Cat Help Needed!!!!

[zhuzhu]

I am so sad. Since I had to move to LA for a 9-weeks internship, I left my 2 cats at a friend''s house back in PA. It has been 2 weeks now since I left them, and I was told that the shy cat still never showed his face when human showed-up to leave the food. The friendly one showed once a while but "slapped" my friend in anger (he is not an angry cat by nature). Apparently they hate that space they live in because during the day (when the people left for work) the 2 dogs also are kept in that same area.

The cats found some holes in the wall and hide themselves in most of the time. I feel SOOOOO GUILTY as a cat mommy . It has been over 2 weeks now and still no improvement. I am so scared that they will be traumatized for a long time because of this poor arrangement I set for them. What should I do???? I really do not have another family to put them with at this point, and in any case no one in that house has seen the shy cat to move him anyways. Any suggestion???

 

[blodthecat]

OMG....what about a cattery?

I know it wouldn''t be cheap, but I couldn''t leave my cats in that situation. I think you need to sort something out ASAP.

Blod

 

[Lorelei]

Ditto what Blod said about a cattery if you don''t have anyone else who could help. The longer these cats are left in this situation the worse it will get and you don''t want any long term trauma affecting them. Could the people the cats are staying with keep the dogs in a different area to the cats?

 

[movie zombie]

it would be better for the cats to be in their original space and someone coming in to that space to feed them. i assume you gave up your room/apartment/house?

movie zombie

 

[FireGoddess]

They seriously can''t stay like this, IMO.

I agree with MZ - the best situation is to stay in their OWN space with someone coming to feed them. This is what I do when I''m away. Is this an option? If not, a cattery of some sort where at least they won''t feel this traumatized.

 

[aussiegirl23]

As a fellow kitty owner, I know your pain : (

But really, it sounds like you need to get them out of there ASAP. Not only have they lost you, their home, and any sense of security, they''re suddenly ignored all day and put in with, gasp, dogs : ( If it were only a wek or two more, I''d say stick it out, but another 7-8 weeks is way too long.

As expensive as it may be, either get them back to your own apartment (alone since you''re not there?) and get someone to come feed them and look after them once or twice a day. Your vet from Philly should be able to recommend plenty of responsible, and tested people who do this. It will restore their sense of trust and safety, and give you piece of mind that they''re okay.

If you''ve given up your PA apartment, get them into a some sort of longer term pet boarding... not where they''d be in cramped kennels all day, but a "classier" one with more space, attention, etc.

zhuzhu, I know it''s tough realizing their current situation has to change, but seriously... figure something out quick.

good luck!! let us know how things turn out,

Aussiegirl

 

[Gypsy]

Can you get them back to their own home and have someone come by to feed them and take care of them? Our shelter has a couple of people who do very reasonable pet sitting $10/day or so for long term. They feed water/ change litter and sit an hour a day with them. I''ve had to use it a couple of times and it''s been very good. They need to be in their own home. If they can''t have you... that''s the next best thing. You can''t leave them where they are....

 

[isaku5]

Date: 7/8/2006 4:51:19 PM
Author: Gypsy
Can you get them back to their own home and have someone come by to feed them and take care of them? Our shelter has a couple of people who do very reasonable pet sitting $10/day or so for long term. They feed water/ change litter and sit an hour a day with them. I''ve had to use it a couple of times and it''s been very good. They need to be in their own home. If they can''t have you... that''s the next best thing. You can''t leave them where they are....

Excellent idea, Gypsy. When we used to travel for 2 weeks or more, we had family come in to feed our cat....Worked well especially if we left the radio on (classical music). Now our Sammy has to take meds twice a day and only accepts them from DH or me. He has to visit Dr. Joe at the vet clinic if we go anywhere overnight at a very reasonable $9 per day.....and he can have visitors.

He''s happy and we''re happy.

 

[zhuzhu]

I know the situation is bad. However my friend has not seen the shy cat, so she could not even locate him in order to transport him back to my apartment. The dogs grew up with cats and they do not bother the cats, and she said the food has been eaten and litterbox has been used, so there is "evidence" that both cats are doing the normal things when the dogs and house owner are not around.

However the house is big, so is that basement where the pets are kept, and there are at least 4 holes in that basement where cats could have hiden, and no one has been able to locate my shy one.

If I could move them back to my apartment right now I would, but it seems difficult if you can not find one of the two cats.

