Adopting a 6 year old cat

[1stwife]

Hello cat owners 👋

I have just found out that I am getting a 6 year old boy cat who needs re homed due to his current owners moving to a home where pets are not allowed. I am so delighted to get him! He is just gorgeous in the photo I got. Although I have wanted to get a cat for a while, I know nothing about owning and caring for a cat!

And my biggest concern is that I also already have a dog - a 12 year old bichon frise boy so I am wondering how to introduce them to each other and a bit worried about how they will coexist.

The info I have so far is that he is a short haired ginger and is castrated. He is coming with his litter tray and feeding bowls along with some toys. He is an outside cat (don’t really understand what that means for cats) and is also trained to behave in a home. I don’t have a cat flap.

Any advice would be gratefully received!

thanks 🐈

Congrats on your new cat! We have a ginger boy and he is delightful - mad but an utter joy! Ours is an “outside cat” in that he goes out, but he is currently snuggled up next to me on the heated throw. We don’t have a cat flap, so he is only out if someone is home to open the back door/let him back in, and he is always in overnight. He hops up at the kitchen window to let us know he wants to come in.

Our boy is unusual in cat circles in that he sleeps mainly in an actual cat bed - our previous girl cat was the same. He loves a box, and has an Amazon box on top of the fridge/freezer he often naps in, and also enjoys sleeping on top of his cat tree. We have lots of “mouses” that he likes to play with, and he’s also fond of a little ball, but he ignores the type of toys our previous cat liked (ball tracks and tunnels) so they are all different.

We don’t have a dog but the usual advice for a new cat is to confine them to one room and create a “sanctuary” there for them during the first week or so. We’ve never done that but did keep all his kit in one room initially even though he was allowed free rein of the house, so kind of a halfway.

Here’s our little lad - he dances! We adopted him when our girl unexpectedly was diagnosed with cancer aged ten, and pts, and while he was a rescue cat, he rescued me from utter heartbreak. He’s going to be two next week. 🐈

Aw thank you for congrats. We are v excited to meet him. And your wee ginger cat is absolutely adorable!
Thank you for your reply and info. I am nervous about the Access All Areas aspect of having a cat as our doggy does not go into bedrooms etc.

It’s good to know you don’t have a cat flap and that’s fine. I’m wondering how you let him out the first time and know he would come back? Our wee cat is moving to a completely new area, so should I walk him around first to familiarise him? Or is this ridiculous for cats 🤣 Or should I just let him go and hope he comes back?

This is him 💕

Keep him in 3 weeks then let him out when he’s hungry.

Cats go in bedrooms.

Sorry. With photo

Good idea to go outside with him the first few times. Let him sniff around so he can adjust to the smells of his new surroundings.

Thanks for replying. So he would just use litter tray for 3 weeks then I would let him out? And I’m happy to let him into bedrooms etc as I know it’s different from dogs.

Thanks. Would I try a lead on him or just go out and hope he stays with me?

It would be good to have some high places where he can escape your dog if he wants to. I recommend a cat tree or two.

When are you getting him? While you’re waiting, can you pass on something with your dog’s scent on it so the smell is reasonably familiar when he moves in?

trained to behave in a home

Sorry OP, you really do know nothing about cats 🤣🤣 Cats are the ones who do the training, not the other way around 😉

Dogs and cats can be OK together but have either ever had any experience of the other? I suggest keeping the cat in one room with the door shut for a week (ideally this would be the room his litter tray will ultimately be kept in, but I can see that won't necessarily work out) and I would then get a stair gate that the cat can get through (but the dog can't) to go over that door for another few weeks.

If you let the cat outside while it's still unsure about the dog, it might well not come back.

Ps if he's used to being an outdoor cat, he might not take well to a litter tray. You might need to sprinkle soil over the top of the litter to encourage him, and maybe consider getting an enclosed box so he doesn't feel exposed.

Oh that’s a good idea. Maybe put an old muslin in dog’s bed for a bit then it could travel with cat when I drive him home?

Getting him end of this week Thursday or Friday

You need to set up a safe dog free room for your new friend to stay in for the first few days, with litter tray food and water. Visit him there frequently but don’t let him out until he’s relaxed. Then keep him indoors for another couple of weeks until he knows this is home. Then install a cat flap and on a dry day invite him into the garden. He will go and explore so stay outside chatting and calling him so that he can find his way back. Repeat until he’s relaxed knows is confident and relaxed in and out.

