When we lost Nickie and Finny, our hearts were broken. Bentley was just as sad and grieving just as much as we were. He went around the house crying out, calling them and looking in every space inside and constantly looking outside for them.
We thought another kitty, but not a kitten would help ease his sadness. We were probably wrong, because it was too soon, but we did it anyway because we were all sad. We went to the Naughty Cat Cafe, where they had cats for adoption in a no cage and relaxed environment. It was like a home with sofas, chairs, low level lighting and cats just laying around looking for loving and attention. At least you knew they were socialized and could mix with other cats. They would only let in 15 people at a time to love on the cats. The husband and wife that ran the place would share info about the individual cats to ty and help you find one that fit your needs. They were all nice, but none stood out for us. We spoke with Whitney and explained our situation. She called the Pet Placement Center, another rescue place and they had 4 cats 6 to 8 years old that we might look at and she told them we were coming over.
This place was nothing like the Naught Cat Cafe. All the cats, their litter boxes and food were in one room. The places smelled terrible, but all of the cats were getting along.
As soon as we walked into the cat area David spotted this cat high in the cat tree. As soon as he reached up to pet her, she started purring and wouldn't stop. He said, "she has Nickie's face". She was long hair, but not a Maine Coon. I looked around at the others, that were all nice, but David had already chosen her. We spoke with the lady there and she said this cat, Bingley, was 8 years old and her owners had taken her to the vet to have her euthanized. We couldn't believe anyone would do that to a cat and neither could the vet that refused to do it. We wanted to pick her up, but she was high up on the cat tree and didn't want to come down. She looked very sweet and thought she might fit in well with Bentley. They told us we would have to fill out an application to adopt her and it would take a few days to process. So, we went home an filled out the application on-line. As soon as they got the application----in minutes------they called and asked if we wanted to come get her, So, we did.
They got her down from the cat tree and she was a BIG GIRL 18 lbs. Her normal weight probably should have been about 8-9 lbs. They gave us her paperwork which had records from 2018 to present. She was spayed and up to date on all her shots and no diseases.
I sat in the back seat with her, so she was more comfortable and read through her paperwork. THEN iI discovered why the previous owner wanted to get rid of her. It was a husband and wife with a 3 yr. old, a 4-month-old, 2 dogs and another cat. Bingly had an ongoing problem with pooping outside her litter box. Good grief!!!!!!!!!!! She was on shaky ground with us already with that info. We thought the problem was most likely stress related since they had had her since she was a kitten and now the kids and other animal were taking her attention and space. Plus, they had moved back and forth from Chattanooga to Oak Ridge and back to Chattanooga. Well, we would give it a try and see how it worked out, but if not, we would bring her back for sure.
We put her in our bathroom for a few days until Bentley could get used to her. She was definitely affectionate and talkative. Due to her huge size, she was very hard to pick up, but she was happy and used her litter box at first.
On the 3rd day, she pooped in the bathtub and then on my dining room carpet. We changed the cat litter to unscented and added a litter attractant to it. She did great for a few weeks. Then it happened again. I noticed she seemed to be constipated. We had a free visit with the vet at the Cat Clinic where the owners had taken her to be euthanized and she said to give her 1/4 ts of MiraLAX. Unfortunately, she doesn't eat wet food at all, so I put it in some broth and give it to her before she has access to her dry food. She has been drinking all the broth and doesn't poop on the floor. She is a super sweet cat. She still doesn't get along well with Bentley, but maybe time will help that.
We couldn't call her Bingly, because we already have a Bentley, so we named her Abigail Cleocatra and we call her Abby. She looks like an Abby girl.
She and Bentley both love their cat grass.
No comments:
Post a Comment