Hi,
We have been members of this site for a while. I log on and read posts, however I don't post very often.
We are animal people, not so much cat or dog people, more like cat and dog people.
I run a small rescue from our home. We take in strays, both dogs and cats, get them medically checked out, and adopt them out when we can. I am very careful about placement. Cats only go to indoor homes unless they are feral. Dogs are only allowed to be adopted by families who have a fenced yard, or to live indoors. I usually place four or five animals each year with good success.
We have six cats who are part of our family. One is a feral, who lives outside. He has a heated cat condo on the porch, and can get away from predators to safety. The other five share a large sunroom that is climate controlled. They have a kitty door that leads to an fully fenced outdoor run. There are a couple of the kitty's who come out during the daytime to spend time in the house with us. We spend time in the sunroom each day tending to the ones who are not social and who do not function well in the rest of the house. Some of our group are cats with special needs and are unadoptable. Our goal is to provide them with a safe comfortable home with good food, and good medical care, so that they can live out there lives safe and content.
I am a brain tumor survivor and have some medical issues where an assistance animal is beneficial to my functioning. My service animal is a Golden Retriever. He is the second service dog that I have had. The first one died from cancer at age 15. This one is going on nine and is undergoing cancer treatment at this time. We also have his sister, who is a sweet dog, but does not have the personality for service dog work. We also have a miniature dachshund who is also a good little pet, but not cut out for service work.
This brings me to the Maine Coon cat. I have always wanted a Maine Coon cat, however there are so many homeless kitties available, that I don't feel comfortable buying a cat from a breeder. It always seems that there are a few more strays who need our help. I have the chance to rescue a two year old purebred Maine Coon that is a owner turn in. The owner is undergoing some problems and can't keep the kitty. My thoughts are to see if we can train this cat to serve as a hearing assistance animal. I train my dogs, than have them tested by an independent organization. I am thinking, why not a cat? The Maine Coon breed seems to be the perfect kitty for such work. It actually is not really work. He will also get to spend some time aboard our boat. The kitty will be required to walk on a leash and be able to behave appropriately in public places. His duties will be to alert me of sounds that I can't hear, but need to be aware of. We have a Maine Coon Mix who is very old, however he has always naturally alerted me to phone calls, smoke detectors, door bells and such. We think that he does this because it scares him, however he is consistent. Does anyone have some insights on how to proceed, obstacles we will face, and other concerns.
This is not a succeed or fail project. Either way the kitty will be a family member. If he is trainable, I may use him instead of the dog. If he is not trainable, he will remain our pet.
Charles
We have been members of this site for a while. I log on and read posts, however I don't post very often.
We are animal people, not so much cat or dog people, more like cat and dog people.
I run a small rescue from our home. We take in strays, both dogs and cats, get them medically checked out, and adopt them out when we can. I am very careful about placement. Cats only go to indoor homes unless they are feral. Dogs are only allowed to be adopted by families who have a fenced yard, or to live indoors. I usually place four or five animals each year with good success.
We have six cats who are part of our family. One is a feral, who lives outside. He has a heated cat condo on the porch, and can get away from predators to safety. The other five share a large sunroom that is climate controlled. They have a kitty door that leads to an fully fenced outdoor run. There are a couple of the kitty's who come out during the daytime to spend time in the house with us. We spend time in the sunroom each day tending to the ones who are not social and who do not function well in the rest of the house. Some of our group are cats with special needs and are unadoptable. Our goal is to provide them with a safe comfortable home with good food, and good medical care, so that they can live out there lives safe and content.
I am a brain tumor survivor and have some medical issues where an assistance animal is beneficial to my functioning. My service animal is a Golden Retriever. He is the second service dog that I have had. The first one died from cancer at age 15. This one is going on nine and is undergoing cancer treatment at this time. We also have his sister, who is a sweet dog, but does not have the personality for service dog work. We also have a miniature dachshund who is also a good little pet, but not cut out for service work.
This brings me to the Maine Coon cat. I have always wanted a Maine Coon cat, however there are so many homeless kitties available, that I don't feel comfortable buying a cat from a breeder. It always seems that there are a few more strays who need our help. I have the chance to rescue a two year old purebred Maine Coon that is a owner turn in. The owner is undergoing some problems and can't keep the kitty. My thoughts are to see if we can train this cat to serve as a hearing assistance animal. I train my dogs, than have them tested by an independent organization. I am thinking, why not a cat? The Maine Coon breed seems to be the perfect kitty for such work. It actually is not really work. He will also get to spend some time aboard our boat. The kitty will be required to walk on a leash and be able to behave appropriately in public places. His duties will be to alert me of sounds that I can't hear, but need to be aware of. We have a Maine Coon Mix who is very old, however he has always naturally alerted me to phone calls, smoke detectors, door bells and such. We think that he does this because it scares him, however he is consistent. Does anyone have some insights on how to proceed, obstacles we will face, and other concerns.
This is not a succeed or fail project. Either way the kitty will be a family member. If he is trainable, I may use him instead of the dog. If he is not trainable, he will remain our pet.
Charles
