Trapped feral cats last week and brought them inside.

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Shane Kent

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Great news for Kitty and Rusty
But that is not the great news. The great news is that I have a real home for them with a cat lover. No more living in an office building.

My bosses mother in-law wanted them when they were still living outside. She didn't realize they were feral and that I was feeding them outside. Her cats passed away a few years ago so she wants to get a couple of cats. She is a beautiful person, I have known her for several years. Her previous cats were spoiled so I am delighted that she will take Kitty and Rusty. You know it is a good home for a cat when you see cat photos next to photos of the kids. The people are well off with a big home so finances and space for the cats are definitely not an issue.

Kitty and Rusty are still somewhat timid of strangers but I have a few co-workers they allow to pet them. They allow my wife to pet them when we feed them on the weekends. They also allow my wife and one co-worker to pick them up. I can pet them while they eat, rub their bellies, etc. Kitty still gets a little overstimulated when petting, she bites but I back off and she is getting better with time.

The woman that is going to take them will come to my work a bunch of times to get to know them first. I do realize it will still take them time to adjust to her house as it took them time when I brought them to the cottage. I will help her set up a safe space for Kitty and Rusty. They will have their cat tree, blankets and litter which I hope helps them to adjust fast. The house they are going to is really close to where I live which will make it easier for me to pop by a bit at first to help them settle in.

The people they are going to live with vacation the end of February to early March so I won't move them till after that. Which is good, it gives me time to work on them scratching things. I have been a bad daddy when it comes to discipline and I probably should have started on them earlier. I will read up on the scratching when I have the time but if anyone has any helpful tips it would be greatly appreciated.
 

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EXCELLENT NEWS!!!  So glad for them.  Can't wait to hear how it all goes and how they are in their new, wonderful home.

As far as overstim scratching goes, Jackson Galaxy cautions against playing with hands.  He suggests using interactive toys, especially wand and lure toys such as da Bird, Cat Dancer, etc. (these are our two favorites) for play, and being alert for signs of overstim such as tail twitching, ears back, etc.  and pulling the hand gently away, followed by ignoring an overstim cat right after the scratching, so that (s)he can calm down and forget about the incident.

Hoping this helps.  And wishing them, and you, and their new mom-to-be, all the very best!
 
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@Tarasgirl06

Not the sort of scratching I got to deal with but thanks for the feedback. I should have been more specific. They scratch the office furniture, more so Rusty.  They don't have to leave the building and it is my bosses in-laws taking them so I got all the time in the world to work on them. I would just like to get them into a comfy home environment sooner than later. Both cats have become far too affectionate for me to leave at work, I feel guilty leaving at night. The woman I am giving them to has had cats in the past so I am probably making a big deal of nothing. I am sure she knows how to deal with cats, including scratching furniture.
 

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Thanks for clarification.  My cats never ever bother the furniture, due to our having lots of cat furniture, scratching pads and posts throughout the house, in just about every room but the bathrooms, breakfast room and kitchen, which have no scratchable furniture.  Though I don't like it ethically speaking, I chose leather for the living room furniture because I didn't think they'd claw it.  Not only do they never claw it, they very rarely even get on it, because they apparently prefer warm textiles  like those on the beds, or cool tile in the summer.
 

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My MIL does not like my taste in decorating - simply because everything in the house is cat-proof, cat friendly or cat-preferred!  Right this minute, there is a long cardboard tube (the kind used to pour cement bases for fence posts or building columns) in the living room.  The cats love it!  I may paint it at some point but - maybe not...

I always say the cats don't live in my house -  I live in a cat sanctuary.
 
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Well I realize now why they are killing office furniture. I have lots of toys but only in two places in a two story office building. I can't have cat toys everywhere so oh well. My boss keeps his office door closed and it is a construction company. I am not much of a football fan. I don't mind watching the odd time but don't have a favorite team. Rusty absolutely destroyed a Seahawks carpet the owner had. He destroyed engineer drawings fot a multi million dollar contract, we got another set of drawings ($). The owner and my boss like Rusty. He sits in the lobby sometimes and watches people. He is so big and it's like he wants to fit in with the guys.

The woman that is taking them ia back from holidays. She will have to come with me a few Saturdays to get to know them. Will post progress.
 
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I don't blame Rusty he needs a proper home and so does his little sister. Kitty is so small and cute the woman that is getting them is so fortunate. They are so affectionate and cute. Thank you all so much.
 
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Kitty and Rusty got tested for diseases and are negative:)
Both are overweight and I have to put them on a diet. They put a lot of weight on in the late winter / early spring eating mice and moles coming into the building. I am feeding them too much seeing they are also eating mice and moles. My vet told me I did a great job on socializing them and they were much easier to handle. I got them deworming pills. No fleas but it is better safe than sorry.

It fell through with the woman taking them. She thought they would be more like a typical house cat. Kitty and Rusty are used to sleeping all day and spending the night roaming a two story office building getting into things to get at mice and moles. Rusty is a really big cat and capable of opening drawers and cabinet doors. They are somewhat timid of strangers and want to keep their distance. Living in the office building at a construction company is somewhat noisy during the day and Kitty is a little high strung because of it. The woman is an older woman and the cats would have been a hand full for her, she is going to get a couple of kittens and start from scratch. I don't fault her, at least she considered taking them.

Last fall they spent approximately a month and a half at the cottage. They are used to the cottage, it is a much smaller space than the office building so I spent last weekend there with them. It is so quiet there with lots of windows and wildlife, they love it there. After a couple of days Kitty settled down and is not so high strung. After the cottage I took them to my house and put them in a room. My house cat Taz hissed for the first couple of nights but now he just sits by the door to the room they are in. I go in the room frequently so Kitty and Rusty settled in well. Now it is the long process of slowly introducing them to Zoe and Taz, I really hope it works out.

