Adopt a cat from a shelter

I've been volunteering at a no kill cat shelter now for four months. During this time I have met so many wonderful feline souls it's crazy!

A lot of the cats at the shelter have been abandoned. You can tell the ones that came from homes because they greet you when you enter a room and hover around you waiting for a pet. Some of them are pure love and you can hold them while they purr like crazy.

At first I was a bit apprehensive being around so many strange cats. I thought there would be a good chance that I'd get bit or scratched, but I was wrong. They all live in separate rooms based on their condition. There's a room for diabetes, FIV, FeLV, urinary problems etc. I have yet to meet a single aggressive cat at the shelter and have never been hissed at!

It is absolutely heart breaking to see how many wonderful, sweet, friendly, loving, smart and amazing creatures have just been tossed aside like a piece of garbage! People would never do that to other humans in our society, or at least - when we do, we are usually jailed for such behaviour!

When I was a kid we had a lovely white cat that we got as a kitten. He had different colored eyes, one blue and one green. He was a farm cat and did not adapt well when we brought him to the suburbs. He remained an outdoor cat, but he stayed away from home for long periods of time. He was very difficult to catch, and in many ways behaved like a feral cat. He used to howl to go outside.

We decided to move away from that town and on moving day we couldn't find him. We looked everywhere. So we left him there. I was eight years old. There was nothing I could do about it. My family made it seem like what they did was fine, that he would be ok. He'd survive. But sadly, he probably didn't make it. What happened to him when it was winter? Maybe some kind soul took him in. Or maybe he was sent to a shelter and killed. 

This sort of thing happens every day. I just feel so sorry for cats at the shelter. Some of them do really well, and are quite happy and sociable. Others look rather sad. Some just look like they really need to spend a few hours cuddling or falling asleep on your lap.  In all fairness, they probably get more attention and love than they would get at many homes. 

Most people take care of their cats in that they provide food and water, and litter. But most people don't worry about what kind of food their cat eats, whether it gets enough water or wet food, they don't bother to clean the litter very often and aren't home enough to really spend time with their cat.

Most people treat their cats like furry animate furniture. Nice to look at and pet now and again, but don't really take the time to actually get to know them and find out what makes them tick. What makes them happy. A lot of cats just sit in the house doing nothing all day all by themselves. It's really sad.

At the shelter life is at least slightly interesting. They all have their own beds and pillows to rest on, they get fed at the same time each day, their litter is cleaned twice a day, they get fresh water twice a day. Twice a day a team of volunteers arrive who love to spend time talking to them and petting them.

I worry about what happens to some of these guys who get adopted. Do they end up having good lives? People should be really serious and committed when they decide to bring a pet home. And by all means, they should only get cats from shelters!

One of the advantages of getting a cat from a shelter is that many other people have taken the time to get to know these cats so it's a lot easier to match a person to a cat. For instance, a family with kids would probably want a lively sociable cat that is extremely tolerant. Where as an older single person might be better suited to a more quiet and laid back cat that likes to relax on your lap.

Either way, my heart breaks a little bit more each time I go and I get to know them all a little bit more. I realize how completely unappreciated these guys are and much they could totally enrich so many peoples lives (well, they already do - but it would be nicer for them to be in an actual home!).















 

High Maintenence Cat

I am thrilled that my wonderful feline friend Gayden is feeling better these days. He was diagnosed with FeLV in December and my boyfriend and I were devastated. I spent hundreds of hours researching everything I could on the subject. Initially I felt super defeated and negative, thinking that he would be dead in a matter of days or weeks. It's now almost eight months later and he's doing great!

He had two injections of a hormone to generate red blood cells for his anemia. We also started giving him a B vitamin/amino acid supplement with his food every 12 hours. He got better quickly, his appetite returned to normal and he had lot's of energy. 

In May I decided to take him to a different vet to have a check up, urine analysis and another test for FeLV - this time the IFA test which is more expensive and has to be sent to a special lab. I had read so much about false positive results for FeLV and he seemed so healthy I thought I should be sure and have him tested him again. Well, the IFA test came back negative. However, he also still has mild anemia. The vet was totally perplexed! She said that I would have to have the snap test done again to confirm whether or not he has FeLV. If that test came back negative then we could safely assume that he is negative. 

I suppose I will have to do that, but at the moment it's kind of nice thinking that maybe he'll be ok after all! Though realistically, as he has anemia, chances are there is something wrong with him we just don't know what. We aren't rich and it's expensive having all kinds of tests and check ups all the time! At the same time, I don't want to neglect his health and if there is any way I can help him then I want to do so.

Right now I'm just enjoying him being his almost old self again! After he had crystals he changed. He is a cat after all, and there is absolutely no way we can know what that experience did to him emotionally. He almost died! The terror of being in his litter box and feeling like he had to pee but not being able to produce anything must have been so traumatic for him! I am so grateful that I happened to be in the office where his box is and witnessed him enter the box and then just stay there for five minutes and then leave without having done anything. I immediately did research on the internet thinking that it might be constipation. However, after everything I read I decided that it was best to take him to the emergency vet, because if it was crystals then it was a life threatening situation!

