Need Advice Please!! - Snickers

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
Most of you know of Snickers, the former stray cat we adopted. We want to bring in the house to live . At least at night, depending on him mostly.
How should I begin? Keep in mind that he will have his own room, a spare bathroom. He’s afraid of our three dogs so he would not have free run of the whole house.
Would it be cruel to keep him in his own room?
He would actually get more attention being in the house.
Should I go in steps or all at once?
Thank you
 

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,429
Purraise
33,188
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
Hi. Yay for Snickers!!! :cheerleader:And you too! Below are links to some articles that might help you to decide what course of action you might want to plan. There a few things in them that I am not impressed with (such as squirting them with water - and, that is in the Humane Society's article - YOWZ), but the gist of giving you multiple articles is to let you contemplate a wide array of possibilities and build one best suited to Snickers and your circumstances.

Other members who have more experience than I do, will most certainly see your post over the next day or so and have some good ideas to give you as well. Again, YAY Snickers!!!

Bringing Cats Indoors | Indoor Pet Initiative

Home, sweet home: How to bring an outside cat indoors

Transitioning an Outdoor Cat to Indoors | Petfinder

Cat Training | Turn an Outdoor Cat into an Indoor Cat

The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside

Did I say - YAY Snickers!!! :goodluck:
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
Hi. Yay for Snickers!!! :cheerleader:And you too! Below are links to some articles that might help you to decide what course of action you might want to plan. There a few things in them that I am not impressed with (such as squirting them with water - and, that is in the Humane Society's article - YOWZ), but the gist of giving you multiple articles is to let you contemplate a wide array of possibilities and build one best suited to Snickers and your circumstances.

Other members who have more experience than I do, will most certainly see your post over the next day or so and have some good ideas to give you as well. Again, YAY Snickers!!!

Bringing Cats Indoors | Indoor Pet Initiative

Home, sweet home: How to bring an outside cat indoors

Transitioning an Outdoor Cat to Indoors | Petfinder

Cat Training | Turn an Outdoor Cat into an Indoor Cat

The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside

Did I say - YAY Snickers!!! :goodluck:

Thank you so much. Yeah I got his room all set up. I decided to just go for it. He seems ok. He’s sleeping right now on his rug. When I brought him in I gave him some wet food. After he was done he promptly walked into his litter box and did a big pee. Good signs right?
image.jpg
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
Yep!! Were you able to bring in any of the things he is familiar with from his little outdoor home?
That’s a good idea. He does have his same food and water dishes. I will bring in a little of his hay/paper bedding to put in his new bed. Thank you.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
Snickers did great his first night in the house.. He ate his food and did a poo in his litter box. He even slept in his new bed. Yay !!
 

di and bob

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
16,581
Purraise
22,950
Location
Nebraska, USA
Everything sounds wonderful! He will definitely adjust in time. I would try to keep him in as much as possible, maybe get a dog cage to get him used to your dogs after a while, not right away. Sometimes animals seeing other animals gets them used to each other over time. I hope he has a bigger place to graduate to eventually, like a bedroom? The first step is over, many happy miles after1
 

catsknowme

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 2, 2005
Messages
11,458
Purraise
6,679
Location
Eastern California,USA
:clapcat: Wonderful progress with Snickers! I like that he has his own room. You can always add shelves or otherwise increase his vertical access.
As for the dogs, sometimes it is better to crate them and let the cat explore the territory unmolested. I have always taught my dogs the command of "place" which is their spot to go to when visitors are present. It will be a lot easier for Snickers to meet each dog individually & probably easier for the dogs as it's hard for them to not feed off of each other's excess excitement.
This is a very good thing that you are doing and I look forward to more happy updates. I salute you for planning this out so well - all your preparations have paid off splendidly. :catlove:
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
Everything sounds wonderful! He will definitely adjust in time. I would try to keep him in as much as possible, maybe get a dog cage to get him used to your dogs after a while, not right away. Sometimes animals seeing other animals gets them used to each other over time. I hope he has a bigger place to graduate to eventually, like a bedroom? The first step is over, many happy miles after1
Thank you. Yeah the room he’s in is a large bathroom with a nice window. There is a gate up to the doorway and the dogs go visit a lot. He won’t come in contact with our other two cats though. They are even mean to each other. At night the dogs sleep in their crates so Snickers is free to leave the room if he wants. We always sleep with the bedroom door closed anyway. We bought him a new cat tower today and placed it in front of the window. He’ll have lots of birds and squirrels to watch.
391D2407-1018-4632-A408-97B5CF31E099.jpeg
E170A93A-24F0-496A-9FC3-B0D1CBE70E85.jpeg
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
:clapcat: Wonderful progress with Snickers! I like that he has his own room. You can always add shelves or otherwise increase his vertical access.
As for the dogs, sometimes it is better to crate them and let the cat explore the territory unmolested. I have always taught my dogs the command of "place" which is their spot to go to when visitors are present. It will be a lot easier for Snickers to meet each dog individually & probably easier for the dogs as it's hard for them to not feed off of each other's excess excitement.
This is a very good thing that you are doing and I look forward to more happy updates. I salute you for planning this out so well - all your preparations have paid off splendidly. :catlove:
Thank you so much. Yeah he seems quite happy. We just bought him a new cat tower today. See pics in my post above.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
P.S if you’re wondering where the cat is , he’s sound asleep in his blue crate.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
Thank you. Yeah the room he’s in is a large bathroom with a nice window. There is a gate up to the doorway and the dogs go visit a lot. He won’t come in contact with our other two cats though. They are even mean to each other. At night the dogs sleep in their crates so Snickers is free to leave the room if he wants. We always sleep with the bedroom door closed anyway. We bought him a new cat tower today and placed it in front of the window. He’ll have lots of birds and squirrels to watch. View attachment 278417 View attachment 278418

