In the kingdom of cats
As soon as the door to the apartment opened, dozens of animals stared at us.
At first, it seemed that cats were everywhere: they settled in baskets and houses, lay on the table and under it, perched on the windowsill and even on the window leading to the balcony. Some pets looked warily from distant rooms, others, who were closer, studied us from their “observation platforms.” Those who were braver managed to come up and began to rub their legs, purring loudly.
In the apartment of Natalya Sinkina, whom we visited, there are constantly more than fifty animals. In 2013, a woman founded the “Cat House” shelter. She says that she had previously helped homeless animals for many years, often bringing them home for foster care. After a while, I specially rented a room in which several cats lived. And soon she began renting space in the administrative building.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
Now a separate apartment has also been rented for the shelter’s pets, where there are more than 60 animals.
“We agreed with the owners of the property, we are sitting there like mice. None of the neighbors know about the shelter. These are not dogs, cats have soft paws, you can’t hear them. The trays are filled with filler, so there are no odors, and we clean them several times a week,” says Natalya.
Sinkina admits that the number of animals is constantly changing, some manage to find new owners, but still cats are brought in more often than they are taken away.
“Of course, we understand that, in an amicable way, the shelter needs to be built somewhere separately. But, firstly, we don’t have the money for this, and secondly, it’s already difficult to even support these animals,” notes Sinkina.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
By education, Natalya is an engineer, she is engaged in drawing up various construction estimates, and after work she spends almost all her free time on animals. The woman is helped by her friends - Svetlana and Olga. In total, three people have more than 100 cats in two apartments.
In addition, women often help out pensioner acquaintances who also have pets in their homes.
“Of course, sometimes older people can’t cope, so we take care of them, bring them food, and sometimes do the cleaning. Also, if necessary, we can put an IV on the animals or carry out other procedures,” notes Natalya.
cat and cat
The most problematic option is to have two cats living together. Even if you adopted two cats from the same litter, in adulthood enmity is almost one hundred percent guaranteed. It’s the same when you take a baby into the house with an adult animal. While he is growing, the cat will most likely be more or less loyal. But in adult animals, conflicts will begin.
This is natural: the male defends his territory and lays claim to the female. Even if there is no female nearby or in sight, the cats are unaware of this. Hissing, snorting, frightening and rather disgusting screams begin. Often this is enough for one of the cats to get scared and retreat. But it happens that rivals do not yield, then claws and teeth are used. Fur flies and animals get injured. Cat bites, by the way, heal very poorly and are fraught with inflammation.
Therefore, to avoid constant quarrels and self-mutilation, cats are neutered. Later they usually calm down and live quite peacefully in the same territory. Of course, things cannot happen without occasional clashes, but this is not real enmity, but minor misunderstandings. If each cat has its own bowl, litter box, and place to rest, the likelihood of collisions is reduced. By the way, animal psychologists advise placing cat baskets or houses at the same height. Since animals perceive the one who is higher as a more important being. And they strive to seize the championship. And this is again unnecessary collisions.
Fractures, bullets and other difficulties
A white cat extends its paw from the bed and seems to insist on being played with.
“This blue-eyed beauty, Peach, had a broken spine, the kitten was seriously beaten by dogs and left to die in the bushes. Doctors in Novosibirsk said that the pet would not live even a year, but he has been with us for more than five years,” says Natalya.
According to her, the cat constantly runs around the apartment, dragging its hind legs, and has not lost interest in life at all. Moreover, Peach often fights with other cats and shows them his character. Due to health problems, he has to manually empty his bladder several times a day.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
Nearby, by the chair, lies a large fluffy Marquis. He lived on the street for several years and ended up in the shelter by accident when Natalya noticed him not far from home. After a few days of living in the shelter, Marquis began to cough. It turned out that he had five bullets near his trachea. Natalya notes that they cannot be pulled out because of their size; none of the doctors took on this operation.
