My Next Cat Will Be the Most-Unadoptable Ever

[KLS52]

I think Bogart is currently the most unadoptable cat currently...I'm no closer to a diagnosis for him but he now has dried poo stuck to his butt and he won't let me near him to remedy the situation. And he's now sleeping on my bed. That's love, man.

 

[ElaineV]

You have a Bogart? I have a Bogart!
He's silky soft and gorgeous but every now and then he's mean. Really mean.

 

[sallyomally]

Such great stories. Liz, is it just me or does Buffy have different colored eyes?

 

[jeneticallymodified]

Appearance is small potatoes -- I've known some really antisocial cats who are quick to draw blood with their claws if bothered.

those cats are the first to be put down in kill shelters.

they're not antisocial because they're malicious, they're either 'rescued' ferals who weren't properly socialised (its better to let feral adults remain in their natural habitat, but to TNR and supervise them from a distance, but they can sometimes end up being 'rescued' nonetheless), or somebody has done something to seriously mess them up psychologically.

it's actually more common for cats to be unpredictable and prone to lashing out if they've been declawed (they'll bite without much provocation)- as they're constantly on the defensive -knowing that they've vulnerable, and many also have residual nerve pain from the multiple amputations... than it is for cats who have their claws, to attack.

most of the time though, it's highly possible to just not bother a cat who is prone to lashing out, and/or to read their body language enough that you have a decent window of opportunity within which to back your arse up before they feel the need to bite. cats are very good at giving warnings. people just suck at reading them.

semi-feral cats who are potentially re-home-able, are known in rescue circles as 'shadow cats'- because from the outside looking in, people would not know that you even had a cat- and even as the adopter, all you see of them for months on end is their shadow. these cats can, and do learn to trust and become social though- i've seen it happen many many times. like humans who have trust issues, they just need plenty of time, breathing space, and consistent care, and they'll let their barriers down a little.cats will be friends with humans when they bloody well feel like it, and not a moment before. adopting a shadow cat makes the perfect arrangement for some busy adults without kids- they just do the food and litter, talk to the little shadow and go about their day, and are happy in the knowledge that they've saved a little life. and then eventually that little shadow cat often decides to come out from under the bed and sleep next to their feet, and then she might decide to demand a few pets on occasion, and then suddenly one day they hop up and sit next to you on the couch.

 

[jeneticallymodified]

Nelli, my older cat had been returned to the shelter twice before I took her. She had lived with the first family three years from her life but because she started to pee on other places than litter box they gave her back to the shelter. The second family returned her because she got urine infection. I still can't believe that the returning reason that is written to her papers says that 'can't keep a sick cat'. And that is one of the easiest things to handle. She has lived with me now eight and half years and is pretty active 12 year old senior. She is bit high maintanance with not wanting to eat dry food at all and because of that I have to have someone visiting here every day if I go on trip and I have learned in a hard way what really triggers her to pee on other places than her litter box...one is that if I take her out every now and then she starts to protest it because she would like to go out every day and twice if possible. When I started to keep her only inside she stopped protesting that. It's nice that I have now balcony since she really loves to sniff that fresh air and look birds and such from there.

Noora my younger one would have gotten home without me since she was kitten when I took her but she is rescue also. But since I had Nelli already at that point and her papers said that she doesn't like from other cats I thought that it would be easier to get them live togehter if the second cat would be kitten. So that is how the blondie ended up picked into this house heh. I do love it how they play togher now and I'm sure that Nelli has more active and interesting life because we have Noora here with us.

