RSPCA not happy

[13oots2]

I agree with Joe on this, I took on a cat from a chap downstairs who had a lot of personal problems. My 3 cats have clean litter trays but if a towel or such ends up on the bathroom floor Nyx will pee on it. Her favourite has to be plastic bin bags, full or empty will be liberally sprayed, the chap downstairs could never afford cat litter due to some nasty habits and would just leave plastic bags down.

Funny thing is Nyx now has me perfectly well trained and I hardly ever leave things lying around the floor

The cat I reported to the RSPCA seems to be well fed, by myself and another chap who lives nearby, and think the poor beastie may well be worm ridden. Am hoping the inspector has had a kind word or two with the owner and he seems to have a little more meat along his backbones now.

[dlaloum]

I totally agree and strongly prefer to raise a kitten or puppy rather than adopt a full grown dog or cat. My experiences in the past have included both approaches, and the formative weeks (6weeks to 20weeks old) are absolutely critical, not only to their habits, but also to their character, the way they socialise, interact with others (human or pet) etc...

Adopting a full grown cat or dog involves adopting the aculturation of someone else.... if you are lucky it will be a good upbringing, and if not then the relationship is likely to be difficult!

I have even noticed a substantial difference between kittens adopted at 6weeks and those adopted at 12 weeks.

(We currently buttle for 2 Burmese masters)

[GlassWolf]

The inability of a person to properly co-exist with a feline, is not the fault of the feline.

[dlaloum]

The inability of a person to properly co-exist with a feline, is not the fault of the feline.

Some humans are simply untrainable...

But I am not talking about inability to coexist ... my experience is that pets brought up in a good trusting environment develop quite a different character and worldview than those that don't.

Taking on a pet that has been mistreated, implies taking on a bundle of neuroses... paranoia, mistrust, etc...

This is the most extreme example - and applies to a dog we adopted many years ago... he got better after some years as he learned to trust, but he could still panic unpredictably at times... sometimes with dangerous consequences.

At a milder level other aspects of the young pets character are formed by the environment in which they grow up - this is not to say that without it they cannot be lived with, but simply that with that, they end up having "better character".

People are like this, pets are like this - we are not so different from other mammals.

[JoeE SP9]

It's hard for me to think of adopting a fully mature pet. They have usually developed some behavior patterns that I can't deal with. Leaving a "gift" on the floor is a perfect example.

All in all I prefer the behavior I'm used too. If I raise a kitten or puppy I know what to expect. Grown pets have way too many surprises.

That is complete, and total disinformation. There are plenty of articles on-line which will disprove this myth completely. Most pet behavior issues are caused by their owners or living conditions, and are easily, and quite quickly adjusted or remedied by simple means, most often accomplished by re-training the pets' owner.
It's people spreading ignorance and myths like these that are a leading cause for people not wanting to give adult pets a chance in shelters, which is a real tragedy.

THIS MONTH, JUNE, IS (USA) NATIONAL ADOPT AN ADULT SHELTER CAT MONTH!

Who wants to try to re-train someone elses improperly trained problem?

All I can say is that I spoke from my own experience and words of every single "sane" pet lover I've ever known. Sure TV and a few people will say that it's safe to adopt an adult cat or dog. Friends, neighbors and acquaintances who have adopted "adult" pets have without exception had behavioral problems with them.

All too often it's a behavioral problem that caused the pet to end up at the (R)SPCA in the first place. The average pet owner is usually unable to change the objectionable behavior. I and I suspect most others don't want to try. Getting a kitten or (harder) a puppy trained is enough for most. Changing an adult pets learned behavior is not an easy task. Puppies and kittens are easier to train and usually much cuter.

[JoeE SP9]

duplicate deleted

[JoeE SP9]

I totally agree and strongly prefer to raise a kitten or puppy rather than adopt a full grown dog or cat. My experiences in the past have included both approaches, and the formative weeks (6weeks to 20weeks old) are absolutely critical, not only to their habits, but also to their character, the way they socialise, interact with others (human or pet) etc...

Adopting a full grown cat or dog involves adopting the aculturation of someone else.... if you are lucky it will be a good upbringing, and if not then the relationship is likely to be difficult!

I have even noticed a substantial difference between kittens adopted at 6weeks and those adopted at 12 weeks.

(We currently buttle for 2 Burmese masters)

IMO you should adopt a kitten aa early as possible. Don't give them time to learn to be a cat from another cat.

[dlaloum]

In a multi cat household if there is a strong and positive cat "mentor" - learning from a cat can be excellent.

But if there is no appropriate "pet mentor" then getting them as young as possible is key!

