Day 29 - Adopting a cat

[Quincy]

Hello everyone, 

I’m sure some of you know the cat in the photo above 🙂. 

My significant other and I have been thinking of adopting a pet for quite some time. We have been looking around for a while, but we weren’t sure whether to look for a dog or a cat (I’ve got love for both of them). 

Personally, I prefer an indoor cat since we live in the city. All the dogs I’ve had in the past were dogs that were used to living near big open areas such as the woods, so if I’d ever take a dog, I would prefer being near the woods instead of in a big city (so that they roam freely).

Milky (the cat in the pic)

In 2020, when everything started shutting down due to COVID, we felt we were missing something in the house. Around that time, it seemed that everyone started buying pets as the pandemic started to cause everyone to work from home, but we preferred adopting one instead. 

We suddenly found an ad on the internet about a cat that unfortunately needed to go due to personal reasons. We decided to contact the number on the listing, and the owner invited us to a video call to see whether we were a good fit and to generally show us Milky at the time. 

We fell in love with him immediately and decided to pick him up asap after the owner told us we were a good fit, and so there we went. Upon arriving at the location, the owner told us that she was having issues getting Milky into the cage (as if he knew what was about to happen).  Finally, after she was able to get Milky into his cage, the kids of the owner were very upset to see him go, and some tears were shed. 

We loaded all his belongings into the car and waved a final goodbye to what were now his previous owners. 

The drive went smooth, and we set up all his stuff at home and all was well at first, however...

Day 1: Hiding.

Day 2: We were starting to get concerned as we didn’t notice him eating any food nor using the litter box, and so I set up an old security camera. 

Day 3: Noticed he started eating and using the litter box. 

Day 4: Carefully exploring the house at night.

Day 5: Hiding during the day, but exploring at night.

Day 6: Hiding during the day, but exploring at night.

Day 7: Started coming closer to us (see image)

…. Fast-forward to present-day….

(security cam footage - yes, he is actually wondering what it is!) 

(Carefully observing us from a distance) 

Present:

I've had a cat in the past, but I forgot how great it feels having a companion again 😃. I hope he’ll be around for many years to come! 

Take good care of yourselves and your pets this festive season, and give them a few extra snacks! ✨

Quincy

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

That make sense, but you are right, the amount of sedative is so small, I can't see a human getting wasted on it. It's not like they give you loads in one go (not my vet anyway). I buy one, or two doses (the latter working out cheaper) at a time.

It's hard to find good vet practices. I used to really like mine until the vet who had been there for years left. It's gone downhill since then, but the next nearest one is the same company and the cats already get so traumatised by the short journey, I don't want to take them further afield. 

People have mentioned to me that some carriers are easier to get the cat into than others, although I've never tested the theory. What type do you have?

[Mark116]

@Huma0  We have the old fashioned kind,rectangular with the door on the side, both the soft kind and the hard plastic.  I have heard that the ones where the door is on the top of the carrier instead of the side,  so there is more room and its easier to get them down from the 'ceiling' as it were, may be better for difficult cats.  We will eventually get one of these, but the rest of the cats are easy to get in the carrier, except for Pete.

Yes our vet used to be fantastic and reasonably priced, then over the years they expanded to where they now have 4 or 5 different locations, and they seem now all about the money and some of the prices are just insane, like $600 to neuter a CAT? a male cat? WTF?  Also, since covid, the vet visit is a disorganized nightmare and you can't even go into the room with the pet.  And for Pete in particular who is smart, I would be afraid he would escape out of the exam room because even when I've been in there, they're not careful about the doors when the vet tech comes in or goes out.  

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

Yes, I also heard that the top opening ones are better, but it just depends on the cat. I have seen cats sitting quite happily in the cat backpacks with the clear bubble window, but my cats would go insane if I put them in one of those!

$600? Wow. Here neutering cats I believe is subsidised because they want people to do it. I paid £50 each for Pinot and Grigio, although that was a decade ago, and nothing for Merlot because, at the time, he was not technically my cat.

The problem I have with my vets now is that I pay via a monthly subscription for their meds, check ups and vaccinations, but it's become a real struggle to actually get them to give me what I paid for. This started pre-COVID, but they have used COVID as an excuse for it since the pandemic started. They are also not letting me into the examination room, which makes it really hard to ask questions. They just tell me the cat is fine but I don't know what they have and haven't checked. Luckily, they are very careful with the front door. 

[Mark116]

@Huma0  One of my cats, Max, colloquially known as the best cat in the world, also #blackcat, was never put in a carrier, ever, in his entire 15 years.  He [illegally] sat on my lap for the drive to the vet, and then I would wait in the car for a text that they were ready, and then walk in just carrying him.  He never once squirmed or tried to get away, and because he had health issues he went to the vet at least once a year.  

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

That's amazing. Oh, if only all floofs were like that. All three of my cats hate going to the vets, but Pinot is more compliant about the carrier than the boys. Grigio, who is huge and very strong, makes like Garfield every time. He will eventually give in when he realises I am serious and not going to give up, but that takes several minutes.

[Colleen253]

@Mark116 That’s terrible that the vet wouldn't help. We have a mobile vet who also works in tandem with bricks and mortar clinics to provide all the care every cat needs. Grateful for that. There’s no way we are getting Louella into a crate and to the vet without sedation and a lot of stress. All our local vets are fabulous. 

[Mark116]

This is Max.  I still miss him, I guess I always will.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

On no. You're going to make me cry. It's so sad to say goodbye to them. If only they could live lives as long as ours.

At least Max will always be remembered and had a glorious life with someone who cared for him.

[Quincy]

It's so heartbreaking 😞 @Huma0 

[Michelle53]

@Quincy    This past summer, I had a mama cat and four kittens visiting my back yard.  We have a Community Cats program here in the city, where one can have the cats trapped, spayed/neutered and returned to where they were found, if they can't be placed in a shelter or a new home. 

Placing them often requires socializing them first, and, with Covid, the shelters were all very short staffed and very full of kittens, 

So I was left with the project of trying to socialize four kittens, if there was going to be any hope of placing them - I left mama outside, where she gets food and shelter in my yard, along with a couple of other strays who have discovered free food 😉

I placed three of the kittens with neighbors, and took one in, to socialize with my other cats.    To make a long story short, all of us fell in cat love, and we've kept them. I think that's how it's supposed to work, actually 😉

(Hey, Ma, I just emptied the contents of the waste paper basket so I could sit in there)

[Laura2592]

@Quincy cat lover that I am, it warms my heart to see this thread. 

We have 3 cats which is honestly one too many. The third aka Buster Beans, aka Magpie Cat (black and white and steals shiny things) was found as a kitten starving on thr property of our Airbnb  cottage 2 Decembers ago. He's a handful. 

[Dimitar27]

It's not my. Belongs to my mother. I call him "The Gender". Born as a boy, but not a boy anymore.
Saved from the street, very sick and nearly escaped the death. Now is OK. 4,5 years old.

[Elaine701]

Cats are amongst the most incredible creatures on the planet. Really. They say dogs are "best friends". Wait till you get a cat 😉We have 14!