Tina Kinsley
Savannah Super Cat
Hi there, I'm new to the forum, and I just wanted to make sure I'm making good decisions for my new (old) baby.
I'm adopting a retired HP F1 queen next weekend. She is 10 yrs old but healthy, and friendly and affectionate once she knows the person. Since I'm going to be unavoidably stuck in California for a few more months, she'll temporarily be living at a relative's house in Michigan.
Originally, I was planning to have my sister take her in and acclimate her, however, she has two younger children who are VERY loud--the whole family is loud, actually--a smallish place, and a male DSH kitten there as well; I'm concerned that all of that on top of the move will make her a very unhappy girl. My sister is starting to express some nervousness about how this will all go as well, so I think better to home her in a place that is calmer overall.
So, my mother has offered to house her for me. She has a larger house and can give a room over to the new girl for as long as she needs it to become acclimated. She has several other cats and two dogs, but this cat has also been living with both cats and dogs, and although she's the boss and asserts herself, she does fine overall with the mix.
So here are the questions I have--number one, since she will have to move again to my house when I get back, would she be better off just staying in her room so that she doesn't have such a huge transition for move 2? Housing her in a quieter home will make it easier for her overall in general, right? Or, would it be better to let her have free run of the house once she's ready? I don't want to keep her locked up in a small room if it won't be a real detriment to move number 2.
My stepfather is going to construct the mother of all cat trees for her, and will create a cat run so she can run all over the room, and obviously she'll get human time and tons of toys and play when she is ready for it, so she will have things to do in the room and ways to be entertained and to entertain herself.
I have had a cat really have a drastic personality shift before when he had to deal with children who wouldn't leave him alone--he really had a change for the worse in his overall skittishness and aggressiveness after that, and given that she's an F1, I don't want to have her experience a similiar traumatic experience.
Any words of advice are greatly appreciated. I eventually want a kitten at some point, but this girl is a beauty and needs the right home, which I think I can provide. One other thing, I currently have a neutered Cornish Rex who is the MOST mellow, non aggressive loving lapcat ever, a bomb could go off and he'd barely blink, so I think he'll get along with her just fine, and since F1s don't tend to be lapcats, there shouldn't be any jostling for position. I hope!
Thanks in advance. I love this board, I can't believe I just found it!
Tina
I'm adopting a retired HP F1 queen next weekend. She is 10 yrs old but healthy, and friendly and affectionate once she knows the person. Since I'm going to be unavoidably stuck in California for a few more months, she'll temporarily be living at a relative's house in Michigan.
Originally, I was planning to have my sister take her in and acclimate her, however, she has two younger children who are VERY loud--the whole family is loud, actually--a smallish place, and a male DSH kitten there as well; I'm concerned that all of that on top of the move will make her a very unhappy girl. My sister is starting to express some nervousness about how this will all go as well, so I think better to home her in a place that is calmer overall.
So, my mother has offered to house her for me. She has a larger house and can give a room over to the new girl for as long as she needs it to become acclimated. She has several other cats and two dogs, but this cat has also been living with both cats and dogs, and although she's the boss and asserts herself, she does fine overall with the mix.
So here are the questions I have--number one, since she will have to move again to my house when I get back, would she be better off just staying in her room so that she doesn't have such a huge transition for move 2? Housing her in a quieter home will make it easier for her overall in general, right? Or, would it be better to let her have free run of the house once she's ready? I don't want to keep her locked up in a small room if it won't be a real detriment to move number 2.
My stepfather is going to construct the mother of all cat trees for her, and will create a cat run so she can run all over the room, and obviously she'll get human time and tons of toys and play when she is ready for it, so she will have things to do in the room and ways to be entertained and to entertain herself.
I have had a cat really have a drastic personality shift before when he had to deal with children who wouldn't leave him alone--he really had a change for the worse in his overall skittishness and aggressiveness after that, and given that she's an F1, I don't want to have her experience a similiar traumatic experience.
Any words of advice are greatly appreciated. I eventually want a kitten at some point, but this girl is a beauty and needs the right home, which I think I can provide. One other thing, I currently have a neutered Cornish Rex who is the MOST mellow, non aggressive loving lapcat ever, a bomb could go off and he'd barely blink, so I think he'll get along with her just fine, and since F1s don't tend to be lapcats, there shouldn't be any jostling for position. I hope!
Thanks in advance. I love this board, I can't believe I just found it!
Tina