Oh...and Noora is the one on my avatar.

it sounds to me like she started peeing outside the box initially, because she had bladder pain- probably she had a urinary tract infection long before it was noticed. cats have pretty funny logic. if it hurts when a cat pees in their box, often they'll decide that something to do with the box, is causing it to hurt when she pees there. maybe they think there are brambles or wasps in there, who knows- but they find somewhere else to pee.

if she starts to pee outside the box again, your first stop should be to the vet- incase she's got another bladder problem.

your cat peeing around the house after she's taken outside, sounds more like territorial marking. when she goes outside she'll smell other cats pee which is marking their areas of territory- and when she comes in, she'll feel like she needs to mark her territory too- in case the outside cats start to come around. cats also mark territory by scratching, headbutting, and rubbing their paws on the floor (by their dinner bowl, near doorways, etc).

if your balcony is not screened in, PLEASE screen it- i've seen a lot of cats die that way- they see a bird, and jump for it without thinking, or they get scared and run the wrong way.

it is good that you got the kitten, and you did the right thing by introducing your cat to somebody small and non-threatening. ideally every cat should have a cat friend- people are nice, but we're just not the same.

 

[jeneticallymodified]

I think Bogart is currently the most unadoptable cat currently...I'm no closer to a diagnosis for him but he now has dried poo stuck to his butt and he won't let me near him to remedy the situation. And he's now sleeping on my bed. That's love, man.

argh! have you tried distracting him with treats? if you can get a bit of vaseline on there he might be able to work it out himself. or if you can get some oil into his diet it might soften stuff up as it comes out, so that he can fix it himself. is he a long-haired cat?

 

[cornsail]

those cats are the first to be put down in kill shelters.

they're not antisocial because they're malicious, they're either 'rescued' ferals who weren't properly socialised (its better to let feral adults remain in their natural habitat, but to TNR and supervise them from a distance, but they can sometimes end up being 'rescued' nonetheless), or somebody has done something to seriously mess them up psychologically.

it's actually more common for cats to be unpredictable and prone to lashing out if they've been declawed (they'll bite without much provocation)- as they're constantly on the defensive -knowing that they've vulnerable, and many also have residual nerve pain from the multiple amputations... than it is for cats who have their claws, to attack.

I know a cat like that who was adopted (not sure of the circumstances) at a very young age. Possibly after experiencing some trauma. She has her claws still. She is more tolerant of her primary caretaker/s than other people, but she won't attack people who leave her alone.

most of the time though, it's highly possible to just not bother a cat who is prone to lashing out, and/or to read their body language enough that you have a decent window of opportunity within which to back your arse up before they feel the need to bite. cats are very good at giving warnings. people just suck at reading them.

That's true. Sometimes it's necessary to bother a cat though. The one I know needs insulin shots. Or sometimes it's just keeping her in a specific room temporarily. But when it's not necessary, then live and let live seems to work out fine.

 

[Virpukka]

it sounds to me like she started peeing outside the box initially, because she had bladder pain- probably she had a urinary tract infection long before it was noticed. cats have pretty funny logic. if it hurts when a cat pees in their box, often they'll decide that something to do with the box, is causing it to hurt when she pees there. maybe they think there are brambles or wasps in there, who knows- but they find somewhere else to pee.

if she starts to pee outside the box again, your first stop should be to the vet- incase she's got another bladder problem.

your cat peeing around the house after she's taken outside, sounds more like territorial marking. when she goes outside she'll smell other cats pee which is marking their areas of territory- and when she comes in, she'll feel like she needs to mark her territory too- in case the outside cats start to come around. cats also mark territory by scratching, headbutting, and rubbing their paws on the floor (by their dinner bowl, near doorways, etc).

Yes she has been checked for that...and she was checked for that in the first home also and at that time she didn't have urine infection. She is a cat who is one person's cat and in that house it was the mom...or that is what they said...and she didn't have as much time to Nelli as she would have wanted. And generally I know there is something she is not happy with when I find her peeing outside of the litter box.

if your balcony is not screened in, PLEASE screen it- i've seen a lot of cats die that way- they see a bird, and jump for it without thinking, or they get scared and run the wrong way.

