Rescued cats help please!
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JoKay_2
Posts: 301 Forumite
Hello
We've recently rescued two cats - they came home on 27th November.
Benny - an overweight male, he weighs in at 14lb!
Harry - is a feral kitten, approximately 5-6 months old. He was housed with Benny at the rescue centre, and has apparently calmed down immensely since first rescued. Since we've had him home, he will now occasionally sit near us, and will allow himself to be stroked, as he will when we first come down in the morning or when its time to be fed. The rest of the time he tends to hide himself away in his little den, or in various places around the lounge when we're all in there.
My questions are:
a) how can we reduce Benny's food intake without adversely affecting Harry's intake - he's a bit scrawny, and I'm not sure if this is normal or not?
b) what can we do (or not do) to help him feel more secure and potentially allow us to pick him up - I'm concerned that if we let him ojut of the house now, we'd probably never see him again, and similarly if we had to take him out of the house, say for the vet, we'd find it impossilbe to capture him!
We are inexperienced cat owners, and these 2 did tug at our heart strings when we first saw them, but I'm wondeirng if we're a bit in over our head...!
We've recently rescued two cats - they came home on 27th November.
Benny - an overweight male, he weighs in at 14lb!
Harry - is a feral kitten, approximately 5-6 months old. He was housed with Benny at the rescue centre, and has apparently calmed down immensely since first rescued. Since we've had him home, he will now occasionally sit near us, and will allow himself to be stroked, as he will when we first come down in the morning or when its time to be fed. The rest of the time he tends to hide himself away in his little den, or in various places around the lounge when we're all in there.
My questions are:
a) how can we reduce Benny's food intake without adversely affecting Harry's intake - he's a bit scrawny, and I'm not sure if this is normal or not?
b) what can we do (or not do) to help him feel more secure and potentially allow us to pick him up - I'm concerned that if we let him ojut of the house now, we'd probably never see him again, and similarly if we had to take him out of the house, say for the vet, we'd find it impossilbe to capture him!
We are inexperienced cat owners, and these 2 did tug at our heart strings when we first saw them, but I'm wondeirng if we're a bit in over our head...!
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Comments
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When I was young we got a 9 month old semi ferril cat/kitten he was really really timid and freaked if we even came in the room- if Harry is letting you stroke him thats a good start Im sure. Our cat Chester just built up his confidence over the months and eventually he lept into my mums arms and started sucking her jumper!!:eek: He is to this day lovely and affectionate (at the ripe old age of 16 and with only 3 legs- silly cat playing with cars)
Sounds like Harry will be fine sure he just needs more time.0 -
We had a similar issue as one of our boys was 7.4kg when we brought him home. We fed him a high-quality grain free dry food (we used orjien from zooplus) because it only has the stuff they need he didn't eat loads and loads of it and it helped slowly bring his weight down. We didn't do dry only he got 2 pouches a day, I just halved the recommended daily allowance to compensate for the extra food.
Exercise helped as well, we have Da Birdy and Mousie which he loves racing around the room to catch, the arrival of the kittens meant he got tons of exercise.
His ideal weight is 6kg because he is a very muscular cat (sort of ragdoll-esque type of build) and it took just over a year to get him to that. We could have possibly reduced his weight faster but when he first arrived we had loads of issues with him and food as he preferred hunting for scraps of people food instead of eating what was put down to him.
One of kittens, the best thing we found was just to leave him be so he gets a chance to get used to the workings of the house. After almost 2 years I still can't lift him up but for vets visits I leave the crate in the middle of the room (its always in the living room so they don't race off when I bring it out) and play catch the dreamies, the dreamies get closer and closer to the crate and when he is munching near the crate I give him a quick push. Again playing with him lots will help you bond with him.
Sorry if I typed too much, hope it can be of some use.0 -
It might sound a bit strange, but I've heard of people getting a large cardboard box and placing a pets food inside with a hole just big enough for the little one to get inside, but not the larger cat. That might work?
We have a rescue cat which came from a breeders at the ripe old age of 15. Having never lived in a house she didn't (and still doesn't) like be approached. However, two and an half years on she insists on climbing into bed with us at night. She just needs to feel safe and that she can choose when the hugs happen. I think all your cat needs is time, and your continued understanding. It might be as simple as just petting him once or twice whenever you are walking past, so he gets to learn that it's nice to get a little bit of a stoke... and make himself more available for it.
Good luck... sounds like your kitties have found a nice home with caring people. They are lucky
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Good on you JoKay for adopting two purrballs!!!
May I suggest you pop over to the cat forum Purrs as the are folk there who deal with rescues on a day-to-day basis.
http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php0 -
Good for you!
Perhaps you could, (as someone so cleverly suggested with the cardboard box idea) have food up somewhere high and slightly inaccessible to 'cuddly' Benny but easily climb-able for slimmer catties???? Also, switching to a good quality raw/semi raw diet might help beef up the skinnier cats and also help the plumper ones lose some weight - I've read over the years that when fed on a food low in nutrients (such as some of the really cheap dry/wet foods) cats will actually gobble down more, as if they can tell it's not satisfying them fully.
Wishing you lots of luck with your new furry family.0 -
As suggested, feeding them separately is a really good idea (the grand majority of cats prefer this anyway).
I wouldn't aim for picking them up as most cats hate this...once a good level of trust has been built up in a few months try it but don't force it. I would keep them in for a good 3 weeks, maybe longer, for the feral one.
For weight loss there are prescribed veterinary diets, which use tricks such as putting the majority of the fat content on the outside so it is still palatable; however these aren't very MSE
Weight loss: Start weight: 80kg; Current Weight: 77kg; Target weight: 55kg0 -
One of my girls was really timid when we got her...she would come and jump up on a lap if we were sat quietly watching tv in the evening but she never let us make a move to her. We had her a total of 11 years and that never changed. Even when feeding she'd hide away and only appear when the food was there. Getting her to the vet was a nightmare having to catch her. The saddest thing was that she ended up getting trapped in a shed somewhere and when she found her way back to us injured and ultimately had to be pts it was the one time she let us go to her and fuss her
My cat now appears quite needy of attention, and always sleeps on our bed usually cuddled up against me, but pick her up and she turns into an octopus with claws!! I'd not try to force anything with yours. Stroke him when he's happy to let you - don't try picking him up, go at his pace0 -
What a sad story
My cat is the same - loves a warm 'snuggle' and will be picked up for 30secs when I get in from work but other than that no! I have a narrow window to get my kitty cuddles in!Weight loss: Start weight: 80kg; Current Weight: 77kg; Target weight: 55kg0
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