Holiday Cat

[Miklus]

It's holiday season and sure enough, my folks dump their cat on me...

Like the sucker I am, I had promised to look after it in a breif moment of distraction. "All you have to do is feed it....It sleeps 20 hours a day...blah blah blah".

So they drop kitty (and a bag of kitty kitter) off, it meows constantly in the box. Fair enough, it hates the box. I let it out, it meows constantly...while it desperately searches the apartment for some kind of magic gate that will teleport it home. It fails and gets the "angst" going. It hides under the sofa for 8 hours.

Then it turns out to be the most needy animal ever in existence. It follows me from room to room, not one step behind, but one step in front...and meows constantly. It panics if I close a door behind me. Cats are not supposed to be like that. They are supposed to not give a damn unless hungry. :smallconfused:

While it may be true that cats sleep for 20 hours a day, they forgot to mention that their active hours are 0-4 am! Also, it likes to meow its pain away. :smallannoyed:

Kitty clawed the following items: Table, floor, futon matress, leather sofa. But it was when I saw what it did to the wallpaper this morning that I decided to rethink the arrangement. :smallmad:

After a brief struggle, kitty is in the box and we are driving to my folks house. It meows all the way, no surprise there. I dump it in the back garden and leave enough food for a day. They haven't blocked the cat flap, so kitty can get inside if it rains. (They are SO gonna get burgled). :smallamused:

So, cat owners of the GitP, what do you think is best for kitty:
A) The arpartment with human compainonship or
B) Back on its own turf, but only getting fed once a day?

[Skippy]

Isn't there a "No cat at all" answer?

I'm not at all a cat person, and therefore, I like them to be as far from me as possible. But don't harm them, either. They're useless, but not harmful, so I'm against cruelty...

[Amotis]

With then mention of the cat flap I assume it's an indoor/outdoor cat? Which means it knows it's area well and B should be okay. It's just that there's a risk going with the more tolerable choice. You won't be there if something happens. With A you might be able to help it if it gets in trouble, sick, or whatever. Plus cats like attention. Being devoid of it might rob some important skills or reactions (having it act beyond it's protected norm for the neighborhood for attention, etc) or something like that.

But cat's have personalities so I can't be sure. I personally think A could work given more time. But B depends on how long they'll be gone and if you want to risk it.

[zeratul]

Have you tried ya know petting the poor thing:smallfrown: !!!! Most cat's are very affectionate, and want to be petted ect.

Oh, and A

[Serpentine]

You know, Miklus, it could be worse. My sister looked after my cat for 3 years, while I was in residential colleges.
Personally, I'd go with B if it's less than, say, a week - cats are generally relatively solitary, so as long as you spend a couple of minutes playing and petting it, it should cope. I generally find A to be much more convenient, but then I really like cats, I'm lazy, and I've never really come across an especially scratchy cat (or never let mine become one).

[KoDT69]

I happen to like cats. I just got my daughter a kitten 3 weeks ago and we all love her. She does have a tendancy to walk on my face at 4am or bit my toes wen I move in my sleep, but only once in a while. She is half independant, but the rest of the time she likes attention. That's fine with us tho :smallsmile:

[Azrael]

Cats are not supposed to be like that. They are supposed to not give a damn unless hungry. :smallconfused:

Is it that hard to conceive that the animal has a slightly different than the one prescribed by it's species?

Ask anyone who's had cats (notice the plural) -- there are several personality types.

[Miklus]

Don't get me wrong, I like cats. I had one as a child. But that one would rather claw you than let you pick it up. And would sooner show its rear that let you pet it. This one is different, it jumps right up and lays on the keyboard.

But I know from expirience that cats hate moving. They are very territorial and get depressed if they loose it. The other cat I had hid in the closet for three days when we moved. Then it jumped out the window and dissapered. We found it again purely by chance. It got over it, though.

No, this kitty was not happy in the apartment. Hence the constant meowing and attention seeking. It seemed quite happy to be back in the garden. You can't just take an outdoor cat and put it indoors for a week. It will drive it up the wall. Litterally! Just look at my wallpaper...

