Mufusa, also known as Muffy, is our rescue cat. He's a handsome, friendly, talkative 4 year old Tom. Except when he turns into an evil, fluffy, bitey, scratchy thing who sprints up and down the stairs and all around the house. Yowling very loudly. Before crashing out on the sofa. Or hiding under a blanket.
We're hoping this will be his forever home and are doing our best to help him settle. He's getting lots of space, access to the outside and we're letting him come see us rather than going to see him. We know not all cats are lap cats, but we're cautiously optimistic he'll learn to behave, particularly around the Tubblet.
There are loads of guides to helping your rescue cat adjust to his new home so I won't rehash those, but here are a few things we've learned:
Communicate
I grew up with cats ranging from a placid lap cat, via an independent explorer and a semi-feral. Rev T had no pets apart from a rescue dog that was returned after biting his mum. We've been married for 17 years and I'd never heard about this before Muffy arrived. These experiences shape our expectations of appropriate pet behaviour and how to deal with issues. My tolerance for Cats Behaving Badly is higher than Rev T's. He is totally no nonsense. Neither approach is right or wrong, but talking about these things beforehand helps everyone.
Finding the prefect pet.
This process varies depending on where your rescue pet comes from. In my opinion, it's better if they visit your home first to look around, answer any questions about adoption, then introduce you to a few potential pets. Once you've found the perfect pet, you take them home. Joy! There will be a follow-up visit to check your new friend is happy and offer any further help / advice.
We didn't do that. Muffy was found online then we visited the shelter. After a few meetings and a home visit, he was all ours. No animal is completely themselves in a shelter. However lovely it is, it's still a shelter. It's easy, when you're going round looking for a pet to love, to want to adopt them all. Suddenly, a Great Dane is just what you've always wanted, it'll all be fine and you get hustled away quickly by the rest of the family. Unless this only happens to me.
Much as we love Muffy, he may not have been the cat we went home with if we'd talked to someone beforehand. He's a lot of cat. Particularly if you've never had a cat before. On the other hand, he's not boring and has loads of personality. He's our cat now and we love him. (Before you say anything, although Muffy is a cat of many talents, one of them isn't reading).
Ask for help.
Our first month with Muffy was ghastly. We thought we'd made a terrible mistake. Turned out that not all his pre-homing health checks had been done. He had very sore teeth and needed lots of dental work. Once his teeth were fixed, he was a lot happier.
Shop around.
We needed a cat flap fitted in our back door. Our local handyman did it for £20. Much better than the quotes of £300+ I was given when I contacted a few of the Internet sites claiming to install cat flaps. And still he prefers to climb out the window!
Feliway.
Feliway is a plug-in that contains synthetic copies of the pheromone that cats leave behind when they rub their faces on things. These pheromones make cats feel less stressed. I am not a scientist so have no clue how this works, but it just does. We noticed a real difference with Muffy when we plugged ours in. It's not cheap, but worth a try.
Keep At It. But Know When to Quit.
You never know what a rescue pet is like until they come home. Sometimes they just fit right in, other times not so much and settling in takes time. Keep at it, but accept there are times when it doesn't work out and the pet has to go back. Try not to feel bad. They're the right pet for someone, just not you.Any rescue pet stories to share? Any advice about helping your rescue pet to settle?
As the Summer Holidays start and the schools break up, there is less time for blogging. From next week onwards and for the whole of August, there'll be one post a week. Normal service resumes in September. Enjoy the break and see you on the other side.

Muffy looks like a lovely cat. I like the photo of him on the window! You are really good for sticking with him even though the beginning was difficult. Great tips. #SharingtheBlogLove
ReplyDeleteThank you. :) He does seem to be much happier and settle now. Hopefully that'll continue and he'll turn into a proper family cat. Who swats you every so often :)
Deletewonderful that you've given Muffy a home and great that you persevered when things were tough at the beginning as I imagine that's when a lot of people give up. #stayclassymama
ReplyDeleteIt's knowing the difference between what's going to sort itself out as they settle v's just not suitable for the environment you've put them in I think. He definitely seems much happier of late. Fingers crossed!