“If people treated their animals responsibly, then we would have nothing to do, we would not suffer. I would like there to be serious liability for improper treatment, then many would think again before getting a cat or dog,” says Natalya.
A 16-year-old dog occupies a separate room. Alisa has a broken spine, she barely moves around the apartment and needs constant care.
“At night he smears everything, and then barks and calls me to clean it up. I come and do it. I tried to put diapers on her with tights, but Alice was tearing everything apart. It’s a shame to put her to sleep, so we’re taking care of her,” says the owner of the shelter.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
Natalya says that there are many blind, lame and wounded animals in the apartment. The diagnoses of some cats are difficult to pronounce, and pets require expensive medications and various procedures. But diseases do not frighten the shelter workers.
“The most dangerous thing is rabies, but cats are domestic cats. In addition, no one bothers us to vaccinate animals for safety, which is what we do,” says Natalya.
Cat owners are important too!
Cats may abandon their owners if there are active, self-confident individuals in the group, the animals are not satisfied with their place of residence, and the owner does not devote enough time and attention to them. To solve the problem, you should allow pets to decide for themselves what the nature and duration of relationships with people should be, and try to treat everyone equally, without singling out favorites among them.
How do pets get to the shelter?
The owner of the apartment jokes that most often they end up with animals that they stumbled over on the street. At first they brought almost all of them, but when there were too many pets, they decided to stop. However, Natalya admits that even now she cannot pass by the abandoned kitten.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
“Yes, sometimes we can’t take an animal in, but we shouldn’t leave it on the street! I call my friends and colleagues who work in shelters or foster care, they help out. We are unable to serve any more at this time. We know our strengths, and therefore we understand our responsibility towards animals. Everyone, of course, loves cats, but unfortunately few are ready to seriously help them. Anyone can find me on social networks, come and pick up a pet,” says Sinkina.
What can happen if everything is not ok?
If tension arises between members of a home group, or resources within a territory become depleted and depleted, cats either try to avoid each other, using available means of communication to increase distance between themselves, or adapt to the situation and avoid conflicts by suppressing natural instincts. If one cat fails to adapt, chronic stress can develop, causing behavioral problems and problems for the owner, such as poor hygiene (urinating outside the litter box) or a stress-related disease (idiopathic cystitis).
Some cats are content with normal behaviors such as grooming, sleeping, and eating, but they spend too much time and effort trying to calm themselves in a stressful situation. A cat that has a bright, bold personality and enjoys relative freedom of movement can move beyond a confined space and explore additional territory with richer resources to satisfy its needs.
What the neighbors say
“I also don’t advertise the fact that there are a lot of cats at home. A local police officer came to see me and said that there were no unpleasant odors in the entrance or stairwell, so there were no problems. Although, of course, now we have a lot of kittens, I’m trying to distribute them as quickly as possible,” says the owner of the shelter.
According to her, some neighbors know about the home shelter and often come to play with the animals.
“It’s a great way for them to relieve stress and get away from all the hustle and bustle. It helps me too. You know, even if I fall asleep in the hall without a blanket, I will never freeze, because I will be surrounded by cats,” Natalya shares.
However, the shelter also has its detractors. Sometimes Sinkina finds bags of garbage on her car.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
“Most likely, the neighbors don’t like the fact that Alice barks at night. Of course, I understand them, but there are five dogs in the house, and stones fly only at mine, because she is not always the culprit of loud noises,” notes Sinkina.
House plan
When deciding on the placement of individual groups of the cat community, a two-dimensional diagram of the house may be useful. First, you need to spend some time observing which rooms the representatives of one or another faction prefer to be in, and where they try not to look. If resources are concentrated in limited spaces, cats from different groups will be forced to meet in “common” areas. Thus, areas of potential conflicts arise, which should be clearly marked on the schematic map.
How much does it cost to keep animals?
According to Natalya, most of the money is spent on food and litter for trays. On average, 700-1000 rubles are spent on one cat per month. In addition, the initial examination of new cats, as well as their sterilization and vaccinations, costs a significant amount.
“Of course, veterinarians I know give discounts. But various tests, such as ultrasound, x-rays, blood tests, cost a pretty penny,” says Natalya.
She notes that the shelter is helped by caring citizens. Most often they donate 50-100 rubles; few people donate large sums.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
“I’m completely in debt, I need to give 500 thousand rubles to one of the banks. I'm trying to pay it off gradually. Of course, I can’t quit my job, but I won’t stop helping. I live in chronic stress, because I’m afraid that one day I won’t have enough money to feed the animals,” shared Sinkina.
Recognition of social groups
You can determine whether pets belong to one group or another by tracking which cats spend more time together - they sleep next to each other, play and eat together, lick each other, “hello” with their noses. Conversely, it is possible to determine the degree of hostility between groups: cats demonstrate aggression towards others, leave the room when an unpleasant “person” enters, or measure each other with destructive glances. In order not to confuse groups and “household members,” you should write in a column the names of all members of the general group, and then draw multi-colored arrows that will help you understand the intricacies of the “intra-clan” structure.
For example: cat A licks cat B, therefore the arrow from A to B indicates friendly relations between these animals. Once the relationships between all members of the group have been established using diagrams, you can begin to resolve other issues, such as dividing the common territory, distributing resources, etc., so that there are no conflicts.
Walled up kittens and the benefits of sterilization
Shelter owners admit that they often encounter negativity; they try to poison some cats or leave them to die in agony. Yulia Shelkovnikova recalls that three-month-old kittens were thrown into one of the city’s basements in November.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
“The homeowners' association walled them up, tightly sealed all the windows. We went to cut down locks, argued with the housing department, they called the police. We caught the kittens and saved all three,” Shelkovnikova shares.
She notes that the number of abandoned animals is growing every year: “Seven years ago, when we started, fewer purebred cats were thrown away. There were almost no British and Scots on the streets, and if they appeared, they immediately swooped in. We chose who should give it to. Now there are tons of purebred cats in basements, and no one wants them.”
She sees sterilization as one way out of the situation. “Almost all of our pets used to be pets. I don’t understand how people live next to uncastrated animals. One ordinary cat can cover up all the smells. In this sense, 20 castrated people compared to him are nothing. If people were more conscious and thought about the future, then there would be much fewer problems,” shares the owner of the shelter.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
Compatibility
Closely related individuals raised together adapt better than others in the group, especially if there were no conflicts between them when they were kittens. Usually, warm relationships arise between individuals with complementary types of temperament; for example, a kitten that is not too confident in itself feels affection for a very timid fellow.
You should not expect that a group consisting of a large number of animals will be a single whole. There is a possibility that as cats grow older they will split into pairs, factions of three or more individuals, some will prefer to be alone and will keep to themselves. Individual groups coexist in a common area, making every effort to avoid contact with other factions.
If such a trend already exists, it is necessary to provide decent conditions for each faction with the distribution of resources in such a way that cats from different factions do not meet each other.
Houses and apartments for homeless animals
A separate area of helping animals that do not have owners is foster care. There are more than 20 such houses for stray dogs and cats in Barnaul. There, pets are treated for free and also undergo rehabilitation.
“Many wards soon find owners and end up in loving families,” says Marina Alferova. Together with other caring Barnaul residents, she runs the “Homeless” group on social networks and has organized a network of shelters in volunteer apartments and houses. The project is supported by hundreds of residents of the regional capital. Our joint efforts have already saved dozens of animals.
Marina says that she actively began helping cats in 2012, when her family moved from an apartment to a house and there was more space. Then I started buying equipment - cages, carriers, trays. Over the years, the number of cats has grown, and now there are just over 30 of them.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
“I can’t shelter many animals, firstly, because there is no separate room, we also need somewhere to live. And secondly, you should calculate your strength. Must have time to clean the trays, feed them, and provide assistance. You have to rely on yourself and the help of loved ones,” says Alferova.
