Hello I am new here. I didn't think about ever joining a cat site even though I have had cats for long time. Circumstances have changed with me though and I would like to get a puppy We have four cats though with widely different personalities and with two of the cats I am unsure how to proceed further about getting a puppy. I'll explain the cats in detail. I have some mental health problems so for the most part I am at home most of the time and can work on what needs to be done that is if it can be done. Here are my cats and the best description I can give of them. I haven't had a dog for 18 years so that is all new again.
Three of the four cats are brother/sisters from the same feral that lived at our property before we even moved here. The previous owners used to feed her. She was a complete feral and my father worked with her for about 10 years to build up some trust that would make her seem somewhat a normal cat usually being the most tame while pregnant. She was very old when we moved here and she did have a litter of kittens every spring but, it was usually one or two so that is why we never made attempts to capture her and for being such an ugly cat her kittens were usually always very pretty cats with most resembling Siamese mixtures even though she looked nothing like that.. People (friends, relatives) usually lined up to take them so it was not a hassle since she had so few and was very old. Over time with the litters we kept two before she became ill and died during the early spring/winter and was not trusting enough of anyone again to let us capture her and take her to the vet.
She abandoned her last kitten a one week old solid black female kitten that when she was dying so we kept her and got attached and kept her.
Maybe explaining the cats will help on what steps to take to get that puppy and have it work out.
Yang-Older fat cat. He is lazy. He seems to adore babies of any type (which is why I want to start with a puppy). He helped me with the care of his baby sister after the old mother passed away. I fed her and he did all the other work. He also looked after his brother and carried them around like they were his kittens and cleaned them when they were too small to use the bathroom properly. Like I say I fed the kittens and let him watch them. We also have cockatiels and baby chicks at one point in a box indoors and for whatever reason if I tell him they are babies he will look at them but, not touch. Zero problems with the birds. He also taught the other cats the birds are off limits and chased any of the other cats away from the bird cage if they show a remote interest in the cockatiels. I believe he considers the cockatiels as babies since they stayed the same size. A few times the birds escaped their cage and I found them perched on him.. Odd but, true. Yang and dogs. He is fine with dogs at the vets office. He travels on a leash and harness to the vet, pet stores, etc and people are always surprised to see a very easy going cat that isn't strapped down in a kennel or freaked out by strange places. My parents sometimes take him on fishing trips on his leash and he just relaxes and watches. My brother brought his dog over once and Yang was very unhappy, sprayed and tried to kill it. My cousin brought her miniature schnauzer over and Yang played with it a little and ignored it. I believe it being smaller than him tricked him into thinking it was a "baby". Yang is 13 years old. I expect he will be ok with a puppy and may even mentor it but, I don't think he would accept a dog that is larger than him in the beginning.
Zhong-He looks like a Siamese and is the people pleaser and the smartest of the cats. He is more interested in sitting in laps, blocking the tv, playing fetch with paper balls, watching tv with us, finding the hidden treat bag that he carries from person to person till someone will give him one and hide it from him somewhere else. He shows little interest in any other animals other than trying to stay high off the floor when we had kittens that wanted to follow him. He just had no interest in that. He ignored the two dogs we brought here and instead followed the visitors around meowing and trying to get their attention.He is fine with the dogs at the vets office other than when an owner brought in an Irish wolfhound. He did not like that at all and retreated to my mother's lap. He is the most energetic of the cats. I doubt he have any issue with any dog unless it physically attacked him. He may try to avoid a puppy if it is too needy with him. 11 years old
Ethyl- Full of anxiety. She is the abandoned kitten. She started off though as a very confident cat and bossed her brothers around even though she is a very small cat. Yang and Zhong let her have her way. She developed some allergies and periodically she would wheeze so the vet gives her shots and hairball paste (which she really does not like). She is so frightened of the vets office she will urinate on herself over and over. She started losing confidence starting here and the fourth cat just destroyed it. She gradually over the years moved into my parents room and never left or had any interest in leaving. The only person she likes is my mother. Anyone else and she flees under the bed. I think she would be frightened by any dog which is somewhat ok because she lives in my parents room without any access to the other cats, birds etc most of the time. She likes Yang if he follows my parents into their bedroom and gives him affection. She is very mean to Zhong if he comes into the room. He will not fight her though. . 8 years old
Draino- Ah the loose cannon. He was a kitten when my cousin saw him fall out from under a moving vehicle on the interstate and hid in a drain (draino). He seemed aggressive so she came and had me capture him and check for injury. He was extremely feral but, he was uninjured from his car ride. My dad for some reason took a liking to him and worked on taming him. Ethyl stepped in and tried to show dominance but, even as a kitten Draino was as large as she was. He fought back and barely bested her. After that and the vet visits Ethyl is very frightened of Draino. Draino as an adult loves that Ethyl is afraid of him so if he could get to her he would kill her.. He stalks my parents bedroom hoping to get a glimpse of her inside. Fortunately Ethyl will warn us if Draino is near the door. We have tried many ways to trying to resolve this but, ended up just letting them stay separated. Draino is very unpredictable even to my father who he shows the most loyalty. He can't be picked up or he will go for a person's face with clawys and teeth so on that he is dangerous if we have to secure him for a vet visit or administer any medication.
