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Thursday, November 12, 2026Nov 12

Chattapets: Helping cats adjust to new homes a gradual process

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photo Photo by Katie Guffey
Steve the cat was a rescued cat adopted by Donald Sayers and Katie Guffey, who live in East Ridge.”

For some adopted cats, a new home may not be sweet at first.

Even if they ultimately come to love it, newly adopted felines often have trouble adjusting to new locations.

Deborah Bond at McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center offered owners the following tips to help adoptees adjust:

PET SALADWhen you first see it among the vegetables at a grocery store, you might leap to the assumption that Pet Salad is some sort of gag gift. Has our national obsession with all things organic progressed to where someone is now selling a gourmet version of the Chia Pet? Not exactly. Pet Salad is, in fact, a salad. It’s made to be munched on, but not by you. Produced by a Rhode Island-based organic-greens company called Farming Turtles, and distributed throughout the Northeast, Pet Salad is a trademarked and cutely packaged version of something that’s been available at farmers markets for years: wheatgrass for pets, including iguanas, tortoises and especially cats.– New York Times News Service

* Keep cats contained to a single, high-traffic room at first until they become used to a house’s residents, smells and sounds. After they settle, they can be given greater run of the house.