Claire's house of waifs and strays - pics added of Mister Darcy

[Fire Fox]

Ah yes, the lovely Noah -  - definitely knows which side his bread's buttered. 

He knows how to get round me too, perfected the mew: tried it on my mum the other day when she dared to approach the kettle, bemused as she does not speak cat! Some days Noah forgets that he hasn't left it quite long enough for me to believe he is indeed ravenous, two hours is the record.    Bet Mr. Darcy will have his paws under the table in no time, sounds like Claire is smitten.

[Fire Fox]

Ah yes, the lovely Noah -  - definitely knows which side his bread's buttered. 

He knows how to get round me too, perfected the mew: tried it on my mum the other day when she dared to approach the kettle! Some days Noah forgets that he hasn't left it quite long enough for me to believe he is indeed ravenous, two hours is the record.    Bet Mr. Darcy will have his paws under the table in no time, sounds like Claire is smitten.

[McHaggis]

Hey Pepsi
Just saws this thread and couldnt resist righting you a messige. Are you now livin wif Mr Darcy ???? I reelly reelly jelus cause I really finks you r cute  and wanted to b your boycatfriend.

But suppose its good that Darcy has a good home wif u ??
hows are fings wif him ????

Love Haggis   xxxxx

[maryas]

Fantastic that he has the all clear - hope he gets on with Pepsi and stays 

[Leanne]

Thats great news

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Very good news about his results Claire.      Unneutered males are very - pungent.   Glad Pepsi now finds his smell more acceptable. 

Ah yes, the lovely Noah -  - definitely knows which side his bread's buttered. 

[Janeyk]

  hes's so lovely and doesn't he look happy with you bless him.

[Fire Fox]

for the past few days he's been standing at the door and yelling at me for ages. I want to be able to tell him that he'll only be there for a few more days, he's obviously so used to being outside that I feel awful keeping him cooped up in the bedroom. There's another issue as well, if he stays with us permanently, I'd be scared that if he wanted to go outside he'd never come back as he's used to living outside in our area as a stray.

Maybe Darcy wants to get out of the room because you are not there?  Will keep my fingers crossed that Pepsi feels the love too! Noah was a stray and he has never even been as far as the front door of the flat - I can prop it open to bring my groceries in and he just stretches in the hall and goes to sit by the food bowl.  Noah mews pitifully if I shut him in the bedroom (when doing DIY): I think strays often know what side their bread is buttered on!! If you are still worried once Darcy settles maybe you could train them both to come to a shake of the biscuit box or other sound?

[Tiggy's Mum]

 

Great news 

There's a guide on intros here: http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,4789.0.html

[Millys Mum]

So glad hes all clear  fingers crossed they get along over the next few weeks

[Claire_smc]

Got Mister Darcy's test results back today and they were all negative  so providing he gets on with Pepsi he's ok to stay  While I was at work Si had him downstairs with Pepsi and apparently he was just having an explore around and Pepsi jumped up onot the windowsill and was hissing and wailing at him, will bring him down for another ten minutes or so later and give lots of treats and reassurance.

OH saw the title of the thread and said 'I hope you haven't put me down as one of your waifs or strays!' 

[Claire_smc]

I just picked up on this thread and I've snorted with laughter reading it.  "Oh no, we're not keeping him....."         Bless you Claire    Hope the wee man has got over his indignity - he looks like a bit of a would-be cuddlebum.  probably just desperately happy after having no-one bothered about him.   

Haha was OH who was saying that, I wanted to keep him the moment I saw him 

I think what was said earlier about the smell of an unneutered male was right, before he was done Pepsi wouldn't come near me and would wriggle around to be put down if I picked her up, since he came back from the vets she lets me pick her up and has started coming back on my lap for cuddles even if I've just been handling Darcy upstairs  As for Darcy himself, I think he's getting really fed up at being kept upstairs, he's very vocal all the time but normally settles down for a purry snuzzle on my lap when I go in to see him, but for the past few days he's been standing at the door and yelling at me for ages. I want to be able to tell him that he'll only be there for a few more days, he's obviously so used to being outside that I feel awful keeping him cooped up in the bedroom. There's another issue as well, if he stays with us permanently, I'd be scared that if he wanted to go outside he'd never come back as he's used to living outside in our area as a stray.


