topic Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome! in Pet Lovers

Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

brmmom — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:21:18 GMT

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

Cookie2025 — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:24:40 GMT

Oh Goodness - can you explain how ?

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

Imaoldhippie — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:24:44 GMT

Make sure they are all spayed or neutered!

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

chrystaltree — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:28:10 GMT

Take them to the vet for a check up ask the vet for advice on adopting so many cats at one time.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

KingstonsMom — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:36:11 GMT

If you "inherited" 7 cats at one time, I assume it was from a family member and that the 7 cats were already used to living together.

In that case, there shouldn't be an issue getting along with each other, just adjusting to their new home and new owner(s).

Be patient as they learn the possibly 'new rules' of living in your home.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

brmmom — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:42:41 GMT

Yes I can, they are my brothers'. He passed away suddenly and they are his babies.

He was well known for feeding all the strays around town every morning. He was such an

Animal lover that he put a cat door on his garage so any cat could come in for food. A pair of raccoons and even a skunk came every day too. He loved them all.

He had just rescued a kitten this past spring, it was about 4 weeks old and some SOB

Kicked it in the face and slit her throat. Her eyeball was dangling from its socket.

He took her to the vet and now she is doing beautifully.

As for the others, they are all spayed and neutered.

I need advice because we dogs are all we ever had.

Thanks to everyone who can help!

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

Oznell — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:44:30 GMT

Good for you to take them in, @brmmom ! We have 4 cats, our highest number has been five. Our town has many strays and feral cats, many of which can be re-tamed.

Taking them to the vet is a good start. Make sure you have the supplies you need. Indoor cats need litter boxes that are scooped daily. It's recommended that you have at least one litter box for every two cats, but I know that's not always possible. We have 3 boxes in the basement.

If you didn't have cats before, try to make sure your house is "cat-proof". Keep things you don't want them to get into, out of their reach. Hanging cords, or plastic bags can be hazardous to them. Make sure you don't let them have access to anything chocolate, or to poinsettias, or anything else that is toxic to cats. The vet will brief you on stuff like that-- just ask.

Inexpensive cat toys, like string toys, or squeak toys, or just ping pong balls and cardboard boxes, can keep them occupied and interested.

Our vet recommends about a quarter of a cup of cat food, twice a day, for each cat. We give dry food in the morning, and mix of dry and canned in afternoon. We are able to feed them in separate areas (which I know is not always possible) because some will horn in on the more timid cats' food, depriving them of their share. So we feed one in the entry hall with door shut, two in the kitchen, one in a hallway. A pain, but we know they're all getting fed properly. Always plenty of fresh water available.

Googling "caring for multiple cats" I'm sure will be a big help. Thank you for giving these needy kitties a caring home!

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

brmmom — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:51:17 GMT

My biggest concern is how to blend cats and dogs. I would like to have us all together upstairs. The cats have been living in our basement (it's huge)

Our dogs don't even know they're down there, we snuck them in while they were in the

Back yard. We have a golden retriever and a bichon/poodle mix and we have no idea how to go about introducing each other.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

brmmom — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 12:59:46 GMT

Thank you Oznell! I do have 4 litter boxes and 2 cat litter genies.(fabulous product)

I do see that we may have been overfeeding them though. I will take your advice to heart.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

nyc1 — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:10:59 GMT

@brmmomYou are a very kind soul and amazing sister to honor your brother this way. I hope you all get into a routine and that you are able to work things out or find a wonderful loving home for some of the cats. You've taken on A LOT.

Have you seen how your dogs react to cats, squirrels, rabbits, etc when you take them for a walk. You know better than anyone, the personality and behavior traits of your dogs. You may start off by letting them smell a blanket that the cats have been on. And, once the cats are somewhat settled in, you can do the same for them. Your vet and some reputable online advise should prove helpful.

Wishing you all the best. Please keep us posted.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

brmmom — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:24:22 GMT

NYC1, thank you so much! I love the blanket idea. My golden loves to smell my clothes after I've been with the cats.

