Newbie Cat Owner

[Mr. Friendly]

I adopted a stray cat about ten days ago. A friend who is pretty familiar with cats had checked it out and determined that this was a good cat who would be well-behaved inside. She had an old flea collar (no identification) so had been someone's pet, but got separated from owner and had been homeless for a few months. Attempts to find the owner failed. Age is estimated to be between 3-5 years old.

Anyway, yes, this cat is well-behaved and friendly. It had been trained to use the bathtub to urinate and has no problems using the litter box I set up. Due to the weather I keep it inside at nights and she doesn't complain. If I am walking around the living room, she will run to the front door and whine a bit if she wants to go for a jaunt outside. But she doesn't beg or be a nuisance.

My friend told me to keep the cat inside for ten days to help with acclimation. Did four days of it but then the cat managed to escape and run far away. She came back an hour later and now doesn't want to escape. I'm not sure, but it is like she understands she is not a captive and can move about with decent freedom. She goes outside but 99% of the time is visible when I look out the front door.

We seem to be adjusting to each other. She will come sit on my lap or lay on top of me when I am taking a nap. She has gotten onto my bed and slept with me a couple of times. I let her have full run of my place and she doesn't cause problems. When I am home, she seems to shadow me from room to room and if sitting down she likes to lay down 5-10 feet away from me.

So I have been slowly getting up to speed on how to handle a cat. I have a litter box, solids removed on a daily basis, sprinkle baking soda over top every other day. I bought Hartz "flea drops" where you put drops of some concoction on the back of a cat's neck to keep fleas and mosquitos away. Will apply the drops once a month.

I bought a cat brush and gave her a five minute grooming session. She was rolling around, alternating her sides and then went on her back so I could gently brush her stomach. Ever since then, each time I pet her there are a bunch of stray hairs on my hand. This massive shedding only started after the grooming.

My friend who rescued her said she was rail thin, so she fed the cat a lot before passing her to me. I continue to feed her about 250% of the daily amount recommended on the side of the cat food bag. I feed her the same food each time but she shows no sign of being finicky. In the future I might want to add some variety but right now I am just trying to get her to the regular weight.

1. Should I put an ownership tag on her?
2. How many hours should she spend outside each day?
3. How many hours a day does a cat sleep?
4. What do people think of the "drops" instead of a flea collar?
5. How often should I brush the cat?
6. Is the sudden shedding a part of acclimation?
7. At what point do I start rationing her food more carefully?
8. How much variety should I give her food?

Any other reactions to what I wrote or general advice for me? I don't mean to sound cheap, but I spent about $30-35(US) on startup expenses and want to take care of this cat for $25 a month. I'm on a fixed budget.

 

[Flopsy Rabbit]

Definitely want to put a tag on with your phone number, then if she gets lost or hurt someone can call you instead of taking her to a shelter or something. Also they will know she belongs to someone and not just take her in themselves thinking she is a stray.Personally don't let my cats go outside because they get hurt and all kinds of things can happen to them, besides picking up diseases and parasites...being lost or taken...no idea how many hours they sleep, quite a bit generally , seems they are more awake at night. Flea drops are definitely better than the collars, collars dont work and they sometimes give them a reaction around their neck. Some drops kill the fleas and some the eggs, best if they kill both. Walmart sells pretect for about 6.00 for 2 of them, but that one lasts for 3 months I think. Advantage is the best if you have a flea problem. Best never to get a problem, keep the drops regularly on her and vacume regularly and as long as you don't ever let a flea get away you wont get an infested house. You can also buy brewers yeast with garlic tabs sold at walmart (for dogs) You can give your cat one of these a day and it will be good for her skin and coat and be an added flea deterant. They cost 2.50 for 250 tabs. You can brush her once a day or once a week ... depends on how long her hair and how much shedding. The more often the better, brushing is also very good for them, it increases circulation and is good for them all around, also may help with bonding. excess shedding could be because of her poor nutrition, feed her a good diet and it should even out. The best food for them is Nutro Complete Care. It has everything in it for shedding, urinary, teeth, ....all the problems they generally have, also they poop less and their poop doesn't smell much when they are eating that food. It will give them a healthy coat and you wont have so many health problems. It costs about 16.00 for 8 pounds of kitten food which seems expensive but worth it. She will probably end up eating less too since she will be using much more of it, it does not contain the fillers that the other cheaper foods contain. Recomend feeding her kitten food till she seems to be at a healthy weight, then switch to the adult formula and feed according to directions. Cats don't usually eat more than they should and they tend to nibble throught the day so just keep her dish full I say. unless she starts to get fat, then you can give her measured amount or switch to light or senior and still keep her bowl full. The Nutro Complete care comes in kitten, adult, senior, light, they also have a special formula for indoor cats. They have original flavor which is chicken based and a couple others, (fish and lamb?). The chicken smells the best and they like it just as well. You can use wood stove pellets for litter, it absorbs the urine and odor very well, costs about 3.50 for 40 pounds at a feed store, just make sure you get a brand without additives. Some are labled for animals some are not, doesn't matter, just don't want any additives. Also they wont track it around much like the other kind. Make sure you give her a shot once a year. You can buy a cat shot at the feed store for about 10.00, you want one with feline leukemia in it. You can give her the shot yourself it is not hard, they probably can help you with how to do it at the feed store. get a piece of paper and write the date you gave her the shot, peal the stickers off the vials, or vial and stick it on the paper, keep it in a file folder and then you have a record , next year give her a shot again the same month and every year after. They really like to play with the little pom pom balls sold for crafts, they are cheap, just put a whole bunch in a basket and they go get them and then when they are all gone you can go gather them up and put them back. They like to play with home made tin foil balls too, and open paper sacks. Should be able easily to stay within 25.00 a month. If you need to give her a bath, horse shampoo works really well.

