I have inherited an old Cat -Help cat people

[bruce1]

I have through a strange series of events and being a softie have inherited my former tenants cat who is somewhere between 13 and 16 years old. I am not unfamiliar with old cats. My last cat lived to be 19. I however would appreciate any and all advice on how to relocate the cat with minimum accidents to my floors and minimum stress to the cat. The cat is not overly sociable but accepts me as a necessary evil as I have been feeding it for the last three or four months.
To complicate matters I have a friendly St Benard who I let in the house during the coldest part of the winter.
thanks
Bruce

 

[Sarah in SC]

I would confine the cat to a dog-free zone of the house with a very clean litter box and some items that smell like the oldsters prior home.

You'd be surprised at how well they adapt. Let him out to explore the rest of the house when the St. Bernard is not in residence (ie in the back yard) for a time and then see how they get along once he's comfortable.

I have 6 cats and 5 dogs that live in harmony--the only disputes are cat-to-cat. Only other old cat advice I'd give is to get a checkup at the vet with some bloodwork. Kidney problems are common in these old folks.

You are a wonderful softie--thanks for taking in a senior pet. Those of us on the forum that do rescue know all too well the difficulty of placing older pets in adoptive homes so we are especially gratified to hear of this!

 

[Purron]

Keep kitty in a seperate room for an adjustment period. A spare bedroom would be ideal. Let the cat and dog have brief, supervised times together until they both adjust.

St. Bernards generally do well with cats. They, like many of the giant dog breeds, are gentle and don't have a strong prey instinct.

 

[Rustward]

You might look for some Feline Pheromone spray at the pet store. We use a brand called At Ease. Spray it in the areas frequented most by the cat and it may have a calming effect. We use it on a towel to calm our cat when we have to administer medication.

 

[travelover]

When my wife moved into my house, she brought a 14 year old cat. I didn't realize it was peeing around the house until it had done some significant damage. Watch the litter box carefully to account for all urine. A black light is your friend for finding cat pee and Nature's Miracle is your friend for neutralizing it.

Hope you don't need this advice.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I am thinking that I should buy a tanker truck of Nature's Miracle. That stuff is incredible.

 

[bruce1]

Thanks to all. One thing I have going for me is Brandy will be outside 24/7 as she will shun the house till it gets very cold at least mid December. Phantom has a very annoying meow but does not use it too much. He has eaten very little if anything today. Have put out two new litter trays. He just jumped up on the arm of my chair and is purring and sitting on my mouse. cat will be a suck in two days.

 

[bruce1]

All seems well at this point. Litter boxes in use and no accidents after the first few hours. Took him to the vet for a checkup late yesterday. All ok there except needs a major tooth/tarter cleaning. Did not like car ride, cat carrier or vet and did not associate with me the rest of the day. Came to be fed this morning.

 

[In-control]

We have +20 year old cat that we have had to confine to our basement during the evening and outdoors as much as possible because she just forgets where to go. I know people who have had their cats put down because of this. If I had known that cats live this long and have this nasty habbit I would not have gotten one.

My recommendation is to borrow a dog that likes to eat cats! ;-)

No really - a large 2/3 tier cage may be the best option. Take the cat out when your around. Make their world small and controlled - it will be best for everyone.

 

[Silver]

Bruce1:

You are a dear, kind soul to take in this orphan. Sounds like Phantom may not yet understand his change in living arrangements, but appreciates all your efforts on his behalf.

Kiss his little furry head for us.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Bruce1:

You are a dear, kind soul to take in this orphan. Sounds like Phantom may not yet understand his change in living arrangements, but appreciates all your efforts on his behalf.

Kiss his little furry head for us.

+ 1 here. Can I just say you are awesome!

 

[bruce1]

Thought I would update this. The first pictures are the cat I made the original thread about. He has adapted quite well and is in general a good cat as long as he does not wake me at 5 AM. The problem is some idiot dropped another cat off and it made it's way to my barn. This new cat immediately attached itself to me and came to visit me every time I went outside. It was obviously a people cat. After two days it snuck into the house as I went in. I had an immediate cat fight on my hands. Well after two weeks they are still not getting along. New cat is a house cat, never missed the litter box once and is incredibly friendly. The new cat has been afraid of Phantom (old cat) but is a lot bigger and stronger. One day I think she will wake up to this fact and could do some serious damage to Phantom if she wanted. Any ideas on helping them to get along?

 

[kombat]

Bruce, I'm always happy to hear of a cat finding a caring, loving owner. That said, I can't offer any advice on how to make them get along. I have 2 cats. They're sisters from the same litter, they're both 10 years old. They've never gotten along. They don't fight, but if one gets too close to the other, there'll be some hissing. They certainly have never shown any affection toward each other or cleaned each other. I don't get it. They're lifelong indoor cats who've spent their entire lives around each other.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Multi cat management requires the same skills and level of diplomacy that brought all the major peace accords in our lifetime. Just kidding but at least in my house there is simply an uneasy truce and standoff most of the time.

I have 6 cats. One cat gets along with everyone, 2 cats hate everyone including each other, 2 are instigators of all fights with the others, and 1 is so regal she is totally above even acknowledging she belongs to the same species.