I'll drive by once a day to pet it and feed it. If it seems too misarable, I'll take it back to my apartment. I don't think kitty will get in trouble, it is used to the area and it's a quiet road. It is used to the cars and dogs and whatever. With the apartment comes the risk that it will make a "leap for freedom" (out the window) and get lost. I'll never hear the end of it if I loose kitty.

[Shadic]

I love my cat. I've got the most lazy cat, but he's fat and lovable.

Yesterday, we were microwaving something, and the cat stands on his hind legs, and leans up into the microwave to look inside. It was hilarious, especially because the cat does NOT MOVE unless he needs to.

[Hoggy]

Some concrete and the river?

I'm not a cat person either.

[ForzaFiori]

Personally, i would have gone with B.
but thats just b/c one of my cats is psycotic, and whould try to kill it.

Shadic, u ever given the lazy cat some catnip?
it is so funny to watch. we gave it to one of our cats who usually lays around all day, and 2 minutes later it was cutting backflips in the kitchen.

[Shadic]

He actually doesn't react to catnip.

I think he is THAT far off the cliff of laziness... Maybe I should try again, his bulky mass may not have gotten enough catnip to actually react..

[Telonius]

A basic rule of thumb with all pets is to make sure they're not scared. If you move an animal beyond its comfort zone, it gets scared and starts behaving badly. I've generally found that cats tend to meow and scratch things up when this happens. Picture yourself in the cat's place. You get shoved in a box, taken somewhere and you can't see where you're going, and you're all of a sudden in a weird place you've never been before with some guy ten times your size (who doesn't smell like mommy at all). Kind of intimidating for a little kitty.

You're absolutely right, that cat was not happy in your apartment; in fact it was probably pretty scared. So it acted out, clawing the furniture, or latches on to the only semi-familiar thing in the place (namely, you). You might have been able to avoid this if they'd taken a little more care acclimating the cat to your place, but there's really not much you can do about it now. Cats are very impressionable. One bad experience will sour them on people and situations forever. So it's pretty likely that the cat will not want to go to your place again. You did the right thing in taking it back to its own house. It'll be much happier there - it knows the surroundings, even if mommy isn't home.

[zeratul]

*Writes in notebook*

Hoggy, hit by an eighteen wheeler, 9:30

[tape_measure]

I have two cats. One meows.

Alot.

I mean a LOT. Not just to let me know it's hungry, not just to let me know it's there. Just to frikkin meow.

You look at it, it meows.
You move, it meows.

It's probably meowing right this moment because it knows I'm talking about her.

We call her angel, but, as I'm sure you can guess, she is not angelic.

My only advice: go pick up the damn cat.

Get over the meowing and superficial being that is your id and deal with the cat. Pet it. Let it love on YOU and you'll forget about it after a while and you may even start to like it. :smallamused:

[Sye216]

Ah, cats. I have a cat, but she's like Shadic's cat. Old, fat, lazy, and proud of it. :smallwink: She never moves until you shake her food bowl. And she can barely meow anymore. So, I don't understand your plight completley, but I would go with B. Cats feel more secure on their home turf. I know, when I got my cat from the Humane society, she hid underneath our couch for a week. So, B. Yeah.

[Icewalker]

Sounds like a cat to me.

They's pretty crazy. and cute. and fluffy.

Kitty! (http://xkcd.com/c231.html)

I think feeding it only once per day may be bad. If you can pull off feeding it 2/day then it should be fine.

[Miklus]

B) Was definetly the right choise. When I feed it today, I seemed a lot more relaxed. I came when I called for it, ate, got petted for a couple of minutes and then stared to chase flying bugs around the garden. No meowing or needyness.

When I first saw it, I thought it looked kind of skinny and scruffy. But it races around the garden at breakneck speed and it runs up and down trees. At one point, it jumped 5 feet strait up. Definetly an outdoor cat.

At some point, it will proberly get lonely, but its owners will be back wedensday (I think). And more meals per day would be better, but I'll leave it some dry food for later.

And don't give your cat catnip! My mom bought some for the previous cat. It ate it all at once and then raced around the house. Its tounge hanged out and the eyes where psycotic. It ran up and down the walls and in and out of the furniture. One sofa had these frills on it and sure enough, it hit the leg behind it and got halfway knocked out. Then I had to hold it fast until the catnip wore off.