 

[Mr. Friendly]

Thank you. It will take me some time to get organized, but I will try to follow up on the suggestions you gave me.

 

[Dagna]

1. Should I put an ownership tag on her?

Definately! You can also get her microchipped so if she loses her tag, they can still trace her back to you

2. How many hours should she spend outside each day?

My response would be none. To be safe, she should be indoors and only be allowed outside when you can with her either on a leash or in a cat fenced yard. There's too many dangers for her outside. She could get hit by a car, injured by cats, dogs or wildlife, killed or tortured by people or could get life threatening diseases.

3. How many hours a day does a cat sleep?

Never tracked it myself, but mine sleep quite a bit
4. What do people think of the "drops" instead of a flea collar?

Flea collars can be potentially lethal to cats. Only vet approved flea treatments should be used, like Frontline or Advantage. Never use Hartz flea drops as these can kill cats

5. How often should I brush the cat?

Depends. If she's long-haired, pretty often, probably once every few days, or as needed.

6. Is the sudden shedding a part of acclimation?

Shedding can be caused by stress, poor-quality food, medical conditions etc. A cat will always shed at least a small amount of hair though.

7. At what point do I start rationing her food more carefully?

This may be something you'll want to discuss with your vet. You need to determine what her target weight is first.

8. How much variety should I give her food?

This is tricky, some cats don't do well with a change in diet. Suddenly changing their diet can cause diarrhea and vomiting. And to be honest, a long as she is on a high-quality diet, it isn't necessary.

Do a search on Hartz, you'll find more than enough websites to convince you to never use their products. For food, I recommend a couple brands. Wellness or Solid Gold if you can afford it, if not you can get Natural Balance for about $20 for an 18lb bag and also Chicken Soup for Cats for about the same price. Those are pretty much the only foods I would ever recommend and between my 2 cats, it take a month and a half to go through a bag. Also, regarding what Flopsy said, I don't have a problem with people giving cats vaccines, I've done it myself. However, be cautious with the Feline Leukemia vaccine. There is a possibility of it being the cause of Vaccine Related Sarcoma (type of cancer). You also don't want to give it without being sure that she is FeLV-, which needs to be done at a vet. If you decide to keep her indoor only, then the FeLV vaccine isn't necessary at all. Rabies is 100% necessary and has to be done at the vet since you'll need the rabies tag. If your kitty gets picked up by animal control and you can't provide proof of Rabies vaccine, it'll cost a whole lot more. There are a lot of low cost clinics that provide vaccines and spays at a very low cost and if you give me the city you live in, I can help you locate them.

 

[Mashley]

Cats sleep a whole lot. I think I once read that cats sleep up to sixteen hours a day. That only puts them awake for eight hours a day. My cat naps a lot.

 

[Mr. Friendly]

I am printing out this thread and going shopping right now.

It would be great if there are any free clinics that could help with vaccinations. I'd be willing to buy a membership or make donations. While I am happy to adopt this cat and save her from dying, I can't afford to pay huge amounts of money in the process. Like many of you I am a student on fixed income.

 

[Dagna]

Here's a huge list of low cost and free spay/neuter clinics. If there's one in your area, you can probably contact them for low-cost vaccinations as well. http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html

Also, every now and then, Petco will do mobile vaccination clinics. Something like $12 per vaccine, and I think they will also do a whole package of vaccines plus dewormer for like $30. The cost may vary, but I think it's pretty standard

 

[Ataradrac]

Excellent suggestions all around, but I'd also add that you'll want to talk to a vet about getting the cat up to a good weight. Overfeeding might not be the best way to do that, and might lead to problems in the future. Plus, it's not good for anyone to put on lots of weight all at once.

