HUGE Problem

Maybe you shouldn't have cats. You don't sound like a cat person at all. I work in rescue and I can't tell you how many times I hear the same story from well meaning people who get an animal for all the WRONG reasons.
A cat is NOT going to make your daughter sleep in her bed. In all likely hood, your new cat is going to be scared of your 4 yr old. (I am assuming this is the child in question.) 99% of small children do not know how to interact with animals if they have not been raised with animals.
You've only had the kitties for one day. This is NO time for the animals to adjust to your household. Also, getting an adult cat de-clawed is cruel. It will cause the animals lifelong pain in their paws as well as leave them defenseless. Perhaps you should give the cats back or do some serious research about cats and give it some more time.
Nobody, much less an animal, is going to automatically adjust to a new environment overnight.

The best way to exercise her is buy some toys with catnip in them, also a wand with a toy on the end. If that doesn't work try one of the laser pointers, they love to chase those around. The only way to not be disturbed by them at night is to close your door and leave them out. Also, some cats do not like sharing litter boxes, you may have to get a second one. The best way to control the food intake is to only feed them twice and day. Don't leave food out all the time or they will eat all the time. Best of luck, I have 3 cats and have had cats all my life. It can be trying at times. They are not like dogs that obey you.

Hello,

About the cute fat cat, which we all do love the fat cats!LOL...anyway- my friends cat was very fat, and they moved to another house. The new house had stairs. So they put the cats food in the basement along with the litter box. And the natural travel of using the stairs several times a day really shed a great deal of weight for the cat. So - just a suggestion if you have stairs- think about placing the food and water in a place that the cat will have to use them often while getting exercise. :)

As far as pottying outside the box- and probably not knowing which one did it- that can be a little scary. Definitly treat the spot where one went, so they don't try to go in the marked spot, and the rest- well- all I can do is wish you luck...maybe put off the costly procedures until you find which one is having issues. Maybe it is just the fact of being new in your home...as stressful as that might be for them- the transition... Hopefully it corrects itself.

Good luck & God Bless,

A.

that isnt a huge problem.hopefully you know something about cats.they are independent souls but as for weight loss that has a lot to do with whether they have been fixed or not.then lets go to health issues. have them checked out for that too.then dont feed them everything you eat or they appear to want dont put out a lot of food.put dont deprive them of food either.put out so much food if they dont eat it dont refill it.try a cup or two for two animals.they have different personalities as well. for goodness sake i hope you can afford them it is a shame people get animals and later realize they cant afford them.K.

I don't have time to read through the other responses, but I did want to give some input. I have had cats growing up and whenever you have some sort of a change (especially a new place for them) it is best to start them out small and let them get adjusted to limited spaces at a time. Like maybe keep them in the room where their litter box and food is for a day (you can still take them out to play with them, but put them back) then after a day expand the area to a few more rooms, and then maybe the upstairs/downstairs of the house. This helps them know where home base is and isn't too overwhelming to them being hit with this whole new location, especially since they have probably been in a cage for a while at the shelter.
As far as laziness, invest in cat toys and cat nip. Oh, and a laser pointer. Our cats beg us to get ours out so they can chase it around the room.
Good luck and remember it takes time :)

It sounds like you're not real sure about getting the cats in the first place??? If you're not sure about them, I would recommend returning them to the shelter sooner rather than later so that your kids don't get too attached to them. If you plan to keep them, the best thing to do is give the cats some time to adjust. While they make wonderful and loving pets (I've had cats my whole life) they can be pretty fickle until they get comfortable in their surroundings. They will each always have very distinct personalities and I can assure you that you won't be able to change them. As for if one of them has peed in your house, trust me, you would know it without having to look too hard. :) How old is the fat one? I had a very fat cat (18 pounds) who lived to be 18 and I could never get her to exercise at all (it goes back to that whole "fickle" thing - cats will only do what THEY want to do, no matter what). If you can do your best to give her the right food, you may just have to settle with her being fat but knowing that at least you're trying to give her the best you can. Either way, I hope everything works out with them. They actually sound like very loving cats and I'm sure are a wonderful new addition to your family! Good luck! :)

If you just picked them up and brought them home yesterday they have some adjusting to do. Cats, like people and other animals will go "off their feed" for a couple of days while they are adjusting to change. Secondly if you don't want them in your bed close your door at night so they don't come into your room or get some of the "No" spray. You can spray your top bedding, it is harmless and scentless to humans but animals smell it and they will stay off of your bed.
I am sure the two cats were not caged together at the shelter and it will take them a day or two to adjust to each other as well. I have 2 cats, 1 we have had for 13 years and 1 we have had for 8. They get into fights every once in awhile now. The 8 lb female will growl and snarl at the 20 lber and chase him away from his food or the kitchen, or wherever about 1 time a day in the last 6 months.
I am sure things will work out fine in time if you give them a chance.

