Another newcomer

Casey56

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Hello! I guess newcomer applies to both myself in TCS and Katniss, our new shelter cat.

In June I said goodbye to my 20-yo occicat, Hershey. I will write a memorial for her soon, when I'm in the right frame of mind to do it.

Having had cats all my life, it was sooner than I might have expected that my partner and I decided to bring in a new kitty. Not having a cat in the house just makes each day feel like something important is missing. As we have a senior border collie who is slowing down and mostly deaf, we decided we needed to take care to find a cat that had a positive (or at least neutral) history with dogs...and a week ago we brought home Katniss.

Katniss is an 8-yo yellow tabby who was in a shelter the last 2 months, having come from a home with a senior woman and two dogs, one of which Kat apparently romped with. While the small private shelter was nice, Katniss didn't get along with other cats, and as a result was kept in a smallish room by herself. I don't think there was a whole lot of human contact for her, not uncommon in shelters.

So she is here now, and we are faced with getting to know a new cat, not a kitten as we had 20 years ago but an adult individual who we know only a little bit about. And her about us! There are issues for us, and I will post about those....but just spending an hour on here reading this morning has helped me to see that whatever challenges we have, with time they will be better. The thing that I need to keep reminding myself is that she is not Hershey, and we won't have the same relationship that I had with Hershey. This is a new friend and we are on a new journey together. I have to just trust in the process.

After living in a house with at least one cat for over 60 years, I find myself a little humbled right now. I am feeling unsure of the situation and what to expect with our new cat. So much of life is the unknown! But I'm surely glad for the blessings of the internet that allow me to come here and share a common experience with like-minded people like you. :)
 

verna davies

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Hi Casey56 Casey56 and Katniss, welcome to the site, so glad you have joined us. Thank you for adopting an older cat, they are so often overlooked. Every cat has his/her own personality and its difficult to adjust when you have had one cat for many years as you have. Just give yourself and Katniss time to get to know each other and I'm sure you will be best of friends in no time. Post a photo when you can.
 
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Casey56

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Thank you, Verna. Katniss is beautiful! I think she may have a little Maine coon somewhere in her background. I haven't gone photo crazy with her (yet), but here are her first few....
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dustydiamond1

Minion to Gypsy since October 2016
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:welcomesign::hellosmiley::noob::hithere:Welcome to you all. Bless you for saving her from a life of loneliness. Just remember the 3 P's:
Patience, Patience, Patience. Both for her and yourselves. Does she seem to respond to her old name? If so it may be confusing for her to be called something else in a time of such upheaval. Hopefully soon others who have more knowledge of integrating kittys (our former neighborhood stray Gypsy adopted us) into households will be by to advise but I just wanted to let you how wonderfully you are honoring the memory of your beloved Hershey.🌈
 
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Casey56

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Thank you all for the welcome. I know patience is the very top piece of advice right now! And I will say that, as an older cat myself, I was really glad to be able to add another senior to the household.;)
 

tabbytom

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Casey56 and Katniss, on behalf of The Catsite community, a warm
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to both of you.

So glad that you’ve joined this wonderful site and you are in the right place for all things cat and this site is loaded with tons of rich resources and you’ll find friendly and helpful cats around and many of our cats are very knowledgeable in cat related stuffs.

Thank you for adopting Katniss from the shelter and for giving her a warm and fur-ever loving home :clapcat: She is such a beautiful gal!:hearthrob::redheartpump:
Do post more photos of her and we have a special thread here just for her in post-pics-of-calicos-tortieshells-and-orange-cats-here.303458 and many fun threads here in fur-pictures-and-videos-only.29 to showcase what your kitty its up to.

We are so
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to hear about Hershey:alright:. You may want to pay a tribute to Hershey here in crossing-the-bridge.19


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Enjoy your stay and see ya around :wink:
 

neely

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So happy you adopted Katniss and gave her a forever home. :hugs: I'm very sorry about the passing of Hershey and know the feeling of an empty house all too well. That's why a house is not a home without a special feline to share it with you.:catlove: I'm also in love with her tail, it's so unique.
 

Krienze

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Welcome to you and Katniss! I'm sorry about the passing of your other baby, however, and am thinking about you! It's never easy to say goodbye <3
 
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