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new cats in your home- jumping

mscm95 Sep 06, 2007 12:11 PM

What do you generally do when you have a new cat in your home.. do you limit where in the house they are until you know they can get to the litter box okay? Do you initially let them wander the entire house while you are home and keep them say in a bedroom when you go out?

My memory of having a cat growing up was that he hung out in the kitchen most of the time sleeping and slept is his little bed in one of the bedrooms. My mother was particular about the hair so he only went in the living room if we carried him onto the couch ourselves. He was a very smart cat.. I dont plan on doing the same thing but I wanted to know how others handle a new cat in their home for the first time.

Ive heard tonks are jumpers but the breeder said they can be trained to stay off your counter tops or your tables for example. But I guess if you are not home they do whatever they choose!

Replies (5)

stacyann98 Sep 06, 2007 12:29 PM

HAHA. yep, tonks are jumpers. i didn't really have a choice to block off rooms. i just had to go to work and leave him to do what he would. the first week, i kept finding the bathroom rug under the bed. apparently he attacked it, killed it, and hid it. i tried to cat-proof - no strings out, nothing fragile that could be hit off a shelf,etc...
and they have a cat tree and toys. they really love this foldable laundry bag that pops open like a tent. and some ping pong balls they can hit around the house.

stacyann98 Sep 06, 2007 12:30 PM

sometimes they find their way into what they want. here's rigby in the bathroom towels. i can't believe he got up there. and he was super quiet so i couldnt' find him at first. he's too smart!

2TonksHere Sep 06, 2007 01:11 PM

I always give the new kitten the guestroom for the first two days...he gets his own litterbox and food and water...so I can monitor what goes in and out...once I see everything is good, I allow the other cats in for a few hours at a time...so they can all figure it out...once everyone is playing nice...(which usually takes about 3 days as Bentley can be stubborn)...the new kitten can have full run...but...I leave the second litterbox in the guest room for about another week or so, but show him the real litterbox also...but during his free run of the house, I frequently pick him up and take him to the real litterbox...this way he navigates himself from it often...once I've seen him use the real litterbox on his own he is home free...literally...and mine jump all over everything...we don't mind...

During the the first few days when he is "quarantined" we go in as frequently as possible to play and snuggle with him so he does not get too lonely and starts to bond with us...if you are getting 2 at the same time this won't be as much of an issue...and one of us will sleep with him at night...this was how I bonded Fin to my son...he got to be the night sleeper and spent most of the time playing with him the first few days...

This pic is what I found day 3 of Fin's new arrival...after letting Alastair visit...

stacyann98 Sep 06, 2007 03:31 PM

i love that picture. i just want to smooch them both!! xoxo

mscm95 Sep 06, 2007 09:16 PM

Great photo.. I skipped over most of the sections on the colors of the tonks in the books.. but the one on the right in your photo is considered a natural mink? and the blue grey one is called what? Both gorgeous! And that photo of Rigby.. that WAS really high.. Im going to have to organize my kids games which are stacked kind of haphazardly.. I can just see the cat jumping on those..

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