You can try him on a lead but it’s better if you just let him wander around and sniff things. Unless he’s terrified and wants to run away. He needs to get to a point where he comes when you call him, and yes cats do that. 😆

Thanks. This is v helpful. My dog has NO experience of cats except chasing them when they visit the garden 🫠

And I don’t know about new cat’s dog experience. The cat is coming via my daughter’s friend who is a friend of cat owner but owner doesn’t speak English as their first language. Daughter’s friend is happy to pass on any info so I would love to have a list of sensible questions of things I would need to know.

To be honest OP, this situation is worrying. Very likely your dog will chase the cat which will be very stressful for him. Some cats take charge and hiss at the dog until he subsides but others will just be terrified.
This may not be the right cat for you, if you have no reason to think your dog will learn to live with him. I thought at first that you were going via an agency or similar which would check out things like familiarity with other animals before agreeing to the adoption. Also is your location reasonably safe for an outdoor cat? If you are on a main road he is likely to be injured or killed by traffic. Sorry but you may need to rethink this one.

@1stwife we kept our boy in for about three weeks, then I would go out with him for short spells. I read that it was a good idea to put used litter round the garden to create a boundary, so I did that round the flowerbeds. He was all over the place initially, then had a spell of not going out at all for a couple of months. In the summer holidays (I teach so am off) he got used to the back door being open and coming in and out - I think he took a while to feel “safe” that he would get back in, but he was given over to Cats Protection as a stray kitten who had been living in a lady’s shed. He loves being out now but doesn’t tend to roam far.

It was easier with our previous cat as it was nice weather (July) when we started letting her out, and we were in and out of the garden with her.

I’ve never used a harness/lead on a cat and am laughing at the idea of trying with our boy.

We’ve always had two litter trays. Our girl pretty much exclusively toileted outdoors but as she was in overnight we needed a tray although she very rarely used it. Annoyingly our boy had only started going outside in the last six weeks or so, but has barely been over the door for a week because of deep snow.

Better ask about dog experience as a top priority. If the cat has strong feelings either way it will definitely be better to know.

Also ask exactly what the cat is currently eating, when & how much, ideally with photos of the packets. Even if you decide to make changes, it’s going to be much easier at the start if he gets what he’s used to.

I would also ask if it is used to dogs. A home with a dog that has a tendency to chase cats is probably not the right home for a cat that's not used to dogs.

Thank you for your feedback. I can understand your alarm from my posts. My dog is actually quite a chill tiny bichon frise but hasn’t had any cat ‘experience’ in sharing our home. He has barked at cats in our old house when he was much younger and they came into our walled garden so he wasn’t used to any visitors. I will definitely let owners know about my dog and ask if new boy cat has any familiarity with dogs and/or sharing space with them.

We live in a v small village by the sea in North coast of Ireland and our house is not on a main road so hopefully that will be helpful. Also we have a big back and front garden but I know cats can explore. We do have a regular cat visitor to our back garden who is also ginger so I wonder if that would also be an issue for the new cat?

Really appreciate all this helpful info. I was actually thinking before we heard about this cat that summer would be ideal for kitten training (also am a teacher so more time then).

Sounds a wonderful location for an happy cat, and a good idea to check dog experience. If there’s territory problems with the other cat, that’s just life and they will sort it out. Good luck to you all!

Just to be clear - my post is confusing - he’s been going out for months, he’s just recently starting going to the toilet outside. Now he is not going out at all because of this bloody snow that will NOT go away and we are all absolutely sick of! I’d never get rid of the litter trays but was really pleased when he started pooing in the garden.

Also possibly useful is that we “trained” our girl to come in with Dreamies, and she came to expect a “snacky” every time she returned. That got out of control during covid when we were home all the time and she started going out just to come in for the snacky. The utter shame of the vet calling her a chonky girl… We didn’t start that caper with the orange one!

Love this post! 🤣 Forewarned is forearmed so thank you 🤩

Thanks for such a positive post. Gives me some hope for happy dog cat cohabitation!