Adopt Flinty Kitty?

[Ekolter]

I hate to have to do this, but its come down to this - Flinty kitty needs to be adopted out. He was great once Eternity & Twilight were adopted by Vort and Michelle and before Tristan arrived. Now that Tristan is here, he's become very needy. He doesn't seem to like that he's not top cat anymore.

He entirely stopped "claiming" things when the other two cats were gone, and hasn't done it for months until tonight. And yesterday, he batted at Tristan. He needs a home where he's the ONLY cat & gets tons and tons of affection. He's great as an only cat. Not so great with siblings.

Please let us know if anyone of you are interested. We hate to see him go to the pound. Rather see him go to someone who can give him what he desperately craves.

One way or another though, Flint is leaving our household. If we don't get him adopted out this weekend, he'll be in the pound by next week. Right now, his new home is in one of our bathrooms, which isn't good for anyone.

We are willing to pay his relocation costs and set you up with food, a litter, etcetera.

[Mo]

Is this the one that peed on FadingAura that night at the cookout? Ahhh, memories...

Good luck with finding a nice new home for him!

[Kris X]

Tempting... But alas. My puppy still doesn't know what a cat is, and my husband is...*Gasp* Allergic to felines.

[Phact0rri]

this weekend? thats really quick turn around for adoption. Not to be mean, but the pound, for a loved one? I can ask around to people I know in the St. Louis Area (I know a large number of St. Louis Animal rights people), but I'd also suggest making a post on craig's list about it. If anything look for an adoption shelter. I can at least give you information for that. A pound is usually situated for strays, and 9 times out of 10, those animals are put down.

if you have a photo of Flint you can give me, it'd dress up the queries to friends and contacts.

(sorry if this sounds at all racy, but Flint is an amazing cat, and a friend of mine just lost her dog companion yesterday, and I'd hate for another creature I have fond memories of, to be lost.)

[Jesusabdullah]

A weekend *is* a pretty quick turn-around. I definitely understand why, though, with the baby and all.

[Ekolter]

Picture of Flinty:

Orignal post done by Ryan, not myself. Also note that Flint is about 9 years old and a snuggle slut. He knows no strangers as most of you know. I seriously hope to find him a place where he'll get the 24/7 attention he needs.

[Phact0rri]

Picture of Flinty:

Orignal post done by Ryan, not myself. Also note that Flint is about 9 years old and a snuggle slut. He knows no strangers as most of you know. I seriously hope to find him a place where he'll get the 24/7 attention he needs.

thanks beth, I'll see what I can do.

[Rkolter]

Not to be mean, but the pound, for a loved one?

Remember, you and I have different understandings about animals. I love Flint dearly, but he is not on the same playing field as Tristan. He's a loved one, but he is not an equal.

To be fair though, the pound I'm talking about is the St. Charles Humane Society, a very nice no-kill shelter. You can only give them animals by appointment. I've written to them asking if they'll accept Flint, assuming we don't find someone who will take him.

but I'd also suggest making a post on craig's list about it.

Heard too many horror stories about people taking in cats only to use them as playthings for dogs or as weekend experiments. I'd rather give Flint to a friend or a friend of a friend, or to a no-kill shelter, than to a random person answering a Craig's List ad.

I would be willing to trust any animal loving friend of yours though Phact. Good luck and thank you; we'll keep him out of the shelter until we hear back from you.

The best description of Flint:

"A 9 year old cat that thinks he's a kitten. Loves to be loved, loves to love you. He is a real snuggle-cat, and nobody is his enemy. An Indoor cat, front declawed, and "fixed". He's a real talker - if you meow at him, he will meow back. And he's an idiot-savant. Just when you think he's brilliant, he'll chase a laser pointer into a wall...

He really doesn't like shareing his people. Being given away because his people were being shared with a baby, and he took to peeing inappropriately and batting at the baby."

[Phact0rri]

Ryan, a no-kill shelter is not a pound, and I'm glad to hear you would take him there. Not what I was thinking when I read the post, and why I acted so strongly about it. I'll be searching around and see what I can do for Flint.

[Rkolter]

The St. Charles Humane Society - the nice no-kill shelter near us, has a waiting list 45 deep for adult cats. They can't take Flint. They're going to forward a list of other places that might have room for Flint.

It doesn't look good though. If they're that backlogged, I'll bet any other quality place is as booked. I don't want to go to a shelter that takes in everyone, because they are chronically over-crowded.

[Phact0rri]

and I haven't heard back from anyone. kinda depressing seeing how I know around 30 people in the St. Louis area. ah well there is one other person I haven't asked yet a writer friend of mine. I'll ask him and then check into some of the other no-kill and humane shelter options.

[Rkolter]

Our last chance of someone we knew taking the cat said no. And I haven't heard back from the no-kill shelter with anyone with an opening. There are a couple no-kill shelters that take in everyone, but they are squalid and massively overcrowded.

I am getting an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach that my choices will become give him to a squalid no-kill shelter where he'll sit unloved, unhappy, and lost in the crowd until he dies, give him to the pound where he'll sit unloved for two weeks and be anonymously euthanized, or call our vet and have him put down and be there with him when it's done.

Some days, I hate my life.

[Joel Fagin]

I've got to say... I think you're over reacting. Things have changed but Flint may yet get used to the new order. And batting Tristan is... nothing. Cats poke things they're curious all the time. If you are worried a high volume barked "NO!"* should give him the hint.

