Article about one of our cats in Animal Friends Newsletter

[kylemorg]

Just thought I'd post this. My wife and I have volunteered at animal shelters for the last several years. All four of our pet cats have come from the shelters; we've fostered three cats off and on, and the last three cats we adopted have had social or physical disabilities.

Our latest cat, Harvey (or Porter as he was named at the shelter) was injured when he came into the shelter and was petrified by all the activity at the shelter. We fostered him at first, then ended up adopting him in the spring of 2007 when he bonded to us but was still terrified of strangers after living with us for a few months.

Here's an article about him in the April edition of the "Pettsburgh Press" (on the last / back page) http://www.thinkingoutsidethecage.org/site/DocServer/AF_Petsburgh_Press_3_08.pdf?docID=601&JServSessionIdr007=wso1neee51.app13b

Attached is a scanned image of the article, because the whole newsletter available from the link above is large and may be slow to load.

Bottom line, if you're thinking of getting a cat, don't be afraid to give a shelter-cat a chance. Even if the cat seems extremely shy or crazy at the shelter they're often totally different when you get them home in a stable environment. We have yet to have to return a cat to the shelter because it was a "problem cat" for reasons other than medical.

[Whipper]

thats awesome man. ur good people

[krodammi]

very cool, props for the work in the shelter!

i adopted a cat from the shelter in VA when i lived there. her name is Anaral but we call her Ms. Nana. her previous owners had adopted her, had her declawed (absolute evil IMO), and then brought her right back to the shelter when she started having trouble with the litter box. let's cut off the end of your finger and then make you scratch in the dirt and see how you like it! but that's ok because i have her now and even tho brandon gripes about the money we spent to get her from VA to AZ we wouldn't trade her for anything!

[kylemorg]

^Krodammi -- I see you have had a good first-hand experience with a shelter cat.

De-clawing often causes litter issues because it's like cutting off the tips of their toes like you said. It's often a trial and error search for a litter that a specific declawed cat doesn't mind.

Our first cat from the shelter was a normal cat, although he acts more like a dog (meeting you at the door, wanting to go outside for walks, begging for attention and treats, etc). Our second shelter cat wasn't handled enough as a kitten and was 10 weeks old when we got him, so he's semi-feral. So although he now comes up and sits on my lap when we watch TV (He's 7 years old now) and purrs, and enjoys being petted when he's on the floor or bed, he's still not too comfortable around people.

Our third cat was abandoned at the door of the shelter overnight. She was about a week from full-term with kittens when abandoned, had them prematurely and they all died. She was very scared in the shelter and wouldn't let anybody pet her. I spent three weeks, about 2 to 4 days a week, trying to get her used to people before she'd let me pet her. She spent another year in the shelter and no one adopted her, so we took her. She's affectionate now.

Harvey (Porter) is just crazy-affectionate now. He sleeps on our bed, and although he doesn't come downstairs (doesn't like the female cat), he calls down the stairs all the time during the evenings wanting us to come up and play / pet / cuddle with him. When he hears the TV go off, he really gets excited because he knows we're coming upstairs to go to bed.

[Ugzz]

thats a cool article, you even got quited and all. good stuff

[05vegaselantra]

had her declawed (absolute evil IMO)

You know, I think declawing is absolute torture as well. And I didn't want to get my cat declawed. But, I had too. She tore up my carpet in the apartment so bad, that when I moved they charge me $500 to replace it. And they said they were being nice. I tried the nail caps, the bitter apple spray, the water bottle spritzer, the Tabasco sauce. You name it, I tried it. But it was almost like she was vindictive while she scratched the carpet. She would stare at you with these evil eyes and just get scratch happy. I took her to the vet they did a really good job. Before we took her home they gave her another shot of pain meds. Gave me a few pain pills to give her. They said to put shredded newspaper in her litter box until she's healed. And she is fine. You just have to make sure you comfort them and the vet does a good job. I was freaking out that I had to leave her over night my husband thought I was mental. But she's my baby. She found me on a cold night in November of 2003 after I went home to Wisconsin on Emergency leave. I had to bury my grandfather and my 14 year old dog the same weekend. So seeing her on my stoop was just amazing. :) She's my Gracie...http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a173/dudegimmeyourtots/Animals/gracie3.jpg

[evan938]

not a cat, but my g/fs parents gave a shelter cocker spaniel a chance a few months ago...he bit at us all the time, never her mom. one day, he was laying on the couch with her mom, her mom reached over to pet him, he bit her arm, wouldnt let go...

she ended up having 50 stitches inside and outside of her arm

[05vegaselantra]

not a cat, but my g/fs parents gave a shelter cocker spaniel a chance a few months ago...he bit at us all the time, never her mom. one day, he was laying on the couch with her mom, her mom reached over to pet him, he bit her arm, wouldnt let go...

she ended up having 50 stitches inside and outside of her arm

Really, a cocker spaniel? WoW, I didn't even think they had teeth lol. You rarely see them show them. Hmmm I wonder what had happened with him in his prior life. You know speaking of dogs, our dog we got him in April and he has been just AWESOME. The worst thing he's done is tear our blinds down off of our big window. However, I believe it's because we left him to roam the house by himself on his second day. So it was our fault. You're not supposed to let them have free reign of the home right away until they are used to their surroundings.