Hi,

I bought a cat from a local shelter a few years ago for my middle school graduation. She had been rescued from living on the streets and had been shot at (and luckily missed) by BB guns. We have two dogs - one that is no problem, and one that will bark at the cat, but not cause it any harm. Regardless, we are cautious when the latter dog and the cat get together. All was going well until my sister, who is allergic to cats, decided to move back home.

Now, our cat pretty much has her own room. She has food, water, two windows, a full twin bed with pillows, toys, a kitty jungle gym, a cat scratching post, and etc. We let our cat roam as often as we can, but we cannot do it when we are not home (in case something happens with the dogs) or when my sister is here (allergies). But every few nights, the cat has the full house to roam, and occasionally she sleeps in my room on my bed with me.

Is this okay? I feel terrible that she is stuck in her room all day sometimes when we are at work and school, but I honestly do not think she is neglected. Her name is Abigail J'adore (meaning Abigail I Love.. but I call her Abby). It really cannot be any other way without giving her away, which I could never see myself doing.

My cat does not have any behavioral issues. When we do visit her or when she can roam, she is very loving and shows a lot of affection (a lot of headbutting!). She is playful and if she sees an insect she always loves to chase it. The only issue she has is that she occasionally throws up her food, but that is something we are looking into and going to talk to the vet about.. is there anyway that could be linked?

Thanks so much for you help :) I really do love my cat and want to know if this is okay and ethically acceptable.

It sounds like you have made a very special environment for you cat, and you should be commended for it. The life you have created for her is SO much better than what she experienced when she was living on the streets and being shot at. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Just continue to visit her and play with her. Take the time to groom her once a day. Not only does it help to create a bond between the two of you, but it removes fur that may be causing fur balls and that may be contributing to her throwing up.

It sound like you are a very good person to this cat.

yea

As the first person said yes you are fine. This is not in any way harmful to the cat. She is obviously well loved and taken care of. Animals are often confined to one room when the family is not at home for many reasons. You have made sure she has a wonderful environment when you can not be there with her. The only thing I can add is that with an indoor cat you want to provide a lot of exercises and stimulation through play. You don't want to force it I am not sure how old your kitty is but when you consult with your vet about the vomiting issue you might ask how much exercise your cat should be getting at her age. Pick up some toys you can play with her at the pet store or toss some crumpled up newspaper, put a paper bag in with her from time to time this is a fun game for cats. Both you and she will enjoy the play time and the exercise and stimulation will be great for her! I am giving you a couple of websites I have found have great information you might really enjoy reading some of the information on cats. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com


www.catster.com
www.petplace.com
www.whydoesmycat.com

Many years of owning and loving cats! :0)

No this is not fair at all, it's a cat not a toy. Should you not have considered how your dogs would react to the cat before you rescued her? I don't even believe cats should be confined to a house, they should be able to go out side and have a cat flap to get back in. You clearly love her but this isn't right.

No it isn't fair to the cat. I tried once with my 1st cat because my mom has bad allergies and we have dogs. But my mom told me to let it out and eventually her actually started to get much better (after being worse). The dogs all ended up getting used to it as we introduced them once a day til they got used to each other. And we now have 3 cats and are a cat lovin family LOL