June
1995
Adopter
Beware: When Considering Cat Adoptions... Know Your Options
By Laurie Jordan
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Congratulations! You’ve just decided to add a new member
to your family in adopting a cat or kitten. They make wonderful companions
and can brighten your days while providing endless hours of pleasure.
Remember there are some important decisions you should make before adopting
from just any organization or rescue group. Some agencies are more legitimate
than others. If a vet is present, speak to her and find out the underlying
reasons why a cat has been given up for adoption, and if there are any
health problems. That way, hopefully, there won’t be any surprises.
Consider your reasons for adopting a cat and choose carefully. Do you
want a kitten to be a companion to an older cat who appears lonely,
or do you wish to surprise your child with a Christmas gift? Cats live
well past the holiday season, some can live up to twenty years. This
is a long-term commitment. Additionally, your older cat may resent
an
extremely frisky little intruder on her or his turf, and your child
will need some coaching in caring for her new “toy.”
Each cat is unique and displays distinct personality traits. One may
like to eat Iams dry food at night, while another cat may prefer Triumph
wet cat food in the morning. They may also be particular about their
litter box and prefer not to share it with your other cats. I had one
cat who preferred to use the bath tub, but that is another story.
Even if you adore white Persian cats, you may not want to adopt one
if your furniture and clothes are black. Persians and other long-haired
cats (i.e. Norwegian Forests and Maine Coons) are beautiful but they
do shed and need to be groomed on a regular basis to keep their coats
healthy and shiny.
To make a happy match the whole family should be involved in the process
of selecting a companion animal. Children can bond with the animal they
choose. This is a good time to teach youngsters to respect all forms
of life, and to accept responsibility for feeding and caring for their
cat or kitten.
Ask the agency you adopt from to provide (in writing) a current vaccination
history and a rabies certificate or a photocopy of one. The agency should
also be able to tell if the kitten has been dewormed and is FIP and
Feline Leukemia negative. This is very important, as these conditions
are extremely contagious to other cats and are fatal. The agency should
also inform you if the cat is currently on medication or antibiotics.
Kittens are extremely susceptible and likely to be stricken with a variety
of respiratory conditions and colds. For this reason, it is advisable
not to adopt a cat under nine weeks of age, when they are very vulnerable
to disease, as are human infants. In the spring, when kittens are born,
some agencies try to convince individuals to adopt kittens that are
only weeks old. It is better to wait, and healthier for the kittens,
especially if they are not yet weaned.
Kittens need to be inoculated regularly. They should be vaccinated
at least ten days in advance of being introduced to a new household.
However,
there is no immunologic requirement for annual vaccination in cats.
According to Tom R. Philips and Ronald D. Shultz, authors of Current
Veterinary Therapy XI — Canine & Feline Vaccines, immunity
to viruses persists for years or for the life of the animal.
Sometimes a kitten may be a carrier of a germ or parasite but not display
any symptoms. She or he can still introduce a whole array of diseases
into a multi-cat household. The unsuspecting individual may have no
idea why a previously healthy older cat has suddenly become ill. Frequently,
kittens in shelters also become afflicted with ear mites and a skin
fungus called ringworm, which, by the way, is as contagious to humans
as it is to cats and dogs. Treatment of these conditions requires daily
care. Ask yourself if you have the time and knowledge to do this. If
the cat has ringworm, the agency should inform you, although some do
not. There are agencies such as The New York Cat Gang, headed by Ms.
Pat Haldeman, that do not keep accurate updated medical records of their
cats.
I agreed to foster a cat from the aforementioned NY Cat Gang. The cat
had ringworm and was a carrier of a respiratory condition called rhinotracheitis.
A four-in-one vaccine protects a cat against “rhino,” distemper,
panaleukemia, and colesi. Ask the organization if their cats have been
immunized against these diseases.
I contracted ringworm from the infected cat and was told to treat it
with an anti-fungal cream by a former vet technician. It took about
three weeks to heal the unsightly red fungus. It was also crucial at
this time to bleach everything in sight. So I was constantly scrubbing,
disinfecting, and spraying bleach on all exposed surfaces. My cat was
treated with antibiotics and Baytril to clear up the rhino infection.
Treatment for rhino can be quite expensive and if the disease is not
caught in time can prove fatal. Symptoms of rhino include: runny eyes
and nose, ulcers in and around the mouth, lethargy, and loss of appetite.
Having these symptoms does not necessarily mean your cat has rhino,
but should any of these symptoms occur it is best to visit a vet promptly.
Michael Chrysam’s first kitten Fig was active and very playful.
When Fig stopped eating and appeared lethargic, Mike took him to the
local veterinarian and was told the kitten needed to be on antibiotics
for a few days due to a viral infection. At first they couldn’t
get a handle on what was making this previously healthy kitten so ill.
The antibiotics didn’t work and the kitten’s condition
worsened.
The vet decided to change the prescription to a different antibiotic,
but the kitten was becoming severely dehydrated and wouldn’t
eat or drink, so the vet began to administer fluids in an IV and decided
to keep the kitten in the animal hospital for about a week. He also
changed the dosage and prescription to Baytril. After a month of treatments
and hundreds of dollars in vet bills Fig finally recuperated from a
severe case of rhinotracheitis, contracted from the newly adopted cat.
Michael is very fond of his cats and says he hopes he never has to
go
through such an awful experience again.
Basha also adopted a cat from the Cat Gang, NYC. She experienced the
same situation when her cat developed a severe case of rhinotracheitis.
It was treated with antibiotics and administered fluids by Ellen Schneider,
who has extensive experience working as a vet technician and with breeders.
Basha credits Ellen with saving her cat’s life. She says she could
not have afforded the vet bills and did not have the time to transport
her cat back and forth to the vet’s office. It took a period of
months before Basha’s cat fully recovered from its ordeal. You
will save yourself much heartache and money if you ask the right questions.
A responsible agency such as the Bide-A-Wee in New York or the Humane
Society will provide a history of inoculations and also offer low cost
affordable spay and neutering programs. It is important to have your
animal spayed or neutered due to the overpopulation problem. Over 35,000
animals are euthanized annually. New Yorkers for Companion Animals have
all their cats vet-checked, neutered, or spayed and stand by their adoptions.
Be cautious. Be wary of private agencies and individuals who simply
collect cats but do not have the knowledge, expertise, or funds to stand
behind their adoptions. They are not in the business of adopting cats
for humane reasons, but for commercial profit. If you choose to adopt
from an individual not an agency make sure to have your own vet check
the cat before taking it home, and isolate it for at least 10 days before
exposing your other cats to it.
You should also request a pet adoption application form which will
outline proper ways of caring for your cat, as in routine feeding and
grooming.
Most agencies insist that you promise not to declaw your cat as this
will not only interfere with a cat’s natural instincts to use
its claws for pleasure, but also to defend itself. Some declawed cats
turn into biters because they feel defenseless.
Learn as much as you can before adopting your cat. Arm yourself with
knowledge and decide what your options are. If you have further questions,
please contact the Humane Society of New York City.
Laurie Jordan has been an animal activist for eight
years, and a practicing vegetarian for nine. She lives in New York City
with five cats.
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