He's beautiful!

 

Thank you!

We got to spend some time with him at his old home, he's a sweety when he's not peeved at the house change. And his old home has several other cats AND a Great Pyr, so he's used to a variety of other animals, so he should settle in without to much trouble once he gets over the move.

 

Yeah, he'll adjust. Cats detest change, but he'll be okay soon enough.

 

I have a Siberian. They are probably the most amazing breed I have ever encountered. He is absolutely beautiful.

 

Those laser beams ... I mean, purdy kitty!

 

He's beautiful!

How are your boys taking to him?

 

Well...

We dropped the dogs off at my BIL's for the day, since it was 3.5hrs each way to pick up the cat. And since he's a big cat (approx 14lbs) I decided that cramming him into the cat carriers for that trp wold be cruel (I'm going to need a bigger cat carrier.....). So I washed out Arty's crate and confirmed that it fitted perfectly in the back seat, and we brought that.

On the way back we stopped at my BIL's to pick up the dogs.

Apollo hopped in, sniffed, and basically went "oh, its a cat" and ignored him.

Arty on the other hand had hysterics over the STRANGE CAT in HIS CRATE.....which means that he SHREIKED and CRIED all the way home. Oops.

Probly not the best introduction for him or the cat.....

 

Aww poor Arty, and poor y'all and Shadow. Hopefully Arty will settle down and they'll all get along.

 

Shadow and Trouble were playing footsie under the door last night after I posted here, no hissing, or anything! And Trouble is currently sitting in front of the bathroom (where we have Shadow stashed) calling him! I'm not going to allow them to interact (more than footsie) till he clears his vet check later today, but the initial signs are good!

 

Hope everything goes well for your new member of the clan. You can't deny how gorgeous he is, I have never seen one.
Hope Arty accepts him, and Shadow takes to his new home.
I'm looking forward to many pictures of this beauty.

 

Arty will accept him, it'll just be a matter of time. The fact that he's BIG, and laid back in general will help ALOT.

 

Please keep this thread updated. I want to know how the vet visit goes, and how Trouble and Shadow react when they really meet each other!

 

Trouble is my other cat, and I was a bit worried, but so far she's quite interested and not hissy or anything, so cross your fingers for me!

IF everything continues on the same vein, and he clears the vet check no problem (I don't expect any problems, but he's overdue for his rabies booster by over a year, so I KNOW its been a while since he saw a vet :/ ) then tonight we'll leave the bathroom door open for a bit to allow him to smell and see and hear and get a chance to come out if he wants. That bathroom is behind the gate, so even if he comes out he doesn't have to meet the dogs just yet if he doesn't want to.

 

Well, possible bad news, he came back with a "mild positive" on TWO snap tests for FIV. So now the waiting game on the Blot test.

Now I personally know of households with mixed positive and negetive cats, so I know its possible. Alot of it is based on how well the cats get along. But it means I have research to do and some decisions to make :/

 

whats FIV?

 

Feline Immunodificiency Virus , FIV Feline AIDs In Your Cat

 

ruthcatrin, oh no! Hopefully the blot test comes back with a better result.

 

I hope this all works out to the good somehow. (((Hugs)))

 

Aww he's cute and fluffy just like Apollo! Hopefully the blot test says that he's FIV negative. FIV sucks :\ the feral cat population here has it so I can't let mine out unless I do some trapping.

 

Well, I'm not sure where he'd have picked it up. She very definetly kept everyone INSIDE. On the other hand a not insignifigant part of why she was re-homing several of her cats was due to her lack of ability to keep up with care, including vetting.

SO, we're waiting on the blog test (wednesday or thursday next week) and in the mean time I'm doing massive research on the subject.....its already looking like the BIG vector in a household like mine would be a cat fight, so if Shadow and Trouble get along ok that reduces the risk. Recommendations also include feeding seperately, which I do anyways....

 

Yeah, I had a cat with FIV when I was a kid. My parents decided not to have him neutered even though he was an indoor/outdoor cat...One of his testicles had not descended, so it would cost extra that they didn't want to pay. So he was constantly getting in fights. That's how he got it. I guess they tested for it before he had surgery to drain abscesses from fighting. Unfortunately he didn't make it past 4. He started getting sick and my parents were done treating him (they should have thought about that before they decided not to neuter him!). I'm guessing it was a complication of the FIV...Weakened immune system and he was always getting infections from cat bites and scratches.

I'm sure Shadow will be much better off though, even if he does have it. It was frustrating for me as a kid to not have control over my cat and the way he was treated. When they got me another cat (shortly before that one died), I INSISTED that she be kept inside. She's now 10 years old.

 

The vet says he's otherwise as healthy as she can determine. She was impressed with his physical condition.

ANd he's already neutered, so thats not an issue.

End of life care is definetly a factor, on the other hand I feed a high end diet, and have no problem heading for the vet if I suspect a problem, and I have no problem TREATING said problem.....

I've looked up and joined a FIV cats support group, in an attempt to get some additional "been there and done that" experience to look at.....

 

Yes, which is exactly why I'm sure Shadow will be much better off than my cat was, and that's if he even has it.

Do you know if possible that he's been vaccinated for it? I believe that would cause a false positive...FIV antibodies will show up in a blood test, but that doesn't mean the virus is actually there.

 

According to the vet records I got he was not. However when I emailed his breeder, the lady I got him from (to advise her and warn her), I did ask that question just to be sure.

 

*does happy dance!!!!*

 

I'm happy dancing for ya!

That is so great ruth!

 

I love 'Good News!' Now we want all the details on how everybody gets along!
BTW....He's gorgeous!