She-who-needs-a-name needs a name

[drdoolittle]

So, have you decided what you're going to name her?

 

[vebyrd36]

Okay here is what I named my last female cat. Muzbe= I must be crazy to get another cat.

 

[jjthink]

Muzbe - another cute name :~)

"Her-Nakedness" needs fur! It is so flippin' cold out with much colder weather forecast in the coming 10 days and she desperately wants to go out but I can't let her freeze. I'm afraid she'll stay out for fear of being cooped up again. Her fur hasn't grown very much since her 12/27 surgery - it'll take a few months but I'm hoping she'll have at least some coverage over the skin soon.

I like so many of the names you all have suggested that it's truly hard to choose so she's going to have a lot of fun middle names from BYCers! I may call her Sadie for short since there's a kind of symmetry with Samantha, aka Sammie or Sam. Unfortunately that is where symmetry ends because Sam is furious that she's here. It's the Middle East here and I don't know if it's going to work out. Sadie is very people friendly but charges Sam, who is beyond upset. I need to find away to get them to relax with one another - I doubt that time alone will take care of this. Using homepathics like Rescue Remedy and Mimulus and also lots of catnip but it's a bad scene so far.........

JJ

 

[savingdogs]

I'm new to this thread, what is Sam? I must confess I did not read the whole thing.

New pets arriving can take quite a while to resolve in a household. I have worked in dog and cat rescue for a dozen years. I was going to comment on how lucky this cat is that you took her in.....but it usually takes a month or three for a cat to work out relationships in a new household. In the meantime, it is best if you do not let the new animal have free run of the house. Restricting a new pet to one area seems to minimize the problem....even if Sam is a person!

But PM me if you want assistance on settling in a new pet in your home. I have helped people with this (on a volunteer basis) for a dozen years. Or anyone else reading this thread, I'm happy to offer advice. But it is better if it is personalized to your situation.

 

[jjthink]

Thank you for all your good works!!!

We are on similar paths it would seem :~). Lots of rescues in my life (most get adopted out) and each one seems a unique situation, as you note. I kept "Her-Nakedness" (the kitty pictured on page 1 of this thread) in a separate room for a few weeks and since then have just allowed brief interaction with kitty Samantha, still the case. I guess I took her in in early December or thereabouts. Maybe in this case she needed to be cooped up in her room longer but I caved a bit because she was going stir crazy to the point of pulling her fur out like mad. So now she stays in her room all day and at night when I get home from work and finish all the other critter rounds I let her out into the rest of the house. Then later on I put her back in her room. My sweet Sam is nevertheless beside herself. Maybe Sadie needs even more confinement...Sigh...not sure. Samantha, an ~10 year old kitty (who was missing half her fur and was full of fleas and worms and pregnant when I found her 9 years ago), hails from the rough streets of Trenton, NJ and has always had issues with other cats so it complicates things. JJ
(My inbox here seems to always say full even when I remove a bunch of PM's but my e-mail is [email protected]. Any thoughts always welcome.)

 

[savingdogs]

Might be easier to restrict the older, settled cat to one room if the new one is stir crazy. Is there a section of the house your older cat prefers? I'd give it that area and restrict new cat from there, give it more time for each to feel that they are part of the same pack. Avoid them meeting as much as possible. With dogs, I do introductions. With cats, I let them have as much space for as long as possible, esp. to prevent potty issues.

It might be used to being outdoor or indoor/outdoor, you might try giving it some different litter or different scratching post or different things to do....but things that would be more pertaining to outdoor life. A bug to catch. A windowsill to observe birds from. An indoor plant she can eat. Litter that is more dirt-like. I see why you don't want to let her out, but perhaps short spells outdoors under your watchful eye? have a sunroom? leash?

Our three cats are rescues. One is too silly and scared to be allowed out. The other two would drive us crazy if we did not let them out. Stalking the door, scratching their way through screens in windows, etc. They are successful indoor outdoor cats however and I worry about them, but had to relent and let mine out. For you, however, in your situation, I'd still wait to let it out even if you plan to let it be outdoors later, just so it imprints on you and your house longer. I am a firm believer that indoor cats live longer but also feel cats can thrive in a variety of situations.

Bless you for taking her in....it sounds like we are kindred spirits.

 

[Casey3043]

I definitely would not let her out yet, much as she wants to go. She needs to consider your house "home", and she obviously is a traveler. Who knows where she came from? She could be someone's beloved pet who went looking for love (in all the wrong places), and ended up at your house with mats, fleas, and a new boyfriend! Well, those things have been taken care of, but she needs to give up the idea that she is going out to play. I think it will take a while longer, and maybe it would be best if you found her another home later on. Poor Sam. Her world has been turned upside down. But I am optimistic that it will work out.

Good luck! Keep us posted!

 

[drdoolittle]

About 15 years ago I had similair problems when I adopted a cat and introduced him to my other 3 cats. My neutered male was the only one who had a problem with it. We kept the new cat in a huge dog crate with litter-box and food/water until the got used to each other------they could see and smell each other, but not harm each other. Of course, the new cat did have his time out of the crate-----with supervision. I hope it works out. I tried to introduce a stray/pregnant female to my 2 females a couple of years ago, and she was so nasty and agressive, that all 3 of my dogs were TERRIFIED of her (not to mention how the cats felt)! We could never get her to be nice, so we had to take her to the SPCA-----but we did keep the one kitten she had, and she is a sweet cat.

 

[jjthink]

Thanks everybody

Long time resident Samantha needs to feel like top dog (cat) so she needs to have sole run of the place most of the time, with new kitty getting part time access right now. Seems to be the thing that keeps Sam from totally losing it. She knows there are parts of the day when she can totally relax. I have also discovered that with these 2 particular personalities, as much as I hate to do it I have to half ignore Sadie so that instead of her attacking Sam, she seems more inclined to avoid ticking her off. So far this seems to be working better than showing them both equal amounts of love, sad to say...because when I was doing that Sadie was charging Sam. as if to claim me for herself. Hope that in time Sam will relax with Sadie in her midst more of the time. Poor Sam is so depressed though - as though she feels like she's getting replaced - she's seen cats come and go (die) and hopefully she doesn't think she's next to go - have to keep reassuring her a lot. Big bruising Sam is terrified of little naked Sadie - sigh.... The really bad weather is not helping - everyone is cooped up and utterly miserable, and another big storm is due in tonight......... They have scratching posts, catnip, toys, treats, windows, animal planet :~), etc. and just want to scrap it all for sun, trees and warm grass - hopefully a break in the weather will come before spring!
JJ

 

[jjthink]

To wrap up this thread, I just wanted to convey my thanks to all for their great 'She-who-needs-a-name' name ideas, as well as other thoughts expressed. I truly appreciate your time and effort.

Still have a big problem here with 'Sadie with many middle names' rushing at Sam and poor Sam being terrified and despondent. I can't have that. I fervently want this to work out but it isn't going well....yet.........Maybe it's a subject for another thread.......... or for a cat shrink...

JJ