[2kids3cats4me]

There's no turning back now, this new little kitty is ours. My husband is REALLY caught up on the name Buddy (he had a dog in childhood with the same name) so Buddy is what it is. After all, he does seem like my husband's little buddy. Buddy won't let him take a step without weaving in and out of his legs, as long as Buddy can see him.

Hubby came home for lunch around noon today and wouldn't you know it, Buddy was there again! Today was the very first time we had seen him during the normal daytime worker's hours so to me this is the clencher. He HAS to be wandering around on his own, lonely and homeless, looking for someone to love him.

I called out to him, he turned as he heard my voice, tried to paw his way through the fence between the two yards but when he couldn't accomplish that he remembered all on his own how to get from that yard to ours. He had to go through the yard to the east, turn south and walk about 50 feet and then turn west and come through our eastward neighbor's yard to get here and he did it all on his own.

My husband put a lawn chair (with a fresh cushion on it!) on the ground for him to lay on if he wanted. He positioned the chair so George and Herbie really can't see him from where they look out the patio door.

I think starting tonight we're going to have Buddy sleep in our garage so we can be sure he's around when we need to take him to the vet. I've called and got an appointment for Buddy to be checked over for all the feline diseases on Thursday (pray that he checks out alright!!!) and as long as he clears all those tests our vet is going to do the little snip-snip on Tuesday, July 6th. That's the earliest we could get him in but when you think about it it is only 10 days or so.

From the time he is cleared for feline disease until the time he gets neutered we are going to keep him in our garage because I don't want to take the chance of him spraying anywhere in the house. THEN comes the fun part of actually keeping him in a room by himself for a while and making slow intros to George and Herbie. That's really the only part about this that I'm apprehensive about.

Also, if I could get the opinions of other cat owners please, what is it like for 3 cats to be living together? I once heard that if you are going to have cats to keep them in even numbers but we REALLY want to stop with 3. We'll run out of house pretty soon if we don't! :lol: Anyway, can 3 cats really learn to get along and not end up leaving somebody out? Right now George and Herbie are truly 'bosom buddies' and I really don't want to change that, I just want them to feel like they can include Buddy in on the fun.

Well, I really need to stop and get back to work. Sometimes I HATE working at home, but I guess if I didn't I wouldn't be able to be with my cats as often as I am, so there's a plus!

 

[Ianthe]

I am so happy for Buddy- what a lucky kitty. He certainly picked the right people to adopt as his own About the numbers of cats, I know exactly how you feel. I was nervous to take in Boris because I didn't want to disrupt Gaylord and Ashley, who are joined at the hip. It has worked out fine. Ashley and Gaylord are as close as ever, and never far from each other's sight. I don't think Boris really feels left out, though. He was an only cat before he came here, and seems to enjoy a little solitude when he can get it, and he seems to prefer interacting with humans more than animals. However, at the same time, they are all becoming more used to each other, and more used to the new family dynamic (and it has only been about a month!) Everything has a way of working out, and I'm sure that in time, Buddy will be accepted as their new brother Good Luck!

 

[fbodgrl]

I have three cats. I actually never heard that you should have even numbers. Of course this may be a good reason for me to get a fourth :lol:

I was actually very suprised at how well my two did when the third was introduced. They all get along pretty good. Of course there are occasionally some disagreements. Usually because one wants to play and the other doesn't. But I'm sure it would be the same if I had just two.

 

[2kids3cats4me]

I'm worried about Buddy. He spent nearly the ENTIRE day in our backyard laying on a lawn chair until my husband got home from work. It was then that we put Buddy outside our fence and let George and Herbie come out in the backyard for their daily fresh air.

Buddy had a little scare because my husband tried to sneak back into the gate and he proceeded to follow hubby right in. Herbie IMMEDIATELY chased after Buddy and ran him out of the yard. Buddy ended up about 100 feet from our yard and we could still see him so hubby put George and Herbie back in the house and went over to get Buddy. He was a little shaken from the chase but he seemed to come around when hubby showed up. He followed him all the way back to our yard.

He got settled down on a piece of furniture in the yard and began to take another nap. So hubby and I decided to go out for a quick bite to eat and get Buddy some necessities, like a training cage to keep him in the house for a while, new dishes, etc. Since he spent almost the entire day in our yard up to that point (from about 12 noon on) we were certain that he would be here when we got back. But he wasn't.