Wish I could help but, you know, different country and all.

- Joel Fagin

* But ya gotta really bark it. Short, sharp and sudden. Good practice for when Tristan is older, too.

[Rkolter]

I wish I was overreacting. Flint has had the peeing problem for going on five years now, and we'd tried everything our vet offered, the internet offered, books offered... nothing helped.

To put it in perspective, realizing that Flint might not be adoptable if he was peeing, we adopted out our other two beloved cats in the hope of keeping him. That's the extent we went to. And it worked - Flint stopped peeing inappropriately immediately with zero accidents for months. Until we started "ignoring" him for Tristan.

As for batting at Tristan... a baby isn't a "thing". And one bite could do lasting damage. Flint was annoyed at Tristan because Beth was giving him attention, and batted at him.

There were two conditions for keeping Flint with Tristan - Flint had to stop peeing around the home, and he couldn't bat at or hiss at Tristan.

I get the mentality that we should be doing something. We've done... everything... this is our last choice, not our first.

[DarkDanc3r]

Okay, seriously, Ryan, putting him down is going a little overboard.

However, since you don't want to use the no-kills in St. Louis, here's the info on Columbia Second Chance. At last check (some time last month) it was ranked one of the top 5 no-kill shelters in the United States. I'd take him, but if my landlady found out she'd send him to the pound in a heartbeat. She's the reason I don't have Mischief any more.

http://www.columbia2ndchance.org/DesktopDefault.aspx

[Phact0rri]

I'm sure merc knows best on this subject, but as far as I know most vets will not put down an animal who is healthy and well. I'm sure there are some that still do it but for most vets its against protocol to do so.

[Mercury Hat]

The only law I know about euthanasia is it has to be performed humanely and can only be performed by a vet.

Do you have any Petsmarts or Petcos in the area? They have outside groups that do adoptions as well, I'm nearly certain the group in ours is a no-kill group.

As far as euthanasia goes, it's up to the vet. I know my vet wouldn't put down a healthy animal and she has refused to do so in the past. The thing with euthanasia is, ethically it's personal for the vet so I can't say what your vet will do. But be prepared for the possibility that your vet will refuse and s/he is within her/his right to do so.

However, you can try to contact the vet office, or other vets in the area who might know of other shelters or groups you can try. Maybe an all-cat vet clinic would be a good place to ask. You might even get a member of their staff to want to adopt him; most pet owners in a vet clinic got their pets as cast aways.

[Rkolter]

DarkDancer - Thanks for the info on Columbia Second Chance. It's not that I don't want to use the no-kills in St. Louis. It's that they are full up, excepting a couple that take in every animal provided. And they are squalid. I'm still waiting ot hear from the nice manager of the St. Charles shelter, who said she'd try to find me local openings. I will also contact Columbia Second Chance.

We contacted the Missouri Humane society - they said that "given Flint's history" they suggested euthanizing him, and offered to do it. His History? Peeing when he wasn't the only cat, and the one incident with Tristan. They wouldn't even consider adopting him out to a home without other cats or babies. Yeah - the HUMANE SOCIETY... wants to euthanize Flint for us. Je-zus.

Merc - I hadn't thought about Petsmart or Petco! We have Petco... I will check them out tomorrow, thank you for the tip! As for the Vet herself, I can ask, but she was with us when we force-fed Flint for a month and brought him in every other day for IV fluid when his liver swelled up. I honestly don't know that I could face bringing Flint to her for euthanasia. She was part of our efforts to save him.

On the other hand, she does have an adoption board. I will talk to her.

In other news, we've temporarily cat-proofed our spare bedroom and Flint now has a window, multiple sleeping spots, etcetera. He can't stay there; my mother is coming into town in two weeks and she's terribly allergic to cats. He has to be gone by then - we can't have him roaming the home, and we can't keep him in the big upstairs bathroom or the spare bedroom at that point. But for now he's more comfortable.

I'll check out Columbia, Petco, and my vet. Thank you.

[Terotrous]

Well, this is only my two cents, but if you're worried about your cat scratching Tristan, have you considered something like this?
http://www.softpaws.com/
Basically they recommend this as something for households with cats and young children to protect from scratches.

Of course, this doesn't do anything about his teeth, but generally cats only bite when they're really mad, and even if they were it probably wouldn't be something that would do lasting damage (for example, they're not going to bite you in the eye or something horrible like that, it'd probably be on the hand).

Anyway, I also think that while I understand your concern, kids are actually reasonably sturdy. I was raised with a (non-declawed) cat and a dog when I was a newborn and so I was subject to various scratches and bites and kicks and tails to the head (the dog was about the same height I was), and the only lasting effect is that my (current) cat and I are inseparable.


Of course, you need to do what you think is right for your family, but I know if I'd die if I had to give up my cat.

[Mercury Hat]

Soft paws are a good option, your vet might apply them for you if the cat won't let you. Even just clipping his nails regularly might help. If you're not sure how to cut a cat's nails, you can get your vet to show you. Also, if you go this route, don't get the cat nail scissors because they're worthless and I hate them, just go with small dog ones.

As an aside, cat bites can actually be pretty nasty since cats have so much bacteria in their mouths. If you get bitten by a cat and it breaks skin deep enough you pretty much have to get on oral antibiotics. At the very least you need to disinfect the wound a lot.