DeleteFeliway is amazing. With all our rescues I would say patience and fairly low expectations are key. We won't be rescuing for a bit though as L is three so has neither of those qualities!!! #stayclassymama
ReplyDeleteIt's genius! I'm so glad I found it on Google as it's made such a difference to him. And you really notice when it's beginning to run out. You're right about the low expectations the patience. Everything seems like a win at the moment
DeleteI always wanted to adopt a pet.. however I know that this comes with lots of obstacles mainly because of their harsh past. Also cats have their mind of they own :D so it could be double trouble!
ReplyDelete#FabFridayPost
It really depends. Some cats seem to fit right in whilst others are more challenging. Of course, you don't know what you've got until you've got them home.
DeleteAww! What a lovely cat. When I was a child all of our pets were rescued. We lived on a farm & even rescued a pony from going to the slaughterhouse. £30 was a real bargain. We kept her for about 10 years until she was sold on. x #PoCoLo
ReplyDeleteHe is :) Well done for saving the pony. You should definitely blog about that
DeleteWhat a cutie! I have to admit I've never had a rescue pet - we tried a while back, but were told that as all of our family worked (my mum as a teacher, so was home pretty early in the day) we weren't suitable candidates for one of our local shelter's cats. It sounds like you've done a great job in helping Muffy settle in - I'm sure he'll bring your family lots of very happy memories! Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
ReplyDeleteIt really depends on the shelter. Rev T works from home alot, but we do go out so Muffy does have to amuse himself alot. He seems very settled though and we're so pleased to have him
DeleteAhh he is gorgeous but I know completely what you mean about explaining the challenges. I've found even with all our pets that we've had from babies they've all had unique personalities that need to be catered for. Good luck X #PoCoLo
ReplyDeleteThat's true. Muffy is old grumpy bastard, but now we know that, we can just take him as we find him :)
DeleteI bet he has you wrapped round his paw already. Love the photo of him sitting up on the top window. We've adopted two cats in the past and currently have a rescue dog. They all come with baggage. One cat I picked up, because I overheard a conversation at work about having to rehome a cat and if they didn't, she would be cat curry. I think I was set up. She was a wonderful cat though. #PoCoLo
ReplyDeleteHe has. He went missing for a few days, like all cats do, and we were hunting everywhere for him. He finally turned up last night. Very hungry and looking / feeling like he'd been dragged through several bushes
DeleteWhat a beautiful cat, my cat is also rescued too. X #pocolo
ReplyDeleteThank you. Give your cat a smooth from me :)
DeleteHow beautiful and a great way to rehome. We are so close to getting a new pet right now. We will be looking to find one that needs a good home,
ReplyDeleteMainy
#stayclassymama
It's worth talking to a shelter first as they have so many animals looking for love.
DeleteWe have no pets but if we did I would deffinitwly rescue or adopt one rather than buy one. These are great tips. Thank you for sharing with #StayClassyMama
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! Thank you for hosting each week :)
DeleteIt's great that you have gone down the path of rescuing an animal. My parents have a dog that they rescued. #SharingtheBlogLove
ReplyDeleteThank you. He's settled in now and it's difficult to imagine life without him
DeleteMy grandparents always adopted rescue animals and if we get another pet in the future I would like to go down this route #sharingthebloglove
ReplyDeleteIt's totally worth it. There are so many lovely animals in shelters looking for someone to love and to love them
DeleteHe looks a sweetie, but I'm sure that depends on how he feels at the time. One of my cats was not quite a domestic cat - she was born in the local factory who regularly culled their cat population. My FIL at the time brought her home is his duffel bag as he knew I'd find her a home. It was hard work and she was so very tiny - the vet told me off for having her away from her mum and wasn't sure if she was male or female on first inspection. She was female, but her name was Bob, short for Kate (of Blackadder derision - it seemed apt). We had two other cats and there was much hissing, but we got there and she lived to a ripe old age of 17, something she'd not have done in her previous life. Good luck, it'll be worth it - thanks for sharing with #PoCoLo
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to rehome a dog but since having children I just can't bring myself to because I can't be 100% sure of their temperament so I would always be on edge. Plus we have a little teacup yorkie whos scared of his own shadow so I don't think it would be fair #sharingthebloglove
ReplyDeleteOur cat was a rescue cat too! He was dumped in a plastic bag at the rspca!
ReplyDeleteFab that you've homed a rescue cat too! Good luck
x
Stopping by from #sharingthebloglove
Some really good advice. We're looking at getting a dog in a few years and would rather get a revue dog but wary about temperament x
ReplyDelete#sharingthebloglove