Advice Wanted: Another cat coming to us! Small Update
As you all know on PT we adopted Xavi at the end of January and he's settled in wonderfully and is fine with Sunny (apart from the odd spit when he really annoys her that little bit too much)
Well on Wednesday I'm taking in another cat. This has all happened quite quickly over the last few days via my Uncle.
He has a lady who works for him and she is looking to rehome her cat due to her mother's asthma and needs to rehome as quickly as possible, due to the mother going back and forth to hospital with bad attacks. The doctors have said that the cat is contributing to the asthma attacks.
I provided rescue numbers for this lady but unfortunately there are long waiting lists and she wants to rehome her as quickly as possible, so I said I would take her. I don't really want another cat so soon, but I feel sorry for this cat and felt that I should take her in case she ends up homeless or a stray. Though the woman has had her since she was a kitten, well as you all know on PT these things do happen.
Her name is Misty, she's 9 years old, medium hair tabby. She's in good health apart from a flea allergy which is kept under control with regular frontline treatment.
The main thing I'm worried about is Sunny's reaction at another female coming into the household. The new cat Misty has also always been a cat on her own, a one cat household. I'll put her in the spare room at first with food, litter tray, beds etc for her to get accustomed to being in a new place, I know how to do all that naturally.
My worry is whether Sunny will tolerate another female or see her has a threat? Is there a difference between introducing a male and a female to the existing female of the house? The reason we had Xavi was because he was male and as she'd already lived with Jack, she had been in contact with a male cat all her life. I don't know how Sunny will react to Misty?
I'm worried that Misty may attack Sunny or vice versa, and I really don't want any stress between them, I certainly wouldn't want Sunny to be stressed in any way as it's her house.
I'm excited at taking Misty, but also very very worried about Sunny's reaction to her and Misty's reaction to other cats in the household?
I know all about different social groups etc, and realise they may never co-exist in a close knit way, but I want peace in the house from both of them and want neither to be stressed in any way.
I know there are Pet Talkers who have more than one female in their house.
Kate
PLEASE READ LAST UPDATE:
Misty is returning to her owner :(
Unfortunately the situation with sweet Misty hasn't worked out as we had hoped. She arrived on Wednesday and has not settled well at all, it's quite clear that she needs to be a one cat household with no other animals and attention lavished on her only.
She has eaten only a few treats and had a few sips of water since Wednesday, she has also kept us up nearly all night three nights in a row which has been horrendous and we are both feeling quite ill through lack of sleep. She's been pulling up the carpet, banging the doors and generally being so stressed it's a wonder she hasn't had a heart attack poor thing.
So I have contacted her owner and said for her sake she needs to go back home to her as the way things are going she's going to end up hospitalised due to lack of food or a severe stress related problem.
I have found information online regarding allergies and came across a product called Petalcleanse which has proved very successful and was proven to alleviate the symptoms of 90% of sufferers. I have printed this out to give to her owner.
I have also found a lovely sanctuary that rehomes cats in the same place as where Misty's owner lives , she did in fact email these but it came back. I rang yesterday and spoke at length with the receptionist and they have an 8 week waiting list but then as soon as a space comes up, they take the next cat in. If Misty's owner puts her on the waiting list tomorrow (Monday) then it shouldn't be too long (around 2 and half months or so) until she can get a place here. There is alink here to the rescue place, it's a lovely centre that rescues and rehomes all sorts of animals and have recently had a new cattery built.
http://www.allcreaturesgreatandsmall.org.uk/
I am devastated that it hasn't worked out for Misty, but she is so sensitive to Sunny and Xavi's presence that it's making the poor cat ill. It is also making us feel really ill due to lack of sleep, and as we both work, we do need to have a settled nightime routine, this seems to be Misty's main time for being petrified of being alone, but she will not settle and meows constantly because She can smell our other cats.
She is a lovely cat, with a sweet natured personality, but needs to be the only cat for whoever eventually adopts her.
I am really hoping her owner will keep her, and try to find a way around her situation with her stepmother's asthma and allergies.
I have asked her owner to let me know if Misty does go to the sanctuary or if she stays, as I am interested naturally in her welfare and where she goes (as I am with all animals)
I just feel like a total failure at this moment in time, but I did all I could to, everything in the book of cat care, but it hasn't worked. I feel physically sick also through lack of sleep and know that I can't go weeks without sleep when I'm trying to hold down my first ever job.
I hope I haven't come across as being selfish or dismissive, but I really did try so hard to settle Misty into our household, but it just hasn't worked.
I feel very sad and gutted right now :(
Kate
