__
Since I could, I sent commentor Freemark some funds towards getting the grey kitty vetted. He wrote me back Wednesday evening:
I’m attaching a few more pictures now that she has a full belly, is less anxious, and has settled down…
I have to admit I’ve been looking up cat care on-line. She is growing on me even though I’ve always been a ‘dog’ person. I need to give it some more thought as I’m all in when it comes to pets. I also have to consider the Parental Units, but I can say she is growing on my dad. If I can just get her to go in the litter box I bought. She goes beside it so I’m looking into how to fix that. No matter what I will make sure she has a good home whether it is here or somewhere else…
Another update on Thursday afternoon:
I would say the chances are better than 60/40 that we’ll keep her. Haven’t named her yet but leaning towards ‘Natasha’ since she’s of Russian background. I take her to the vet on Friday for wellness visit, all vaccines, stool/parasite test, etc. Its $160 and doesn’t include spaying. I will spay her but may be another 2 weeks for me to save, she won’t be outside at all, up I’m already putting everything over the funds you sent on my credit card. Had the damn thing paid off too.
I want to make sure I thanked you without your help I’m not sure what would have happened, she probably would have gone to the SPCA. A friend of mine volunteers there and wasn’t hopeful about her adoption. I have never found it easy to ask for help so your direct offer made it easy for me to accept your help and I feel certain Natasha appreciates it also.
I will also say that the Balloon Juicers encouragement helped me to decide to try and keep her. I don’t take adoption lightly. My last pet was a Yellow Lab that I had for almost 17 years. I even put off schooling to make sure she was taken care of. After that experience of owning of a such in your face attention/affection harlot I wasn’t sure I would like a cat, but I have to say she has grown on me. The fact that the balloon-juicers convinced me that a cat does well by itself for extended periods(hours) gave the option of trying to keep her.
If anyone donates further it will be greatly appreciated but know I will find a way to take of her either way. Thank you again… I don’t think I would have liked the guilt of taking her to the SPCA.
Anybody wants to chip in towards getting Natasha spayed, send me an email (click on my name in the right-hand column), and I’ll email you Freemark’s PayPal address — he’s worried about spam-bots harvesting here on the blog. Freemark volunteered that anything over the cost of getting Natasha up-to-date on her health care, he’ll pay forward towards the next BJ Pet Bleg.
__
PeakVT
Looks like somebody is settling in.
Does anyone know if Cole survived the football game?
wmd
Can the SPCA help with getting her spayed?
TaMara (BHF)
@wmd: I think they gave a coupon to help with costs, but it’s still a bit pricey. I just sent Anne an email and I’m in for what I can.
Freemark, I’m glad you’re thinking about it…sometimes when they show up it’s more because we need them.
max
I take her to the vet on Friday for wellness visit, all vaccines, stool/parasite test, etc. Its $160 and doesn’t include spaying. I will spay her but may be another 2 weeks for me to save
Don’t worry about the spaying guy, as long as you don’t have an unfixed male cat around, and she stays indoors. You can put that off for awhile if need. Much more important is FIV/FLV testing, and ridding her of any parasites.
Having rescued many kittens, including a Russian Blue, she looks really quite good. (I got one of my current cats when the mailman came to the door and handed me a six-week-old kitten that he had saved from some kids that teasing it. He was being absolutely vampired to death by fleas, and looked it too.)
If I can just get her to go in the litter box I bought. She goes beside it so I’m looking into how to fix that.
Most cats like to dig when the poop, so if you keep putting her in the litter box to remind her that it’s there, she will probably catch on. Give it a week or three and see.
I’d be happy to help but all discretionary and some neccessary purchases have been pushed off to next month. But if you can wait to do the spay til then, I can kick in a bit then.
max
[‘Also: GO O’s! WOO HOO!’]
phoebes-in-santa fe
I’m glad you’re adopting her. I’d like to contrbute and I hope AnneLaurie will send me the PayPal account. You look like you’ve got a good little girl there.
Spaghetti Lee
She’s a cute li’l munchkin. I think you two would be very happy.
TaMara (BHF)
@max: What Max said about the litter box.
Also, two of mine have a habit of going next to the litter box when they don’t feel well. This may be what’s going on here. They’re smart and want you to know they’re feeling “off”. Until you get her consistent in there, it’s helpful to put something absorbent and disposable next to it for her to use – I use old bath towels. Sometimes they get washed, sometimes, just tossed.
Ann Marie
I had a feeling you might keep her! That’s a happy ending for both of you. I’ll chip in.
Beeb
I’m so glad you’re keeping her. I’m in to help. Thanks, Anne, for doing this.
CatHairAnywhere
Her tummy may be a little upset from the change in her diet (not starving/actual cat food) which might be why she is going next to the box. Most cats don’t need to be taught how to use the box. She’ll adjust to the food in a week or so.
So glad she is growing on you all. My cats converted my DH to a cat person.
Mnemosyne
With the litter box, sometimes you can just shift it a few feet and that will magically make it “okay” and the cat will start using it. I have no idea why.
G was always a dog person until my cat Natasha adopted him after we started dating and became his little buddy. Just sayin’.
ETA: Also, too, cats can be surprisingly picky about litter. Boris hated the gritty “cat sand” and loved crystals, but Keaton absolutely hated the crystals and gave himself a urinary tract infection because he tried to use the box as little as possible. So you may want to try a different type of litter.
Eve
http://www.allaboutanimalsrescue.org/spay-michigan/ says they have a referral service for free/low-cost pet-fixing.
