# A better life for Slush



## Jonny and Slush (Jan 13, 2015)

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post.

At the beginning of this year I adopted a sweet, deaf kitty named Slush. I brought her into my home with the intention of us staying together forever and she quickly filled my life with affection and many smiles. Sadly I had been shortsighted, I had focused on what I as a person could offer Slush and not put enough thought into her environment.

We have a very small home here and Slush has been exhibiting more and more signs of stress. With only one small living space that we share and no access to the outdoors. As a deaf cat, Slush will never be able to go outside and is in fact very scared of other cats (when she sees them outside she will come running and crying to be picked up and comforted.) The sad truth is that she is unable to consider any space her own and lacks enough mental stimulation in such a small space.

She gained a lot of weight due to a combination of eating for something interesting to do and no real exercise outside of our playtime together. Currently she is on a vet recommended diet to help control the weight gain which although not excessive as it is, the amount she gained in just a few months was bad news. She began to patrol back and forth as her stress increased, it can be really heartbreaking to watch, and has now began to mark small areas as a way of trying to make certain spaces her own.

She is a beautiful girl, I will add some photos, and just adores rubbies and strokes of all varieties. Slush loves to play interactively with you rather than on her own, we have had many hours of fun with her laser pointer and feathers on a string stick.

I am hoping to reach out and find Slush a better home to live in, to give her a more fulfilling life. The home should have no other large pets or children that would be too young to understand her special needs due to being deaf (it is important not to startle her as she can't hear you coming.) Since she can not go outside either and the fundamental problem here is an issue of space, the new home should be of a reasonable size with a few rooms, compared to the studio flat we currently share.

Slush is vaccinated and micro-chipped and the vet established she was already spayed when I first got Slush. She isn't an excessive eater so the diet food will likely be unnecessary once she has more room to be active. She can also be susceptible to the occasional ear infection as it looked like she suffered permanent damage from cat flu when she was younger.

I really want Slush to be able to take all of her things with her. She has a very expensive luxury cat tree that she loves to sleep in and her favorite blankets and toys. There are also two cat carriers, food and water bowls, mats, food, litter trays, spare flea treatments etc. Basically everything she and you as a potential owner will need.

We currently live in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Please get in touch to find out more information if you think that you might be able to offer this sweet girl the home and life she deserves.


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## Jonny and Slush (Jan 13, 2015)

A few more pictures


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## huckybuck (Jan 17, 2014)

I feel so sad for you both..you are doing what you feel is best for Slush long term and that is a selfless act. I really hope you can find a happy home for her soon. She is obviously loved very much.


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## Britt (May 18, 2014)

You do what has to be done for her happiness. I hope she will find a forever home soon.


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## Jonny and Slush (Jan 13, 2015)

Thank-you both, I struggle when I imagine what it is going to be like without her but then lock those feelings away or I wouldn't be able to let her go, I just try to stay focused on how much happier she could be in the right home and that keeps me going.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Sorry to read this, I remember how pleased you were when Slush came to live with you. How old is she and do you think she would be able to live with other cats?
I ask because these details may help find her a new home. Big hugs, this must be so hard for you xx


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## Jonny and Slush (Jan 13, 2015)

Hey Moggie!

Thank-you for the hug, this is really, really hard for me. I've known this needed to be done for about a month but have really struggled to bring myself to do it, I just feel so guilty not being able to provide her with what she needs for a happy life, but I love her to bits and have to do this for her sake.

Since she was a rescue kitty we aren't sure of her age but would estimate that she is about 5 years old, we thought between 4 and 5 when she first came to me at the start of the year. She wouldn't be able to live with other cats I don't think, the lady who found her originally had to keep her in her own room away from the rest of the cats she had. Perhaps in time she would settle in with just one other cat but because we can't know for sure she will have to go to a home where she will be alone. I think it may be to do with her being deaf, she just doesn't really know how to communicate with them but I'm not certain. She even runs away if she sees one out the window!

She is a great friend and always so excited to see me when I get back in, usually resulting in flopping on her back, belly up, asking for lots of rubbies


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## Shrike (Jun 25, 2015)

Hi Johnny. Does the vet think being in a small flat is causing her stressy behaviour? There maybe other causes.
I see she has a cat tree, but are you able to put up shelves for her to climb? My cat loves sleeping in a carboard box on top of the wardrobe - its right out of the way so maybe if Slush could get right up high she'd feel she has more of 'her' own space? Jackson Galaxy has a section on his site with examples: http://jacksongalaxy.com/2013/07/23/catification-recap-kashmir-darla/
Do you leave toys out for her to play with? I know some toys aren't suitable to leave them unsupervised, but I'm sure she shouldn't come to harm with pingpong balls or cloth mice.