 

[zhuzhu]

I just called my landlord, who lives right downstair of my apartment. She said she will be away for vacation some weeks at a time, and she does not want stranger to have a key to my apartment to feed the cat. She is an older lady (89) and my apartment is on the third floor of her house. SO even if I locate the cats from my freind''s house I still have to find another place to put them up until I return.

Is it better for them to stay where they are now since they may get used to the schedule (the dogs go back into the main house in the evening, that''s when the cats come out to eat) and hopefully feel better? or transport them to another completely new place to get used to again?

I had very limited option to begin with.

 

[Gypsy]

Okay. That sucks. They are stressed out and afraid where they are now, and don't understand why they are there.

I wouldn't have asked my landlords permission. I would have told her the pet sitter was a friend and that my cats needed to come home... but okay.

Board them. If you can afford it. Move them to a dog-free space. Have a friend or a landlord go to your house and get some things that smell of you...and their beds... or whatever and take it to the boarding facility with the cats. Don't leave them there if you can get them out.

Some cats just are not EVER going to adjust to dogs. We had one at the shelter who tried to kill any dog it saw-- weird cat-- even a full grown rotweiller.

ETA: Okay. Just read that one of the cats is MIA. Can your friend keep the dogs away and take the food away for the day-- not the water or the litter. Then go down with some very smelly tuna tomorrow and just sit there quietly for a while and see if the cat comes out? The less shy one should just come out and be fed... so it will be fine. The other, well... if it doesn't eat tomorrow it will eat the day after if she repeats the same thing. Keeping the dogs away while she's down there with the food?

 

[zhuzhu]

Actually they have their bedding, eating bowls and same litter box with them when I moved them. WHat my freind is doing now is after she walked her dogs in the evening. she took took the dogs into the house with her. Then she came down to leave the food for the cats. She told me the food is always eaten by the next morning, and the litter box is used as well. We suspect that the cats came out at night to hang out, but refuse to show when human/dogs are around. The friendly cat does come out, but he is feeling conflicted and will play lovingly with my friend for a bit, but all the sudden slap her face or bite her arm.

Unfortunately, my landlord is old and stubborn and won''t let even my friend to come feed the cats in her absence.

I don''t think the dogs can be kept at another space during the day. My friend''s family won''t feel comfortable about that. Worries continued.....

 

[Gypsy]

Hmm. Worries indeed.

Not liking your landlord much, gotta say.

Will think on this some. Not sure there is a solution short of boarding them. And food might be the only way to get the shy one out. How much longer is this for?

ETA: 7 more weeks. Jeez.

 

[Mara]

I'm not a cat person, so I don't know how they differ from dogs, but if they are both eating and going to the bathroom normally then is it really all that traumatic for them? They seem to both have found safe places to 'hide' or feel comfortable in the basement, with or without the dogs, they get time alone in the basement without the dogs for them to chill out and/or relax, and human interaction...is this really such a horrible situation? obviously the cats are not attacking the dogs nor the dogs attacking the cats so it seems an uneasy truce may be worked out....of course it's not an IDEAL situation...but it seems like the cats are doing 'okay' from what has been written. Short of boarding them, which the original poster has not addressed at all even though it has been suggested multiple times...is this really such a horrible situation? Again, not sure how cats differ from dogs but I always hear how independent they are and how they can manage on their own and it seems like people leave them for long periods of time, with just people coming to feed them every other day or using those auto feeding things (or anyway people i know who have cats do this sometimes!)....so anyway, just some thoughts. I always thought cats were way less high maintenance than dogs!

It sounds like if this house is *definitely* not the place for them, you should board them in a cat friendly place....it may not be good for the budget like having a friend watch them would, but if it's the only other option, I'd consider it. But I don't know, from what I have read...it seems like maybe it's not quite so bad? Then again, don't know cats so just kind of blabbing here!

In any case, good luck!

 

[aussiegirl23]

Although cats may be incredibly independent, they're still attention-loving and need human contact. Not in the same way our lovely dogs are, but it sounds like at least the shy cat is not getting ANY human contact whatsoever. Hiding in crawl spaces and basement corners for a week or two at a time may not do much harm, but 9 weeks sounds like a bit much.

Also, putting cats in a situation with dogs they don't know is tricky. The cat who never appears may not be getting enough food, water, etc. if it is terrified of coming out of its hiding place... Certainly people leave cats with auto-feeders or petsitters for a long weekend or maybe even a week... but this 9-week situations doesn't sound great.

Quick question for zhuzhu - could you have taken the cats to LA with you? Might be a good option, even if it's a small accomodation (some hotels are pretty accomodating about letting pets stay with you) -- not sure where you're staying...

