Layla is getting a foster brother
 

My grandma is going away for 4 months and we are getting her cat on Sunday... Charlie. Layla is in LOVE with Charlie and Charlie.... well... he tolerates Layla. But we've only ever been to visit him for.. maybe a half hour and after 15 min he leaves because she is a bit much for him. I already know that we have to get non-clumping cat litter.. and we are DEFINITLY changing his food (he is eating some not so great food at the moment). But I feel like I don't know how to best make this go for the cat.... I am going to change his food gradually.. that i know.. and he is going to be going from being free fed, to being fed on a schedual... but i don't know a whole lot about cats... where should his litter box be?? and his food.. what if Layla gets into it... shoudl there be a room that is just his that he can escape to..... any advice you can give on how to make this go the best for him (i'm so scared the stress is going to kill him.. he is ... well VERY overweight)
Thanks guys.. i need all the help i can get

oh and if i can get a small prayer for a huge exam tomorrow. that would be great too :)

lol that cat is like 3 times bigger than her! and he doesn't look very happy about her bothering him lol

*sigh* i know... that's what i'm worried about.....:(

OMG, Charlie looks just like our Sophie!!!! Bella loves Sophie and tries to play with her all the time and Sophie tolerates Bella!!!! Sounds very familiar!!!! :) Although I think secretly Sophie loves Bella, but just can't bring herself to admit it!!!! :)

Good luck on your exam!!! :)

LOL!!!! Our Sophie is 3x bigger than Bella and has the same look on her face!!!! It is just like being in our house! :)

Prayers for your exam tomorrow :)

If things become hectic with Charlie, Simon said Layla can come vacation here with him. I'm no help, I am terribly allergic to cats so I don't really know anything about them but good luck.

Wow, Charlie IS much bigger than Layla. :D Is Charlie declawed? My sister has two cats and a Chihuahua and they usually ignore each other. Maybe a swat of the paw by one of the cats to Timmy (the dog) but other than that, things are fine.

Saying a prayer that your big exam tomorrow goes fine for you. :hands: Although, you won't need it Marci, your a really good student. :)

Well...we have three cats and, now, 6 yorkies. There are occasionally issues with them trying to eat cat litter, their food, etc. but they can be easily worked out.

Those automatic litter boxes work wonders...they're expensive but worth every penny. BUT for just a simple litter box you can put it up high where layla can't reach it, put a gate into the room where the litter box is (the cat can jump in, dog can't), put his box down into something like a large moving box, etc. OR simply just have a room sectioned off for him where he is put in when you leave or at night, and open the door for him to go in every 6 hours or so to potty. That's also a good opportunity to feed him. We feed ours twice a day, overweight cats can be very unhealthy...it's even more dangerous than with dogs. Ours get food AM and PM before bedtime. They ALWAYS clear their bowls, but if he doesn't (which he may not if he's used to free feeding) then still take it away and don't feed again until dinner/nighttime. He'll be hungry and eat the whole thing that time...and will eventually get used to it. Cats are much more low maintenence than dogs really, they're pretty easy to take care of...as long as he has a place to lounge in the sun, food, water, and a litterbox he'll be fine...lol. I know LOTS about cats as all three of ours are shelter cats...and I used to volunteer at the animal shelters a lot...plus I've had cats allll my life. So just let me know if you have any other questions or if something doesn't make sense...:p

I have a covered litterbox for my cats which helps to keep Lacy out of it. I'd try to keep it somewhere where Layla doesn't get to it too easily. Also, I always feed my cats on a counter or table so that Lacy does not eat their food. Why non-clumping litter? I like using clumping litter because you can easily scoop the pee out and keep the box cleaner. I don't use clay litter though. I use Nature's Miracle cat litter which is made from corn cobs. I recommend a non-clay litter

Oh you mean the ones with the door? Yeah we used to have those...they're pretty good...and yes I forgot to mention that...Clumping litter is SOOO much easier.

and this is what I'm after right now...trying to save up for it...;)

it would SOLVE all my problems...lol

http://www.dog.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=2...srccode=FR0401

Right now I have the Booda Dome Litterbox. I think you can get them at petsmart and petco

What a beautiful cat! :)

I would say to just give it time. It took the yorkies a while to learn that the cats weren't made to be chased around and tortured. Eventually, they all learned how much of each other they could stand, and there were no problems. :) We kept the litterbox in the basement, where the dogs were never allowed to go. If you could, I'd probably try to keep free feeding him. Put him on some kind of weight-control food, and put his bowl in a place where Layla can't get to it. Its just that we had a....kind of....fat cat haha, and he was so used to being free fed that if there ever wasn't food in his bowl or whatever he would get SO stressed out that he'd shed like mad and he wouldn't sleep. So I think letting him free feed would help keep the stress level down, as long as he's on healthier food.

Prayers that your exam will go well tomorrow!

Best of luck with everything! This is a great thing you're doing!

Thank you all so much for your suggestion! i'll be busy cat shopping this weekend :)
THanks for the heads up Megan on switching his feeding scheduale.. i think i'll just get a weight control food and feed him less of it, but not take it away. I know this move is going to be so stressful for him, not to mention sweet little Layla ;) I'll be sure to video tape their first "encouter" it will be worth the price of admission :P

off to write my exam....:eek:

Yeah we have one of those somewhere lol...I like the little steps...:p