Anyone own a cat??

[Plutes]

My name is Teresa and I have 2 cats.

Ahhhh....all-knowing Teresa!! Please...DO share your wise opinions with us!!



***And, Boo is adorable!!! Do you have a pic of how big she's gotten??

 

[Iggipolka]

 

[tggrrstarr]

Thanks! Its so hard to snap pictures of her since she is always moving, but I got these two today. Notice the rubber ducky collar. I had to buy it, it was so darn cute!

 

[chaoscent]

My cat Chaos (hence my screen name) was a baby when he came home from the pound on DH's motorcycle wrapped inside his Leather Jacket. I had a dog already and Chaos quickly changed the pecking order in the house. Chaos was the Alpha (both critter and human) and the rest of us did his bidding. He would sometimes curl up on our laps and allow us to pet him, but only when he wanted. He would come when called, when he wanted and he was a mighty warrior. No mouse was safe when he was around. He would kill them and then come lay them at our feet. A gift for the humans I guess. He was Jim's cat, but he would come to me to take care of him if Jim wasn't around. He lived to about age 14 and then got sick and the Vet said it would be best to put him down as he was suffering. I still miss him. We couldn't replace him as the older I got, the worse my allergies got and I was diagnosed with COPD. So getting another cat (I am highly allergic to them) was out of the question. I think my dog TJ, missed him the most when we had to put Chaos down. Thanks for bringing up this topic. I was not a cat person before Chaos, but would highly recommend a cat to anyone. Interestingly, we got a play mate cat and Chaos let us know very quickly that we were a 1-cat family. We ended up having to give the 2nd cat we rescued away as Chaos would constantly attack him and started having accidents in the house. I miss Chaos. Have fun with your new Kitty. Penny

 

[heatherwillmom]

We have 2 cats & 2 dogs, all in the house. Let's just say there isn't a dull moment in our house. They really all get along pretty well. The cats are a lot less trouble. Ours are a few months apart. One is male & one is female. We had them fixed & declawed. Anytime that we have had a bad day, all we have to do is pet a dog or cat & the bad day turns good. The good thing with 2 is they keep each other company. Our vet recommended getting 2 so they could play together when no-one was home

 

[kbelle8995]

I have a cat a large maine coon kitty. He looks like a raccoon. He really is a sweetie and sometimes he rubs and rubs against my legs especially after I've been out for most of the day. He is my little fur bear

I had a dog and love both cats and dogs. Get a cat you won't regret it.

 

[Figaro1]

The thing really is ...that the cats own me!

Figaro a 9 years old Birman
Cleo is a 6 year old shelter kitten

I agree, 2 cats benefits the cats, when they get board with their human pets.

 

[dansyr2514]

Duh! I never even thought about asking Teresa! I'll have to facebook her later!

Thanks for all the info, guys! We have already fallen in love with one little baby, and I've been emailing the shelter back and forth all morning. They, too, will only adopt out in pairs, so we're now considering that.

It's their jumping around that scares me. I have a friend with two female cats, and she says they make a lot of noise jumping off things, when they're playing. That's my concern. If the noise really wouldn't be any greater than Jimmy & I walking around the place, that's fine. But, anything more than that, and I KNOW my downstairs neighbor would be at my door in a flash. Then I don't know WHAT I would do!

So, it still remains to be seen...but, keep all the advice coming! Oh, and roomthreeseventeen, your Cosette is adorable!

**One more thing! And, please, no flaming here - remember I've never owned a cat! Is it really a big deal to get a kitten declawed? I've heard so many varying opinions - that it's cruel, some vets won't even do it - or conversely, that if you do it early enough, it's really not a big deal! I really think this would be a necessity as, like Mike, I don't particularly want any ruined furniture. More importantly, though, we'll be spending a lot of time with my parents and their puppy, and I wouldn't want to take a chance of her getting hurt!

Thanks again for all the help!

My personal opinion on the declawing is that it is cruel. I looked into having my cat declawed when she was a kitten. I read up on it and they basically clip the cat up to the first knuckle. I know many have had it done and their cats are perfectly normal but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Bella actually claws very little and it's actually kinda good she still has them. When dbf and I moved in together he decided to get a dog....a big energetic dog. So at least Bella has her defenses if the dog really starts to annoy her.
Also, as long you keep the nails clipped they don't do too much damage.
If you look online..they also have these rubber tips that can be glued to the cats claws so they don't damage anything.
I didn't get a chance to read the whole thread so forgive me if I've repeated anything.