Give the cats more time. Just like for us, moving into a new home is a big adjustment. They need time to get udes tot eh new environment and new owners. It's great you have adopted, don't give up on them someone else already did. I would hold off on the surgery a couple weeks until they are adjusted. Cats can become stressed very easily. Give them the love and attention they need and they will come around.
Some exercise ideas are toy mice, balls, anything you can put catnip in(they have stuffed animals that you can put it in), an infrared light to shine on the wall(Wal-mart has them). Getting them active involves you getting active with them. Let your daughter play with them with some string or yarn(just make sure you put it out of their reach when your done so they don't ingest it), throw a ball into the emply bathtub and let them chase it around while it rolls all over the bathtub. Get them an inexpensive scratching post until you can get them declawed, sprinkle catnip over it and they will learn to use it. If they do really well, you may not have to get them declawed. I have 2 indoor cats that have all their claws, they scratch on their posts.
Seperate them when they eat, at least for a while, until they get used to everything around them. If the cats aren't used to each other, they will need to learn to get along also. Be patient, I know it is hard sometimes when you are busy. Know that you are giving a home to cats in need and helping a great cause, don't give up. Good luck!!!

Oh, congratulations on your two beautiful new kitties! They're a handful, I cna tell.

I have one request ~ please, oh please do not get them de-clawed! De-clawing is a terribly cruel thing to do, and many vets will not do it unless it's under extreme circumstances.

De-clawing is amputation of the toes, which causes the cats to change the way they bear weight on their feet, and can end up causing terrible back problems for them later. Especially your overweight girl doesn't need that right now.

Most cats that are de-clawed turn to biting to defend themselves, so you go from having a nice kitty to a biter.

You can place sisel rope wrapped boards around the house (we have about 6 of them strategically placed, and loaded with catnip to attract the kitties). We clip our kitties' claws about once a month, and encourage them to scratch on the boards instead of the furniture. You'd be amazed at what a loaded water pistol ca do to encourage a kitty! LOL!

Here are a couple of links about de-clawing. I hope they will help you to learn why de-clawing is a painful and unnecessary thing to do:

http://www.declawing.com/
http://www.pawproject.com/html/faqs.asp

Dear M.,
We are a family of huge animal advocates. My daughters have volunteered at shelters for more than 5 years and now my oldest works at one. As for the cats, if you don't want to take care of one 24/7 than take it back to the shelter you adopted him/her from. Please tell them the truth why you do not wish to keep the animal. They in turn will be able to find a more suitable home. Remember too that this cat did not ask to become overweight. Cats usually eat more when stressed or bored and if the cat "cried" the first night you brought them home that is not that unheard of. As for the cat being lazy. Cats are not human and my guess is this cat was neglected before so, please return the cat if you cannot give him/her a proper home. This is only fair to the cat and your family. Good luck and God bless.

Are you sure they are litter box trained? Our little girl wasn't. I would put her in the box and take her paws and scratch at the litter when I brought her back in after doing her business outside. She goes up a storm. Do they have dry food or soft moist food. I heard last weekend on the pet talk show that dry food makes them drink more therefore more pee. I also heard cats don't like change and when they are mad at you will not use the litter box. Aldo it may be the litter your using. Some kitties don't like the litter that is clay. Others don't like clummping litter and others do'n like crystals in it. I use Fresh step and it clumps. Another thing I have leanerned is one littler box per cat. I know this doesn't truely answer your questions but possibly talk to your Vet or where you got thm. They should know a bit more.

Hi, Please consider saving some money and NOT getting these cats declawed. Declawing is a very painful procedure, especially for adult cats, and their recovery period is long and uncomfortable. There are quite a few veterinarians who will refuse to do this procedure on an adult cat unless the cat is destroying the house and the alternative to declawing is euthanasia. Then there are some veterinarians who will do anything you think you want as long as you give them money... I hope for your sake and the cats' that you haven't found one of those!