[Skippy]

*Writes in notebook*

Hoggy, hit by an eighteen wheeler, 9:30

Nah, I don't think you have one...

*Admitted having a Death Note, it reduces the probability that Zeratul is Kira to a 0.01%*

[Vuzzmop]

I smell a sitcom. But seriously, A, but keep the cat in one room with food, checking on it once in a while. The meowing thing is because it wants your attention, so give it all you can while you are in the room, but ignore the meowing at night and it will stop. B could work, but you did promise to keep it at your house, and your parents asked for you to look after it, not just give it food once a day. Bill your parents for everything it breaks and get over it.

[Extra_Crispy]

I am much more of a dog person but have no problems with cats. I agree that you did the right thing. Most animals are much more happy with surroundings they are familiar with.

Now my own cat stories. Friend of mine had a cat that was so overweight that its belly was almost hairless from rubbing it accross the carpet when it waddled (it could not walk) but it also did not meow like a cat it actually said the word, think a person saying meow in a deep voice.

A co-worker friend of my just bought a house and 2 cats. One is very easy going and needed to be told only once not to scratch things and she stopped. The other will not stop for anything, my friend tried to use a water spray bottle to teach it not to scratch things but the cat actually liked the water and wanted to be sprayed more. The cat actually ran into the bathroom where my friend was in the bathtub and leaped in to the tub with her. Now that is a strange cat

[Gaelbert]

I have a cat that is very needy and spoiled. It wakes me up in the middle of the night for me to feed it, but I love him because he's so darn cute.

[Arang]

He actually doesn't react to catnip.

I think he is THAT far off the cliff of laziness... Maybe I should try again, his bulky mass may not have gotten enough catnip to actually react..

Some cats just don't react to catnip, too. It's genetic or something. About one out of ten, if memory serves. I don't think it could've been caused by the amount of catnip when compared to body weight, because tigers will react to a few leaves of the stuff.

Letting it live at home is probably a good idea. Feed it once or twice a day (depending on if you have to feed it specific portions at specific times or not), make sure it's okay, and stick around for a while to pet it/talk to it if it seems lonely.

[Miklus]

I smell a sitcom. But seriously, A, but keep the cat in one room with food, checking on it once in a while. The meowing thing is because it wants your attention, so give it all you can while you are in the room, but ignore the meowing at night and it will stop. B could work, but you did promise to keep it at your house, and your parents asked for you to look after it, not just give it food once a day. Bill your parents for everything it breaks and get over it.

If I kept it in only one room all alone it would go nuts. The meowing at night will probably go away when it got used to the apartment, but the vacation is only a week, by the time kitty got used to it, it is time to go back anyway. And no way am I going a week without sleep!

My parents might be miffed by me not keeping the cat in my apartment as promised, but that's what they get for railroading me to be a cat-sitter. They probably thought it would be easier to pursuade me to keep it here than to make me drive over there every day. It WOULD be fun to see their faces if I gave them a bill for futon + leather sofa + wallpaper :smallbiggrin: Complete with roaming charge and compensation for mental anguish.

And don't loose sleep over poor kitty. It is right at home in its private little jungle. (The garden is kinda unkept, it must be said). Although when I fed it today, it had got itself stuck on the roof and a daring rescue mission had to be undertaken. (ok, so I just moved the garden table a little). :smallwink:

[Xerillum]

I love my cats. I lock them in the basement with their food and water at night. I love cats.

[The Prince of Cats]

I have never had that trouble with a cat. Is this some cat who had never even met you until it was dumped with you? That would damage my calm somewhat... This is something I would say was a very bad idea. The cat would need to get used to you.

If your idea works, if it can be maintained, go for it. The cat seems happy with that arrangement, so I can't argue. One thing; if you can get into the house, you might want to check for signs of revenge... Some cats leave surprises for owners who disappear.

I would have said that the cat should have been fine if you just left most of the doors in your house open and let it explore. Hard as they can be to ignore, most cats learn (slowly) what the boundaries are. Give an inch though, they will take everything you have.

[FdL]

B.

I've actually done it. Not very fond memories of that time for other unrelated reasons. But the cat was pretty cool. There were two of them too. All went pretty well considering I'm nowhere near of being a cat person.

I guess their independence has its positive aspects after all.

