Latest addition to our family

[KathyLauren]

This is Riley. He is 17 (85 in cat years). We adopted him from a local rescue shelter because he deserves a good home for his remaining years, and, frankly, no one else is going to adopt a 17-year-old cat. He has some health issues that the vet will be looking into in the next couple of days, but he is in pretty fair shape for an old fellow. He gets along well with Larkin the greyhound. Liesl, the tabby cat, isn't so happy to see him, but she just hissed and couldn't be bothered to do anything else, so she'll probably be fine with him. Riley loves to be patted, and purrs loudly.

[littlemissrose]

Congratulations. What a wonderfull thing to do. I hope he'll have a good while to enjoy the wonderfull home he now has.

[MKG]

Well done, Keith. The world would be a much harder place without its fair share of soppy buggers (I include myself ).

[ojay54]

I'm no great cat lover,but Riley definitely has the look of McCavity about him.(in spades)

[Flo]

A good purr makes for a lot of friendships in cats!

[WhiteRabbit]

He's beautiful!

[Zech]

I'm a sucker for a good purr (you already knew that? How did you guess? )
Also... yes, definitely McCavity!

[KathyLauren]

I'm no great cat lover,but Riley definitely has the look of McCavity about him.(in spades)

You sure called that one!

He is terrorizing our other cat, Liesl, a timid ex-feral. Riley has been de-clawed by a previous owner; Liesl has not. Neither of them seems to be aware of those facts yet. I see trouble ahead. So far, she just hisses a lot, but I see her sharpening her claws a lot on the carpet.

He is food-obsessed, and wants to eat constantly. The vet warned us not to let him over-feed. She didn't tell him that, though. Today, he pulled the cannister of dog treats off the shelf, managed to spring the catch open, and was chowing down on the spilled pile on the floor. When the dog went to investigate, Riley did something that made her yelp and run away.

We already keep the two cats separated at night: Riley gets locked in the laundry room, while Liesl has the run of the house. He is diurinal, she is nocturnal, so that works out. But we have to keep them under supervision in the daytime.

[Flo]

You don't own cats, they train you.

[Susie]

Fabulous tail. And what a kind thing to do - hope his remaining days are very happy (and he isn't too much of a terror!)

[Smilesbetter]

What a beauty! And well done for giving an older cat a nice retirement home, wish more people would think of adopting e,dearly cats, they can be so rewarding and often have more life in them than most younger cats!

I have two adopted adult cats, and when I got the second one, Mieze, I kept the two separated for actually about two months. Every meal time (twice a day) I'd feed them in either side of a closed door, over time gradually opening the door a little. It meant that they associated eat other with good food, and they are now the best of friends and even snuggle up together a year later.

It's a long process, but worth putting in the time and effort to properly introduce them, otherwise you can end up with years of having neither cat really happy.

My Mieze is a bit like your Riley by the sounds of it - she will do anything for food! The cats are banned from the kitchen, but she has figured out how to turn the key to unlock the cupboard in the hall where we keep the cat food, and god forbid we ever leave anything in a paper bakery bag lying around (she has a particularly strong addiction to croissants). She's a monster, but life would be a bit more boring without her.

[KathyLauren]

(and he isn't too much of a terror!)

Unfortunately, he was too much of a terror.

Liesl, our 9 year old ex-feral tabby kept provoking him by hissing every time she saw him, long after the obligatory 3 or 4 day introductory period. It became clear that she would always hiss at him.

Riley, in turn, after being pretty mellow initially, started to become really aggressive towards her. He would actively search for her and stalk her. When he caught her, they'd fight. Yet, for all her hissing, Liesl was too timid to defend herself properly.

It was clear that, in time, he would dominate and she would cower in the corner all day. And we couldn't do that to her. She is a sweet cat who had a rough kittenhood. It has taken nine years, but she finally will let me pat her on occasion. The thought of her hiding and cowering for the rest of Riley's life (and at 17, we was surprisingly healthy and good for quite a few more years) was horrible. We couldn't give her to someone else and have her spend another nine years learning to trust someone else. So, we reluctantly had to return Riley to the shelter before her mental health was set back too far.

The shelter owners will keep Riley as a pet. If someone suitable offers to adopt him, I'm sure they will accept. But, if not, he will live there as a pet rather than a client, with the run of the house. Unlike our timid cat, the shelter cats keep him in his place.

[Smilesbetter]

Shame you had to part ways but sounds like it was for the best. I would however say that 3-4 days is way too short to expect adult cats to get on, and they should be separated first for a good while. Glad the shelter owners decided to keep him and I hope Liesl has recovered!

[Zech]

That's a shame. We had a similar situation some years back, but the other way round. We had two brothers, quite young, and when one died the other was obviously missing feline company, so we adopted another cat. Being older and bigger than him, we thought she'd be able to keep the boisterous youngster in check, but the poor thing just hid behind the sofa all the time, so we took her back to the shelter.

I'm glad to hear that Riley will be someone's pet, if not yours, and I hope Liesl is getting over the trauma.

[KathyLauren]

Pardon me for not keeping this thread up to date. It's turning into a bit of a soap opera!

The latest is that Riley got a reprieve. We figured that some of his problem was the steroids that the vet had him on for allergies. The meds did the job, but a known side-effect is aggressiveness. The shelter completed the course of steroids and got it out of his system. Now he is a lot more mellow. Also, having been here for a while and then going back to the shelter may have motivated him to make it work. He likes his peace and quiet, which he couldn't get there. Liesl may be annoying, but not as bad as a shelter with 30 cats!

Liesl, also, has seems to have realized that he is not going away, and is not over-reacting as much.

So, while he is still very much on probation, he is with us again for now.