# Taking care of older abandoned cat



## DarnCat (Oct 28, 2012)

Hi, my name is Eddie. After their home foreclosed on, previous owners simply left their pets behind. All were taken away by the city except for the one cat who somehow managed to hide until they left.

I registered on the forum to get advice on how to help it since the original owners had the cat declawed. It isn't interested in anything to play with but it appears to be unusually smart.


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## DarnCat (Oct 28, 2012)

It was a grown cat in the year 2000 so it is more than 13 years old, I understand there is no way to tell its age, is that correct?


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## Venusworld21 (Oct 23, 2012)

A vet could give you an estimate of age by looking at its teeth, but there is no way now to find out an exact age. 

Do you have the cat inside? If it is declawed, it needs to be an indoor cat as it has no way to defend itself.


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## Venusworld21 (Oct 23, 2012)

P.S. Food is a good way to make friends with shy cats


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

so happy you rescued this older kitty. she DOES sound smart and crafty if she was able to hide out until the "animal catchers" left. I hope the rest of her furry family actually go to shelters where they will eventually find homes, but thank goodness the kitty you saved is safe already. 

definitely keep her inside since she is declawed. but don't let that fool you. just because she is declawed, doesn't mean she is any "weaker" than a clawed cat. there are plenty of declawed kitties who end up being THE dominant cat in a household where other cats have all their claws even. we have adopted 2 senior, declawed kitties in the past several months mainly because we know they are harder to find homes for. they are 11 and 14 yrs old and after being in a safe and happy home for a few months, they are very happy, healthy and active. you'd never know they were "senior" or declawed at all. 

neither of them played much in the beginning either, by the way. could be the shelter environment they were in before. but like i said, they are very active now and LOVE to play. your rescued kitty probably just needs some time to get used to you and rebuild her confidence to start playing again. even if she doesn't, that's no big deal either. maybe she's just that way. but you can still keep trying just to make sure she gets her exercise-both mental and physical. 

thank you for taking her in!


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## DarnCat (Oct 28, 2012)

Food he gets. So pretty much food and petting are the only things, they are sometimes not interested in any toys or anything like that

For the winter I thought of getting him a heated house. Why is there pretty much only option on the market? Everything else is either sub $25 cheap stuff or something not as good that costs the same. Is there anything other than this: 
Amazon.com: K&H Outdoor Kitty House, Heated: Pet Supplies


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

One of my former cats was abandoned at about 10 and lived for more than another 10 years afterwards. 

I know nothing about heated houses but I would disagree with Maggie23 aboput de-clawed cats in that there is a difference betrween indoor and outdoor - this cat is at a serious disadvantage if a fight / flight situation kicks off in a more feral situation so the sooner you can coax her in the better. I believe in cats being indoor / outdoor but if by some freakish circumstance found myself with a de-clawed cat then I would do a complete face-about!


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

Arianwen said:


> I would disagree with Maggie23 aboput de-clawed cats in that there is a difference betrween indoor and outdoor - this cat is at a serious disadvantage if a fight / flight situation kicks off in a more feral situation so the sooner you can coax her in the better. I believe in cats being indoor / outdoor but if by some freakish circumstance found myself with a de-clawed cat then I would do a complete face-about!


i didn't say anything about letting a declawed cat stay outdoors. in fact, i said to definitely keep her indoors. no way would i let her out to fend for herself in a fight. in an indoor situation with other indoor cats that you know, she can certainly end up being the alpha or the dominant one. that's all.


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

Mis-read you - sorry. I focused so much on the idea that a de-clawed cat was not "weaker" that I lost sight of the beginning of what you had written.

I have had no personal contact with de-clawed cats but am horrified both by the practice and by the fact that some of them then seem to be alllowed out to cope as best they can. Under no circumstances do I think an outdoor or indoor / outdoor cat should be allowed to try to cope with no claws.


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## Ritzpg (Dec 7, 2010)

Thank so much for taking care of the cat.
Do you want to bring it inside and adopt him/her or only provide shelter/food? 
But seeing how the cat was declawed, agree with every one: the cat for its own safety and health, needs to be kept indoors 24x7. It has few ways to defend itself--especially if all four paws declawed.
Also the cat is probably too scared to do much besides eat and hide, play time later when the cat is more secure.
PS: do you know if the cat has been neutered/spayed?


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## DarnCat (Oct 28, 2012)

You may not like the whole honest story about all this: http://www.catforum.com/forum/37-be...nice-cat-besides-food-cat-house-choice-1.html


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