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I went out for dinner with Sarah B and her Jay last night, and when we got back, Stormy had moved from his hiding spot behind the board games to underneath my bed. He spent the entire evening there while we watched TV, so I moved the litter box into my bedroom and put his food under the bed, tossed a catnip mouse under there, then went about my business. I checked before I went to bed, and he had had some of the canned food and had obviously at least scratched about in the litter box, so I was pleased. In the middle of the night, around 3:30 maybe, I heard him scratching in the litter box. He would stop every time I moved around at all, and then once I was settled for a minute he'd start again. Then I could smell that he had used the litter box. Good news. Later on I heard him pee, and indeed, there was an impressive amount of clumped up cat pee to be scooped this morning. Good news again. And he did wander around a bit and play with his catnip mouse--I heard him moving around, and this morning the mouse was on the carpet, when I had tossed it to him all the way under the bed last night. Also, I heard him eating some tiem in the night, and this morning every bit of the food was gone, dry and canned, and the bowl was completely licked clean. I have already slid fresh food and water under the bed to him, and the litter box is clean for him for later. Once he gets more used to moving around the apartment, I'll move food and litter back to where they should be, but this is fine for now. I'm also trying to talk to him and even on the phone near him as much as possible so he can get used to my voice.
Here's Stormy's story: I got him from a cat rescue organization called Stray Cat Blues (the local Petsmart store donates space to them for keeping cats and doing adoptions). He had belonged to a person who volunteered with SCB, but this woman had apparently collected over 40 cats of her own, not counting a few that she was fostering for the organization. So SCB was trying to phase her out as a volunteer because she was just way over the top, because you can't care for 40 cats the way you can care for 1 or 2 or 10 cats. And then she died unexpectedly. Her son had no idea what to do with all these cats, was considering just opening the windows and doors and letting them all walk out, but he called SCB before he did that, and they came and got them all. They had a really hard time with all these cats, in sheer quantity, and also because a lot of them were injured or malnourished or had ear mites and who knows when they'd had their shots. Stormy in particular refused to eat and was very lethargic; they had to put him on special vitamins to stimulate his appetite. Apparently it had stopped being worth it for him to fight the other cats to get food. This is clearly not a problem for him anymore (hence the watching him eat like a hungry hungry cat in the store yesterday, and the licked-clean bowl this morning), but even now he is very thin--he has a normal-sized cat head on a very skinny body. He needs fattening up. I think my problem with him will not be getting him to eat, but in getting him to stop eating--to trust that this food will be sitting here all day and he doesn't have to eat it all right now before someone else comes along. In any case, SCB has found good homes for all but 7 of the 40 cats--all but 6 now. They have been finding that these cats, even though they're used to having lots of other cats around, are adjusting incredibly well to being only cats in a home--they get all the attention, all the food, don't have to fight with anyone, etc. So that's what I'm hoping will happen with Stormy. He's probably around four years old, so hopefully he's old and mellow enough to hang out and sit in the windows and stuff during the day and be cool about the fact that I'm not around, and then when I'm home I hope that he'll like having my undivided attention and loving. At least, once he comes out from under the bed. :)
People have asked for pictures, which would obviously be difficult to provide right now. :) Once he comes out and starts being the love fest cat I met at the store, then there will be pictures.
Here's Stormy's story: I got him from a cat rescue organization called Stray Cat Blues (the local Petsmart store donates space to them for keeping cats and doing adoptions). He had belonged to a person who volunteered with SCB, but this woman had apparently collected over 40 cats of her own, not counting a few that she was fostering for the organization. So SCB was trying to phase her out as a volunteer because she was just way over the top, because you can't care for 40 cats the way you can care for 1 or 2 or 10 cats. And then she died unexpectedly. Her son had no idea what to do with all these cats, was considering just opening the windows and doors and letting them all walk out, but he called SCB before he did that, and they came and got them all. They had a really hard time with all these cats, in sheer quantity, and also because a lot of them were injured or malnourished or had ear mites and who knows when they'd had their shots. Stormy in particular refused to eat and was very lethargic; they had to put him on special vitamins to stimulate his appetite. Apparently it had stopped being worth it for him to fight the other cats to get food. This is clearly not a problem for him anymore (hence the watching him eat like a hungry hungry cat in the store yesterday, and the licked-clean bowl this morning), but even now he is very thin--he has a normal-sized cat head on a very skinny body. He needs fattening up. I think my problem with him will not be getting him to eat, but in getting him to stop eating--to trust that this food will be sitting here all day and he doesn't have to eat it all right now before someone else comes along. In any case, SCB has found good homes for all but 7 of the 40 cats--all but 6 now. They have been finding that these cats, even though they're used to having lots of other cats around, are adjusting incredibly well to being only cats in a home--they get all the attention, all the food, don't have to fight with anyone, etc. So that's what I'm hoping will happen with Stormy. He's probably around four years old, so hopefully he's old and mellow enough to hang out and sit in the windows and stuff during the day and be cool about the fact that I'm not around, and then when I'm home I hope that he'll like having my undivided attention and loving. At least, once he comes out from under the bed. :)
People have asked for pictures, which would obviously be difficult to provide right now. :) Once he comes out and starts being the love fest cat I met at the store, then there will be pictures.
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Date: 2007-04-01 03:06 pm (UTC)From:I want a kitty.
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Date: 2007-04-01 04:01 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 04:06 pm (UTC)From:Well I guess Stormy was just meant to be with you then.
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Date: 2007-04-01 04:09 pm (UTC)From:I hope so! We'll see how it goes. Hopefully Stormy will be a happy cat in a few days.
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Date: 2007-04-01 04:00 pm (UTC)From:There was a story about Best Friends Animal Society's Great Bunny Rescue. Someone had started a rabbit rescue and acquired too many rabbits that started to form their own warren in the back yard. Now when I say too many rabbits I'm talking about 1,000 bunnies! It was a pretty amazing story.
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Date: 2007-04-01 04:18 pm (UTC)From:yay!
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Date: 2007-04-01 04:21 pm (UTC)From:Stormy's story reminded me of our cat Buffy. She was once a street kitty from LA. My mother-in-law rescued her when she was about 10 months old. She was a tiny, skinny little thing who had already had 2 litters of kittens on the street. My MIL took her home to live with the rest of her 5 or so cats & 2 dogs. It didn't go well. Poor little Buffy fought everyone for her food. She did not play well with others. Uri's cat of 21 years had just died, and while visiting, we fell in love with little Buffy and promptly adopted her and flew her home with us. She acted a lot like Stormy when she first moved in with us - hiding in the bedroom - but it really didn't take long for her to realize that she had a great home all to herself and plenty of food that wasn't going anywhere. After 2 years, when she was plenty fat and happy, we adopted 6 week old Spike & brought him home to meet his new sister. Luckily, they took to each other immediately and have been best friends ever since.
Can't wait for pictures of Stormy! Did you already say what color he is?
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Date: 2007-04-01 04:36 pm (UTC)From:Stormy is white with grey spots on his face, head, and back. He has pretty green eyes. He's also a polydactyl cat--he has extra toeses!
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Date: 2007-04-01 05:32 pm (UTC)From:Ack! How cute is that!!!
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Date: 2007-04-01 05:45 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-04-01 05:34 pm (UTC)From:Also, Max is already talking about seeing you again. He misses you. :-)
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Date: 2007-04-01 05:45 pm (UTC)From: