A friend of mine is having to move away temporarily due to work and the rental accommodation she's taken doesn't allow pets. She's been unable to find anyone else to look after her cat. I may have to volunteer - the alternative is to give the cat to a rescue centre and they will attempt to rehome it, so she'd effectively be giving it up for good. I shared a house with a cat for a year a long time ago when I was a student, but not since then. I'd probably be looking after it for between six months and a year.

I can handle the basic stuff, i.e. how to keep the cat alive but I know there are some cat owners on the list, so I'd be grateful for any advice people can give.

Should I keep the cat indoors initially until it's used to it's new surroundings? Would a cat be happy if it couldn't go out any time it wanted to - I'd prefer not to cut a hole in an expensive back door for a cat flap given it's a relative short stay, so it would only go out when I was home, which would be evenings mostly. Do scratching posts actually help or is it just going to shred my entire house regardless? I have a burglar alarm linked to motion sensors - is it likely to set it off during the day, or are they 'tuned' to ignore something cat sized rather than human sized?

Any and all thoughts gratefully accepted.

Jon

Yes, keep it in for a couple of days to get used to your house etc... it will learn then that that is where the food comes from.

In terms of letting it out I'd say feed it in the morning and let it out during the day. (It obviously depends on what kind of cat it is though (indoor/outdoor))

It probably will set off your alarm if you leave it in the house.

I'd say keep it indoors for perhaps a week, especially if it shows signs of being nervous.

I've found a scratching post to be very useful as far as my cat goes. She uses it once or twice a day and does not touch the furniture at all and only rarely picks at the carpet.

Yes, the cat will set off the burglar alarm. The only thing you can do (apart from locking the cat outside) is to switch off the alarm in the room where the cat will be and make sure it can't ramble about the rest of the house.

As to letting it out it depends on where you live. If it is on a main road you may have to give it some thought. I presume it is used to being let out…

I keep reading this thread as 'catminding device needed'

keep it indoors for atleast a week, then let it outside into the garden, but watch it, itll have a sniff around and stuff, but it shouldnt/dont let it go over the fences just yet

an effective way after about 3 days of that, is to put butter on its paws, they lick it off, then can smell there way back to the house

ive got 3 cats, they dont use scratch poles..oh and expect to see the killings of, mice, birds and small rabbits, and then expect to pick up the stomach and organs the cats dont eat
let the cat out when your at work, then when you get home keep it indoors, keep this routine so that it knows when to go poo poo
also keep doors open, unless you dont want the cat to get into a particular room

yes, it will set off the alarms

This is a myth.

To stop a cat wandering, put superglue on it's paws instead.

Treat it to a sunroof >clicky<

ROFL!

That's hilarious!

Send the moggie here he/she can have a holiday.

If it was my cat I would keep it in for at least 2-3 weeks. Some cats are scratchers, some are not. Both of my cats love their scratching posts. One of them scratches stuff more than the other but she's still young. Cats all have different personalities like dogs so until you try you won't know.

Regarding food invest in some Iams as it's dried food with all the nutrients and it doesn't dry out or smell. Give the cat meat sachets then you won't have smelly tins in your fridge.

Make sure you clean the litter tray regularly as they don't like using a dirty toilet and may start using your sofa or bed instead *remembers the time the cat pissed on me in bed and then a couple of weeks later my mates cat pissed on him, managed to console him by saying yeah that happened to me too*

Talk to your friend. Ask about what the cat is used to. Is it normally put out during the day or night? Does it have a flap or a window at it's current abode? Does it use a litter tray?

Depending on the age of the cat, it probably won't want to learn new tricks. Older cats tend to be happier indoors - when mine moved in, we didn't let her out for a week and she was constantly trying to get out. Then when we let her out, she wanted to stay in! Your friend really is the best source of advice.

I hope you enjoy your time with it, should you decide it's OK. If not, I'd consider offering it a home.

Thanks for all the advice folks. My new lodger arrived last night. He's a 9 year old ginger cat called Fred, who is the spitting image of the cat from Shrek.

His owner bought a load of stuff round so I've got everything he needs. Seems he's got a rather nervous disposition so he's not likely to roam and is very much an indoor cat anyway but we'll see how things go. I've set up his bits & pieces in my spare bedroom and he spent the whole evening in and around there - one of the things that's spooked him a little was the house he was living in was all carpeted whereas mine isn't and he doesn't seem very confident about going up and down a varnished wooden staircase. I'm sure he'll get used to it.

So, we'll see how things go. The plan apparently is I'm looking after him until January when a friend of the owner whose very much a cat person is moving nearby and if necessary will give him a more cat-friendly home. Who knows, maybe by then we'll have got to know each other and I'll want to keep him .

Once again, thanks for all the advice. I hope you guys don't mind if I bounce this thread should anything come up that I can't figure out on my own.

Jon

Only one thing to bear in mind...

We were having a similar discussion in work yesterday