I will post some updated photos when I get the time. Hopefully I can get a photo of all four cats together in the near future.
 

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Kitty and Rusty got tested for diseases and are negative:)
Both are overweight and I have to put them on a diet. They put a lot of weight on in the late winter / early spring eating mice and moles coming into the building. I am feeding them too much seeing they are also eating mice and moles. My vet told me I did a great job on socializing them and they were much easier to handle. I got them deworming pills. No fleas but it is better safe than sorry.

It fell through with the woman taking them. She thought they would be more like a typical house cat. Kitty and Rusty are used to sleeping all day and spending the night roaming a two story office building getting into things to get at mice and moles. Rusty is a really big cat and capable of opening drawers and cabinet doors. They are somewhat timid of strangers and want to keep their distance. Living in the office building at a construction company is somewhat noisy during the day and Kitty is a little high strung because of it. The woman is an older woman and the cats would have been a hand full for her, she is going to get a couple of kittens and start from scratch. I don't fault her, at least she considered taking them.

Last fall they spent approximately a month and a half at the cottage. They are used to the cottage, it is a much smaller space than the office building so I spent last weekend there with them. It is so quiet there with lots of windows and wildlife, they love it there. After a couple of days Kitty settled down and is not so high strung. After the cottage I took them to my house and put them in a room. My house cat Taz hissed for the first couple of nights but now he just sits by the door to the room they are in. I go in the room frequently so Kitty and Rusty settled in well. Now it is the long process of slowly introducing them to Zoe and Taz, I really hope it works out.

I will post some updated photos when I get the time. Hopefully I can get a photo of all four cats together in the near future.
Sounds like you've done an EXCELLENT job of raising them -- and if the older woman thinks she's going to have a calm home atmosphere with kittens, she's in for a big surprise (a couple of them, actually)! I hope Kitty and Rusty will be able to adjust and integrate into the furmily. They sound like very nice cats.
 
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Kitty and Rusty at the Cottage April 2017
Cat nap. Taking a little break from watching the wildlife.
kittyrustycottageapr2017.jpg


Slideshow of Kitty and Rusty from living in the steel beams to their time at the cottage last fall.

Taz on Kitty and Rusty's cat tree.
tazontree.jpg
 
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Update. Zoe only hissed at Rusty and Kitty a bit, she keeps her distance from them. Taz gets a lot closer, he hisses and growls at them. Kitty and Rusty ignore Taz. Rusty is extremely docile, he is such a good boy. Rusty has gotten to the point where he will walk right passed Taz growling at him. Taz has started to give up on hissing and growling at them as he is not getting any reaction back.

Last night both Kitty and Rusty were wandering the house. Zoe went to the basement to lay on the couch, Taz sat on a table and watched Kitty and Rusty explore. Taz didn't hiss or growl but he kept an eye on them. I have let Kitty and Rusty out of their room before but I had Zoe and Taz in a room in the basement.

I don't think Kitty misses being in the office building. She appears to like quiet calm places and my work place can be loud and busy. I would say she likes the cottage the best, she seems to be most at ease there. She is getting used to the house and is more and more at ease. I think being trapped in a room has her a little wound up but not as much as when I had her at work.

Rusty appears to miss being at work with me all day. He was very depressed at first but is slowly coming around. He doesn't seem to favor being at the cottage over the house or work, I think he is happy so long as I am close to him. He is slowly getting used to seeing me at night instead of during the day. Starting yesterday he has begun to cry at the door to their room, he wants out and has clued in that crying gets my attention. His cries are so cute, he doesn't howl it is more like talking to me.

I pieced together some videos from my wife's phone that is Kitty and Rusty's safe room at work. Also some video from when I first started letting them out of the room to play in the hallway.

 

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Update. Zoe only hissed at Rusty and Kitty a bit, she keeps her distance from them. Taz gets a lot closer, he hisses and growls at them. Kitty and Rusty ignore Taz. Rusty is extremely docile, he is such a good boy. Rusty has gotten to the point where he will walk right passed Taz growling at him. Taz has started to give up on hissing and growling at them as he is not getting any reaction back.

Last night both Kitty and Rusty were wandering the house. Zoe went to the basement to lay on the couch, Taz sat on a table and watched Kitty and Rusty explore. Taz didn't hiss or growl but he kept an eye on them. I have let Kitty and Rusty out of their room before but I had Zoe and Taz in a room in the basement.

I don't think Kitty misses being in the office building. She appears to like quiet calm places and my work place can be loud and busy. I would say she likes the cottage the best, she seems to be most at ease there. She is getting used to the house and is more and more at ease. I think being trapped in a room has her a little wound up but not as much as when I had her at work.

Rusty appears to miss being at work with me all day. He was very depressed at first but is slowly coming around. He doesn't seem to favor being at the cottage over the house or work, I think he is happy so long as I am close to him. He is slowly getting used to seeing me at night instead of during the day. Starting yesterday he has begun to cry at the door to their room, he wants out and has clued in that crying gets my attention. His cries are so cute, he doesn't howl it is more like talking to me.

I pieced together some videos from my wife's phone that is Kitty and Rusty's safe room at work. Also some video from when I first started letting them out of the room to play in the hallway.

I dunno about you, but I'm seeing two VERY happy healthy cats! :cutecat::kneading:
 

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They do seem happy. Rusty will soon adapt.

Even though Schofield runs away when we open a door, he is still trying to convince us he doesn't like it inside. He sits and calls us after we go to bed, making sounds like he's seriously hurt. My husband calls it his "nightly serenade."
 
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