I know my cat sheds whenever she's stressed out, although fall/winter is a time when cats are getting their undercoat for winter, and shed their summer coats.

I would recommend keeping the cat inside, since outdoors presents a host of dangers for a cat. She'll complain, but she'll get over it.

Good luck!

 

[encouraging_angels1]

http://www.cats.alpha.pl/facts.htm

 

[Mr. Friendly]

New question!

For scratching, she lays on her side with body relaxed and extends her front paws, holding the carpet taut with one and "ripping" at it with the other. She will mew and sometimes rolls on her back with stomach exposed while doing it. It looks fairly casual and she appears to be having fun.

A couple of times she has stood at the back the sofa, standing up on hind legs and supporting her weight while digging into the material, but she did this scratching with much less enthusiasm. She has scratched a wooden bookcase a few times but was very lackluster about it.

95%+ of the time she prefers laying down horizontal when scratching.

So what kind of a scratch toy do I get her that she will enjoy?

 

[Mr. Friendly]

Also, last night I bought some quality food as recommended on this thread. While she was homeless, I think this cat survived by strangers leaving food out on the front stoop and she got used to either starving or eating very quickly. She is much more leisurely now and consumes a bowl of food in 4-6 intermittent snacks as opposed to one big binge.

 

[Dagna]

Excellent! It's good that she's slowed down on her eating. She obviously feels safe and comfortable in her new home. For scratching and playing, there's a couple of toys at Petsmart that are pretty cheap. They have this ring thing, kind of like a track, that has a ball and in the middle of the circle there's a corrugated cardboard scratching area that my cats love. It also comes with catnip so she'll learn to scratch there, rather than the carpet or furniture. You can find it on Petsmart's website, it's called the TurboScratcher Cat toy.

 

[Mr. Friendly]

Thank you!

Also, remember I am not a pet expert but I think the big shedding a few days ago was from a matted undercoat coming out following the brushing. Now it it typical amounts of shedding like I get when petting other people's cats. I remember how her fur looked so dull and oily in appearance two weeks ago. This morning it was softer and almost shiny.

(The only pet I've had is a rabbit while growing up, so I am a cat newbie but I do know some stuff about fur.)


New question!

Do cats like sunning themselves or laying in the warmth of the sun? Should I rig up something so she can comfortably sleep on a windowsill?

 

[Mr. Friendly]

Now I have some basic questions about cat behavior.

I bought her the TurboScratcher cat toy. This is a plastic disk, one foot across, that has corrogated cardboard on the inside and a grooved track on the outside. A ball is attached to the track and it can spin around like a roulette wheel. I was instructed to sprinkle catnip into the cardboard as an extra bonus and to attract her to the toy.

She has really taken to this thing! She will lay part of her body on the cardboard center, mewing and rolling around on her back. She will rest her front paws in the cardboard as if practicing to scratch. But the big excitement is the ball. She will eyeball the toy for 30 seconds, then pounce into the ball and run away once it is set in motion. She will walk back to within 1-3 feet of the disk and seem to sit down into an attacking position. Thirty seconds of waiting and then she pounces on the white ball again. This can go on for several minutes at a time. It seems goodnatured and all of the exercise makes her seem downright spry -- the fastest I have seen her move. But what is she doing? Is she pretending to attack imaginary mice?



Next question: I read on the internet that a cagey cat will use its head as a measuring device to gauge whether they can fit through an opening. When exploring, my cat will turn her head back and forth as if brushing her head against an opening. Other times she will turn her face to the floor and nudge an object with the top of her head to see if it moves. I saw her push an empty cardboard box about two feet in this manner. Is this what people mean about a cat physically using its head when exploring?

 

[Dagna]

My cats do the same thing with that toy. I don't necessarily think she's pretending. Sometimes I have to wonder about cats and their eyesight, I don't think mine can tell the difference between a toy and mouse. It seems like all they know is that it moves, so it must be something to attack. Go figure.

Cats use their heads for numerous things. A cat's head is the largest part of the body, and the only part that won't collapse. The whiskers are very sensitive and tell a cat if a hole is big enough to fit their head through, because if the head will fit, the rest of the body will too. Moving things around with her head may be a test to see if it will move. My cats don't usually do this, but my cats are also a little strange. One cat drinks water normally while the other one has to bat his paw in the water to get it moving before he'll drink.