Todays discussion is about Cat Rescue of senior cats. My experience with senior cats begins with Rufus. He was a magnificent adult male that approached my wife when she was in town. He came up asking for help and when she was going to drive away he went to the door and cried. Rachelle picked him up and he sat on her lap all the way home. He was matted and dirty with his bum impacted with feces. He stunk and was timid. He was not skinny so he was getting fed somewhere or from scrounging. One of his ears was frost bitten.
We gave him a bath and cleaned him up. A good feeding and a sleep and he became family. There was a transition period with Soxs and Lacy. This integration was short and soon he was quite comfortable in the house. He came when he was called and loved to get held and brushed. Soon he was sleeping on the bed.
Next we went to the vet for needles and to check for a microchip. Nothing was found. There was not a tattoo. We made an appointment to get him neutered. The procedure was completed and he was shaved to get the mats out. We thought we were on the way for a long life together. Three months later he got very sick and passed away at the vet. I was not there to hold him and I am sad to this day.
Why did this happen? Who knows. He had a blood test to see if he was healthy enough for the surgery. I believe that he had an underlying medical issue that no one could see. If I was to do this again I would see that he was a good cat that used the litter box immediately. He did not mark his territory and there was no one to get pregnant so I would not of had him neutered. If this is the answer, who knows, but it might be something to consider when rescuing an older stray cat.
Rufus was one of those one in a million cats that was very special. A role model for cats. Not every stray or feral cat will be as easy as Rufus. Some of them will require time and patience to integrate. Like my friend Janet and her boy Raymond. Raymond spent months hiding and took his time coming out. Now Raymond is a fabulous house cat.
There are those that will never domesticate. These could be barn cats and good mousers. They still require vet visits plus food and shelter. There are many outside shelters at Amazon that will provide good winter shelter. Maybe with time and patience they will come for handling. I personally don’t agree with loose outside cats as there are to many hazards out there, but it is better to have a cat looked after than to be feral.
I am on Twitter to promote this website and get the Cat Care word out there. What I see on there is lots of cats and dogs that have their lives on a timer. It has to be hard on the older well kept cat to be dumped and stuck in a kennel. I retweet a lot and I hope that some one will adopt an older cat or any cat and give them a home. That goes for dogs too.
One of my older cats, Alexis is an example of an older cat that needs her space. She gives head butts and likes to get pampered right up until she tells you she has had enough. This is done by giving you a swat. That means we are done. As these cats get older they will need more personal attention. Maybe a diet adjustment. As cats get older they will not be able to groom themselves. This means baths and bum cleaning, a lift on to the bed or sand box.
This Christmas help a kitty by adopting, donating or volunteering at a shelter. Don’t forget that while kittens are a clean slate, older cats are special and need homes too. Have a great holiday season.
Organic Cat Litter Review
We are trying this bag of organic recycled pine cat litter. I got it from the Federated Co-oP Hardware store. This is a Western Canadian chain. It was $8.00 CDN a bag. It has a pleasant smell out of the bag. It is loose pellets in construction. It does not clump so feces are not covered in product. This makes it easy to see if there is any thing wrong with your cat. Remember that the litter box is the key to monitoring your cats health. When the cat pees it ends up as dust in the bottom of the litter box. Scooping is easy with no dust as when you use a clay product. Once a week we scoop all the usable pellets and remove the coarse pee dust. Wash and disinfect the litter box and replace the good pellets. The bag states that the pellets are good for a month. While the pee dust does not fly like clay dust the health warning on the bag says that if you are pregnant a person should use a dust mask and gloves. It has good odour control and there is virtually no product dragged out with kitty’s feet. When I looked on line there are several Canadian purchase options. You will have to search where you live. We are waiting to see if all our seven cats use it before we decide to switch over completely. Its looking good at this point.
That’s my story for today. If you have any questions on todays topic please leave a comment. Help a cat or dog this season and have a wonderful holiday. Now hug a kitty and do something green for the environment.
Trevor