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homebodymom

New kitty in the house

homebodymom
13 years ago

Hello All,

I am new to this forum. I am a long time pet owner, but have come into unfamiliar territory and would love some suggestions.

Current pet family- 12 year old neutured male lab, 2 1/2 year old neutured male lab and a 5 year old neutured, indoor male cat who thinks he is a lab too.

Sunday we get a knock on the door. Young girl from the neighborhood with a lost cat wondering if it was ours. After hours/days of going door to door, hanging signs,checking petfinder, classified adds,calls to shelters, and hanging signs in all of the local vet offices we now have a new family member!

We put the cat into isolation in my daughters room with food,water litterbox. All being used well. New kitty has such long hair and was sooooo skinny that I didn;t want to stress it out- I still can't tell if it is male/female. I don't really care except we dont know what to call it! We are calling it "Kitty" for now. Kitty is very sweet and affectionate.

I have a vet appointment for kitty on Friday for basic checkup,FIV test,fecal, etc. I will let the vet check for sex. Kitty will stay in isolation until then even though my cat is current on his vaccinations.

Here is the problem. This poor thing is declawed - ALL FOUR PAWS and I am concerned about introducing kitty to my other cat. My cat is as sweet as can be (total mush actually), but I have no experience with declawed cats.

Any suggestions?

Sorry so long! Thanks for any suggestions!

Comments (6)

  • cat_mom
    13 years ago

    Intact and declawed cats at the shelter where I volunteer seem to get along as well (or as badly) as other cats at the shelter. In other words, if they are going to get along or not doesn't hinge on having claws or not.

    This is not an endorsement or knock on declawing, merely an answer for the OP. Despite the prevailing notion that all (or most) declawed cats avoid the litter box, bite, have other behavioral issues, etc., this is often not the case as you have seen for yourself. Treat kitty as you would any other cat (and don't let it outside). He/she seems to have made a good start with you already.

    Good luck!

  • 3katz4me
    13 years ago

    I introduced a new cat with claws to my old cats who did not have front claws. They all got along fine and the claws on the one didn't seem to present any kind of problem with the other cats. The only problem they presented was with the humans who weren't used to cats with front claws.

    I think it is so tragic that someone declaws a cat - especially all four - and then is so negligent the cat ends up as a stray. Some people are idiots. I've only once adopted a cat from a shelter but when I did I made a point of picking one that was declawed since I knew I would keep it inside 100% of the time and that it would be 100% safe from predators it couldn't defend against.

  • Lily316
    13 years ago

    Lucky cat to have found you. I cannot imagine anyone declawing a cat, let on all four paws. Just terrible.

  • lfnyc
    13 years ago

    I think Kitty is a great name for a cat...I called my first cat Miss Kitty, but a better name for your new pal might be 'Lucky'.

    I got 'hooked' on declawed cats several years ago when I adopted two elderly cats from someone who could no longer care for them. It was during their lives that I also bought some costly upholstered furniture. Both cats were absolute sweethearts.

    When they passed, I went to the ASPCA looking for a declawed cat. There were two choices...the first was a problem,and the staff vet knew it because she suggested that I take her on a foster basis. I had to give the poor thing back after a few days because she wouldn't let me medicate her(she had hyper thyroid). I don't know how much it had to do with her lack of claws, put this poor puss, although beautiful, lacked the ability to bond...just cowered in the corner on her cat bed...but her litter box use was just fine.

    My second choice was 8 year old declawed Odessa...she is as sweet and affectionate as any cat I've ever had. And she is the only cat i ever had who seems to like having her hind claws clipped...she just hangs out and watches me as I do it. She loves to have her forepaws played with and has never had a litter box related problem.

    A good book you might want to look up for introducing a new cat to your house is 'Cat vs Cat'. So far, it sounds like you are doing everything right.

  • homebodymom
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks everyone for the info and recommendations!

  • mokanee
    13 years ago

    Haha, that's funny about the name...

    My cat, Kitty, also came by her name in a similar fashion... I found her abandoned in a barn 13 years ago and I felt bad for her so I fed her for a few days until I finally decided I had to take her home with me (until I had a chance to take her to the SPCA of course). So she came home with me, met my other cat (at that time, and being 20 years old, I just threw them together without any slow introducing time period, but hey it seemed to work out alright) and it just seemed that I was too busy every day to find time to take her to the shelter... and in the meantime I had to call her something, but I didn't want to give her a "real" name because then I might get attached to her, and since I was going to give her up that just wouldn't be right... Lo and behold 13 years later and I STILL haven't found the time to bring her to a shelter, OR give her a proper name, LOL!