Rehoming a cat

[Leafy2018]

Hi,

We have adopted two cats from a shelter 18 months ago. They are both lovely but about six months ago one of them started 'middening' (leaving blobs of poo all over the place). We have had two different vets look at her but as there is nothing physical wrong with her, they cannot offer anything other than a change of food, which has unfortunately made no difference other than the poo now being softer and tricker to pick up. She has had a physical examination, scan, x-ray etc and nothing has been picked up. The poos just drop out of her bottom which is often 'open' (unpleasant but not sure how else to phrase it) and have been doing all over the house until recently as we have had to resort to keeping them in the kitchen or utility room, with access to outdoors. She is a very happy cat, super affectionate and not bothered by children. Very happy to be stroked by them.

We have a three children 14, 11 and 2 and our last due any day now. We have made the decision to rehome our cat as it's just not getting any better and we simply cannot live like this with monitoring doors constantly in case she escapes into the house. We even find poo on the patio/garden chair cushions. I can't risk our toddler putting her hands in it and into her mouth and the thought of a crawling baby horrifies me. Our other cat (brother) does not do this and yet leads a fairly limited life as we have to also keep him in the kitchen. We would love to be able to have him in the sitting room for cuddles but it's just too difficult with doors etc I also won't be able to be monitoring doors 24/7 when I'm on the sofa breastfeeding.

So I know it's the right decision (I have taken weeks to come to it) but does anyone have experience of rehoming a cat and the best way to do it. I know CPL won't put a healthy cat to sleep but I'm worried no one will want her. I love her dearly and really want her to be in a happy home. And obviously I would never advertise her.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Gosh I’m sorry I don’t know but can’t imagine it would be easy to find a new home for her with that known issue

It's a tricky one as apparently it can sometimes be caused by living with another cat as it's a way of marking territory. Obviously cats usually bury their poo but not so if this is the case. It is left out in visible places, which this is. So she may be fine if she's an only cat. But yes, that is also my worry.

Your adoption contract will almost certainly say that if you can no longer keep the cat that you should contact them to surrender for re-homing. This should be your first port of call.

I would recommend putting the cat on a raw diet. It’s expensive but ultimately worth it if you have a cat with digestive issues. Contact PurrForm for advice. They are highly knowledgeable and even if you can’t work it out with your cat you can possibly help with their next home, if they get one.

Also, why did you adopt a cat with three children in the house? Are you an experienced cat owner?

A raw diet would not be safe with small children around.

@SalsaLove

Also, why did you adopt a cat with three children in the house? Are you an experienced cat owner?

Yes, I have had cats my entire life. As a child and with my husband since before children. We lost our old cat a couple of years ago and we're devastated. Thanks for checking though.

First port of call I would contact the place you adopted the cat from.

Secondly I would consider putting the cat to sleep, unless you can rehome them as a farm cat (are they a good mouser?) I really don't think it's fair to try and find another home. My cat is an outdoor cat but he's young and healthy, when he gets older he will happily retire in the house.

I've also worked as a Veterinary Nurse. I can assure you that it was done with a great deal of thought and care (we waited until we were had sold our old house and undergone the two house moves necessitated by waiting for our new home to be built so as to avoid any unnecessary stress or disruption). If it weren't for the middening issue, there would not be any problem.

Like a pp said, we cannot have raw food around with small children unfortunately. But perhaps something to discuss with rehoming centre.

I'm not sure about contacting the original shelter. It's a registered charity with a shop etc but I didn't feel the conditions were necessarily the best for the cats (not individual space which I think would be hard for our cat given what she is coming from.)

Why do people always suggest a change of food? This is obviously a behavioural issue so why would food help?

Ok, so contact a rescue that will help you re-home. Some, eg Blue Cross, do a direct home to home thing, where they assess and do checks on new adopters etc and the cat doesn't have the added stress of going into kennels.

There are people who will take on tricky cats, and I don't think this cat is un-homeable.

@soooooooG

First port of call I would contact the place you adopted the cat from.

Secondly I would consider putting the cat to sleep, unless you can rehome them as a farm cat (are they a good mouser?) I really don't think it's fair to try and find another home. My cat is an outdoor cat but he's young and healthy, when he gets older he will happily retire in the house.

It's hard to know if she's a good mouser. They have caught a few mice but not sure which one of them has done it.

I would not consider ending her life when she could be an only cat and not have this problem at all. That would be rather premature.

@BridgetInHerBravery

Ok, so contact a rescue that will help you re-home. Some, eg Blue Cross, do a direct home to home thing, where they assess and do checks on new adopters etc and the cat doesn't have the added stress of going into kennels.

There are people who will take on tricky cats, and I don't think this cat is un-homeable.

That's helpful to know, thank you. I didn't know that. That seems much kinder.

Can you not keep her as an outside cat with access to an insulated cat shed or a garage if you have one . I know you say she does it in the garden as well but as a cat owner you should expect a level of cat poo in your garden and that’s hardly an issue as you can cover chairs etc when not in use .