My solution--imprison the two angry cats with the peaceful one at night in my office, let the regal princess sleep with me, and leave the two instigators out with the dogs in the living room. No squalling arguments to wake me up and they seem to appreciate the break from each other all night.

During the day, well they just have to do whatever arguing they want while I'm not around to throw things at them. Mine do go outside, so that helps them get away from each other to a certain extent and not be offensive to one another.

But you will have to accept a certain amount of squabbling, unfortunately, and rarely do these arguments go the way of the larger animal (unlike when dogs fight). Older usually win over younger ones and they very rarely escalate into real damage, at least in my experience.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Oh, and almost always my trouble is caused by having female cats. The only happy one is the only male. Draw your own conclusions and parallels as you see fit.

 

[Katsmeow]

Sometimes you can eventually get them to adjust to each other by having controlled visits where you watch them and they ease into it.

Others times...not so much. Some years ago we got a new kitten to join our 3 existing cats. He got along with two of the other cats (the original 3 got along fine). But he and one of the cats (my favorite who slept on my pillow every night) never got along. For a few years they simply avoided one another. But if they got to close they would fight. The older cat actually bit a chunk out of his ear at one point. But that was the only real damage in about 11 years of togetherness.

It did help to clip their claws regularly. With clipped claws they could really only do damage through biting and that really only seriously happened the one time.

Eventually, things did get worse as the older cat felt intimidated by the younger cat and to avoid him she would stay in one place...including not wanting to go to the litter box as that would mean walking close to the cat she didn't like. At that point we simply set up a separate litter box for her in our bathroom and for the rest of her life she basically lived in our bedroom. She (and he) were as happy as clams at that point.

 

[Purron]

+1 on the nail clipping. Also observe them to see if there is a trigger to the aggression. I have 4 cats and one is a "bully boy". He gets aggressive when he's hungry or when I prepare their food. I put him in the sunroom while I dish out the food then let him out to eat with the others. I also keep a squirt bottle handy to break up any squabbles. Amazing how a little spritz of water breaks things up.

 

[Martha]

Bruce, I'm always happy to hear of a cat finding a caring, loving owner. That said, I can't offer any advice on how to make them get along. I have 2 cats. They're sisters from the same litter, they're both 10 years old. They've never gotten along. They don't fight, but if one gets too close to the other, there'll be some hissing. They certainly have never shown any affection toward each other or cleaned each other. I don't get it. They're lifelong indoor cats who've spent their entire lives around each other.

The cats least likely to get along are two females from the same litter.

 

[Nords]

1. Are both cats neutered?

2. As another poster mentioned, the water squirt bottle is a great tool for [-]breaking up all sorts of fights[/-] modifying behavior... human children as well as cats.

 

[clifp]

The cats least likely to get along are two females from the same litter.

Interesting I hadn't heard this before. It certainly explains the behavior of my sister's three female litter mates who've expressed their displeasure with each other by urinating through out the house. On the other hand it doesn't explain the behavior of one my cats, who hiss at the presence of any other cat (except for my unrelated male cat who has been with her since she was 2 months) and also marks her territory by spraying. Nor the behavior of my ex-girlfriend's female cat who was very affectionate with her litter mates, but fought with my cats and all of the neighbor cats.

I think cats are like teenagers, but less sociable and less rational.
Although for those of you with both cats and teenagers aren't cats more loving.?

 

[bruce1]

1. Are both cats neutered?

2. As another poster mentioned, the water squirt bottle is a great tool for [-]breaking up all sorts of fights[/-] modifying behavior... human children as well as cats.

Phantom (old cat) is neutered male. The other is female and I do not know. Maybe the vet can tell me. If not and I keep it (likely) I will have it done.

Thanks everyone

 

[kyounge1956]

Phantom (old cat) is neutered male. The other is female and I do not know. Maybe the vet can tell me. If not and I keep it (likely) I will have it done.

Thanks everyone

The vet may be able to tell you. Anyway, if the new cat isn't spayed, all will be revealed as the days grow longer, because she will start coming in heat. If that happens keep her inside away from any lusty tomcats that may be roaming the neighborhood, and get her to the vet post haste, or you'll have kittens on your hands on top of everything else. Phantom looks just like my parents' cat.

 

[travelover]

One thing that I did for my DW's old cat was to make a little house for it. I used one of those big clear storage containers with a snap on lid. I cut a hole in the side just big enough for the cat to slip inside. For some reason the cat just loved this. He could watch us through the clear sides, yet was warm, safe and secure in his little refuge. In the winter I stuck a small heating pad on the floor with a cloth over it. He died happy.

 

[Blackwoodt]

I have through a strange series of events and being a softie have inherited my former tenants cat who is somewhere between 13 and 16 years old.
Bruce

You are an angel for taking in an older pet, cat or dog. I have two dogs, and three cats that have all found me over the years. One of my older cats now gone lived for 20 years. She started 'missing' the litter box in her later years. My fix was to put down a plastic floor mat, with a towel on it just outside of the litter box. That stopped all accidents, my only additional chore was the daily changing and washing of a few old towels, entirely worth it for 20 years of companionship. In addition, if you have a cat that won't socialize with other cats, I find it's usually a female for some reason.