Also, about the fat cat, it's important for overweight cats NOT to go through periods where they don't eat ANYTHING. They can get VERY sick with a disease called "hepatic lipidosis". During this adjustment period, I'd recommend feeding the cat whatever she will eat, just to avoid this problem. Then, once she is settled in, you can modify her diet, while being careful to make sure she keeps eating. There is a great diet search tool on the following website that allows you to compare the nutritional information if various pet foods: http://vet.osu.edu/1442.htm

Finally, for two cats, veterinarians recommend that you should have 3 litterboxes, which should be cleaned frequently. This should help you avoid a problem called "Feline Idiopathic Cystitis", also known as "Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease".

There is a great website for cat owners: http://cvm.osu.edu/indoorcat.htm

Good luck! :)

Try those laser things. My cat LOVED it!

Grab some catnip toys - my cats go nuts over them. Give them time to adjust, and set boundaries early (a squirt bottle of water will help).

Also, I know this isn't the advice you were asking for, but please consider getting them microchipped and tested for Bartonella. Even if you're keeping your kitties 100% indoors (and hopefully so since you're declawing them), you never know if an emergency arises and they escape. And most shelters do not test for Bartonella (cat scratch fever), which is contagious for cats and humans.

Hey M.! How cool that you adopted not one, but TWO cats! You rock!! I am a cat lover too, but I know what you mean about worrying about the litter thing. If she's hasn't eaten much, she's not going to go to the bathroom much. I would put her in the litter box several times a day, that way you are sure that she knows where it is. If you have one litter box, I would recommend getting a second one. One cat may not like the other using the same one she uses (which is hard to keep them in their own litter boxes); and two, you will have quite a bit of yuck to clean out of just one box with two cats. I had two cats and always used two litter boxes. My other piece of advice is about their claws. It's a lot of money to get them shots, spayed and declawed for one. The other thing... do you know what they do when they declaw the cats. I have to admit... my cats were declawed, but I probably would have never done it if I knew what was done to them. Check into it. One last thing, if you want your kitty to sleep with your daughter, make sure your daughter is petting the cat A LOT, and brushing, all that kind of stuff, so the cat is more apt to follow your daughter. They will gravitate to who takes care of them most. Keep putting the cat in your daughter's room, so she's used to it. By the way, when we brought a second cat into our house, it took almost three months for them to get along! Congrats on your new kitties!! Good luck!

The cats will need to get adjusted to you and that will take time. So, it might take the "lazy" cat a little while to warm up to you before she will start playing and exercising. I think it might be advantageous to you to get some books about cats and read up on them to get some more ideas abt cat behavior. It sounds like you are pretty much committed to them since you have all of their surgeries scheduled already. You may want to back those up a week or so to just make sure that the cats will work out for you and your family.
As far as a cat sleeping with your daughter, I would be careful. Cat hair is extremely fine and once stuck in a throat, it's hard to cough it out. I grew up w/cats and had cats sleep w/me. It can just get scary for parents and kid when the kid coughs and coughs and coughs and can hardly catch a breath.

have you tried catnip? When I had cats I always got them catnip, and you can even try to persuade it to try to chase yarn or something. I also used to shine a laser light or a flashlight on the wall and they would try to chase it. lol, just give the cat some time to get used to living at u're house. I think it'll come around.

I'm the owner of two housecats, ages 12 and 13.

I'd suggest that you pick one room for the litter box and leave the cats in there for at least a few days. Even when a family moves with a cat, it is suggested that they do the same so the cats can become familiar with the new environment.

As for the food fights, try two bowls. Since my cats wouldn't both eat at the same time, I set one on the washer and one on the dryer. (That jumping activity helped when Rumble-purr got tubby some years back.)

I don't know what to do about your daughter's night frights - maybe she and the cats will become more accustomed to each other in time, and they will comfort each other. If your daughter is rowdy, maybe the cats will need some time! My son was 8 before the cats thought he was calm and safe enough to rest on his bed.

Since you just got them last night they need a couple of days to get used to your environment. They will go in the litter box and eat as they become more relaxed. As for the over weight - I would suggest just feeding them a little in the morning and a little at night. Depending on the ages they will become more active. Enjoy their company as they are very entertaining and loving - I have 3 (brother and sister - 17 yrs old and another female - 13 yrs) and will miss them extremely when they go. They have become my kids.

please read this. http://www.pawproject.com/html/faqs.asp