 

[dansyr2514]

I'm ashamed to admit this, but we have four cats. All of them are rescue cats and three of them actually found us!
Cat (my Avatar) ran into the house when the pizza guy delivered a pizza to our house. It was the middle of winter in Missouri and the poor kitten was half frozen. We tried to find the cat's human, but weren't successful, so he's has stayed with us.

Merryl - was the name of the elderly man across the street from us who had a heart attack and was sent to a nursing home. His son didn't realize (??) he had a cat and Merryl was left to fend for herself. She got hooked up with a feral colony that we had been feeding/trapping/neutering and when we trapped Merryl, we realized she was not a feral. Merryl had to have all of her teeth pulled due to massive gum infections, so she's stayed with us.

Cali sat outside on our patio furniture for 5 months until we got to the rainy season and we couldn't stand the little calico kitty sitting outside in the rain. My mom actually let her inside and Cali has stayed with us.

Rollie was found near death in the back of our garden shed. She was emaciated, nearly hairless and covered in fleas. She crawled into our shed to die. However, we slowly earned her trust and got her medically taken care of and now she's a 22lb healthy cat who has stayed with us.

So ya, we have 4 cats. They play together, but I certainly wouldn't worry about neighbors below being bothered by the sound of little kitty paws. I personally think that cats do better in pairs. They live in colonies and need the company of other cats. Besides, they are so cute when they curl up together to sleep.

Please do not declaw your cats. As someone already posted, declawing is like cutting off your finger at the 1st knuckle. It is painful and can cause life time nerve pain that impacts the cats when they walk. Also, it can cause them to have litter box issues because the nerve pain flares when they scratch in the box.

None of our cats scratch the furniture. They have cat trees and scratching posts that they use and leave the furniture completely alone.

Enjoy getting your kitty(s)!

I just wanted to comment on your post. You are a great person for rescuing those cats. Most people would not take a cat with problems because of the expense. I can't stand to see any animal suffer and what you did for them especially Rollie, made me well up a little.
Just wanted to say that what you did is really great!

 

[GrUvGrL]

Buddy is my... well buddie, he is a 13 year old Russian Blue and VERY affectionate.

He has quite the personality and he is very opinionated!

He wakes us up when the alarm clock doesn't. From time to time he gets confused and tries waking us up on a Saturday but I think that's because both hubby and I work from home and he looses track of the day of the week on occasion. But we tell him to buzz off "It's Saturday Buddie" and he just snuggles up and lets us get right back to sleep.

He reminds us at 10pm on the nose without fail that he hasn't been fed and he is not shy about showing his disapointment.

If we stay up too late he meows at us in a "I want to cuddle up and go to sleep and you guys are not cooperating" kinda way.

He is very assertive in voicing his dissapproval when we take off for a weekend, he stops around bed time cause he wants to snuggle, but holds a grudge right into the next day, when he is clingy and in neeed of the extra attention he was deprived of. (I wonder how long he will hold the grudge when we leave him home with the neighbour for 2 weeks while we are at Disney - wish he could understand that it's either at home where he is comfortable in his surroundings or a pet kennel)

When hubby and I get affectionate with eachother, he storms off the bed and lays on the floor where he sighs loudly as if it's the most boring thing ever!

And... he loves surfing the web!

In summary, as has been said... we don't a cat... he owns us, and at times I feel he is nice enough to let us live with him and pay the bills! BUT, I wouldn't trade my Buddy for any other pet the world!

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

We have seven. Our best cat is an adult we fostered (most of our cats are foster failures and all are from shelters) for our local humane society and her personality is the best. Her owner moved and left her behind and it was heartbreaking to see an animal so sad and withdrawn. But, then she came out of her shell and is such a sweetheart. Pick a cat that matches your personality. Getting a kitten isn't really doing that and a lot of people just won't adopt adults. I must say that I now prefer adults (either male or female - to me there is no significant difference in personality) because I know their personality from Day One. We have had so many different personalities in our house it is insane! But, we have had some pretty special cats too - some that gave hugs, head nudges, followed you everywhere, or those that just want 30 minutes of attention. Just spend some time with all the ones in your local shelter and focus on the adults first and then go with the kittens. I prefer to adopt from kill shelters because I know that I am truly saving a cat. Good Luck!!