Yes I have screen on the balcony. I have also balcony windows so I get it really cat prooved if it feels like the screen is not enough. Just now I have just one section from it screened and rest of the balcony is covered with the balcony windows because all my windows are for the balcony and I really doen't like to look outside and feel like I live in prison heh. But for me the main thing is that the cats stays in the balcony since I live so low that it would not be issue for them to jump down and disappear and it's not something I want.

it is good that you got the kitten, and you did the right thing by introducing your cat to somebody small and non-threatening. ideally every cat should have a cat friend- people are nice, but we're just not the same.

I agree with that. And I also thought that the kitten smell would protect Noora. Nelli got so mad when I brought her to home that I wasn't allowed to touch to her on two weeks after that and if the look would have been able to kill...I would have been dead person after I opened that travel box and let Noora walk in. Noora was just 8 weeks old when she came and was so tiny. (The animal rescue people decided that it better for the kittens to be given into the new homes than stay in the home they were living with their mommies because the care wasn't so good in there and actually the other mom cat had eaten one of the kittens...i suspect it was because of the food situation. On normal circustamses I wouldn't have taken that young kitten) But I think that protected her also. But that tiny thing is the one that can get the grumpy Nelli moving and playing with her even if it takes multiple tries to do that. It's funny thing to watch how she goes to tap Nelli and then runs as fast as she can and she does that as long as it takes to get Nelli start the tag game with her. It's lovely how close they have become during the years.

 

[KLS52]

You have a Bogart? I have a Bogart!
He's silky soft and gorgeous but every now and then he's mean. Really mean.

My Bogart has potential to be gorgeous...if I ever get near enough to him to remove the matting and clean his butt! And he definitely has a cranky side...I don't think he means to be mean. He's a de-clawed maine coon mix that I found at a shelter...so I have no info as to his background. Poor baby.

it's actually more common for cats to be unpredictable and prone to lashing out if they've been declawed (they'll bite without much provocation)- as they're constantly on the defensive -knowing that they've vulnerable, and many also have residual nerve pain from the multiple amputations... than it is for cats who have their claws, to attack.

I did not know this! Bogart was declawed (not by me). I guess I am lucky, because as much as he fights me with regard to medicating him (and trying to clean his butt), he has never tried to bite. I think that makes me feel worse because you can see the fear/anger in him but he has never tried to hurt me. He hisses/growls and just tries to get away. I posted somewhere that my fear is he's going to end up hating me...I don't know how to do the the things I need to do for him without traumatizing him. And it's pretty much been every single day so far. He really needs to be groomed and I have no idea how to go about it with the state that he's in.

argh! have you tried distracting him with treats? if you can get a bit of vaseline on there he might be able to work it out himself. or if you can get some oil into his diet it might soften stuff up as it comes out, so that he can fix it himself. is he a long-haired cat?

Yes, he is long-haired. Forget the treats...he's onto that. He loved treats at first until I tried giving him his medication using them. Now he won't take any treat at all. I could probably add some kind of oil to his food (olive/vegetable?). He's already done a decent job of cleaning it himself, but there are tiny dried bits (sorry, lol) that still need to be removed...preferably with a scissor, but that's not going to happen. I'm going to try the vaseline.

He was a little more compliant when I first took him in. I removed two clumps of matted hair and he would let me clean under his chin when it got yucked up from him drooling during the car ride from the shelter (45 minutes) and then the vet two days later. He's just so sensitive now...I feel really bad that I have to bother him so much.

That's true. Sometimes it's necessary to bother a cat though. The one I know needs insulin shots.

This is my dilemma...daily medication.

 

[mlp]

Give him a high value treat right after he gets his meds - something that he loves and gets only after the meds. I used to buy roasted chicken breast for Friday. It got so that he would come to tell me it was med time if I was a bit late with his meds.

The next time you're at the vets, have them shave around his anus. I used to have to do that with Sebastian, because he wouldn't clean himself properly. I had to have my sister come over to hold him while I shaved, or vice versa, because my ex husband wouldn't help. After a while, Sebastian started cleaning himself - I think he decided it was the lesser of two indignities.

