Advice needed on successfully rehoming cats, please

Queries and discussions about cat rescue & rehoming
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travellinghand
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Advice needed on successfully rehoming cats, please

Post by travellinghand »

I have two cats that are about two years old, a male and a female. Because of Life and Circumstances, I am unfortunately selling my current home and am moving into a place where I cannot take pets. Luckily, my father-in-law has graciously offered to take our two moggies in.

The problems with this arrangement are twofold:

* His house is less than a mile from where I am currently staying, the place these cats have grown up. My concern here is that they'll not realise their home has moved, and try make their way back. Ignoring the obvious danger of them crossing roads and so forth, while I don't expect the new owners of this house to be hostile, the cats will not be fed or taken care of, and will have to contend with the new owners' three dogs. This is obviously something I am hoping to avoid.

* My father-in-law already has two cats, both are approximately 7 years old. While they are quite friendly to humans, they will not necessarily be very welcoming to the two new arrivals. Our male cat is quite confident and boisterous, and can hold his own in a fight - I'm not particularly concerned about him as he will likely be able to stick up for himself. The female, however, is very skittish and generally a nervous creature, and regularly runs away at the first sign of conflict. Her being in a strange environment, it's entirely possible she bolts from my father-in-law's cats, hops the fence and is never seen again.

What is the best way to successfully rehome these cats? Are there any tricks to getting them to accept that "I live here now, no longer at that other place"? How likely are they to want to make their way back to where they grew up, given that it's such a short distance away? What's the best way to peacefully introduce these two to the cats at my father-in-law's house?
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Janey
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Re: Advice needed on successfully rehoming cats, please

Post by Janey »

Hi and welcome,

There’s lots of info below which may help you:

Avoiding the need to to rehome your pets - which includes info regarding renting (if that’s what you are doing) e.g. some landlords might be flexible on this issue, if asked:

http://www.catchat.org/index.php/rehome-pet-cat


If you do rehome to your father-in-law this information is very helpful for a new owner:

http://www.catchat.org/index.php/new-cat-in-the-home
http://www.catchat.org/index.php/new-cat-introductions

best of luck!
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Crewella
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Re: Advice needed on successfully rehoming cats, please

Post by Crewella »

I would have posted the same links. Just to add, make sure they are feeling secure and settled in the house before letting them out - it will take at least 4 weeks but might be even longer. They need to view their new home as a place of safety and put down some 'roots' so they are not tempted to run back to their old home. Good luck. :)
VladimirdaCat
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Re: Advice needed on successfully rehoming cats, please

Post by VladimirdaCat »

I am in a similar situation, my grandma passed away and my mom took her cat "Vladimir" home with her. My mother lives alone in an appartment and lost her beloved cat about a year ago, I thought they would be perfect for each other, but she is reluctant care for him and Vlad is stressed out to the point of diarrhea! I am very worried for him, I think I'ts my mother's attitude that is not helping, Could this be? I would take him but my husband is badly allergic.
I need to relax this kitty and talk some sense into my mum, and I don't know how :cry:
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Crewella
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Re: Advice needed on successfully rehoming cats, please

Post by Crewella »

I'm wondering if the diarrhea is definitely caused by stress, and caring for a cat with the runs is certainly stressful in itself. It might be worth a trip to the vets to get him checked out, or it might be caused by a change in diet perhaps? Have you tried feeding him bland food like chicken breast or one of the 'sensitivity'' or 'recovery' foods to try to settle his system?
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