Of Kitties and Leather Sofas

[joyful girl]

Not all foster cats will be 'special' cases. Many will just be overflow that just exceed the housing capabilities of that facility.

I think that only Judy can decide what is best for her situation, and giving a cat a shot at a wonderful permanent is awesome! I know she will not make this decision lightly. Nothing in this life can be guaranteed 100%.

right.. not all will be.. some could be overflow (which is even more sad.. homeless kitties without even a shelter to go to)

I agree that only she can make the decision but the first line of her post was asking to help her make it

[JLC]

I agree that only she can make the decision but the first line of her post was asking to help her make it

Yes..which doesn't mean "Tell me what to do"....it means...help me find all the information I need to make this desicion on my own. The issue isn't up for vote or even debate.

[joyful girl]

Yes..which doesn't mean "Tell me what to do"....it means...help me find all the information I need to make this desicion on my own. The issue isn't up for vote or even debate.

I didn't once 'tell you what to do'
I said 'I suggest' not getting one if you would possibly rehome and then I said IF I WERE YOU I'd try fostering

I never once said ' DO NOT GET ONE'

[JLC]

I didn't once 'tell you what to do'
I said 'I suggest' not getting one if you would possibly rehome and then I said IF I WERE YOU I'd try fostering

I never once said ' DO NOT GET ONE'

Alright. I stand corrected. Thank you for your input, time, and attention to my questions.

[slartibartfast]

The problem I see most frequently with allergies and cats is that the nice people exhaust every option trying to cope with the cat and once they reach that point, the cat needs to be gone ASAP because the people have reached their absolute limit.

Many people assume that it's so easy to just find them another home, and the depressing reality is that there are faaaaar more cats than there are homes. It can take weeks or months to find a good home....I'm worried about what will happen if the owners are sneezing and wheezing and unable to cope, forcing them into a hasty decision. I see this a lot, and the outcome is never good.

Speaking personally, I have two perfectly healthy well socialized, fully vetted kittens who are now swiftly approaching adulthood. They've been in my home for the last 8 months, and available for adoption for the last 6. I've got them listed through a rescue group on Petfinder, advertised them on Craigslist (that was a disaster and a half) and put up fliers at vets, pet stores, etc.
Out of all of that, I've gotten a handful serious inquiries (Hi Entropy! ), and nearly everybody wanted babies. The adoption market for adult cats is almost zero. I couldn't even find homes for them when they were 6 or 7 months...everybody that inquired wanted them under 2 months.

So saying "Oh, we'll just find it another home" is pretty unrealistic...it will take far longer than you may think, unless of course you give it to the first person who wants a free cat, which I'm quite sure you're educated enough not to do.

I also notice that you say some cats trigger the allergies more than others...How do you plan to evaluate the candidates? If it turns out be particularly allergenic, how much time will it have?

At least with fostering, you can explain your situation to the group, and they can try to work with you. Many of the groups I work with keep the cats in cages, and the kitties get pretty stir-crazy...they would be thrilled to go to a home, even if it's just for a week or two on a trial basis. This seems to me to be far more responsible than getting one and then worrying about how to get rid of it down the road. Ask your local cat rescues if they have a foster-to-adopt program; explain the situation and see what they say. Some will be more receptive than others. Personally, I'd love to see a caged cat get a chance to stretch its legs in a home, even if it's short-term....at least it's a break from being cooped up all the time. Also, this may allow you to try different cats and see if some are less irritating than others.

I disagree with the statement that foster cats are necessarily special-needs. Most cats in rescues are there through no fault of their own...and no-kill rescues are often especially wary of taking in cats who have problems and may be hard to place. I personally turn away anything with a history of inapropriate urination, agression, or excessive fear...it's rough, but it means that I don't wind up with a freaky cat who will never find a home and who is doomed to shelter life forever.

joyful_girl may have been confrontational and less than tactful, but her information is 100% correct.

[tigerlily]

Dang, I also forgot to mention that the claws aren't the only thing likely to punture a lovely leather sofa. My kitty was a chewer, but then she found my dog and nursed on her. If you do decide to go with a kitty, that water bottle is a wonderfully useful tool.

[recycling goddess]

you don't have to say the words exactly (DO NOT GET ONE) to get your point across... and trust us, jenn you've gotten your point across.

i think you've helped enough today

now... back to our regularity scheduled question... so judy... if he's allergic to some and not others... how quickly does he know? could he spend an hour with a new cat/kitten and know if he'll be okay or does it take longer?

[AzureN1ght]

Hey, Judy--I don't know if you noticed the post I made at the bottom of page 3--it kinda got caught up in the other stuff going on...but it could be work checking out. Like I said, I don't know if it's something that's an option for you guys (it's pricey), but it's an interesting idea.

[slartibartfast]

Ooo...I totally forgot to address the Soft Paws, which I've actually used quite a bit.

They cost about $15 - $17 dollars for a packet of 40 nail covers, plus adhesive.
I found that they give you waaaay more adhesive (which is really just superglue) than you actually need. I have half a dozen unopened tubes of it lying around, and I wish they'd just sell the nail covers alone.

You can purchase them in basic colours (red, blue, clear) for the lower price from assorted online pet stores; PM me if you want names of some I've purchased from.
The fancy colours (a wide variety, including two-tone) are availabe from the company website at http://www.softpaws.com .

They are reasonably easy to apply with a little practice, and if the cat is cooperative. If you have one that flips out and claws and bites when you trim its nails, then Soft Paws may not be a viable option. The cat also has to become accustomed to them; several of my cats promptly used their teeth to pry the caps off (an expensive 30 seconds). I think part of that is the feeling of the glue drying, as well as irritation if you get glue on the actual fur. I loitered around with a water bottle, and squirted them if they tried to chew on the nail. Most of the cats acquiesced after 5-10 minutes. Once on, the nails stayed pretty well. Hind toes are not quite the right shape, and these shed faster. Also, the more commonly use digits (3 & 4) shed faster than 1, 2, & 5. I found that I needed to replace the primary digits every couple of weeks, but that the peripheral ones sometimes lasted more than a month.

They are cute as can be, yes, even on boy cats. In fact, I did put hot pink on my particularly obstreperous male. If nothing else, it made me giggle instead of wanting to swat him when he's being especially bratty. Blue goes fabulously with Siamese eyes, and the orange ones are awesome on black cats at Halloween. You can also do them in team colours if you're a sports nut.

The only drawback is that you don't always notice them when they first fall off, leaving a window of opportunity for the cat to cause damage.

I eventually quit using them becaue it was simply to expensive to keep 5-6 cats in them, but for just one or two, it would be pretty awesome. They worked great and were just adorable.

[jglass38]

Just my opinions after having many cats growing up and currently having 3 of my own. I have had 2 declawed in the past (3 if you count my boy that passed away) and I have one that is not declawed. I never got the fourth one done because my sisters somehow convinced me at the time that declawing was cruel. Even though all our indoor cats had always been declawed, I let them influence me into believing something that I felt in my heart was not true. By the time I sorted things out, Cooper was too old to declaw. I regret it every day. Aside from using couches as a scratching post, she tears my hands and arms up quite often. She is the poorest behaved of any of my cats, ever. Regardless of the short period of pain caused by declawing, I think for an indoor cat it is fine to do and has no long term effects. I didn't want to turn this thread into a debate on declawing, just give my opinions.

As far as allergies, I have always been allergic to cats. I just live with it. Its not horrible and I can live with a little sneezing and itchy eyes sometimes. I would never give my cats up. Good luck with whatever you decide Judy!