 

[silva]

All but two of my 10 cats were my fosters! I felt if they were with me a year I'd be as guilty of abandonment as there original people.
Two were slotted for a feral colony, and are now sooo sweet.
One a long haired black beauty, who loved our other cats, but was terrified of people. People would come when I took him for adoption hours and want him for his looks. I gave it up pretty quick, because I knew he was better off at my house. He's come around completely, but it took about 2 years.
My last were a momma cat I rescued pregnant, along with 3 older kittens of her (obviously)previous litter. Her new kittens found really good homes, but momma latched on to my son, and was a terror to everyone else. Her older kittens took a long time to socialize, and one died of unknown causes. FIP? Congenital heart failure? We never knew.
It breaks my heart to hear people who pick out a compainion based on looks, and so many do.
It also breaks my heart to know people who rescue, keep the cat for years, then turn it over to rescue groups as though it was never "their" cat anyway!

 

[jeneticallymodified]

I know a cat like that who was adopted (not sure of the circumstances) at a very young age. Possibly after experiencing some trauma. She has her claws still. She is more tolerant of her primary caretaker/s than other people, but she won't attack people who leave her alone.

That's true. Sometimes it's necessary to bother a cat though. The one I know needs insulin shots. Or sometimes it's just keeping her in a specific room temporarily. But when it's not necessary, then live and let live seems to work out fine.

when we're looking at things like insulin shots, we look at quality of life. if giving that shot every 12 hours is gonna leave the cat an angry, frustrated, paranoid nervous wreck long term, then we find another way to do things, or just don't put them through it.

i have to 'bother' cats who would rather i didn't, quite often (with medication, physical restraint in the vets office, getting them into a carrier, etc). you learn lots of little sneaky tips, and the biggest things that make a difference are: being quick (cat doesn't have time to get suspicious, argue, etc), being confident (if they smell fear or hesitation, you don't have a chance), and if at all possible, manipulating the cat into thinking it's their idea/putting themselves where you want them to be (get your butt into the damned carrier, cat).

i love cats. every single cantankerous last one of them.

My Bogart has potential to be gorgeous...if I ever get near enough to him to remove the matting and clean his butt! And he definitely has a cranky side...I don't think he means to be mean. He's a de-clawed maine coon mix that I found at a shelter...so I have no info as to his background. Poor baby.

I did not know this! Bogart was declawed (not by me). I guess I am lucky, because as much as he fights me with regard to medicating him (and trying to clean his butt), he has never tried to bite. I think that makes me feel worse because you can see the fear/anger in him but he has never tried to hurt me. He hisses/growls and just tries to get away. I posted somewhere that my fear is he's going to end up hating me...I don't know how to do the the things I need to do for him without traumatizing him. And it's pretty much been every single day so far. He really needs to be groomed and I have no idea how to go about it with the state that he's in.

awwww, poor old chap. at least his size will give him a bit more confidence. i don't think he'll end up hating you, cats aren't really wired like that. you're not tormenting him 24/7- i think worst case scenario he might think you're usually nice but have your moments where you do annoying crap to him that results in him feeling better. you're already his food provider... he's used to a person, you should be ok. treats after trauamtic events can make them more tollerable. my cat soup hates his nails being trimmed, but he'll sit there cos he knows he gets some awesome treats when we're done, and he forgets about it within 5 minutes cos we've moved right past the tormenting session to the delicious session and beyond.

Yes, he is long-haired. Forget the treats...he's onto that. He loved treats at first until I tried giving him his medication using them. Now he won't take any treat at all. I could probably add some kind of oil to his food (olive/vegetable?). He's already done a decent job of cleaning it himself, but there are tiny dried bits (sorry, lol) that still need to be removed...preferably with a scissor, but that's not going to happen. I'm going to try the vaseline.

haha, he's smart. if they're just little bits, and they're dry, and not attracting flies, i'd leave them alone and watch them for a few days, he might work them out by himself with time. don't go near his arse with scissors, if he moves a smidge the wrong way and you can't see... yeah- butts bleed LOADS (don't ask me how i know).