[GlassWolf]

anecdoted and personal experiences are not factual data, and cannot replace factual data.
There are plenty of adult pets in shelters who are perfectly well adjusted and need a home. People surrender pets for a myriad of reasons, such as losing their home, that has nothing at ALL to do with the pet's behavior.

The fact stands that plenty of adult pets in shelters make perfetly good pets if you give them half a chance, which some of you are unwilling to even consider doing. That's the tragedy of such an attitude based on a bad experience and misinformation.

[LPfan]

Half of the cat gang here has come in as adults and have adjusted well. They were strays without an owner AFAIK, except one who was an unloved pet. His owner neglected him because of his gentle nature, and loved his brother who was an aggressive bully. That bully was visiting my house every day to fight with my toms. The owner refused to neuter his cat stating his religion did not allow that. He abandoned both the cats when he shifted his residence. I called him and offered to capture the bully and deliver to him at my cost, he told me that it is not possible and I can do whatever I want. The next day that bully entered a neighbour's house and seriously mauled his female cat. We then decided to take action, captured the bully and released him at a nearby fishmarket. He has not returned from there.
The gentle one would be sitting on the fence of now unoccupied house looking for food. I started giving him one meal every day and after three months he followed me home and has taken up residence in the back yard.

Regards,

LPfan

[dlaloum]

anecdoted and personal experiences are not factual data, and cannot replace factual data.
There are plenty of adult pets in shelters who are perfectly well adjusted and need a home. People surrender pets for a myriad of reasons, such as losing their home, that has nothing at ALL to do with the pet's behavior.

The fact stands that plenty of adult pets in shelters make perfetly good pets if you give them half a chance, which some of you are unwilling to even consider doing. That's the tragedy of such an attitude based on a bad experience and misinformation.

I can only speak from my own experience, and for obvious reasons I rank that experience somewhat higher than many of the third party comments.

Your substantially off track in howing into those of us who prefer to adopt a young cat for very specific and conscious reasons to do with the pets psychology. But then perhaps you are a believer in Nature over Nurture?

Having watched one cat educate another a number of times, I have to say most people substantially underestimate the mental faculties of their pets!!

And with regards to adopting pets from shelters, or local strays, I have done so at least 6 times over the years, and I have adopted kittens about twice as often.
Not all "shelter cats" have behavioural problems - but in my (limited) experience more than 50% do.
And yes I adopted a stray who was in need of assistance - and he lived out the rest of his life in luxurious comfort. (I often wonder whether the other two boys were out around the neighborhood boasting...)

I also stand by my previous comments - the stray was very sweet, but was also difficult, and caused trouble with the rest of the houselhold - it took well over 12 months for him to start settling down, and even then "boss cat" never accepted him. And yes when he was upset with us, he did let us know by leaving a warm smelly pile in a prominent location.

In years gone by I had a boy/girl pair of burmese who totally loved each other - when the boy died (run over... young) - the girl started to go nuts... did weird things.... the "warm pile" trick came up several times in this case, a couple of times in the kitchen sink, once in a pair of slippers, and once directly outside the shower cubicle WHILE I WAS SHOWERING!!!
Behavioural issues in cats like in humans are a sign of serious mental upset... and having a badly behaved previous owner, or spending time with a shelter owner who doesn't handle the cats with sympathy can some of the causes...

Some years back, I was looking for a kitten, and visited a breeder, among the kittens there, there was one that the breeder truly hated - the way she handled the poor kitten was actually quite shocking - it was a "throwback" - didn't have the desirable "look" and "colouring" - needless to say I rescued that kitten.

He ended up being a very sweet cat, but he never totally overcame his paranoia, also worried someone would start beating up on him. I adopted him at 12 weeks, and from what I saw, he had had most of 12 weeks of being treated like dirt, while his siblings were being treated like kings... (they had the "right look")
At the breeders when I first saw him, he was hiding under some furniture... in fear - when I asked about him, the literally dragged him out.... - and then "stroked" him with strokes that resembled blows....(the other cats were not handled this way)
No help for it - he had issues, but we managed and he became an important member of the household. (He grew into a huge cat too!)

Still young is maleable - it is easier to teach them the household rules when young - when older, it sometimes can become a fight over who is boss...

bye for now

David

[GlassWolf]

Eh, yeah with the number of cats and dogs who need homes in shelters, I'm not really fond of breeders in general.. I just think people need to give adult surrendered pets a chance. They aren't all "troubled," they just need a home.
I mean no insult to you personally, or anyone else in this conversation. Tone si something lost on the Internet, unfortunately.

[abril]

Our pair - both rescues,one was about 6yo and the other about 18 months (recovering from a broken leg) when we had them within a week of one another.
Other than the older one being extremely wary about strangers and mechanical items like the washing machine and vacuum when we had them - no problems.

A pair of downright cool cats now