He doesn't bother Yang at all because once again Yang took on the mommy role with a kitten and nurtured him. He is even protective of Yang and will attack a human if they accidentally step on his tail or he yelps near a person because he has some arthritis in his old age. . He spats with Zhong but, even though Zhong is smaller he is much faster than Draino and will fight him off so he doesn't bother Zhong often because of the consequences. We have to warn people not to pet him because he will at times act affectionate but, will turn on a person with no indication he is about to bite or stick his claws in someone. He shows no normal cat indications that he is about to become aggressive. Personally my mother and I do no like Draino. We think he is a dangerous animal because when he attacks like I say he goes for people's faces. If not for my dad's love for this cat my mom and I probably would have him put to sleep and if we rehomed may surprise someone and severely injure them such as actually blinding a person ( I know some people will probably have a problem with us thinking this way but, sorry I wish it were not true either.). My mother and I do not pet Draino, we feed him but, let my dad handle anything else. He seems at one point to be a docile cat and changes in a snap to something that resembles a feral racooon. I am not sure how he would handle a puppy. He may be afraid of it or he may kill it. Like I say a very unpredictable animal. He is the biggest problem in how to approach getting a puppy. 3 years old
Any suggestions would be helpful even if your suggestion is how to make Draino less scary to be around or how to get him to leave Ethyl alone and how to go about getting a puppy into the mix. Thanks.
Three of the four cats are brother/sisters from the same feral that lived at our property before we even moved here. The previous owners used to feed her. She was a complete feral and my father worked with her for about 10 years to build up some trust that would make her seem somewhat a normal cat usually being the most tame while pregnant. She was very old when we moved here and she did have a litter of kittens every spring but, it was usually one or two so that is why we never made attempts to capture her and for being such an ugly cat her kittens were usually always very pretty cats with most resembling Siamese mixtures even though she looked nothing like that.. People (friends, relatives) usually lined up to take them so it was not a hassle since she had so few and was very old. Over time with the litters we kept two before she became ill and died during the early spring/winter and was not trusting enough of anyone again to let us capture her and take her to the vet.
She abandoned her last kitten a one week old solid black female kitten that when she was dying so we kept her and got attached and kept her.
Maybe explaining the cats will help on what steps to take to get that puppy and have it work out.
Yang-Older fat cat. He is lazy. He seems to adore babies of any type (which is why I want to start with a puppy). He helped me with the care of his baby sister after the old mother passed away. I fed her and he did all the other work. He also looked after his brother and carried them around like they were his kittens and cleaned them when they were too small to use the bathroom properly. Like I say I fed the kittens and let him watch them. We also have cockatiels and baby chicks at one point in a box indoors and for whatever reason if I tell him they are babies he will look at them but, not touch. Zero problems with the birds. He also taught the other cats the birds are off limits and chased any of the other cats away from the bird cage if they show a remote interest in the cockatiels. I believe he considers the cockatiels as babies since they stayed the same size. A few times the birds escaped their cage and I found them perched on him.. Odd but, true. Yang and dogs. He is fine with dogs at the vets office. He travels on a leash and harness to the vet, pet stores, etc and people are always surprised to see a very easy going cat that isn't strapped down in a kennel or freaked out by strange places. My parents sometimes take him on fishing trips on his leash and he just relaxes and watches. My brother brought his dog over once and Yang was very unhappy, sprayed and tried to kill it. My cousin brought her miniature schnauzer over and Yang played with it a little and ignored it. I believe it being smaller than him tricked him into thinking it was a "baby". Yang is 13 years old. I expect he will be ok with a puppy and may even mentor it but, I don't think he would accept a dog that is larger than him in the beginning.
