Taking on another cat
Discussion
Due to moving away, a good friend of mine can no longer look after his old cat and his only alternative is to put it down unless he can find someone to take care of him.
The cat is 15, has weak legs so cant jump and cant really climb stairs due to old age muscle wastage, but otherwise purrs and eats so happy in them respects.
Few problems im concerned about.
First off, hees not litter trained, he always goes out in a morning and night and does business. With him being in a new home he would have to stay indoors for a few weeks wouldent he? There is nowhere to put an additional litter tray in our house either really.
Second of all our cat will eat any food put down anywhere in the house so might be a bit faffy to try and feed him.
Anyone got any thoughts as to whether this will be a bad/good idea?
Dont know if it will be too stressful on the cat at his age. Also dont know if they would fight each other our cat can be quite selective.
The cat is 15, has weak legs so cant jump and cant really climb stairs due to old age muscle wastage, but otherwise purrs and eats so happy in them respects.
Few problems im concerned about.
First off, hees not litter trained, he always goes out in a morning and night and does business. With him being in a new home he would have to stay indoors for a few weeks wouldent he? There is nowhere to put an additional litter tray in our house either really.
Second of all our cat will eat any food put down anywhere in the house so might be a bit faffy to try and feed him.
Anyone got any thoughts as to whether this will be a bad/good idea?
Dont know if it will be too stressful on the cat at his age. Also dont know if they would fight each other our cat can be quite selective.
I would say give it a go but it may be a gamble,
The litter tray thing could be an issue but you can get corner shaped ones that take up less space, a cat will usually adapt to one even if they have never used one before.
I am not feeling to clever at the mo so jot up for lots of writing however there is plenty you can do in preperation.
There is a website called International Cat Care and they have a section on cat behaviours and will have a page re introducing cats together. That is definitely worth a read.
Here is one section
https://icatcare.org/advice/general-care/getting-c...
A pheromone plug in-Feliway or a calming plug in-Pet Remedy are worth using a week before nee cast arrives.
The litter tray thing could be an issue but you can get corner shaped ones that take up less space, a cat will usually adapt to one even if they have never used one before.
I am not feeling to clever at the mo so jot up for lots of writing however there is plenty you can do in preperation.
There is a website called International Cat Care and they have a section on cat behaviours and will have a page re introducing cats together. That is definitely worth a read.
Here is one section
https://icatcare.org/advice/general-care/getting-c...
A pheromone plug in-Feliway or a calming plug in-Pet Remedy are worth using a week before nee cast arrives.
When we took on an old cat (well, he was kind of thrust at us by the rescue place) he just slotted in, parked up near the food and wouldn't leave more than a 5ft gap between himself and the food. He was either in the utility room or just outside the door on the patio.
The other cats seemed to appreciate he was older and left him alone.
We just introduced them the way we do dogs/cats each time, using treats (chicken, liver etc)
The other cats seemed to appreciate he was older and left him alone.
We just introduced them the way we do dogs/cats each time, using treats (chicken, liver etc)
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