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## Jonny and Slush (Jan 13, 2015)

Shrike said:


> Hi Johnny. Does the vet think being in a small flat is causing her stressy behaviour? There maybe other causes.
> I see she has a cat tree, but are you able to put up shelves for her to climb? My cat loves sleeping in a carboard box on top of the wardrobe - its right out of the way so maybe if Slush could get right up high she'd feel she has more of 'her' own space? Jackson Galaxy has a section on his site with examples: http://jacksongalaxy.com/2013/07/23/catification-recap-kashmir-darla/
> Do you leave toys out for her to play with? I know some toys aren't suitable to leave them unsupervised, but I'm sure she shouldn't come to harm with pingpong balls or cloth mice.


Hey Shrike,

Yes the vet does think that is the cause but I feel like I was the one in the more crucial position to make the call as I am the one around her all the time. I can see her agitation in the way she patrols back and forth between places that will never open up, I see how she then goes to her food bowl out of sheer boredom, the way she will run around agitated. When you see it all together living so close it is so clearly boredom and a lack of space causing her stress.

I am unable to put up shelves but she avoids any furniture with elevation anyway (this also makes the space issue even worse for her as any furniture is space lost from an already small area), with the exception of her cat tree, even there she never goes up in the very top basket. I do love all of Jason Galaxys work, the reason I bought Slush the cat tree as a flat warming present to her.

I do leave toys out for her, she has several hanging from the tree, two LED motion activated balls (research for her being deaf brought up suggestions of using toys that emphasize her other senses), little toy mice, small stuffed toys etc. The problem is that she just has no interest in playing alone, she will never engage in self play. I also spend a lot of time playing with her, we spend lots of time with her chasing and attacking her feathers on string on a stick type toy. When she trashed it I got more feathers and rebuilt it as she loves it so much, the laser pen is another favourite of ours, she goes nuts for it but I always follow up with the feathers since she can't ever 'catch and attack' the feathers.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I have done everything I can imagine that is viable to keep her happy and entertained, but at the end of a day this is a tiny space we share together and it is her telling me that it is not enough for her to be happy. She is stressed because of it and deserves better, I love her to pieces and tried everything I could think of to not come to this point. The withdrawal of all the treats and as much food as she wanted has only exacerbated the situation however as it was sadly a staple of her daily entertainment.

I pray that she can find a big house to live in, where she can explore and have variety of environments and real space to call her own at times. For her to get the natural exercise of patrolling her territory throughout the day, enough space to actually get up to a run when she wants to let off energy, to not spend her life feeling stressed because her world is so confined.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

You obviously care for her and don't want her to leave. Suggest you look at a few websites that have information about environmental enrichment before rehoming her:

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/cat-behavior/enriching-your-cats-life
http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/what-is-environmental-enrichment-and-why-does-your-cat-need-it/
http://www.catteryalyona.com/kittens_Environmental_enrichment_JFMS.pdf
http://www.icatcare.org/advice/making-your-home-cat-friendly


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## Jonny and Slush (Jan 13, 2015)

OrientalSlave said:


> You obviously care for her and don't want her to leave. Suggest you look at a few websites that have information about environmental enrichment before rehoming her:
> 
> https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/cat-behavior/enriching-your-cats-life
> http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/what-is-environmental-enrichment-and-why-does-your-cat-need-it/
> ...


I appreciate you are trying to help but I promise you that I have already done what I can on this front. When her boredom became a notable stress issue, my first reaction was not to re-home her, please believe me it was the thing I couldn't even bare to consider. So many people have all talked me into this based on her situation after I exhausted every other possibility I could. Even then it has taken me a month to build up the strength to do this for her. I'm not doing it on a whim, or out of laziness to research or try to help her.


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## BumbleB (Feb 23, 2015)

So sorry to hear this, I remember reading your posts when you first got her 
I hope you find a happy solution x


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## Shrike (Jun 25, 2015)

Does sound like she'd be happiest with an enclosed garden or a cat-run, which sadly you can't provide. Good on you for putting her needs first though. Have you approached Cats Protection? Being a larger shelter they may be better at finding what will be a fairly difficult to locate home for her. Good luck and best wishes to you and Slush.


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