We went back over to the neighborhood where someone said they had seen him sleeping on their patio furniture and hollered for him off and on the entire time. No luck. I'm scared for him. I know he's survived on his own for this long but all it takes is one little mishap and he could be hurt or worse.

Hubby has tried to assure me that we'll see him again tomorrow and God I hope so. You can tell that he is a good hunter because he can be cuddling up to you and loving every minute of it when all of a sudden he stops what he's doing and concentrates on a bird that happens to fly by. He's also very wise. He pays attention to all the sounds that he hears and I've actually witnessed him stop walking through our yard just because he heard a car out on the street.

So maybe this is just part of the nightly routine that he's used to so far. Maybe he's hunting for birds and/or mice right now. All I know is I can't stand not knowing where he's at. It's amazing how up to now we've probably only had 6 or 7 hours of contact with him and he's already managed to etch his little place in my heart. Sometimes it hurts being this much of an animal lover.

I'll let everyone know as soon as we here from him again. Wish him luck!

-Jolene

 

[2kids3cats4me]

Good News! We woke up this morning and Buddy was in our backyard sleeping on the lawn chair we set out for him. I guess he knows a good thing when he sees it! We could also tell that some of the food and water we had left for him was gone; not much though. He was probably out hunting birds and mice last night since that's what he's used to doing.

That brings to mind another question...since he's been on his own for a while now and is used to having to forge for food does that desire to want to hunt stay with him forever, even after we have him neutered? I guess what I'm trying to say is should we expect to hear him whining to go outside quite a bit. We'll let him out when we can watch him but ONLY when, just like we do with "G" and "H" now.

Hubby is building the kennel we got for him right now and we are just going to TRY putting him in it and leaving him out in the yard while we take George and Herbie out. We'll know pretty quickly whether it will work or not. If "G" and "H" are upset over the deal then we'll put him in our garage while we let George and Herbie outside to play.

Also, we're putting him in the garage for short periods of time only for the first few days. Right now he's so used to being out all the time that we don't want to scare him or traumatize him by not letting him see the outdoors at all.

Wish us luck! We're really green when it comes to the idea of this because we got George and Herbie when they were both very tiny and only a couple weeks apart so there were never any issues with those to getting along or not.

BTW, do any of you have cats that enjoy being tickled? Buddy seems to like it when we tickle his tummy and he'll grab our arms and start nibbling away. He never gets scared or upset and runs from it, just sits there and keeps letting it happen.

 

[Ianthe]

I'm relieved to hear that Buddy is back When I read that you couldn't find him, I was like, Oh nooooooooooo 8O I hate when I can't find one of my cats. I like to know exactly where everyone is, at all times! I think its great that you have become so attached to him-it's probably been a while (if ever) that he has been loved. He might cry to get out a little at first, just because he won't be used to being restricted, but I'm sure he will adjust. Have fun!!!

 

[Richo]

You can take the cat out of the jungle but...

Buddy will always have that hunting instinct whether he does it for food or for sport. I would guess that any cat that's been indoors for all its life would stalk and hunt prey should it end up outdoors. Hunting is in their blood.

Glad to hear he's back.

 

[2kids3cats4me]

Thanks for support, guys! Buddy has been doing better. I can't remember which board I posted the previous message about the garage incident but the first time we put him in the garage it didn't go so well. We have a 2-car garage, had backed our cars out into the driveway to clear it up for Buddy and still he felt crazy being confined.

The second time we took him out, though, was a little bit better. This time my hubby went with us to the garage and Buddy didn't seem near as nervous.

I kind of took offense to that! Just kidding! But really, before my husband and I married he told me that he was allergic to cats. I was completely bummed out because I'd had cats my entire life and couldn't imagine living without one. So, a few months after we married I told him he should allergy shots so I could have a cat AND HE DID! Now he's totally in love with the cats too and wouldn't take back one minute that he's spent with them.

My hubby was Buddy's first real close human contact though so I'm sure that's the reason that he feels more secure around him versus me. :wink: All I know is that the 2nd time was a lot better than the first so at least I feel a little more hopeful now about the rest of the transition.