adopted stray cats, how did you manage them..
By mobhomeir
@mobhomeir (7558)
Philippines
December 25, 2008 8:12pm CST
hello cat-pet lovers. We just adopted a stray cat from our village. At first, she was hesitant to eat the foods we've gave, she even so scared every time we came nearer to her. Until she started friendly that she can go already inside and out on our house. We just let her go out every night before we got to sleep because we never knew yet her attitude if she will be inside being locked up. Each morning, early morning we will be awaken by her meoows, she never stops until the door will open for her to go inside the house. Our problem is HOW COULD WE CLEAN HER..she's a white color cat and right now she looks off-white, we want to take her a bath. But, we are afraid cause we're sure she's not used to it, she might scratch or bite us. We come-up on idea of tightening her for safety purposes. Is that a good idea? Do you have experienced adopting stray cats? How did you manage her cleaning maintenance? Please share your ideas, cause we don't have. Thanks,and Happy New Year to every one.
2 people like this
11 responses
@xbrendax (2662)
• United States
26 Dec 08
DO NOT force her to bath and DO NOT told her down or put some tightening thing on her in order to clean her up! This will only scare her more and lead to her hating you! I run a cat rescue and have handled cats all my life, even the farral ones so I know what I am talking about. The BEST way to get a cat to bath is to put a little tuna or PINK salmon juice here and there on her fur and let her go, she'll bath herself until it is all gone! The reason I said ( PINK ) salmon is because ( RED ) salmon will kill a cat! It has something in it that will poison a cat in time, it slowly kills the liver of a cat and the cat will die! Good luck with your new cat and if she wants to remain dirty looking, oh well, that's just her way. I have had some cats that prefer to stay dirty even though that is not a cat's nature!
@mobhomeir (7558)
• Philippines
26 Dec 08
wow..what a nice idea. I will take that. Thank you very much friend
@oyenkai (4394)
• Philippines
26 Dec 08
we wore gloves to make sure that if she does scratch us then it wouldn't hurt. And first we had her vaccinated and all that stuff of course, if we took care of cats - then we took care of them well, being careful that we're not endangering ourselves. And yeah, we also had ours neutered.
1 person likes this
@mobhomeir (7558)
• Philippines
26 Dec 08
Okay. So you mean we will vaccine her first before doing so? Okay we'll do that. Thanks
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
26 Dec 08
I have had three cats in my life and they have all found me and adopted me, the only time my cat looked dirty was when she had a few fleas but once i got her on the medication for that and cleared it up, she starteed to look better, cats usuall clean themselves, its good that you have brought joy to this little cat, I love it when it is cold and raining because that is the only time my cat likes to stay inside...I think your little cat loves you
@hotsummer (13837)
• Philippines
26 Dec 08
hmm we haev lots of stray cats. they are always making noises if they get hungry. and so it is quite annoying. but every time to drive them away, it is just no use. they will just keep coming back to go through our garbage cans to look for food. so that they will not going to make a mess of our garbage we give them food. i hate what they do . they have ruined our sofa set with their sharp nails. hope my mom will not get angry for what happened to our sofa set when she come back next year from other country.
1 person likes this
@conbill (369)
• United States
26 Dec 08
I have adopted stray cats before. Most cats are very clean and will wash themselves. Give the cat time to get to know you and trust you. She will probably start cleaning herself. Most cats stray or otherwise do not like to be put in water and will instinctively bite and scratch. A lot of pet stores sell cleaning wipes which you might try.
By her meowing to get in it sounds as if she is already accepting you which is the first step. Good luck and its wonderful that you gave a stray a home. Happy New Year to you also.
@GreyBusiness (26)
• United States
26 Dec 08
All you should do is take it slow cats have instincts as we do they will use them to see if you have and ill action towards them. Show the cat your in it for the long haul and you see them there also and they will do what is needed to make you and them comfortable. Be nice!
1 person likes this
@cipher2004 (1183)
• United States
26 Dec 08
I have a stray that lives on my porch. He looked horrible when he showed up.His fur was a mess. After a few weeks of good food and regular petting you would not even recognize him.
Give your cat some time before you attempt to wash her. Strays eat all kinds of junk that is not good for them. Good nutrition and some good old-fashioned petting(which will get some of the loose hair off)should be all she needs.
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
27 Dec 08
I actually bathe my cat once - in over 3 years we have LOL
she is indoor cat so she is pretty much clean
there is a pet hair trimmer in the pet store and so we got that too
we trimmed her hair carefully and then bathe her in a sink with warm water and pet shampoo. we didn't wash her head because it may hurt her eyes. but because she was in the sink her head was never under the water anyway.
after that we quickly rinsed her with clean water and wiped her dry. she hated that LOL so we never do it again. I should learn about pet grooming in the future. I think most pets would scratch and bite during that but as long as you use the right shampoo and not washing her head, it may be ok.
@thedogshrink (1266)
• United States
26 Dec 08
Cats usually do not need to be bathed, as they are very clean animals. However, a white cat that has been living on the streets on its own is going to need a bath at first, because she can't clean all of that much dirt off by herself. But you should definitely take her to the vet first, and have her vaccinated, examined for any diseases she may have gotten, and spayed or neutered so you will not end up with kittens.
But for sure vaccinate and exam before you attempt too much handling.
I would suggest if you can afford it to have the vet also bathe her. They are experienced and can do it without hurting the cat or themselves. The cat will do a lot of damage to you with it claws even if it does not purposely scratch or bite you -- just trying to run away. And you can't blame her really if she does try to purposely scratch or bite, since she will be terrified, and who knows what someone may have done to her on the streets. So, unless there is someone there who knows clearly how to properly restrain a cat, you should ask the vet to do it. If you can't do that right away, you can try the cat bathing wipes -- they MUST say for cats on them -- cats have VERY sensitive skin and bodies and are very, very sensitive to medicines as well as shampoos, flea medicine, etc. The wipes won't do as good a job as a real bath, but they work pretty well, and if you are careful, she will just think she is be petted. Don't try to just hold her down because cats are good at escape and she will hurt you plus you will hurt her.
Here's a link to some bath wipes for cats, but if you can buy them in a pet store or a Walmart type store there, it will likely be cheaper -- because they will add more to the cost for shipping overseas.
http://grooming.petedge.com/Top-Performance-Top---Tail-Wipes-For-Cats-TP352.pro
@TessWhite (3146)
• United States
26 Dec 08
I also adopted a white stray cat last year. He still goes in and out every day, although I wish he would just stay inside. But sometimes he comes in a bit dusty and dirty. What I do is get a warm damp cloth and I wipe it down his fur as I'm either letting him eat or petting him. Once you do that he gets the idea and heads off somewhere quiet to clean himself up. You should take your cat to the vet though for vaccines. Cats can get rabies and even feline lukemia. If your cat will be coming in and out you will want them vaccinated and you may want a topical flea treatment as well.
@raik02 (78)
• Philippines
30 Dec 08
First, cut the nails of the cat but just a bit.
then there will be no problem with cleaning it.
I suggest to clean it with warm water cats hate cold temperature.
after cleaning take a towel & dry it with a blower.
then feed her so that she wont go away. ^-^
@mobhomeir (7558)
• Philippines
30 Dec 08
I don't think I could cut her nails she's not really tamed yet. But I will just try. Yes. Thanks