He was a little more compliant when I first took him in. I removed two clumps of matted hair and he would let me clean under his chin when it got yucked up from him drooling during the car ride from the shelter (45 minutes) and then the vet two days later. He's just so sensitive now...I feel really bad that I have to bother him so much.

if it gets really bad, he could get a mild sedative when at the vets, or when the vet has him sedated already for another procedure, he could run the clippers up his butt in a nice neat stripe at the same time- that'd give him a fresh start that'd be easier to maintain. otherwise, i'd be inclined to just not bother him too much with small **** (so to speak ) right at this moment. wait it out a bit. let him decide that you're not gonna hassle him, let him come for pets... then after a few days start to pet with a textured glove. then keep a curry brush or a baby's brush next to the bed and do a few pets mid-session with it in the palm of your hand (it won't tug). work upto a real brush within nice petting sessions, instead of battling him and turning it into wrestling matches.

This is my dilemma...daily medication.

have you tried pill pockets? the trick with those is to not let the pill contaminated hand touch the pocket AT ALL. get the thing as small as you can. or ask the vet for fish flavoured liquid meds if he can do it. with those,you can burrito the poor guy with a towel, sit on him almost from behind, stuff a plastic med syringe sideways into his cheek pocket, and squirt the stuff in. it's much easier than liquid pills. and give him the BEST treats ever, after the meds. if he knows that treat is coming, it makes the whole ordeal more tollerable and snaps him out of being ****** off once you're done.

what mlp says in #30.

 

[jeneticallymodified]

All but two of my 10 cats were my fosters! I felt if they were with me a year I'd be as guilty of abandonment as there original people.
Two were slotted for a feral colony, and are now sooo sweet.
One a long haired black beauty, who loved our other cats, but was terrified of people. People would come when I took him for adoption hours and want him for his looks. I gave it up pretty quick, because I knew he was better off at my house. He's come around completely, but it took about 2 years.
My last were a momma cat I rescued pregnant, along with 3 older kittens of her (obviously)previous litter. Her new kittens found really good homes, but momma latched on to my son, and was a terror to everyone else. Her older kittens took a long time to socialize, and one died of unknown causes. FIP? Congenital heart failure? We never knew.
It breaks my heart to hear people who pick out a compainion based on looks, and so many do.
It also breaks my heart to know people who rescue, keep the cat for years, then turn it over to rescue groups as though it was never "their" cat anyway!

FIP really sucks. i just had a kitten dying here a few weeks ago from FIP. i rescued him with 8 brothers and sisters and 2 mommas a few months earlier.

my rescue group has a lifetime return policy- if an adopter can't care for the cat they've taken on- even 10 years down the line, we'll take the cat back. at least then we know they're not going to high kill shelters, dumping them on the street, etc.

 

[Freesia]

i dont know if Gypsy would be a shadow cat. She had been a feral kitten for 3 months when she arrived. She had survived mainly by stealing other cats food (ie cats who have food outside). So she was used to hanging around houses. She has a really sweet friendly nature. Hobbes was born in a human home, but he is actually less friendly than her for some reason.

 

[jeneticallymodified]

i dont know if Gypsy would be a shadow cat. She had been a feral kitten for 3 months when she arrived. She had survived mainly by stealing other cats food (ie cats who have food outside). So she was used to hanging around houses. She has a really sweet friendly nature. Hobbes was born in a human home, but he is actually less friendly than her for some reason.

it sounds like gypsy socialised herself very effectively- people had something that she wanted. that can happen with kittens around her age, especially if their momma was relatively unafraid of humans. cat sociability is much like people personality traits- part genetics, part exposure to stress hormones in the womb, part learned behaviour, part personal experience-driven.