Thank you so much for the support.
Snickers is doing great. I think he’s very happy. To be honest he’d probably rather be outside. He had the whole world of freedom but he’s much safer now. Sometimes though I think it’s cruel to keep him in. What do you think?
 

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,429
Purraise
33,188
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
It seems cruel, but it really isn't - and yes, he is much safer. Just think of next winter and how he won't be outside in the cold. Do you think he seems terribly bothered by his new indoor home?

Maybe over along period of time, he will show signs of interest in being around your other pets. That would be great so he could have a bit more freedom. Just see what happens over the next few months.

At night the dogs sleep in their crates so Snickers is free to leave the room if he wants.
What happens (if you know) when he roams at night? Does he go back to his bathroom when he hears activity from the other pets? Just curious how that is working.
 

Talien

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
2,650
Purraise
5,131
Location
Michigan
If he didn't have any problems his first few days inside then you should be good, and he will be much safer not being exposed to all the things outside that could hurt or kill him. He will be a lot happier being inside during bad weather too.

I notice you didn't put the litter box in the shower, and keep the door closed. That's good. A lot of people will put one in the shower thinking it's convenient and will be easy to clean if the Cat pees outside the box but you will end up with litter going down the drain and clogging it. It is VERY hard to get clay litter out of a drain once it gets wet and starts to cake up and stick to the sides of the pipe.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #16

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
It seems cruel, but it really isn't - and yes, he is much safer. Just think of next winter and how he won't be outside in the cold. Do you think he seems terribly bothered by his new indoor home?

Maybe over along period of time, he will show signs of interest in being around your other pets. That would be great so he could have a bit more freedom. Just see what happens over the next few months.



What happens (if you know) when he roams at night? Does he go back to his bathroom when he hears activity from the other pets? Just curious how that is working.
Thank you so much. Yes he is much safer. He won't have to deal with next winter.
His room is next to our bedroom. We close our door at night so he can't go any further than that anyway. Actually he seems very happy with being inside. He doesn't seem stressed at all.
Thank you so much for your help.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
If he didn't have any problems his first few days inside then you should be good, and he will be much safer not being exposed to all the things outside that could hurt or kill him. He will be a lot happier being inside during bad weather too.

I notice you didn't put the litter box in the shower, and keep the door closed. That's good. A lot of people will put one in the shower thinking it's convenient and will be easy to clean if the Cat pees outside the box but you will end up with litter going down the drain and clogging it. It is VERY hard to get clay litter out of a drain once it gets wet and starts to cake up and stick to the sides of the pipe.
Thank you so much. He seems pretty happy. He surprisingly really good at using his box. We got a jumbo box today to give him more room.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #18

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
Thank you so much. Yeah I got his room all set up. I decided to just go for it. He seems ok. He’s sleeping right now on his rug. When I brought him in I gave him some wet food. After he was done he promptly walked into his litter box and did a big pee. Good signs right? View attachment 278289
Snickers is really happy. He’s doing great. I think he’s very happy with his room. He hasn’t used the cat tower yet though. Hopefully he’ll get used to it.
He’s eating well and using his litter box regularly. The dogs go to visit him frequently and he doesn’t seem to bothered by it.
Thank you for all the support.
 

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,429
Purraise
33,188
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
I am so, so, so happy for Snickers - and you!!! He is a wonderful little guy! If you don't think he would get upset, or hurt himself, you could put him on the cat tower just so he kind of gets a clue as to what it is for. Is the glass frosted, or can could he actually see out?

If he can see out, does he have a favorite treat? If so, what would happen if you placed a couple on each level of the cat tower, just to see if he would follow the trail to the top?

I love Snickers!!! :redheartpump:
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #20

Minxxy

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2018
Messages
273
Purraise
264
I am so, so, so happy for Snickers - and you!!! He is a wonderful little guy! If you don't think he would get upset, or hurt himself, you could put him on the cat tower just so he kind of gets a clue as to what it is for. Is the glass frosted, or can could he actually see out?

If he can see out, does he have a favorite treat? If so, what would happen if you placed a couple on each level of the cat tower, just to see if he would follow the trail to the top?

I love Snickers!!! :redheartpump:
Thank you so much. Yes he has a very nice window where he watch lots of birds and squirrels. I will try the treats. I did put him on a couple of times but was afraid of scaring him. I'll tryitwith the treats next time.
 
Top