Dh is bringing home a cat. What do we need?

[MsDisney23]

Congratulation's,what a beautiful kitty....

 

[claudia]

a scratching post...unless she was declawed. She is going to make mincemeat out of that vinyl/leather top.

 

[FayeW]

Your life will be a lot happier if you stop the wet cat food. Don't get into that habit. They don't need it, and a good quality dry food is much better for them as it helps keep their teeth strong and healthy. The added benefit of feeding only dry food is that you can keep their food out all day (wet food left out stinks and is generally disgusting). You won't be tied to a schedule of having to get home to feed the cat. You can go away for a weekend and leave the cat with extra food and water and a clean litter box, no problem. Getting in the habit of feeding wet food means somebody has to come in to feed her.

Wet food does not add anything nutritionally to their diet that they won't get from dry food, but it does give a certain ZING to the litter box odour! What a stench! Let's be honest, cat poop stinks at the best of times, but wet food makes it about 10 times worse!

As a long time cat owner who is currently owned by two cats, I can tell you with certainty that clumping cat litter and dry food are your friends.

 

[floridafam]

Morning. I woke up at 6 and she was sleeping in her bed we purchased for her yesterday.

There is an animal hospital that is open 24 hours and is located down the street so we will see if we can get her in today.

Thank you for all the advice. We need to think of a name. DD is working on that.

I did buy Hartz flea stuff yesterday. I will see what the vet says. I had no idea it could be bad for the cat.

Gonna go check on her.

 

[MichelleVW]

Your life will be a lot happier if you stop the wet cat food. Don't get into that habit. They don't need it, and a good quality dry food is much better for them as it helps keep their teeth strong and healthy. The added benefit of feeding only dry food is that you can keep their food out all day (wet food left out stinks and is generally disgusting). You won't be tied to a schedule of having to get home to feed the cat. You can go away for a weekend and leave the cat with extra food and water and a clean litter box, no problem. Getting in the habit of feeding wet food means somebody has to come in to feed her.

Wet food does not add anything nutritionally to their diet that they won't get from dry food, but it does give a certain ZING to the litter box odour! What a stench! Let's be honest, cat poop stinks at the best of times, but wet food makes it about 10 times worse!

As a long time cat owner who is currently owned by two cats, I can tell you with certainty that clumping cat litter and dry food are your friends.

I've heard that wet food Is good for cats.

OP-congrats on the new addition, she is beautiful!! We had a calico cat adopt us last October. She was found outside obviously but has never wanted to go back outside since, I guess she realizes how good she has it in here!

Here's our Princess (her name is Autumn, but she acts like the Queen) on the kitchen counter...I hate her being up there, but the Princess likes it and it's too much work keeping her off, so we just clean them well!

 

[golfgal]

Morning. I woke up at 6 and she was sleeping in her bed we purchased for her yesterday.

There is an animal hospital that is open 24 hours and is located down the street so we will see if we can get her in today.

Thank you for all the advice. We need to think of a name. DD is working on that.

I did buy Hartz flea stuff yesterday. I will see what the vet says. I had no idea it could be bad for the cat.

Gonna go check on her.

The animal hospital is going to be very expensive most likely. She looks pretty healthy for being on her own for so long, not overly skinny at least.

 

[floridafam]

DH put some Hartz flea powder on her last night. Is that bad? Now I'm scared.

Is she a Calico or a Tortoise Shell? DD said her markings aren't distinct enough to be a Calico.

DD is just in love beyond belief. She knows everything about cats and could probably graduate from Vet school tomorrow at the age of 10.

She doesn't seem real interested in her food this morning for some reason.

We made an appt. for 4pm at the local animal hospital. I hope she checks out okay because we've already fallen in love with her.

 

[golfgal]

DH put some Hartz flea powder on her last night. Is that bad? Now I'm scared.

Is she a Calico or a Tortoise Shell? DD said her markings aren't distinct enough to be a Calico.

DD is just in love beyond belief. She knows everything about cats and could probably graduate from Vet school tomorrow at the age of 10.

She doesn't seem real interested in her food this morning for some reason.

We made an appt. for 4pm at the local animal hospital. I hope she checks out okay because we've already fallen in love with her.

In the wild cats only eat once/day or so. She probably filled up last night and will be hungry again this evening.

 

[MichelleVW]

DH put some Hartz flea powder on her last night. Is that bad? Now I'm scared.

Is she a Calico or a Tortoise Shell? DD said her markings aren't distinct enough to be a Calico.

DD is just in love beyond belief. She knows everything about cats and could probably graduate from Vet school tomorrow at the age of 10.

She doesn't seem real interested in her food this morning for some reason.

We made an appt. for 4pm at the local animal hospital. I hope she checks out okay because we've already fallen in love with her.