Oh! One day I came to the house I was cat-sitting and there was a cat under the bed. I couldn't see him. So I called him or something.
And then a weird looking white cat came out of it and darted out of the window! :s It was a cat from a nearby home that got into the house when the oldest cat wasn't around I guess. It scared the crap out of me.

[Thes Hunter]

I happen to like cats. I just got my daughter a kitten 3 weeks ago and we all love her. She does have a tendancy to walk on my face at 4am or bit my toes wen I move in my sleep, but only once in a while. She is half independant, but the rest of the time she likes attention. That's fine with us tho :smallsmile:

My kitty learned to not to do that after she got locked out of the room for the entire night whenever she woke me up. Now she is very careful to make sure that I am awake, but once she has confirmed that I am awake, there is no stopping her. :smallsmile:





A basic rule of thumb with all pets is to make sure they're not scared. If you move an animal beyond its comfort zone, it gets scared and starts behaving badly. I've generally found that cats tend to meow and scratch things up when this happens.


I am about to make a 10 hour drive with my kitty. (Since she is moving with me.)

She is absolutely scared of the cat carrier and there is nothing I can do about it now. Or so it seems. So I would love to make her less scared, but I can't think of anything. So I am sure I am going to get to share the 10 hour drive with a panicky, scratching, meowing kitty.

Letting her out isn't a good option. I did that once before.... and she tries to hide under the break petals. :smalleek:

[Capt'n Ironbrow]

It usually takes quite a while for cats to get used to a new home (a week or more) especially if they're older and have lived in the same place for most of their lives. It's good to at least first put him/her on his/her litterbox so he/she knows where it is and has a familiar location in an unfamiliar place.

I'm housesitting my parent's house now and it includes a big friendly cat who does meow a lot, mostly for food but giving it a bit of attention can deal with it. I ain't gonna feed it more than twice a day 'cause he's very big allready and might get as fat as his late friend/housemate was before she got ill, stopped to eat, got skinny again and died.

The big one (they call him Flipje, I call him Phillip the Great) also meows to say "hi" and locking him out of rooms does not really help much, he can open doors by himself.

[Kitya]

Thes, my cats hated the carrier too, until we decided to just leave it out for a few days. Granted it takes up a ton of space,but what can ya do. All I know is that now, when I bring it out, Pala goes right in to nap in the thing. Fortunately they don't equate "carrier" with "we're going to the vet now". No.. THAT'S for when we hit the car... then they bitch all the way down the hill. Good thing we only live about 10 miles from the vet's office.

But yeah, leave the carrier out for a few days before you move, if you can. Once it's just part of the furniture, kitty won't be so freaked out about it... now.. the car ride? not sure what to do there. My aunt and uncle had a cat that would get SO worked up about being in the car that they had to medicate him and basically knock him out for the trip... which is always an option too...

[Argent]

Leave the cat at home and feed it once a day. If it's damaging your furniture, no way should it stay at your place. Make sure it's fed sufficiently, clean the litter box as necessary and go your separate ways. It's not worth sacrificing furniture and wallpaper to deal with a cat that's not yours.

[FdL]

Letting her out isn't a good option. I did that once before.... and she tries to hide under the break petals. :smalleek:

You know, it took me a while to realize you actually mean "brake pedals". The original spelling brought an air of surrealism to your anecdote.



The big one (they call him Flipje, I call him Phillip the Great)

Just like me ^^ (I'm Felipe)

You know, if I ever have to suffer cat-sitting again I'm sooo buying one of those automatic electric feeders. The ones that come with a webcam (see, I do have feelings after all).

[Thrawn183]

I'll admit I prefer dogs to cats, but I certainly don't have any problem with them. In fact, no cat has ever been a problem towards me. Even cats that are usually really aggressive and viscious are calmer towards me. I think every cat I've ever met has instinctually realized what would happen to it if it made me bleed. Nobody makes me bleed my own blood! (points for the reference)

[Tetik]

I'll admit I prefer dogs to cats, but I certainly don't have any problem with them. In fact, no cat has ever been a problem towards me. Even cats that are usually really aggressive and viscious are calmer towards me. I think every cat I've ever met has instinctually realized what would happen to it if it made me bleed. Nobody makes me bleed my own blood! (points for the reference)

Is the reference from Dodge ball?