 

[K-II]

IMO a lot of violent cats are actually just playing. A lot of people really can't seem to tell the difference (especially if it's one of those that never remembers to cover its claws). I find the pain from cat scratches fairly minimal so I sometimes end up mock fighting someone's cat (while I'm visiting or whatever) and they see the blood and become all apologetic thinking it's trying to kill me - even though as soon as we stop the cat acts like nothing unusual happened and we're on good/neutral terms. I get the feeling if it were seriously in hate with me it might be a bit wary or show signs of aggression besides when actually fighting, like a warning or whatever.

 

[Jocelyn1]

I haven`t done this, but now I want to.

 

[KLS52]

you learn lots of little sneaky tips, and the biggest things that make a difference are: being quick (cat doesn't have time to get suspicious, argue, etc), being confident (if they smell fear or hesitation, you don't have a chance),

This makes so much sense. Today went a lot easier because I forced myself into a determined, no-nonsense frame of mind. I grabbed a towel, wrapped him quickly, held him down firmly and 1-2-3 it was done! Still not happy about having to do this every day. The vet has agreed to let me try a transdermal form of the azitrhomycin. I get to start that tomorrow. He's had a good dosing of the oral so hopefully we have a jump on it and the transdermal will help keep any infection at bay.

i love cats. every single cantankerous last one of them.

Me too!!

haha, he's smart.

He really is!

have you tried pill pockets? the trick with those is to not let the pill contaminated hand touch the pocket AT ALL. get the thing as small as you can. or ask the vet for fish flavoured liquid meds if he can do it. with those,you can burrito the poor guy with a towel, sit on him almost from behind, stuff a plastic med syringe sideways into his cheek pocket, and squirt the stuff in. it's much easier than liquid pills. and give him the BEST treats ever, after the meds. if he knows that treat is coming, it makes the whole ordeal more tollerable and snaps him out of being ****** off once you're done.

Yeah, the pill pockets worked the first three days. After that he was wise to the fact that there was a pill in there, even after I quartered it to make it as small as possible. He won't take any treats now because he doesn't trust me...he's very smart and stubborn!

The liquid I'm giving him now is beef flavored. He balked at the tuna flavored one. It doesn't really seem to matter what it tastes like. He just doesn't want any of it. I definitely do better with liquid than I do with pills or chewables.

I have a few strategies in mind. I'm trying to go over to him to pet/kiss as often as possible so that he knows that I'm not just going to torture him with medicine every time I touch him. That seems to be helping. I'm also going to administer the meds in the same way every time. Before I was trying different methods so it must have seemed like I was trying to trick him and that's why he was becoming leery of me. Now I show him the towel and the syringe and I say, 'medicine time' and get it over with quickly. That way he knows it's coming and he won't be suspicious of any other moves I make towards him. It seems to be helping. Hopefully I'm doing the right thing. And hopefully the transdermal cream will help as well. So far he has no problem with me touching his ears...I've been practicing, lol.

 

[Scorpius]

Karen, for grooming him you might want to try what my mother did for Milo (also a big, bratty Maine Coon cat who will not let you touch him, but he gets matted on his back). While he was sleeping, she put a warm compress (just a dishcloth with hot water) over the mat and left it there for a little bit. I think Milo liked this "spa treatment" because he let her leave the compress there! After she removed it, the mat was very easy to brush out.

 

[KLS52]

Karen, for grooming him you might want to try what my mother did for Milo (also a big, bratty Maine Coon cat who will not let you touch him, but he gets matted on his back). While he was sleeping, she put a warm compress (just a dishcloth with hot water) over the mat and left it there for a little bit. I think Milo liked this "spa treatment" because he let her leave the compress there! After she removed it, the mat was very easy to brush out.

Thanks...it's worth a try!