A shelter is unlikely to take her with these issues. If the vets have not found anything physical, something may have changed and she’s reacting even if she appears otherwise happy. Is your 2 year old petting her unsupervised, chasing her or going in her bed?

One approach to try is to keep her in one room for a time with a litter tray and her own food and water, so she has security and space away from the other cat and your toddler. If it’s a response to sharing territory with the other cat, this might help give you an idea of the nature of her problem.

Another possibility is that a neighborhood cat might be coming in through your cat flap, making her feel the need to mark her territory. This happened with mine so we got a cat flap which only opens when it reads our cat’s ID chip.

You could try a consultation with a cat behaviorist. Could she live as an outdoor cat, with a bed in a shed or outbuilding? One of ours loved living in the shed. She had a heated mat for winter nights.

If you no longer want her and are unable to solve the problem it is kinder for her to be PTS. Hopefully it is fixable though. Presumably the vets analyzed a poo sample?

@Floralnomad

Can you not keep her as an outside cat with access to an insulated cat shed or a garage if you have one . I know you say she does it in the garden as well but as a cat owner you should expect a level of cat poo in your garden and that’s hardly an issue as you can cover chairs etc when not in use .

I can see why you suggest that but it simply would not work. I would have to never open the patio doors or utility room door where cat flap is. It's hard enough with just keeping the inside kitchen door and playroom doors closed all the time. We can't possibly have one cat with access to whole house and one we keep outdoors. As much as I wish that were not the case.

And of course I don't mind poo in the garden. That's normal! But not to find in blobs on the patio and on cushions. I've always had cats and have never found this before.

I'd never heard of that before, but sounds pretty awful to live with. If it's behavioural, and it started 6 months ago, did anything change then?

@TheVolturi

Why do people always suggest a change of food? This is obviously a behavioural issue so why would food help?

Because it’s sometimes a dietary issue? I’ve had cats for 40 years. Diet is an enormous issue.

We rehomed our cat through the blue cross, they were great. But she had no issues, I'd start with them though.

Why can't you feed raw with children In The home? Our dogs eat raw food.

The problem is I understand that you say it may be because she’s living in a multi cat household but how many people are seriously going to take her on with the risk that it isn’t because she’s living in a multi cat household . She’s your pet and you’ve had enough of it so why would someone who doesn’t love her risk it .

Middening is almost always a stress behaviour, and IME the main cause of stress for cats is living with other cats (not all cats obvs). This behaviour is very likely to stop if the cat is rehomed as a solitary cat in a low stress household.

There absolutely are potential adopters who will take tricky cats.

@Elys3

A shelter is unlikely to take her with these issues. If the vets have not found anything physical, something may have changed and she’s reacting even if she appears otherwise happy. Is your 2 year old petting her unsupervised, chasing her or going in her bed?

One approach to try is to keep her in one room for a time with a litter tray and her own food and water, so she has security and space away from the other cat and your toddler. If it’s a response to sharing territory with the other cat, this might help give you an idea of the nature of her problem.

Another possibility is that a neighborhood cat might be coming in through your cat flap, making her feel the need to mark her territory. This happened with mine so we got a cat flap which only opens when it reads our cat’s ID chip.

You could try a consultation with a cat behaviorist. Could she live as an outdoor cat, with a bed in a shed or outbuilding? One of ours loved living in the shed. She had a heated mat for winter nights.

If you no longer want her and are unable to solve the problem it is kinder for her to be PTS. Hopefully it is fixable though. Presumably the vets analyzed a poo sample?

Thanks for your reply. She really is the happiest cat... the vets didn't even have to sedate her to perform scans and X-rays as she was so relaxed. They commented on how happy and relaxed she was and that they really did not believe any sort of drug would be beneficial in that regard. In terms of our two year old, no there is no unsupervised chasing or boisterous stroking - our cat literally rubs around her legs and rolls over for tummy rubs.

It's a good idea about keeping her in a room on her own with a litter tray but to be honest, a week can elapse where it hasn't happened and then it suddenly does again so it would require a long period of isolation to really get an idea of whether it was definitely a territory thing.

The vets looked at a sample and there were no parasites etc

Oh, and we already have a microchip cat flap so no issues with other cats coming in.

@curiouscatgotkilled

We rehomed our cat through the blue cross, they were great. But she had no issues, I'd start with them though.

Why can't you feed raw with children In The home? Our dogs eat raw food.

Thank you - I'll certainly call Blue Cross to discuss with them.

@BridgetInHerBravery

Middening is almost always a stress behaviour, and IME the main cause of stress for cats is living with other cats (not all cats obvs). This behaviour is very likely to stop if the cat is rehomed as a solitary cat in a low stress household.

There absolutely are potential adopters who will take tricky cats.

Thanks for your reply. I'm really hoping this is the case of course.