Zhong-He looks like a Siamese and is the people pleaser and the smartest of the cats. He is more interested in sitting in laps, blocking the tv, playing fetch with paper balls, watching tv with us, finding the hidden treat bag that he carries from person to person till someone will give him one and hide it from him somewhere else. He shows little interest in any other animals other than trying to stay high off the floor when we had kittens that wanted to follow him. He just had no interest in that. He ignored the two dogs we brought here and instead followed the visitors around meowing and trying to get their attention.He is fine with the dogs at the vets office other than when an owner brought in an Irish wolfhound. He did not like that at all and retreated to my mother's lap. He is the most energetic of the cats. I doubt he have any issue with any dog unless it physically attacked him. He may try to avoid a puppy if it is too needy with him. 11 years old
Ethyl- Full of anxiety. She is the abandoned kitten. She started off though as a very confident cat and bossed her brothers around even though she is a very small cat. Yang and Zhong let her have her way. She developed some allergies and periodically she would wheeze so the vet gives her shots and hairball paste (which she really does not like). She is so frightened of the vets office she will urinate on herself over and over. She started losing confidence starting here and the fourth cat just destroyed it. She gradually over the years moved into my parents room and never left or had any interest in leaving. The only person she likes is my mother. Anyone else and she flees under the bed. I think she would be frightened by any dog which is somewhat ok because she lives in my parents room without any access to the other cats, birds etc most of the time. She likes Yang if he follows my parents into their bedroom and gives him affection. She is very mean to Zhong if he comes into the room. He will not fight her though. . 8 years old
Draino- Ah the loose cannon. He was a kitten when my cousin saw him fall out from under a moving vehicle on the interstate and hid in a drain (draino). He seemed aggressive so she came and had me capture him and check for injury. He was extremely feral but, he was uninjured from his car ride. My dad for some reason took a liking to him and worked on taming him. Ethyl stepped in and tried to show dominance but, even as a kitten Draino was as large as she was. He fought back and barely bested her. After that and the vet visits Ethyl is very frightened of Draino. Draino as an adult loves that Ethyl is afraid of him so if he could get to her he would kill her.. He stalks my parents bedroom hoping to get a glimpse of her inside. Fortunately Ethyl will warn us if Draino is near the door. We have tried many ways to trying to resolve this but, ended up just letting them stay separated. Draino is very unpredictable even to my father who he shows the most loyalty. He can't be picked up or he will go for a person's face with clawys and teeth so on that he is dangerous if we have to secure him for a vet visit or administer any medication.
He doesn't bother Yang at all because once again Yang took on the mommy role with a kitten and nurtured him. He is even protective of Yang and will attack a human if they accidentally step on his tail or he yelps near a person because he has some arthritis in his old age. . He spats with Zhong but, even though Zhong is smaller he is much faster than Draino and will fight him off so he doesn't bother Zhong often because of the consequences. We have to warn people not to pet him because he will at times act affectionate but, will turn on a person with no indication he is about to bite or stick his claws in someone. He shows no normal cat indications that he is about to become aggressive. Personally my mother and I do no like Draino. We think he is a dangerous animal because when he attacks like I say he goes for people's faces. If not for my dad's love for this cat my mom and I probably would have him put to sleep and if we rehomed may surprise someone and severely injure them such as actually blinding a person ( I know some people will probably have a problem with us thinking this way but, sorry I wish it were not true either.). My mother and I do not pet Draino, we feed him but, let my dad handle anything else. He seems at one point to be a docile cat and changes in a snap to something that resembles a feral racooon. I am not sure how he would handle a puppy. He may be afraid of it or he may kill it. Like I say a very unpredictable animal. He is the biggest problem in how to approach getting a puppy. 3 years old
Any suggestions would be helpful even if your suggestion is how to make Draino less scary to be around or how to get him to leave Ethyl alone and how to go about getting a puppy into the mix. Thanks.
