Schroeder...is up for adoption again #112

[Moesha]

I'll answer the easy part first. Yes, I still use paw points!

Now for the Schroeder question. That is more complicated. He is definitely getting used to the house. I found the treats he likes. He will play with his fishing pole. I've seen him play with a hair tie and a ball with a little bell in it. He doesn't play with them for very long, but he does play with them some. He's raced through the house a few times. The noises don't startle him. He's adapted that much.

He has slept next to me or on me a couple of times during the night. He follows me around the house. He doesn't really like to be petted. He will let me bend down and rub him a time or two, but he has never come and sat next to me and let me pet him. If he is on the couch or something, I can sometimes go over to him and pet his head briefly. He is a biter! He bites hard too. I'm not sure if he is trying to play or if he is trying to be mean. I'm thinking it is more a leave me alone kind of bite. But sometimes I am in bed and he jumps up on me and bites. I haven't been doing anything at those times. I'm always trying to talk to him in a calm, nice voice. Trying to encourage his friendship. Honestly, I'm feeling as lonely or maybe even more so than before I brought him home.

I have not let him and Aroara interact with each other again. She has seen him under the door and has growled and hissed at him. Still he doesn't show any aggression toward her while she is doing that.

Earlier tonight I talked to the lady that had adopted him and then had to return him because he didn't get along with her cats. She said he would come and sit in her lap while she watched tv and let her pet him. She said that he would bite her too. But she liked that about his personality. She loved that he was so different and knew what he liked and didn't like and let her know. It scares me.

Then she told me about the problems he had with her cats. This was the reason she had to return him. He bullied them and kept them under the beds. If they tried to come out, he attacked them. She said she tried feliaway plug-ins and didn't notice any difference in the behavior. She said that what finally caused her to give him back to the rescue was that he attacked one of her cats so badly that she had to take her to the vet for stitches. That is what I am afraid that will happen here with Aroara. Or if one of the other cats comes inside, which they periodically do. She had him for 2 months and really loved him but just couldn't do that to her other kitties.

I have to be so meticulous about everything all day long to make sure he doesn't come in contact with any of the others. I am afraid that I won't be able to take any vacations because of the trouble it causes to have him kept away from the other cats. My nieces and nephew come over, and they are all under 10. You can try to tell them what has to happen, but those kitties outside are pretty swift. They race inside before you know it, especially if you aren't paying close attention. They do it often when adults come in and even more when the kids are here. So far I've managed to keep it from happening when Schroeder has been lose, but I can imagine in my mind the disaster that will occur when one sneaks in the door and he isn't confined.

I don't want to have to return him. I want to give him a loving home, but I honestly don't know if my home is the right one for him. After talking with his former mommy, I am more convinced that he needs to be in a one cat home. The thought of taking him back to Petsmart and the rescue breaks my heart, but honestly I don't know what else to do. I'd thought of trying the plug-ins but really don't see the use in that since she had already tried them.

So that's where things stand here. If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to give them. I've heard all the "be patient" suggestions and am trying them. But perhaps you can see the other side of things with this update from his former adopter. I hate the thought of failing him. But I do have other things to take into consideration as well.

ETA: We're both redheads, maybe that's our problem! hehe
This weekend I went to my friend's house. She has kitties that come over and would let you pet them all day. That really made me miss having my Morgan around.

But I'd rather be able to go back letting everyone else have their normal lives than take any chances of them getting attacked or making them stay outside all the time.

Having Schroeder here has helped me deal with Morgan's loss, but not in the way I expected.