Adopting a Cat – An Update

Adopting a Cat – An Update

Back in November, I told you our story of adopting a cat. So, two months later, I thought I’d give you an update of how things are going.

Silky the CatWell, first things first… The slender bundle of feline energy is still called Silky (pronounced “Sulky” if you’re my nephew!). She does often get called other things, but the name Cats Protection gave her has stuck. I, however, do think that the name “Chaos” would be more suitable!

Silky has so much energy. She runs around and love to play, constantly. Stroking her with one hand just isn’t enough, either. She’ll bunt your other hand too to get the maximum of fuss out of you. She really can’t get enough attention. However, sitting in your knee or cuddling up isn’t really on her agenda, which I find odd for a cat who can’t get enough attention. Although, she is now gradually starting to spend a couple of minutes sat on our knees before jumping down and demanding more play.

Silky has a teddy bear teaser toy which she absolutely loved to play with. She wiggles, runs and jumps at it. Once she’s finished chasing it and catching it, sometimes she’ll pick it up and walk off with it (complete with string and stick!). I laughed at her the one day when she picked up her toy mouse and dumped it in her water bowl, before walking off! I have no idea what that was about, but I rescued the poor thing and dried it out.

more_silky2Talking of water, Silky loves to drink straight from the tap! If I turn the bathroom tap on for her, she’ll sit in the sink and drink the running water for ages. We used to have a drinking fountain for cats, so I think I’ll get another for Silky.

One thing we checked when we collected Silky from her fosterer was that she’d been spayed. Yes, she’d been spayed and the paperwork said she’d been spayed. So imagine our surprise when she started displaying signs of being on heat within a couple of weeks of her being with us. She displayed every single sign. Apparently, she’d not been spayed by Cats Protection, they’d just done a test and the results indicated that she had. However, she’d been with the fosterer since at least July, so you would have thought they might have noticed Silky being on heat at some point between then and us adopting her in November.

So, last Monday we took Silky to the vets to be spayed… She wasn’t too happy about it (obviously), but was pretty much back to her usual self the next day. She’s managed to get away without having to wear a cone/collar and has been good about not pulling at the stitches.

Leo (our other cat) originally took great offence to Silky invading his territory. He didn’t want anything to do with her and would hiss and even scream at her if she went near. He’s now completely changed his tune and would like to be friends with her. However, Silky’s a little afraid of the big fluff ball who’s twice her size, and will growl if he gets too near. Leo just takes it in his stride and leaves her be. I think she’ll come around eventually.

(We’ve been using a Feliway plug-in, so I don’t know if that helped Leo change his mind about Silky or if he just thought “Sod it, it looks like she’s staying anyway”).

Leo the CatTalking about Leo… He’s been through a rough time of it, lately. He started coughing and his breathing began to sound raspy, so a trip to the vets was in order. Two teeth out, blood tests, X-rays and a camera down his throat later, the vet thought he might be asthmatic as his lungs weren’t as clear as they should be. He’s half Maine Coon and they’re susceptible to asthma, as it turns out.

Leo was put on a course of steroids when he came home, but after a couple of days he went totally off his food and wouldn’t drink anything either. He just wanted to curl up on my bed and be left alone. Not even tuna would raise his appetite. Desperately worried, we used a syringe to get him to drink some water and we also stopped giving him the tablets. Suddenly, he wanted to eat again. He spent the next day being treated like a king, with a choice of whatever food he wanted. Within 48 hours he was back to his usual self.

He’s had another check-up with the vet and she was in agreeance of keeping him off the medication. She was also surprised that his rattle in his chest had completely disappeared. He does have a heart murmur, but the vet isn’t too worried about it at the moment.

A week ago I was so worried about Leo, I thought we might lose him, but just a week later he’s showing us just how tough a cat he is. In the space of a few months, he’s lost his best mate, had Silky invade his territory and been quite ill. Yet, he’s still here and proving what a wonderful cat he is.

11 comments

  1. Jo says:

    Awww, it’s lovely to hear that Silky’s settled in and also that Leo’s come round too. It sounds like she’s a proper little character. What a good job you noticed her coming in to heat, you could have ended up with more than you’d bargained for there.

  2. Kelly says:

    Loved getting this update including all the cute photos! I will share it with my kitty-obsessed daughter (with whom I shared the original kitty post, as well).

    Glad Leo is okay now! (and that Silky has settled right in)

  3. Tracy Terry says:

    How wonderful of you to let us know how Sulky (I love your nephews version) is getting on. Looking well and so grown-up, she looks like she has settled well in her forever home.

  4. Oh you have beautiful cats, Nixy. I’m relieved to hear Leo is recovering well. Cats have amazing resilience. They may need just a few days of being left alone (though of course we can never bring ourselves to leave them totally alone) to recuperate. My two cats were like that, too. Also glad to hear that Silky is adapting well to her new home. Getting spayed is good for her health.

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