Thank you also for saying I'm a good sister, that means so much to me, brought tears to my eyes. I have to say though, my husband is the Amazing one here. No one else in my family wanted any of the cats so he did it for me and my brother, Steve.

We are enjoying them and all but two, (they are feral) are affectionate toward us.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

hayseed00 — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:28:10 GMT

@brmmomThere are some rescue groups that can give you the names of Veterinarans that offer discounted rates to help with vaccinations and also spay and neuter. Patience will be a biggie until all of you get to know each other. Take care friend !!

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

drizzellla — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:29:16 GMT

Let me start out by saying I never had a "blended family". I have had cats and I have had dogs but never together.

I can't help but think your dogs are going to figure out that there is activity going on in the basement.

A friend has 4 cats and a greyhound dog. She introduced the new fellows slowly. There were always barriers between the new fellows and the established fellows. She started with doors. A cat was housed in one room or an area. Then she progressed to baby guards. They could see each other and smell each other. She could watch how they reacted to one another. And depending how things went, she would keep them separate for at least a week and sometimes more.

And sometimes they didn't get along. But the cats seemed to settle into a routine. And if the cats did not get along, the cat would stay in the upstairs away from the others. She had one cat that stayed primarily in her husband's office.

Good Luck. I am sure you will have quite a bit of getting used to and you certainly will need lots of food and cat litter. I wish you lots of patience too.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

Bird mama — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:40:32 GMT

@brmmom It's been a long time since I've lived with cats however I wanted to stop by and offered my sincerest sympathy to you for the loss of your beloved brother.

Bless you and your wonderful husband for taking in your brother's cats. Animals grieve and I'm sure they also feel the loss of him.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

brmmom — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:41:32 GMT

Thanks for the good wishes drizzella but I think my dogs are as dumb as a bag of rocks!

The cats have been here for 6 weeks and they are completely clueless!

I have to say I had no idea how expensive this will be. The cat litter alone is breaking the bank. But I have 5 other brothers and a sister and they donated money for their care.

Mostly out of guilt, I think, but who cares if that's what it takes!

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

NickNack — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:42:53 GMT

@brmmom This is a wonderful thing you are doing for your brother. It sounds like he was a wonderful person to care for all these cats. I would advise you to keep them as indoor only cats if you can, especially the kitten. The kitten was rescued early and could easily adapt to being inside.

There are lots of articles online about how to introduce dogs and cats to each other, but they are mostly talking about introducing one cat to one dog. The advice you got about introducing the blanket with the other's scent on it is good.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

brmmom — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:52:44 GMT

Oh yes birdmoma they do grieve. The night my brother died his oldest cat walked around his house with his toy in his mouth and he was just making the saddest meowing cries.

The other cats did the same thing the first 2 weeks they were here.

And yes, my husband is wonderful, the animal shelters here won't take cats because they have too many now. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if my husband said no.

He stepped up and said we'll do it for Stevie. Thank you, God for that man!

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

brmmom — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 13:57:11 GMT

Nicknack, I agree with you completely. They will all be kept inside. My brother had built a cage around a window so the cats go be outside when it was warm out. My dh wants to

Do something similar here. Just have to get the dogs to cooperate.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

happycat — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 14:22:15 GMT

I am with those who have advised you to take to the vet and have spayed and neutered. And checked out!

We found a tiny kitten on Thanksgiving, took to a different vet that Fri, as my vet was closed. He said it had an eye infection. It has herpes of the eye (I think thats what my vet called it), which in contagious to other cats. I have two!

My new little kitty also had ringworm (also missed by first vet )

Which is also congtagious.

Maybe all your cats are healthy, but be on the safe side, especially if you have any other animals.

Re: Help!!! We recently inherited 7 cats, any advice is welcome!

brmmom — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 14:46:54 GMT

Happycat01, I am happy to report that all the kitties are fixed. My brother saw to that.

Thanks for sharing your experience. How often do you change the kitty litter? I've been

Using freshstep and we changed it only once so far. I clean it out several times a day and

We haven't had any odor problems but I'm not sure if we should be changing it more often.