[blparent] Adopting a Pet

[Peggy]

We have four cats and four dogs so here are my suggestions.  I would be 
honest with Sarah and tell her, we are going to try to keep the cat but if 
her and the guide dog don't get along, we might not be able to keep the cat. 
Depending on what kind of area you have, you can decide to declaw the cat or 
not, all of our cats are declawed and for the most part they are inside 
cats, there are two of them that go outside but we also have a huge fenced 
backyard.  What I have always done is brought the cats in and let the dog or 
dogs sniff them, the cats are smaller and can run and jump a lot faster and 
higher than a dog, if that cat wants to get away from the dog, it most 
certainly can.

Usually the cats will hide for a couple days and then gradually come out, 
all of our animals get along.  Occasionally there are times when you 
shouldn't have cats and dogs together though, we had a pitbull and a terrier 
who would chase and trap the cats, wasn't a good situation.  I doubt your 
dog will do this though.



-----Original Message----- 
From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 11:57 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: [blparent] Adopting a Pet

Hello.  Gerald and I are considering in taking a stray cat who needs a home. 
The cat is healthy, has had his shots, been checked for worms and leukemia. 
He's not fixed or de-clawed.  I don't know much about cats, so I have a few 
questions.

What do I need to know before trying to introduce the cat to my guide dog?

I'd like to take the cat on a trial basis for a few days.  How can I make it 
clear to my three-year-old that the kitty is going to stay through the 
weekend, and then we'll see from there?  Would that idea be too hard on her?

I know de-clawing is beyond the scope of this list, but is it something I 
should consider doing because of Sarah?

Jo Elizabeth

"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, 
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of 
the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all of 
these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist
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