OK...so I got a new calico at a no-kill shelter the other day. The papers that came in with her (she was owned) indicated that she is between 1-2. After having her for a few days, I am beginning to have my doubts. She is a very sweet kitty and seems very nice, but she is really rather inactive and just seems a bit too mellow for the age I was told. I know, however, that she is new and maybe just being very tentative.
We have a schnauzer who has not met the cat yet. We're following some guidelines that we found online - that says to have no face-to-face interaction with the dog for at least a week. The problem is that the dog is very territorial, is a barker, and always chased our other cat. The result was that our other cat spent alot of her time in the basement (pool-table cat) cause every time she came upstairs the dog just ran her down again. I'm afraid this will be the case again - especially if this cat is as low-keyed as she appears to be.
Any thoughts on whether a young cat should be acting this way? She has been spending most of the day in her crate (we have a crate for both animals due to internal motion sensors that are part of the alarm system), and then at night she is more active and comes out and has been exploring the basement. Also she really hasn't been eating very much - could this also be due to being new?
The shelter only had her for about 2 weeks, and so she's certainly gone through alot recently. Also she is front declawed. The word was that the owners moved and couldn't take her along to their new place. We'll probably introduce the cat to the dog sometime over the weekend. If it weren't for the dog, I believe this cat would have made herself at home upstairs already with no problem.
And, I just wonder if the people who owned the cat falsified her age? I've seen this done before with animal shelter cats. Is it possible that she is young and just is that mellow and laid back for her age?? Any suggestions for how to get a cat and dog to get along together?? Our dog is 9 and came after we already had our other (recently deceased) cat. I know that back then we didn't really do anything special as to trying to get them to meet each other. I seem to recall they pretty much wound up together from the first day, which was probably a mistake.
Thanks for any thoughts.....
Keith
We have a schnauzer who has not met the cat yet. We're following some guidelines that we found online - that says to have no face-to-face interaction with the dog for at least a week. The problem is that the dog is very territorial, is a barker, and always chased our other cat. The result was that our other cat spent alot of her time in the basement (pool-table cat) cause every time she came upstairs the dog just ran her down again. I'm afraid this will be the case again - especially if this cat is as low-keyed as she appears to be.
Any thoughts on whether a young cat should be acting this way? She has been spending most of the day in her crate (we have a crate for both animals due to internal motion sensors that are part of the alarm system), and then at night she is more active and comes out and has been exploring the basement. Also she really hasn't been eating very much - could this also be due to being new?
The shelter only had her for about 2 weeks, and so she's certainly gone through alot recently. Also she is front declawed. The word was that the owners moved and couldn't take her along to their new place. We'll probably introduce the cat to the dog sometime over the weekend. If it weren't for the dog, I believe this cat would have made herself at home upstairs already with no problem.
And, I just wonder if the people who owned the cat falsified her age? I've seen this done before with animal shelter cats. Is it possible that she is young and just is that mellow and laid back for her age?? Any suggestions for how to get a cat and dog to get along together?? Our dog is 9 and came after we already had our other (recently deceased) cat. I know that back then we didn't really do anything special as to trying to get them to meet each other. I seem to recall they pretty much wound up together from the first day, which was probably a mistake.
Thanks for any thoughts.....
Keith