Backyard critters

[English Natsie]

Sad news indeed - but for the best, given the circumstances. The pain of loss is the price we pay for all that previous love and friendship...

[1995hoo]

We just adopted a cat, an older cat who isn’t into climbing on things or heavy scratching. Found her on Nextdoor—a lady was helping an elderly friend who had to enter memory-assisted living and couldn’t keep the cat. We met the cat on Friday and knew pretty quickly she’d be a good match. She arrived at 1:00 this afternoon and stayed out and around during most of the Caps game. Didn’t even run too far when I bellowed "SCORE!!!" without thinking when Ovechkin scored.

The cat's name is Precious. No truth to the rumor that I now seek a second cat named Gollum.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

[dracnal]

We just adopted a cat, an older cat who isn’t into climbing on things or heavy scratching. Found her on Nextdoor—a lady was helping an elderly friend who had to enter memory-assisted living and couldn’t keep the cat. We met the cat on Friday and knew pretty quickly she’d be a good match. She arrived at 1:00 this afternoon and stayed out and around during most of the Caps game. Didn’t even run too far when I bellowed "SCORE!!!" without thinking when Ovechkin scored.

The cat's name is Precious. No truth to the rumor that I now seek a second cat named Gollum.

My neighbor had a pair of cats from the same litter that he named Precious and Smeagol.

[GburgNatsFan]

Good work hoo.

We just adopted a cat, an older cat who isn’t into climbing on things or heavy scratching. Found her on Nextdoor—a lady was helping an elderly friend who had to enter memory-assisted living and couldn’t keep the cat. We met the cat on Friday and knew pretty quickly she’d be a good match. She arrived at 1:00 this afternoon and stayed out and around during most of the Caps game. Didn’t even run too far when I bellowed "SCORE!!!" without thinking when Ovechkin scored.

The cat's name is Precious. No truth to the rumor that I now seek a second cat named Gollum.

[1995hoo]

The photo hosting service I used to use is no longer useful, so I'll post a picture when I decide on another method of hosting it and I find a chance. She seems content so far. We haven't let her upstairs yet; she's explored the two lower floors of the house and we'll decide when to let her upstairs (the main hazard up here is my home office, which is both a mess and full of cables and wires all over the place due to all the electronics). She's used both litterboxes and the scratching pad. When I came downstairs this morning, she was waiting and was ready to eat—quickly figured out I was getting her breakfast (after I scooped the box) and was rubbing against my legs quietly meowing. All good signs so far. I've never had a cat before (Fraidy was never really "our cat"), so this is a new experience, but Ms1995hoo had a couple of cats over the years long before we met.

I suppose I could undock my laptop and go downstairs and work at the kitchen table, but that'd be tricky because I have some heavy typing to do. I guess when my wife wakes up she can keep the cat company.

[varoadking]

The photo hosting service I used to use is no longer useful, so I'll post a picture when I decide on another method of hosting it and I find a chance.

imgur

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

 

We just adopted a cat, an older cat who isn’t into climbing on things or heavy scratching. Found her on Nextdoor—a lady was helping an elderly friend who had to enter memory-assisted living and couldn’t keep the cat. We met the cat on Friday and knew pretty quickly she’d be a good match. She arrived at 1:00 this afternoon and stayed out and around during most of the Caps game. Didn’t even run too far when I bellowed "SCORE!!!" without thinking when Ovechkin scored.

The cat's name is Precious. No truth to the rumor that I now seek a second cat named Gollum.

[English Natsie]

Great news - well done  . If Precious isn't to be a house-cat (long-term) you should keep her indoors for the first 21 to 28 days - cats require this time to locate themselves in their new environment. If you let her wander too soon, she will either try to return 'home' or just get lost (unable to navigate her way back to your place).

[1995hoo]

Great news - well done  . If Precious isn't to be a house-cat (long-term) you should keep her indoors for the first 21 to 28 days - cats require this time to locate themselves in their new environment. If you let her wander too soon, she will either try to return 'home' or just get lost (unable to navigate her way back to your place).

Oh, no, we have no intention of letting her outside, especially not during the winter. We do plan to get her a collar just as a precaution, though, and I want to have her microchip updated to list us. Even if we don't plan to let her wander, accidents happen. There's a vet in Kingstowne about a half-mile from us (well, a half-mile on foot, a mile by car) who specializes in cats, the Kingstowne Cat Clinic, so we will likely contact them. We have her veterinary records from the prior owner and it looks like she's probably overdue for a checkup, so we may take her in for a full appointment.

She was calmly sitting on the couch when I checked on her a while ago. When I came downstairs this morning, after I scooped the litter boxes (good sign, she's using both of them) she followed me into the kitchen and quickly figured out I was going to feed her, which made her very happy!

She didn't seem too interested in the F1 Qatar Grand Prix I was watching on the DVR last night. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

As for the broadcast from Qatar, she'd be more interested if they pronounced it "Cat- Ar" and not "cutter."

[1995hoo]

As for the broadcast from Qatar, she'd be more interested if they pronounced it "Cat- Ar" and not "cutter."

The former is pretty much how the British F1 commentary team said it.

[skippy1999]

We just adopted a cat, an older cat who isn’t into climbing on things or heavy scratching. Found her on Nextdoor—a lady was helping an elderly friend who had to enter memory-assisted living and couldn’t keep the cat. We met the cat on Friday and knew pretty quickly she’d be a good match. She arrived at 1:00 this afternoon and stayed out and around during most of the Caps game. Didn’t even run too far when I bellowed "SCORE!!!" without thinking when Ovechkin scored.

The cat's name is Precious. No truth to the rumor that I now seek a second cat named Gollum.

