (I use clumping liter). How often do those crystals need to be completely swapped out? I have swapped the whole box once but I don't know if I am wasting money or not. They seem to be expensive.

B. Need to know how long these two cats should be left at the house with essentially no companionship. I go over 2 times a day, but I can see they are very lonely. When would you advise his daughter who lives in town, to take them home with her until he gets out of the hospital?

Thanks.

 

[darlili]

First, what a wonderful neighbor you are!

Re the crystal litter, I used that a few years ago with my girl, as she liked it (my boy, not so much). IIRC, as long as you're scooping twice a day, and assuming there's more than one box for the two kitties, you may get a month between a complete change out. When the crystals start changing colors, it's time to replace. But check the bag instructions or the litter web site to be sure. I wish my boy liked the crystal litter. It was a lot lighter litter, and I'm sure a lot easier for elderly people to handle.

I think you may want to bring up the topic of cat care with the daughter - see how she feels about the situation, especially if it seems likely that dad may not be coming home from the rehab hospital, or unable to care for the cats himself. It's a tough situation - I've seen so many lovely senior kitties in the shelter because their owner passed away or was truly unable to care for them....thank goodness you've been there so far for these kitties. I'm sure they miss their dad, and the situation must be a little disorienting for them.

But thank you again - the gentleman, and his kitties, are truly blessed to have you in their lives at this time.

 

[farleyv]

What a great neighbor you are.

I think if the family had any regard for the cats, they would have taken them themselves. You might want to be prepared in case he does not come home and they have to find another home. You sound like the one that cares enough to start looking in case it does happen.

I worked at a nursing home where a ladys cat had been alone a couple months. I took pity on it and adopted Kiki. The family didn't care at all. I had her for many more years before she died from old age ailments.

Another family down the road, let their mothers declawed cat out of the house on purpose when she went in a home. It took me 2 weeks to trap it and find it a forever home. Plus, I had to pay for retesting, flea treatments etc.

I am just saying, be prepared for this to fall on you. If the family cared about the cats, they would have them now.

You certainly are a good person to be so kind to your neighbor and his fur kids. I hope he does come home....best thing all around.

 

[mikex]

Thanks for the advice. I already have two cats and I don't want to disrupt their turf, plus my mother is 80 and if anything happened to her I'm going to need to take in her cat.

Now I learned the daughter that lives in town is going to India in July for a month for her job. I think it's time the other two daughters who live out of state step up and help out.

 

[farleyv]

Good luck with that. It is always a mess when this kind of thing happens.

Is there a no kill shelter you can get in touch with, just in case the need arises. You could get pre approved or something. That is what I did with Kiki. I spent over 400 dollars just to get her accepted there. And the children of this woman NEVER offered to help out. People make me sick. But I don't care, she got adopted.

So be prepared.....no good deed goes unpunished.

 

[krazy kat2]

I wish I had some advice for you, but I just wanted to say that I wish I had wonderful neighbors like you. Bless you for helping this gentleman and his cats. You are a truly kind soul.

 

[taryn]

Don't forget to stir the crystal litter, they say it last 1 month for 1 cat and 2 weeks for 2 cats, but as long as it isn't changing colors or stinking then it's fine. Just remember to stir it when you clean it daily(or however often you're cleaning the box.)

You do need to find out if there is a possibility of him coming home or if he's not. Then you know what to do, just watch the cats until he is better, tell his family to step up to the plate, or find the cats a new home.

Taryn

 

[mikex]

Originally Posted by Taryn

Don't forget to stir the crystal litter, they say it last 1 month for 1 cat and 2 weeks for 2 cats, but as long as it isn't changing colors or stinking then it's fine. Just remember to stir it when you clean it daily(or however often you're cleaning the box.)

Yea, those time periods seem to be about what I've been experiencing.

Yes I actually read the bag and stirred it up. I am used to clumping litter so I had to make sure I understood how this stuff worked.

I still want to know what the blue things are in that stuff

You do need to find out if there is a possibility of him coming home or if he's not. Then you know what to do, just watch the cats until he is better, tell his family to step up to the plate, or find the cats a new home.
Taryn

I will keep you all updated when I know more. Until then I've set up a bird feeder on the patio like I have on mine (I call it kitty TV). That keeps them somewhat entertained when I am not there.

 

[taryn]

OK, I wanted to make sure you knew to stir it since I knew you weren't familiar with it. I don't use it; I think mine might disown me if I tried(even though they don't seem to care about what clumping litter I use, right now I have Arm & Hammer, Special Kitty orange, and Tidy cat plus Citrus magic litter deodorizer in their boxes all mixed together), plus I never actually do total change out of my litter; but I knew it had to be stirred when changed.

OK, keep us updated, I hope he can come home to his kitties. Cats love bird feeders, every once in a while I'll watch an outside cat try to stalk the bird at the feeder, they always look so put out when the birds fly away. Attitude and Nuts love to watch the birds and the outside ones seem to like it too(the feeders are too high for the cats to get the birds.)

Taryn

 

[catsknowme]

You are not only a great neighbor,you are an awesome human being

I hope that your good deeds bring you triple blessings
I am keeping those 2 dear kitties in my thoughts and prayers tonight - I have a Manx purebred in the guestroom closet. It's taken since 2006 just for her to feel safe enough to come into the living room and yell at the younger cats. Since about 2000, she had been tormented by the misguided kid who lived here in this house before we took it over. They had adopted her from the shelter where she went when her first owner died. Her paws were declawed and look just awful - the job does not look "professional" at all. The other owners, who had mental health issues, simply moved away and she lived for 2 weeks before I discovered there was a cat in the house. It was summer months and the lack of water gave her kidney damage. But now Jackie is here with me, safe at last. I share this with you to let you know that you are more of a blessing to those 2 cats than you will (hopefully) ever know...

 

[farleyv]

Can you get your hands on some fresh catnip? Check out the garden centers for some plants. This will give them some play time and they certainly could use it.

Also, feathers. My cats love them. My daughter has chickens and gives me feathers from time to time. My cats go crazy for them, carrying them around and batting them about.

Just some ideas for stimulation for these poor guys.