Pet Lovers

[Buckeye815]

Hi there! Congratulations on your new family members. Socialize them slowly with your dogs. If you have them in the basement, try to have some spaces where they can be up high, or throw towels on the furniture so they can lounge. Cat towers that have several levels are great, they can scratch them and everyone can have their own spot. If you don't have one of those available, get a few boxes, like paper boxes or larger amazon boxes. Put a couple of towels in them for them to sleep on. They like small spaces and even when they like to play together they still like their alone time!.  Change their water often, cats don't get thirsty, so they need clean fresh water available. Keep the litterbox clean every day. They won't go in a dirty box. My kitties love a little water fountain that we picked up at petco. Amazon or chewy have lots of options. Cats are wonderful creatures, and have a wide variety of personalities. 

[brmmom]

IG, great idea! I will start with the kitten. I just hope my golden accepts her. My first golden

Did not like cats at all . I can't thank you enough for the advice! Fingers crossed (or paws)

That it works for us.

[MoonieBaby]

Brmmom,

The advice on this forumn is purrrfect. 

Your brother was blessed to have had you for his sister and your husband for a brother-in-law.

I'm so sorry for your loss, it must be overwhelming. All of it.

The company that makes Tidy Cats can help with coupons - I've called them to ask for help in the past when I was out of work and low on funds - they sent me coupons that were a huge help to continue being a great pet mom when I was a tad overwhelmed.

Purina has offers as well - call their customer service line and tell them of your "kittenfortune" and ask for a lil advice and coupons for a start, companies like to help animal lovers taking care of animals.

[NickNack]

@brmmom   I also wanted to say how sorry I am for the loss of your brother.  I can't imagine how hard losing a sibling must be.

I've been concentrating so much on giving advice for the cats that I forgot the most important thing.

[denisemb]

You've received some great advice here - we do love our kitties here!

As far as gobbling food, I've found some are gobblers and some are grazers.  Just make sure the grazers are getting their fair share.

As to tracking cat litter, think about getting a Roomba.  DH bought one (I'm sure just to see if our cats would ride them...no such luck).  But our Rocko enjoyed hitting the button, so he became our resident vacuumer.  Usually at 3:00 am, but I couldn't complain.

Like others, I would just scoop and add in more litter, only completely changing it once a month or so.  But we fed a homemade raw diet, which makes a difference in consistancy and odor.

Finally...the bad news:  you will never again eat a tuna salad sandwich without being molested.

So sorry you lost your brother, but I believe you and your husband are honoring him in the best possible way.

Post some pictures if you get a chance (and all you other cat lovers, too!)  Here are our (late) kitties, we miss them every day.

[butterflybush]

My sympathies for the loss of your brother.  God bless your family for taking in his babies.  Great advice on this string.  I have 4 dogs and 2 cats.  I keep a baby gate at the door to the cats room.  They can jump it if they wish or I open it and they prefer to stay in their zone.  They all look at each other through the gate and no one says anything.  Occasionally I open the door so they can interact, but the dogs just want to eat their food and get in their litter boxes.  If you have a meijers store, I would highly recommend the Meijer brand clumping litter (lightweight).  I can get a lot of mileage out of it, it doesn't smell and is much cheaper than the name brands.  Good luck and bless you.

[brmmom]

Sugar puff , great idea with the gate, which I just happen to have because of all the puppies we had over the years. I think I'll try leaving the basement door open for a little while,

Let them take a gander at each other. My dogs refuse to go down the basement, they 

Are scared of the steps. (We have a ranch home) Sometimes I'll have a kitty or two on the top step. So yes, SugarPuff I will do that, thank you!

Not worried about cost of food and litter, but the vet is another story!

I was wandering about rabies shots, do inside cats need them? I see from the records

My brother kept that he had them done so I'm on the fence about that.

Thank you for the nice compliments, and oh yes, my hubby is a keeper, married him after

14 dates so I knew that from the start. We're married 36 years now!

[brmmom]

Buckeye815 Great minds think alike! The first thing we bought were cat trees and they

Love them. I like the water fountain idea so I'll pick one up on Saturday. That will be aot

Big help because we don't have a sink downstairs. Another thing I was wondering about is, should I leave a light on at night for them? My brother always did. I have two nightlights down there now but they don't give much light at all. Dh says lights off but I don't agree.

Funny you should mention the boxes, my dh made 2 cat houses out of large ones. He saw them on youtube and thought it was a good idea. He used the cat tree boxes, actually. Thanks again for the tips, I really learned so much already.

[brmmom]

Ko you are pawsome! My brother gave the cats purina inside cat food so we kept them on it, and I do like coupons!! I'm on it, customer service, here I come!

I also have to say my siblings and I were the ones blessed to have Stevie for 59 years.

Wonderful son too, when my dad died 3 years ago he would take my mom to her doctor, hair and dentist appointments. She is always late but he was so patient with her. He also would sit with her 3 hours a day, two or three hours a day. Helped my other brother and me paint my mom's house last year when he wasn't feeling well. (We had no idea he was sick, he hid it from us) Just a great guy, we all miss him terribly. 

[brmmom]

Thank you NickNack, Steve was the best brother. Having his babies has helped me more than I could ever imagine.