Excellent! No better way to honor one life gone then to rescue another. Fraidy was very lucky for you and Mrs. Shoo and Precious is ever moreso. I volunteered at a shelter and I can't tell you the number of poor animals who were given up because their owner was going into a retirement home and since older animals are so much harder to adopt out some were there sooooo long and were so confused, bless you and the misses for giving that cat a new home!

[English Natsie]

[quote author=1995hoo link=topic=3742.msg2236773#msg2236773 date=1638202470

She was calmly sitting on the couch when I checked on her a while ago. When I came downstairs this morning, after I scooped the litter boxes (good sign, she's using both of them) she followed me into the kitchen and quickly figured out I was going to feed her, which made her very happy!

[/quote]

You are clearly well informed - the general rule is one more litter tray than cats (so one cat, two trays...). Female cats tend to be better organized than males - she will probably settle down into using one tray for urine and the other for faeces. Trays should be somewhere relatively secluded - cats don't like an audience when toiletting. Covered (hooded) trays are not good for cleanliness of either trays or cats - because they prevent dug litter from spreading they might seem like a good idea, but are best avoided. For what it's worth, my litter of choice is Tigerino Sensitive Canada Style - very fine grind, easy to clean (scoop), good odour control and efficient clumping (so you only use what is needed without a lot of excess waste). Just anecdotal (from years of cat care) but females tend to dig much more enthusiastically in the trays than males - dustpan and brush at the ready as litter does track easily...

Now, as long as Precious doesn't turn out to be a Titans fan...(what was that score yesterday, Meows?... ).

[1995hoo]

For now we will stick with the litter she’s used to so as not to change anything too soon. Being re-homed is enough of a change! Ms1995hoo thinks she might want to try something less granular for exactly the reason you note (enthusiastic digging), but she conceded the validity of my thought of not changing things too quickly when she’s using the boxes.

We have to figure out a better location for the box here on the second floor. It’s in the powder room and takes up too much space in there, but there isn’t really anywhere else on this floor.

[1995hoo]

Here she is on Monday morning:

[varoadking]

^^^ Already has you trained... 

[1995hoo]

^^^ Already has you trained... 

On the other hand, I just went downstairs to fill my water mug* and she came into the kitchen while I was doing that, so I gave her a couple of cat treats and she ate them directly out of my hand. Good start.

The biggest thing for us to figure out so far is about the litter boxes. We have two, and she uses them, but our house doesn't have an ideal place for them and they're in two of the bathrooms. Ms1995hoo would like to replace at least one of them because the cat kicks some of the litter onto the floor when she digs. Problem is figuring out how to arrange things. I may splurge on one of the more expensive automated boxes if it lets us put it somewhere other than in the powder room.

*Water mug: Since I telecommute, I use my Yeti travel mug as a spillproof means for having cold water in my home office all day. The mug was a Christmas present from our relatives near Miami one year. It's fantastic. It's almost too good at keeping hot drinks hot—when we travel, I have to put ice cubes in my coffee if I'm to have any chance at drinking it.

[dracnal]

The biggest thing for us to figure out so far is about the litter boxes. We have two, and she uses them, but our house doesn't have an ideal place for them and they're in two of the bathrooms. Ms1995hoo would like to replace at least one of them because the cat kicks some of the litter onto the floor when she digs.

Type of flooring can make a big difference. Tile/hardwood is easier to clean than carpeting, but the litter tends to scatter in a half mile radius. Carpet keeps it right there. If you have a small dustbuster type hand vacuum you can keep nearby, it can be a solid way to deal with them. Depending on how aggressively she digs and flings the litter, you might be able to make a difference by taking the lid from a larger storage bin and flipping it upside down, then place the litter box on that. The small lip around the edges can do a great job of containing things for some cats --- and absolutely nothing for others. Bit of trial and error, that.

[imref]

We have two cats and three covered litter boxes.  Each cat has staked out a primary litter box for themselves but Cat 1 often decides he'd rather drop a load next to the box than inside of it. Cat 2 likes to try and dig all the litter out of his box and onto the floor after he's done his business. We think only cat 1 uses the third litter box.

Cats are odd animals.

[1995hoo]

Type of flooring can make a big difference. Tile/hardwood is easier to clean than carpeting, but the litter tends to scatter in a half mile radius. Carpet keeps it right there. If you have a small dustbuster type hand vacuum you can keep nearby, it can be a solid way to deal with them. Depending on how aggressively she digs and flings the litter, you might be able to make a difference by taking the lid from a larger storage bin and flipping it upside down, then place the litter box on that. The small lip around the edges can do a great job of containing things for some cats --- and absolutely nothing for others. Bit of trial and error, that.

Thanks for this. This may prove to be excellent advice. In fact we have two hand-held vacuums, a Dirt Devil and a Shark. So it may just be a case of figuring out a good spot to move the box from the powder room. The one in the downstairs bathroom can stay there, I think (we ourselves use that one less frequently), but it would be nice to free up the powder room.

Lots of things to consider.

Also, "a solid way to deal with them" is an outstanding (if perhaps unintentional) pun, given the context.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

They'd better resolve this lockout so we can get on with 2022 Caturdays 

[English Natsie]

We can see why you fell for that charmer - what a good looking kitty (and Meowser says 'hello'). 

[GburgNatsFan]

Couldn't look any more like our Talley Cat.

Here she is on Monday morning:

(Image removed from quote.)

[1995hoo]

Any of you know anything about the automated litter boxes? A friend of ours in North Carolina has the Litter Robot. It's very expensive, but that's not the main issue; my bigger concern is that it's big and I'd have trouble figuring out where to put it (too big for the powder room where a box is now). Do the automated boxes work as advertised?