Oh well, he's going back to the vets tomorrow morning for his post-op checkup, OH said that when he went to pick him up after his op they said his results might be in tomorrow so fingers crossed

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

I just picked up on this thread and I've snorted with laughter reading it.  "Oh no, we're not keeping him....."         Bless you Claire    Hope the wee man has got over his indignity - he looks like a bit of a would-be cuddlebum.  probably just desperately happy after having no-one bothered about him.   

[Claire_smc]

  I'd say two elbows at the front, but I wouldn't call the ones at the back knees...but I wouldn't call them elbows either 

[maryas]

  to Mr Darcy and to you of course.

ELBOWS - that's one for my thread - How many do cats really have? 

Mary

[Claire_smc]

Aw he's adorable, fingers crossed the Glasgow tests come back negative, 'cos that's when pamper life with you starts well and truly 

Thanks, I'm going to be so worried all week, I'm putting off going cat shopping just in case  Got home about an hour ago and went and gave him some extra special snuzzles, I think he's torn between 'why would you do that to a man?!  ' and realising he can milk it for all it's worth and get loads of cuddles  I think they put him through the spin cycle while he was there too as he's come back all sparkling white  You can still see his old colour in the joints of his elbows and things, he was one filthy little kitty, his fur looked orangey brown

[clarenmax]

Aw he's adorable, fingers crossed the Glasgow tests come back negative, 'cos that's when pamper life with you starts well and truly 

[maryas]

No kicking out Claire 

Hope you 've got a treat ready for when he comes home from vet 

Mary

[Claire_smc]

Thanks everyone, poor wee fella is at the vets now being 'done'  then when he comes back he'll be confined to the bedroom for another week or so while we await his test results coming back from Glasgow.

CC and mary  you know me so well  it was his fault, he pretty much plonked himself in the house and went 'hm, this is nice' and gave me a little smile, could hardly kick him out could I? 

[maryas]

I just love how we gently persuade people onhere to keep cats that have got one paw in the house 

Mary

[CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls]

He's on the bed, she's keeping him 

Aww aint he lovely 

[maryas]

Mr D is Delicious 

Mary

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Mr Darcy is just lovely 

[Claire_smc]

He is so cute  Have you thought anymore about the possibility of keeping him?

Yes  We're going to have to wait until we get the results for his FIV and FeLV tests back from the vets but if everything comes back ok (touch wood) and he gets on well with Pepsi then we're going to keep him    OH didn't take much convincing after the initial disagreement, I think Mr Darcy has worked his charms  I've always wanted a cat called either Darcy or Byron, but he doesn't look much like a Byron to me

[JackSpratt]

I like the name Mr Darcy. He's gorgeous!

[Tiggy's Mum]

He is so cute  Have you thought anymore about the possibility of keeping him?

[Claire_smc]

Here's some pics, I've called him Darcy but OH says that's a stupid name so it might get changed 



First day with us he came and curled up on me and was purring away, what a softie 

[Claire_smc]

ok will give them a ring tomorrow and discuss with them

[Mark]

I could be wrong but I don't think we test as routine due to cost - only if a cat looks as if it has been in the wars - so def worth checking with CP first that they will cover the cost.

[Millys Mum]

Its routinely done by many but it wont hurt to ring and discuss everything.
I think it was £40 for tests

[Claire_smc]

Thanks, that would explain why Pepsi has seemed a bit off with me for the past few days, my clothes must smell of the new cat and she doesn't like it. I was planning on waiting a little while after his op before introducing them anyway as obviously he needs a bit of peace and quiet and relaxation to recover so wouldn't want to stress him out by unleashing Pepsi on him 

CP never mentioned anything about FIV tests or anything, they just said neuter, flea and worm. Would CP normally arrange for blood tests for any animals they took in anyway? Although obviously stray might not end up going to them and may end up staying with me, although going to CP was the original plan. I might just ring them and discuss. Anyone have any idea how much blood tests cost on average?