Cats are evil, every last one of the furry little rat chasing freaks.
Anyways keeping the cat back at its home was probably a good idea. Cant have the little monster break all the furniture now can you?

edit-typos

[Miklus]

I have never had that trouble with a cat. Is this some cat who had never even met you until it was dumped with you? That would damage my calm somewhat... This is something I would say was a very bad idea. The cat would need to get used to you.

I've met the cat a couple of times, when I visited my folks. It knows my scent...I think. But just the other night I realised what scared the cat. There is no stairs where it usually lives. People walking up the stairway tend to stomp loudly and the stairwell eccoes. To the cats radar-like ears it must sound like a tarasque is marching closer and closer!


If your idea works, if it can be maintained, go for it. The cat seems happy with that arrangement, so I can't argue. One thing; if you can get into the house, you might want to check for signs of revenge... Some cats leave surprises for owners who disappear.

One can only hope :smallamused: but I can't get in the house. Anyway, the cat is used to the outdoors. The best I can hope for is that Kitty claws the loudspeakers...


I would have said that the cat should have been fine if you just left most of the doors in your house open and let it explore. Hard as they can be to ignore, most cats learn (slowly) what the boundaries are. Give an inch though, they will take everything you have.

I did leave the doors open...but can I have a minimum of privacy in the bathroom? :smallconfused: Also, I did not want it in the bedroom because I think it has fleas. It bites its fur in that intense way that cats do when they have fleas. I could not see any fleas, but then again it fur is black.

Kitty was loud, needy, scrachy and had fleas...it reminded me all to much of one of my ex girlfriends. :smalltongue:

[MR.PIXIE]

I have two cats. One meows.

Alot.

I mean a LOT. Not just to let me know it's hungry, not just to let me know it's there. Just to frikkin meow.

You look at it, it meows.
You move, it meows.


Is it a bombay? They meow squak alot my cat is a bombay:smallfrown: . he's almost 21, so Im realy paranoid:smalleek: I see him sleeping and freek out:smallfrown:.

[Syka]

Miklus, some cats just...do that. My ex's cats didn't have fleas and every now and then you'd see 'em do it. Trust me, you'll know if she has fleas by if you are getting bit and/or see little black things around.

Trust me. *twitch*

Cheers,
Syka

[Thes Hunter]

Thes, my cats hated the carrier too, until we decided to just leave it out for a few days. Granted it takes up a ton of space,but what can ya do. All I know is that now, when I bring it out, Pala goes right in to nap in the thing. Fortunately they don't equate "carrier" with "we're going to the vet now". No.. THAT'S for when we hit the car... then they bitch all the way down the hill. Good thing we only live about 10 miles from the vet's office.

But yeah, leave the carrier out for a few days before you move, if you can. Once it's just part of the furniture, kitty won't be so freaked out about it... now.. the car ride? not sure what to do there. My aunt and uncle had a cat that would get SO worked up about being in the car that they had to medicate him and basically knock him out for the trip... which is always an option too...


I leave the carrier out all the time. Sometimes even when I am not about to go anywhere, so she has nothing to fear of the carrier. However it does not work.

She knows that going into the carrier == something bad is about to happen to her, whether that be a 4 hour car ride, going to the vet, or having to be without me for a bit.

I was thinking about getting some medication for her.... *looks at the budget for a trip to the vet*

[MR.PIXIE]

Is it a bombay? They meow squak alot my cat is a bombay:smallfrown: . he's almost 21, so Im realy paranoid:smalleek: I see him sleeping and freek out:smallfrown:.

Now he's 21, and the vet says hes got a couple more monts on him:smallsmile: :smallannoyed:

[Mad Scientist]

I would go with leave kitty at it's house and feed it every day. It will be a lot happier at it's home than it will be at yours. As far as poor kitty knows, it's people gave it away to you! Did they leave a key for you to get in the house? Hopefully they arranged for someone to pick up the mail, take in the newspaper, turn on some lights, etc so the house looks occupied. Maybe you should call them or check with a neighbor to get a house key. Tell them about the damage to your stuff because you could get charged by your landlord for the wallpaper.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

Or option C. Why don't you just stay at your parent's house while they're gone with the cat.