i admire you for working with the sanctuary. i don't think i could do it. i would be bringing home everry one of them. i have 2 who came from a no kill sanctuary. they were 10 years old, healthy enough, but Lil Bit had an eye infection, was very timid and she and Casey were not grooming themselves. they had been there for over a year. now their true natures have come out. Casey is an alpha female who is still having arguments with Annie who is also an alpha. Annie is felv positive, but apparently there is not too much stress since she is fat and sassy as can be. Lil Bit is still a bit timid, but she now roams the whole house. she still has to have her food in "her" room, but now comes and sits on my lap and sleeps on the bed with the others. Casey goes outside, Lil Bit does not even want too. she is content to snooze away the day whereever she wants and eat. i think the stress of being in a shelter situation brings on a lot of problems. cages are small compared to a house or outdoors, they can't move around a lot and get exercise. Pals tried to remedy that by putting some of the cats in a "community" cage, a 12 x 12 foot chain link fencing with baskets hung from the sides for them to sleep in, small disposable litter boxes and food/water bowls on the floor. of course they could not clean the boxes as often as they should since volunteers come only at 8am and after work. Casey still has a problem with litter boxes. she is an over achiever and stands outside of the box, pulling a lot of the clean litter out all over the floor trying to cover. she will cover for the others. i have 5 boxes and clean them 3 times a day so there is no odor, she just got into the habit from the shelter. all but Lil Bit and Nit Noy (Thai for little one) go outside during the day weather permitting. this year, this is not too often. we have had so much rain and now in the middle of July, it is still raining at least 3 days of each week and night time temps are in the low 60's. days we can't go out, i feed canned food. that seems to settle them down. today is in the low 70's, raining off and on and Casey is on father's bed, Bob and Lil Bit are on the cat tree in the corner, Nit Noy is on the rug by the bed and Homey is in her bed in my room while Annie is on my bed. all of this elads up to my idea for your babies: maybe they should have a large enclosed room where they could go for exercise and socialization. furnish it like a room with old furniture so they could be in a more normal situation. that would reduce stress. even if you only took one at a time, it would give that one a chance for a more relaxed time of day. course, don't put 2 alphas like Annie and Casey in together. good luck with your babies. dorlis ---- Sherry DeHaan <sherryd...@yahoo.com> wrote: > I am asking for some good thoughts and prayers for our newest handsome sweet > boy at the sanctuary.He is pretty sick right now.But I did see him grooming > himself yesterday before I left,so maybe it is a goos sign.He has a nasty > tongue ulcer he is being treated for. > Thanks > Sherry > > > > > "We who choose to surround ourselves with lives more temporary > than our own, > Live within a fragile circle,easily and often breached. > Unable to accept its awful gaps. > We still would have it no other way" > > > > _______________________________________________ > Felvtalk mailing list > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
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