Pets and People who love them: Giving foster animals a smooth transition

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, May 24, 2017

I read on social media two articles about allaying the fears of a newly adopted shelter pet. In each, they reminded the readers that a shelter is not a natural place for pets to be.

Dogs and in particular, cats, are not used to having dozens of dogs barking much of the time, living with animals they don’t know, concrete floors, wire cages and strange people coming and going. Some animals react to these conditions by auditioning for each person who walks by, hoping that the people will adopt them, feed them or at least take them for a walk.

Others react by withdrawing, hiding and avoiding human contact. Some animals may seem aggressive as a defense mechanism for the fear this situation creates.

It is easy to think that just removing them from the shelter is all it will take to make life good for them, but the experts suggest that you move slowly in introducing them to family, friends and other pets. Pick an adoption day when your house is not expected to be chaotic and try to keep the noise at a minimum for a day or two. Let your new pet decide how much love he wants at first by encouraging or even bribing him to come to you rather than forcing your attentions on him.

Don’t make the mistake of giving him too many treats, thinking that is a good way to show your love to him as an upset stomach won’t be good for your new friend or your living room rug. Test the waters with your other pets before letting them fend for themselves unsupervised.

Starting off a life-long relationship on a bad note is not recommended.

As I write this column, I am sitting on the guest room bed with Dexter as our two new foster kittens frolic on the floor below. A friend crawled under his house to catch them and brought the tiny babies to me where I will foster them until they can be adopted or go to a rescue.

The same recommendations for shelter pets can also apply to pets not accustomed to human contact. For the first two days, I left them in the large cage they were delivered in and placed the cage where they could see, hear and smell the human and pet family members, but — to avoid stressing them — were away from the center of our family activity.

By the end of the first day, they no longer hissed when I opened the cage to feed them or clean their litter box. By the end of the second day, I could hold them for a short time without fear for my life. On the third day, they graduated to the guestroom where they quickly learned the new location of their food and water dishes and litter box.

They discovered that if they jumped on an old tin, they could scramble to the window box and sleep there, cuddling the stuffed lambs and elephant who live there. They spider-jumped sideways before chasing each other under the bed and behind the dresser. They also decided they love jingle-balls and stuffed mice.

In a few more days, they will have had their first round of shots and be ready for their forever homes. I’ll miss them but knowing that they are happy and loved will be enough until the next babies need a loving foster home.

— Pets and the People Who Love Them is brought to you by your friends at the Athens Limestone Animal Shelter. To adopt your best friend (cat or dog) visit the shelter at 1701 U.S. 72 (behind Limestone Veterinary Clinic), visit the shelter’s Facebook page or call 256-771-7889. E-mail your questions to PetsAndPeople@charter.net and I’ll check with the experts (veterinarians, animal behaviorists, etc.) and get back to you in a future column.