He was then hospitalized and hooked up to a catheter and I.V for 10 days. We visited him daily and he was always happy to see us, but wow, what an ordeal for the little guy! When he came home he was a mess. Poor thing had the Victorian collar on his head for a week so he wouldn't lick and damage his private parts. 

Well, I've already written about the whole experience in an earlier entry. Anyway, a year and a half later and he's still anxious and high maintenance. We had him on a natural anti anxiety medication for a month to see if it helped. It was a pill that had milk enzymes in it or something that would calm him down. It didn't seem to help so we stopped it. I hate the idea of giving cats drugs, but his behaviour was seriously out of control. 

First there was the spraying issue. On the main floor he's sprayed bags, tables, chairs, the couch, the curtains, his cat tent and whatever else was at the right height. Upstairs he peed in the laundry basket once and on our bed once. In the basement he peed all over the couch several times. So needless to say, the situation was getting to be intolerable!

There is still a spraying situation, however he seems to only do it in front of us and he gives us major signs that he is anxious and wanting to spray. For one thing, he is still anxious about peeing in the litter box. I have tried different types of litter, tried moving the boxes and actually bought bigger boxes to make it nicer for him as he is a big cat. He was pacing and howling in the evening. If I brought him up to his litter box and told him to go in and pee, sometimes he would! Only in the evening though. I had changed the litter to the newspaper pellet things because when he was severely anemic he started eating his litter! So as it is clumping litter I feared for his life and had to change it to pellets immediately!

Well, I don't think he liked it very much - though I did! So easy to clean, no smell and no tracking all over the house!!! 

We recently went on vacation and brought him and our other cat to our friends house. However, she has five cats and the whole situation was a nightmare for her. Gayden peed all over house including her dining room table which might actually be ruined now. So if we go away we now have to find a cat sitter!

He is still super tense and difficult in the evening but I have found that there are a few things that seem to help. First off, Ed built an outdoor cat enclosure! It is right up against our house and they can access it by the small living room window. They can go in and out as they please. It has three shelves and is covered with screen. They seem to like it. Mainly it was for the evenings when Gayden basically goes crazy.

The other thing is that I have to do something with Gayden every day. Whether it is taking him outside on a leash, or playing with him. One game he likes is what I call the treasure hunt. I place dry food all over the living room in nooks and crannies and him and Calvin have to "hunt" for them. They love this game! Another game is I'll grab a small handful of dried food and throw one pellet at a time and they will run after them. So they get a bit of exercise and some mental stimulation. 

If I don't do anything for Gayden all day, then he will be awful come evening. He will pace and whine and walk up things and lift his tail up like he is about to spray. If I still don't do anything, then he will spray. I watched him spray the curtains one night as I sat there watching his craziness. So now we need new curtains. He still howls a bit at night despite my best efforts, but there's only so much I can do! I can't revolve my whole life around him! 

He pretty much constantly flaps his tail about. A relative said that she had never seen a cat wag his tail so much! Unless he is sleeping or eating, he will flail his tail about. So basically he is still anxious. I will most likely have to medicate him as I have run out of options! I can't and won't let him run free outside! Not only is there a bylaw in our city prohibiting it, but I also happen to think that it is negligent! In addition to that, if he does have FeLV then he can't be let free as it is contagious! But it might be a bit unrealistic long term to try to please his every desire!

He gets restless at noon every day and if I don't let him out he paces. So I have to get him and Calvin into their leashes and take them outside. Then they relax for a while. They get fed three times a day, so around 3:30 they are ready for more food. Then they relax for a while. Then from 7pm until bed time he is actively searching for things to do and if there isn't anything, then he paces and howls. 

I love him with all my heart, and he is really a lovely cat. He is also a lot of hard work though. But I really can't complain. I have already almost lost him to illness twice but he has survived. I try to make his life as pleasant as possible because the way things have gone with his health, I really don't get the feeling that he is destined to live a long life.

The crazy thing is that I kind of feel like he knows this and because of it he tries to live life to the fullest! He is totally ready to DO ANYTHING at the drop of a hat! He could be sleeping, but if I was to initiate some kind of activity he would get up and be ready. He doesn't sleep that much, considering that he's a cat. He probably sleeps about 12 hours a day. So this means that 12 hours a day he is busy looking for things to do!

I have spent hundreds of hours looking for games and ways to keep him happy and stimulated but sadly there is limited info out there. I've tried so many different things and he's not that interested in normal cat games. He likes challenges, like trying to open something that has food in it. He likes it when I put my laundry basket over him so he's in a little prison. He likes getting into the bathtub and have us scratch his back. He likes to play hide and seek. He likes to play fetch with his toy mouse (but only on his terms and when he's in the mood). I still haven't tried clicker training. I have heard that some cats do really well with this. I think he'd be a good candidate because it would be a new activity!