I'm also going to join the world of cat owners!!

pinkteapot

Shameless thread rip-off alert!

Tomorrow evening, this little chap will enter our lives:


His name is Pops* and he's just over two years old.

Someone I work with can no longer keep him, so we're rehoming him. We've met him twice and spent a bit of time playing, feeding treats and grooming.

This was him when I emailed his owner to confirm we'd take him after meeting him! She sent me the photo.



He'll be my first ever pet, at the age of 33! Hubby has had cats before, but only from kittens, so we're both new to rehoming.

I'm so excited. We've had a bit of a rubbish year with lots of different stressful things happening. It feels so good to be looking forward to something for a change. We moved house in February and at our old house, our neighbour's cat spent half his time snoozing at our place and I've missed him like crazy.

Tonight we'll get his room ready. Pops is definitely a tree dweller, so for his first-few-days safe room we're using a spare bedroom that has bookcases in it. He's coming with all his stuff (bed, litter trays, scratching post, tree etc), and we'll position things so he can get up high if he wants, and also create some hidey holes.

Eeeeeek!!

I'd planned to get a black cat from rescue because I love black cats and I know they get overlooked. Ah well - the best laid plans and all that!

* He was a rescue cat who came with the name Poppadom. His owner felt a bit daft calling him in at night by that, even more so when an Indian family moved in next door. So he became Pops.

codemonkey

Awwwww. What a lovely cat.

fairy_lights

What lovely green eyes he's got! Are you going to keep him as Poppadom or rename him?

KxMx

What a beautiful cat- and keep those pictures coming, we all need our fix lol.

We planned to get two boy kittens after moving into out current house- they turned into Lily who is a she and 6 months when we got her

As you say- best laid plans!

tea_lover

Pops is beautiful!!! Enjoy getting to know each other... and we'll definitely be needing new pics when he moves in

tea_lover

ps - how old is he?

BJV

Re homing is 100% the best way. We got our old cat ( 20 when she died ) and our two mad lunatics from RSPCA. There are so many unloved cats out there.


I hope that Pops knows how lucky he is.


It will not take long for him to adjust and settle in. Cats are amazing creatures, so independent and yet so affectionate.


Hope the move goes well you will have to let us know how the first night goes.

pinkteapot

Thanks all. When I first heard his name I thought we'd rename him, but now we've been round and played and called him Pops it might have stuck. He'll definitely be Pops rather than Poppadom though. :rotfl:

tea - he's just over 2 (born June 2012).

Any tips on helping him settle in to a new house?

As I said, he'll have his own bed, litter tray, post, etc, which is good. We went round last night and got his Feliway plug, so it'll have been on in his initial room for 48 hours before he arrives. We're also getting his remaining food and litter and will buy the same brands to start with at least, to keep things as familiar as possible. Have also found out about his current routine, feeding times, etc, again so we can start off with what he's used to.

I read this page and we'll try this approach:
http://www.catchat.org/bonding.html

He is going straight from one family home to another, rather than coming from a rescue centre, though I'm not sure if that makes things easier or more confusing for him! Our house will be much quieter as it's just hubby and I, and he's coming from a house with two young kids and a dog.

tea_lover

Sounds like you've thought of most things - having his own belongings will help, and a quiet room to start with if he fancies it (ours came out of the carrier, wandered round the entire house then sat on my lap... none of this one-room business for him lol )

Obviously he'll need to stay inside for a while (does he usually go outside?)

I read once that talking to them helps - nothing specific, just chatting away so they get used to your voice in those first few days. No idea if there's any 'science' behind that lol but I talk to our cat non-stop.

pinkteapot

I'd read about talking to them, too. I have a bad habit of talking to my cuddly toys so a cat will actually be an improvement for me in the crazy stakes.

I've also heard various stories about the bonding room - some cats hide in it for a couple of weeks. A colleague's cat spent 10 minutes in his before scratching and meowing to be let out.

Our house is larger than the one he's coming from, so he might be confused by the new size of his indoor domain!

He is used to going out, but we'll keep him in for a month or so. I'm going to be terrified of letting him out! We live a couple of miles from his current owner so there shouldn't be an overlap with his old territory, but you never know.

tea_lover

Ours ended up staying in for over 6 months! It was winter, it was dark and cold... there was always some excuse from me lol. To be fair, now the weather's got colder again he won't go out even when the back door's wide open. I think he's just a summer outdoor cat.

Am excited for you!