Marina’s endeavors are supported by her husband and son. According to the woman, they are already accustomed to the fact that there are always a lot of animals in the house.
“Of course, it happens that my loved ones slow me down a little, but sometimes my husband brings kittens. If there were other relationships in the family, I would not have agreed to this. You need to know when to stop,” Marina shares.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
Social life of a companion cat
Groups of companion cats are formed according to completely different principles. People choose animals to live with, which may or may not be related. Typically, they are sterilized (a perfectly reasonable measure for companion cats), and then the animals are either placed in an isolated area, making it impossible to maintain distance from each other, or allowed to go for walks, where they risk encountering other cats living nearby. Companion cats are exposed to stressful situations, but since they are an adaptable species, it should be noted that some will choose social contact with cats in their group, while others will avoid it (if they have a choice). All cats are capable of living alone, and many of them easily adapt to this lifestyle.
Special approach to everyone
In a house, cats live in different rooms. Marina notes that these pets are in many ways similar to people and differ from each other in character. There are more independent animals that do not get along with all their neighbors. In one of the rooms there lives a cat who has problems with the vestibular apparatus. He cannot move quickly, so calm animals were chosen as his neighbors.
Also in the isolated room are blind Thomas and Vanga, who were found on the street several years ago. They calmly move around the room, know every square meter and do not experience any particular difficulties. According to Marina, the pets try to walk carefully, and after the walk they go to their house where they rest.
In addition, cats that have problems with coordination of movements require special attention.
Shelter-apartment for cats.
Dmitry Lyamzin.
“I have an individual approach to each animal, I know their diagnoses, I consult with a veterinarian, and I feed them good food. For me the main problem is that cats are not adopted that often. I would like to appeal to the city residents and encourage them to help animals whenever possible, because every year the number of homeless people is only growing,” Marina concluded.
How can I help you?
The cats we meet are under a lot of stress. For the former tenant - from the encroachment of a stranger on his territory, for the new one - from the mass of alien sounds, smells, unfamiliar surroundings, hostility of the “owner” of the house. What to do? How to reconcile the irreconcilable?
Doctor Time Yes, it is time that polishes the relationship between a new pet and old-timers, turning initial rejection into compatibility - either into peaceful coexistence or friendship.
For some it takes a couple of days, for others a couple of weeks, and for others months. There is no need to artificially try to combine the wards, trying to speed up the process of addiction. Cats will adapt to living together on their own. Just give them time. Pharmacology Modern veterinary pharmacology also helps to facilitate the process of addiction. These are sedatives such as “Cat Bayun”, “Fitex”, “Stop-stress”. But the main bet, perhaps, should be made on the miraculous “Feliway” - a diffuser that evaporates into the air synthetic phermones of “cat happiness”, which notify the cat that in fact everything is fine and normalize its behavior. Royal Canin Calm veterinary diet is specially designed to facilitate adaptation to change and overcome stressful situations.
Its additional components (peptide α-casozepine, L-tryptophan) regulate the activity of the central nervous system and affect the state of arousal, sleep and appetite of the cat. Little tricks There are different ways to ease the tension between pets, for example, lightly smear their faces with something tasty to cause pleasant sensations in the enemy, stroke each one in turn with one hand, etc. And when the passions of the first days have subsided a little, you can try to lure both sides into a game, inviting them to run after a candy wrapper on a string, a spot from a laser pointer, or another toy. You see, in the heat of the attack, timid signs of a truce will appear.
So, after the arrival of a new tenant, three scenarios are possible:
Helpful advice
No matter what gender and age the pets that live in the house are, they need human attention. I’m in contact with both cats, people help them get used to each other. Stroking, caressing, and games should be carried out with each of the pets. In no case should you single out one favorite - the second or the rest, if there are several cats, will feel it. And even if each family member has a favorite cat, this should not manifest itself in relationships with animals. Offended creatures can take revenge, their character deteriorates. Therefore, the attention and goodwill of people is the key to a peaceful and happy life for pets.
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