FWIW, our shelter kitty, Grania, took right to ‘world’s best,’ which is the scoopable corn-based stuff.
seaboogie
So glad that you are taking to the adoption so well (hers of you)! I was actually going to suggest that you name her Natasha after all of the Russian Blue afficionados identified her as such, but didn’t want to seem too pushy. Trust a feline to handle said assertiveness with such grace and also tell you her name.
On the feline assertiveness front, my fairly deaf 17-yr-old Tuxedo cat Zoe is hollering from the bedroom in the rhythmic persistent manner of a car alarm for me to join her. A complete weirdo. The only time she ever wanted to sit on my lap was when I was on the toilet. What can I say? She needed a home, and I needed to give a kitty a home, and here we are, 17 years later…
Mnemosyne
If you haven’t read Werebear’s cat care blog, get yourself over there immediately. It really is just as good as we’ve all been saying. I even bought her ebook from Amazon and some cat toys. (Keaton and Charlotte had a battle over who got to claim the Stinky Sock.)
freemark
Thanks everyone. The litter box problem is solved for the most part. She is very fastidious about her box. Sometimes she will stop part way through her business and only finish after the box is cleaned again. I’ve put 2 boxes down which solves the issue for now. So I don’t have to wait with scooper in hand for her majesty while she does her business.
Andrew J. Lazarus
My cat would not use the litter box until I bought a cover for it. I don’t know if she felt too exposed, or just liked to clean her claws on the inside of the cover, or both.
seaboogie
@freemark: Welcome to the wonderful world of Natasha. You are hers now. And since you are referring to her as “her majesty”, you clearly have it figured out.
Also check out “The World’s Best” cat litter, available at Target and other places too. I’ve tried everything – natural and not so much – and this really is the best. Smells pretty okay too, which is probably a bonus with the ‘rents.
phoebes-in-santa fe
@seaboogie: I use “World’s Best”, too, and can testify to its quality.
BethanyAnne
Heyo, glad to see that Natasha has adopted you. If you are new to being owned by a cat – I hope you don’t mind one bit ‘o advice. Cats are hunters, so hunting is play, and play is hunting. They’ll sit and watch for hours, especially if there’s a window that might show prey. But if you do end up with her alone for hours, every day or so, a little hunting play will go a long way towards keeping her perked up and mentally involved. My current kitty loves the laser, but her favorite toy is an old handle poked under the blanket. I move it in sort of start stop jerky small mammal motions, and she just goes crazy. Just my 2 cents :)
WereBear
When I saw the picture of Natasha and your dad… I had a feeling she was working magic.
Just frame it as how huge a favor he’d be doing you to love the cat, and I bet that would help :)
Cats can be very fussy about their box, especially after a Near Death Experience. Leaving their leavings around, their instincts tell them, makes them vulnerable to something coming along and eating them.
Here is the article listing for my cat blog. Perhaps it might help:
Way of Cats: Article Index
Cats are utterly awesome. They don’t want you to be the boss. They don’t want to be the boss.
They just want to be equals. And friends.
WereBear
@Mnemosyne: Thanks!
Allen
Glad that Natasha may have found a home. Some cats like a Buddha Box style litter box.
My youngest cat “T.C.”, whose name originally stood or Temporary Cat while I waited for the local no kill shelter to have room or him but now stands for Top Cat. Everyone who knows him says the current name fits.
ET
She’s a Beauty
Watusie
Try a top entry litter box. Like this:
http://www.gnr8.biz/product_info.php?products_id=1102&products_name=ModKat%20Litter%20Box
Percysowner
I haven’t used World’s Best litter. I have used Pine and it does a wonderful job of covering smells. The best part is, if your cat takes to it, you can then go to a feed and grain store and buy Equine Pine, which is used in horse stalls. Suddenly the price goes from $17-$20 for 40 pounds to $8 for 40 pounds.
Good luck, you are now owned by a cat. They really are great!
Linda
Once you have found her, never let her go…
Cats never make a mistake when they pick their people. I wish the two of you, and Dad too, many happy returns.
Now, back to observing the liberals in the mist.
JustPeachyAndYou
Just sent a few Paypal bucks to Freemark for costs for the new cat. Anyone willing to take in a homeless cat and do the right thing by her deserves support and encouragement.
Liz
Natasha is a lovely name for her. I’m definitely in for a donation for teh kitten.
It does look like she adopted you. Blues tend to get very attached to one or two people.
I don’t know how up to date this list is, but it might be helpful. Here’s a list by state of free or low cost spay/neuter programs:
http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html
I’m glad the litter box issue seems to be resolved. The key seems to be covering up the spot so a habit isn’t developed. Putting another box on top of where she eliminated sounds like it helped.
I wonder if there’s enough litter in the box? Cats are usually good with a less frequent cleaning then it sounds like you are doing. Or, sometimes if a box isn’t big enough that can cause a problem. And as some other people noted, the litter needs to feel right to the cat. We’ve never gone with the newer type of litters, just the traditional.
Our blue likes to sleep with mouse toys filled with cat nip. He’ll carry them around and bring them to us. If you’re worried about her getting bored you can always buy some toys, like little balls with bells in them. But cats sleep a lot during the day – just like their wild cat relatives. Brief bursts of hunting activities and a lotta nap time. It’s 14-20 hours a day that they sleep. So leaving her alone during the day should work just fine, unless you get an unusually social and active cat.
freemark
Vet Report; she is in great health, except for ear mites, but shouldn’t be a problem. She now weighs 5.2 lb and vet thinks she is probably 18-20 weeks old. Could be slightly older due to the fact of her temporary malnutrition.
ADS
Wow, just a baby.
So glad she is healthy.
Warm purrs of joy to you both.