- Joined
- Jan 3, 2010
- Messages
- 971
- Purraise
- 34
I'm sure a few of you know that I work in a vet clinic. We always have cats up for adoption and have a pretty good success rate with adoptions, even for older cats and cats with medical issues.
We currently have a large black smoke cat that is here for hospitalization (he was blocked) and will be up for adoption when his catheter comes out and he's urinating well on his own. I love this cat, he's such a good and gentle boy, doesn't complain and goes nuts purring and rolling around when I take a damp cloth and wash him (he drips constantly because of his catheter, so he gets a lot of urine on his back end). He's still not out of the woods but when he's available I'm strongly considering taking him home. My boss is on board, she loves it when the cats go to staff members because she can keep better track of how they're doing and make sure the recommendations are being followed (in this case, urinary s/o food).
That being said, as much as I already love him and want to give him a good home, I have some reservations.
1) He doesn't seem to like dogs much - not a big deal, he doesn't freak out in his cage or anything, just gets a bit grumbly if they come too close. This could also be because he hasn't been around dogs (that I know of) and because he's confined/hospitalized. But, it needs to be considered because we have three dogs at home, two of whom are very "in your face" to our cats because they all play together.
2) We already have three dogs and two cats. We're still well within the legal limit (three dogs, 2 cats per adult per dwelling) and have a fairly large townhouse (2500 sq feet), so it's not the room. I'm wondering how he would adjust from being an only cat, to joining a house of chaos (it's not actually THAT bad, lol).
3) Meowzers (3-4 years) HATES other cats, I think the only reason she took to Lloyd was because he was a kitten. Even now, she mostly tolerates him. He just wants to play (he's a year) but she's a lazy grump and would be happier to sleep on the bed all day. This cat is 7ish, I haven't seen him when he's not sick so I don't know what his activity level is, but if I were to guess from his figure, I'd say he's not a very active cat.
4) Right now, we can afford to add another pet. The problem would come if I were to be let go, quit, etc and our vet bills were to return to what the norm is... I know at that point, things would be tight financially. I don't see that happening in the near future or anything, but you never know.
5) I don't know how good his chances of being adopted are - he's 7, black and has bladder problems. Odds are pretty good that he would block again if not monitored closely and I can't see many people agreeing to frequent urinalysis tests until we get a few clear ones in a row. Even then, the specialized diet is a big turn off for a lot of people too. He also had high potassium and will need a dental as soon as possible (if I do decide to take him I'll have that done before he came home). Again, how many people would take on a cat that potentially has kidney problems AND will need an expensive procedure done soon after adoption? (The dental may be done before his adoption, it's going to be at least a week before we even start to think about it).
6) The blocking/dental/possibly kidney disease will be a huge roadblock in getting Mike to agree. We adopted a large 7-8 year old cat a few years ago that passed away from FIP two months after we got him. Mike had a really hard time with it and refused to do anything with Stan after we got his diagnosis. I don't want to put Mike through that again.
I need input from people outside of our friends/family. Our friends all say yes, my parents say no... I'm very torn. So, what would you do if you were in my situation?
We currently have a large black smoke cat that is here for hospitalization (he was blocked) and will be up for adoption when his catheter comes out and he's urinating well on his own. I love this cat, he's such a good and gentle boy, doesn't complain and goes nuts purring and rolling around when I take a damp cloth and wash him (he drips constantly because of his catheter, so he gets a lot of urine on his back end). He's still not out of the woods but when he's available I'm strongly considering taking him home. My boss is on board, she loves it when the cats go to staff members because she can keep better track of how they're doing and make sure the recommendations are being followed (in this case, urinary s/o food).
That being said, as much as I already love him and want to give him a good home, I have some reservations.
1) He doesn't seem to like dogs much - not a big deal, he doesn't freak out in his cage or anything, just gets a bit grumbly if they come too close. This could also be because he hasn't been around dogs (that I know of) and because he's confined/hospitalized. But, it needs to be considered because we have three dogs at home, two of whom are very "in your face" to our cats because they all play together.
2) We already have three dogs and two cats. We're still well within the legal limit (three dogs, 2 cats per adult per dwelling) and have a fairly large townhouse (2500 sq feet), so it's not the room. I'm wondering how he would adjust from being an only cat, to joining a house of chaos (it's not actually THAT bad, lol).
3) Meowzers (3-4 years) HATES other cats, I think the only reason she took to Lloyd was because he was a kitten. Even now, she mostly tolerates him. He just wants to play (he's a year) but she's a lazy grump and would be happier to sleep on the bed all day. This cat is 7ish, I haven't seen him when he's not sick so I don't know what his activity level is, but if I were to guess from his figure, I'd say he's not a very active cat.
4) Right now, we can afford to add another pet. The problem would come if I were to be let go, quit, etc and our vet bills were to return to what the norm is... I know at that point, things would be tight financially. I don't see that happening in the near future or anything, but you never know.
5) I don't know how good his chances of being adopted are - he's 7, black and has bladder problems. Odds are pretty good that he would block again if not monitored closely and I can't see many people agreeing to frequent urinalysis tests until we get a few clear ones in a row. Even then, the specialized diet is a big turn off for a lot of people too. He also had high potassium and will need a dental as soon as possible (if I do decide to take him I'll have that done before he came home). Again, how many people would take on a cat that potentially has kidney problems AND will need an expensive procedure done soon after adoption? (The dental may be done before his adoption, it's going to be at least a week before we even start to think about it).
6) The blocking/dental/possibly kidney disease will be a huge roadblock in getting Mike to agree. We adopted a large 7-8 year old cat a few years ago that passed away from FIP two months after we got him. Mike had a really hard time with it and refused to do anything with Stan after we got his diagnosis. I don't want to put Mike through that again.
I need input from people outside of our friends/family. Our friends all say yes, my parents say no... I'm very torn. So, what would you do if you were in my situation?