Aussiegirl : p

ETA: Also, when it comes to dog & cat relationships.. it is really not wise to simply dump cats in with dogs (like it sounds in this situation)... Slow, supervised, and gradual introductions are key. Again, this doesn't seem to be the case here. When we added our two cats to the mix, it took probably 3 or 4 months before we felt comfortable leaving them together unsupervised. Granted, Aussies like to herd, but I think this situation wasn't very well planned out : (

 

[zhuzhu]

Unfortunately, the situation is not going to be improved by me thinking of "what if I did this or that" when I am 3k miles away. Unfortunately there was no way for me to take my babies on the plane with me to LA this summer.

The only two options I can think of are 1) keep them where they are,knowing that they are safe and fed, thought they may not be warming up to, and getting attention from the temp. care taker, 2) get the animal rescue team to dig the shy cat out of his hiding place and place them both into a pet shelter or boarding house for the remaining time. The only thing is that I have never used one and do not know how to find a trust-worthy one, or if I can afford it (I am still a full-time student).

Anyone has suggestion for a good and affordable cat boarding place in Pittsburgh? Is it a good idea to get animal rescue to find the shy cat? or might that scare him even more?

 

[aussiegirl23]

No need to call in animal rescue yet. Has your friend tried a technique similar to what Gypsy suggested with tuna?

Also, I think I already suggested contacting your veterinarian regarding trustworthy pet sitting services. They may also have opinions on your situation in general. They would have the best information regarding local services.

And if you don''t have a vet in the PA area, then call one out of the phone book.

Doesn''t seem like you''re listening, but the best of luck to you and your cats nonetheless. Maybe you are listening to our suggestions and just not saying so... who knows.

-Aussiegirl

 

[AndyRosse]

Oh zhuzhu, I''m so sorry you''re in this situation. We can''t change how you got here, but something needs to be done right now IMO. I''m glad to hear that the food is being eaten and the litter box used; however, how do we know that the shy cat is eating and using the litter box? Honestly (and I''m a bit crazy), but if I heard that the cats'' living situation was this bad (again IMO), I would be on the next flight home to find the cats and find another more suitable home for them. Bottom line is that I wouldn''t let them live like this another hour, nevermind another 7 weeks.

 

[Mara]

oh i didn't even think that maybe the shy cat is not eating or going to the bathroom, guess it's hard to tell if you never see him, plus not seeing him just can't be good long term...

zhuzhu, your friend has dogs but are they a cat person? obviously i'm not a cat person so i'm pretty clueless as to what the cats vs dogs need, but if i was housesitting pets i'd try my hardest to give all the pets a situation that everyone could be happy with. is there a way to give the cats an upstairs room rather than the basement? i'm a little psycho but i would never keep my dog in a basement!!!

anyway i'm a little inclined to think that maybe your friend is not the real 'caretaker' type?? we're not getting that much info here to really gauge the mood of the caretaker, but anyway, i don't know if they'd be so inclined to go do the sitting with tuna thing. but maybe that is the only way to get the shy cat out so that the caretaker can inspect her/him and get a general sense of how they are doing and maybe move them at that point or something. but maybe if they were in an upstairs room where they had less space to 'hide' and never come out, they could be better monitored and better checked on and maybe given more affection which might help them warm up a bit over time.

bottom line is that you came here asking for help, people have given suggestions, many of which seem viable. it may be a little inconvenient for you to have to do something differently at this point, but you should really make sure your pets are taken care of, both of them. if your caretaker can't get a little more involved (and i don't think it's bad to ask!) then find a place to board them, ask your vet for suggestions. good luck whatever you decide.

 

[zhuzhu]

She tried the tuna thing, the favorite can thing, but the cats are not stupid, they only came out to eat when everyone is asleep upstairs. We might put a digital camera out all night to see if shy cat come out too. This is the only way to confirm his whereabout.

My cats are not permitted to go back to my own apartment in PA without me as I previously posted, so pet sitter would not help in this case.

Where they are now is on the ground floor connecting to the car garage. They do have a huge house, but becasue my friend's son is minorly allergic to cats, they prefer to keep the cats in a separate level of house. In fact that's probability good because my shy cat is not good with new people, when FI comes to visit me for the long weekend, the shy cat "disappered" in my own apartment for the whole weekend.

I have listend to everyone's suggestions and appreciated them. Most of them I have thought of myself. However the truth is none of them are possible right now. The two options I last wrote are whats doable right now, but both carry risks as well.