Just googled it and this is what I found...All calicos are tortoiseshell (since they carry both black and red), but not all tortoiseshells are calicos (since they requires a significant amount of white in the fur and patching rather than mottling of the colors).

I would think she has enough white to be a calico, but I'm no expert.

 

[floridafam]

MichelleVW,

Thanks for that. DD is obsessed with cats and what type they are, etc. She's still in shock that DH brought one home and has been in awe since kitty arrived.

I anticipate the animal hospital to cost a lot but we hope this will be the only time for a long time that we have to take her.

DD said that she looks pretty healthy and her eyes are nice and clear so we are hoping we get the same news from the vet. They are going to examine her and test her for a few things and then we will ask about the fleas and food, etc.

 

[LisaZee]

You are a GOOD GOOD person for taking that cutie patootie in.

Congrats on the new family member!

 

[SpecialK]

I've heard that wet food Is good for cats.

I'd heard that too, but our girl wants nothing to do with wet food. Our vet said dry is fine, but you'll find a lot of cat owners who won't agree with that.

 

[browneyes106]

Congrats on being adopted. She is a beautiful cat.

 

[Darsa]

What a sweet, darling kitteh you've rescued! And what wonderful people you are, posts like this always warm my heart. I can't wait to know what the name will be

I think you're doing everything you need to, and I'm sure she'll be fine until she sees the vet on Tuesday. Here's hoping for a clean bill of health!

 

[mousey]

She is cute and thank you for giving her a home. She looked very happy in that picture!!!

 

[Planogirl]

She's beautiful.

As for Hartz, I think that they released a batch of bad stuff some time back but I haven't heard any more about it. Whatever brand you settle on, I like the flea repellant that you buy in the little tubes and then squeeze on the back of their necks. It works like a charm on our cat.

Be sure to get a scratching post and note what kind of surfaces she like to lie on. Mine likes blankets so I bought him a cheap blanket that I keep folded up on my bed and he adopted that as his bed. He loves it and I don't get hair all over the bed.

That kitty is likely going to love that window. That is a nice view to the yard.

 

[Planogirl]

By the way, none of my cats have ever had wet food. I don't know why it's supposed to be healthy?

 

[ElonGirl]

Congratulations! There are tons of stray cats around my school but since I live in on-campus housing I'm not allowed to have a pet. It breaks my heart every time. I'm glad this little guy found a good home! Now she just needs a good name.

 

[jobhunter]

Your life will be a lot happier if you stop the wet cat food. Don't get into that habit. They don't need it, and a good quality dry food is much better for them as it helps keep their teeth strong and healthy. The added benefit of feeding only dry food is that you can keep their food out all day (wet food left out stinks and is generally disgusting). You won't be tied to a schedule of having to get home to feed the cat. You can go away for a weekend and leave the cat with extra food and water and a clean litter box, no problem. Getting in the habit of feeding wet food means somebody has to come in to feed her.

Wet food does not add anything nutritionally to their diet that they won't get from dry food, but it does give a certain ZING to the litter box odour! What a stench! Let's be honest, cat poop stinks at the best of times, but wet food makes it about 10 times worse!

As a long time cat owner who is currently owned by two cats, I can tell you with certainty that clumping cat litter and dry food are your friends.

I am sorry, but the information about cat food here is absolutely incorrect. Dry food, and the high carbohydrate content associated with it, is producing increasing numbers of diabetic cats daily. As well as contributing to cats with pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, kidney and bladder problems etc. Cats are obligate carnivores with a low thirst drive. They do not eat corn in the wild, yet that is the main ingredient in most dry foods. Cats need meat--protein--and lots of it, and wet food has a high water content and higher protein and significantly lower carbs than dry. When you have an animal with a low thirst drive and feed it dry food...well, you are setting it up for kidney issues later.

Of course, there are tons of cats who do well on dry food all their life, just like Willard Scott is always dragging out 102 year old people who live on bacon and rotgut whiskey exclusively. But cats are obsese now more than ever--and these high carb dry diets are greatly to blame.

But you do not have to take my word for it! I would not expect you to. Here is a website written by a veterinarian that explains, in detail, why dry food is not an ideal diet for a cat: http://www.catinfo.org/

OP, thank you so much for taking this sweet kitty in. This says a lot about you and your family & your kind hearts!!

 

[61292cna]

We give our adult cat 1 can of wet about 7a, a cup of dry to nibble as wanted, & then 1 can of wet about 9p. You never know with him which of the following four results you'll see?

1) eats some of all three
2) eats only dry
3) eats only wet
4) eats all three

With being abandoned & you having a screened room, maybe that will be all the outdoors he will want. We wanted ours to be an indoor cat, but after many battles have settled for half & half, so will have him chipped when he gets his shots next week. They bring a real joy to your life!!!