[blparent] Adopting a Pet

Sat Oct 8 05:52:02 UTC 2011

Hi,

Sounds like he might just be the perfect pet for you and your family.  As to 
the guide dog, just let her do what she wants.  She'll either make friends 
or not, and if neither of them seem bothered by the other's presence, then 
you have nothing to worry about.  Oh, and get a litter box with a hood, or 
the dog will eat the cat poop.  Sh'll also eat the catfood, so make sure the 
food is up high enough so she can't get it, or is in another room she's not 
allowed to go.  I have no idea why cat food tastes so good to dogs, but 
every dog I've ever seen eats it, or tries to.

Tammy

-----Original Message----- 
From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2011 1:37 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] Adopting a Pet

The cat is about eight or nine months old, the vet said.  We intend to keep
him as an indoor cat if he stays, but there's always the possibility he
could get out if someone leaves the screen door open, which did happen a lot
over the summer.  It was a never-ending battle for me because I didn't want
to be air conditioning the great outdoors.

The way we came by him is interesting and kind of sad.  A friend of mine
heard noise outside her house last Sunday and went out to find two little
girls chasing the cat under a car with a golf club, trying to get him out.
It turned out that the cat had belonged to one of the girls, who was five or
six years old.  She got in trouble for something, and her dad threw the cat
out the door as a punishment.  Like the poor kid's going to learn anything
from that, no matter what she did wrong, except that her dad's a jerk.  So
the other little girl took the cat home.  Her parents let her feed it
outside but wouldn't take him into their house.  My friend offered to find
the cat a new home, and then she called me because I guess I'm a softy, when
it comes right down to it.  He seems pretty cuddly and personable, and he's
in good health, considering all he's gone through.

So anyway, here he is, Mr. Sam I Am.  Except for a couple of squirts with a
spray bottle for getting near the bird cages, everything is okay so far.
Oh, and Stephen got a little nip for trying to get the cat out from under
his recliner, but we'd told him not to go in after him and he did anyway, so
he learned a lesson.

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

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Tammy" <tcl189 at rogers.com>
Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 11:16 PM
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blparent] Adopting a Pet

> Hi,
>
> Is this a strictly indoor cat, or does it go outside sometimes?  If it's 
> an outdoor cat or even if it may accidentally get out, I wouldn't get it 
> declawed.  If you declaw it and then it goes outside even by accident, and 
> gets attacked by another animal it won't have any way to defend itself. 
> Sarah will most likely get a little nip or scratch from the cat, but 
> she'll learn very quickly what it will and won't tollerate.  How old is 
> the cat?  I would advise against getting a kitten, they're a nusence, and 
> they chew through everything, and are not so good with kids, although this 
> isn't always the case.  I would tell her that the cat is staying for the 
> week-end, and I wouldn't tell her anything more at this point.  That way 
> you're not pressured to keep the cat if you can't, or don't want to, and 
> you won't have a whiney crying child asking why for the next couple of 
> days because she won't know any different.  She'll just think the cat 
> stayed there for a couple of days.  If you end up keeping the cat you can 
> tell her and she'll be happy to have a new furry family member.  smile Oh, 
> and get a collar with a bell for the cat.  That way you'll always know 
> where he or she is.
> hth
>
> Tammy
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto
> Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 12:57 PM
> 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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