[Millys Mum]

Glad its calmed down abit now! It took about a week for Dakotas tests to come back from various labs (she had 5 tests in all! due to idexx malfunctioning and paying for extra tests  )
I would clarify if CP are requesting that or not, if they arent then it would be for you to pay.

I would give him a couple of weeks post op before letting them meet, entire animals smell rank to those that are neutered and can cause great upset!

[Claire_smc]

haha me too, could see us having a major fallout over it but thankfully it seems like crisis averted 

Stray, temporarily called 'Simon' as they asked for a name and I couldn't think of one under the pressure  is booked in for his castrate on Thursday, they're going to do FIV and FeLV tests while he's under anaesthetic and send them off to Glasgow University. I forgot to ask while I was there, but do vets normally charge for FIV tests? Hope everything's alright, he has a bald patch on the back of his neck with a scratch so looks like he's been fighting Obviously going to keep him in the bedroom until we get the results back, hope they come back quickly from Glasgow

[angel-77]

That is good news, I like your OH now!!! 

[Claire_smc]

Just had a really good talk with OH, I've been on the verge of tears all day worrying about having to throw the cat out tonight but he said he can stay until he gets his neutering operation done, and then we'll try and introduce him to Pepsi and see how it goes. He said we're not definately keeping him, but we'll give him time to settle and get over his operation, and if he's nicely behaved and him and Pepsi get on well then he'll consider it  We then went and sat in the bedroom with kitty and he was being lovely and calm and purry, and headbutting and rolling over for OH and he said he was quite cute really and he needs a name  I'm so relieved, I think everyone in the house has been so stressed out trying to find a place for Tank to go that the cat was just another worry but now we've found a good home for Tank everyone is a lot less tense. Plus he's had a few days to consider it and we talked without yelling at each other so that was probably a bit of a help!

I'll try and get some pictures up in a bit 

ETA: Called the vets, he's going in for his pre-op checkover at 4 today and then they're going to get in touch with Cat's Protection about his neutering and try and get him an appointment made for that

[Claire_smc]

Wouldn't be a bad idea  Well Tank went to his new home last night which I'm super pleased about, they looked like a really nice family and from what they said it seems like they'll be able to give him all the time and attention he needs  So when we got back from dropping him off we had a bit of a switch-around in the house and now Pepsi is back downstairs and straycat is in the bedroom. OH has given me until tomorrow which is ridiculous because if his neutering appointment is booked for tomorrow he's not going to be able to be turfed out onto the street  I'm sure I'll be able to convince him to let me have a bit longer though, especially now that the house isn't as much of a 'zoo' 

[Kirst]

I would be considering throwing the other half out!

[Claire_smc]

Awful, but that's nothing to do with the cat 

Phil came down earlier and said 'that cat is unstable, it was hissing at me earlier' to which OH started off on his whole 'You should just let it out, he'll be better off living outside than being stuck in our bathroom'. So I went upstairs and sat with him, he was curled up on my lap purring and rubbing against me  I phoned CP and they said if I take him back to the vets next week they'll pay for him to be neutered and have his flea and worm treatments. She also advised me that it's free to place an ad in our newspaper for lost animals but there's not much chance I'll find his owners so she'll try and fit him in when she can. In the meantime I'm going to put posters around and put him on all the lost and found websites.

OH is being awful and saying 'it's not our responsibility' and threatening to throw the cat out by the end of the day  I'm so angry right now, I'm trying to do what's best for everyone and I end up being made out as the bad guy. All I'm asking for is a couple of days to try and get the poor thing sorted

[Millys Mum]

How does your bathroom smell 
Honestly dont try introducing them until hes neutered and hormones calmed down, theres a good chance of them getting off on the wrong foot as he is now and then you have trouble afoot

[Claire_smc]

Haha Seriously Mental Catlady