 

[HLBee]

I have nine (9) cats. Eight males, one female. It's close in the affection competition, but the males take the cake. She's ok being on her own, but the boys get worried when we leave, even if they can see us on the patio.

As far as multiples go, it can be a bit crazy in the beginning, but having more than one will keep them both occupied. They'll get into your things less and keep away boredom playing with each other. My DH used to be a dog person, and he still loves dogs very much, but he would put up a bigger fight than I would if we needed to find new homes for our kitties.

I don't know if you've considered it, but an older kitty might be helpful. It would already be litter box trained and done with the toddler phase. Everyone loves kittens, but adult cats can be just as loving, sometimes even more so because they've lost their previous owner for some reason. Just something to consider. Best of luck!

Glad to see we're not the only ones! We have four males and five females. Our cats range in age from 1 to 16, and several of them decided to move in on their own. A couple of them have special needs, including one who was hit by a car and lost his left front leg. He is a wonderful, beautiful kitty with amazing blue eyes. All of them definitely have their own personalities.

I would not recommend de-clawing if you do decide to get a cat, as it often leads them to want to bite. I think females and males are equally affectionate. It just depends on the cat's personality and how well it was socialized as a kitten.

 

[mikelan6]

**One more thing! And, please, no flaming here - remember I've never owned a cat! Is it really a big deal to get a kitten declawed? I've heard so many varying opinions - that it's cruel, some vets won't even do it - or conversely, that if you do it early enough, it's really not a big deal! I really think this would be a necessity as, like Mike, I don't particularly want any ruined furniture. More importantly, though, we'll be spending a lot of time with my parents and their puppy, and I wouldn't want to take a chance of her getting hurt!!

Just to make it clear, my kitty was already de-clawed when I adopted her. I would personally not declaw a cat myself. Kitty does not leave the condo and never goes outside except to the balcony when I groom her and the hair goes flying all over the place. Kitty is my little princess.

 

[Mickeyflower]

Ok I wanna put my 2 cents in as well Rajah is the first cat I've ever owned. I got him in 2001 at 10 weeks old, he is also a Maine Coone. He was an only child for 6 years, then my niece brought home a Miniture Pincher, Cole. Rajah is the boss, and established this by chasing Cole around the backyard. I just found out that my Rajah is the neighborhood bully! He is not declawed and has never even attempted to claw our furnature. I provide him with scratching posts and the cardboard cat scratchers that have cat nip in them (yes he is a TOTAL NIP HEAD). I bought them right away so he was never enticed to scratch anything.

I tried to make him an indoor cat for a year, but he would have nothing of the sort. Unfortunately, he went missing for 2 weeks and the result was having to amputate his beautiful trade mark tail .

I guess what I'm saying is, by giving your fur babies an immediate source for scratching, the furnature may not even appeal to them. I don't clip his claws either. I enjoy being scar free way too much. If you give them tools to claw with, you will not need to trim their claws. My BFF's cat needed to be sedated in order to have the tips put on. Once they were on, she chewed, nibbled and pulled them all off in uder a week. Needless to say, she gave up on that, and went to the scratching post.

To add to this WAAAAAAAAAAY to long post, here is a bigger picture of my Rajah ( See my avatar to the left for a lil pic):

Ok ok one more:

 

[JoShan1719]

As PP's have said, please do not declaw. Even if they're indoor cats, should something happen and they get outside they have no way to defend themselves against other animals.

 

[Plutes]

Just wanted to give you all an update! I think we have decided to go with an adult cat for right now. Following all the advice from you guys, as well as friends and family with cats, I think this is the way to go for us. As much as I would love to get two, I think we'd be better off starting with just one. If we went the kitten route, I would agree with most of you that they should be adopted in pairs! Also, I like the idea that their personalities will already be somewhat developed, so we're hoping to find a cuddler!

As for the declawing issue...Mike, I apologize! I never intended to single you out, in any way! You said right away that your kitty was already declawed before you brought her home! . We are going to Petsmart adoptions today, as well as one of our local shelters. We'll see who wants to come home with us the most...if they're declawed, so be it. But, if not, we won't be having our new baby declawed. We intend to have lots of scratching posts, toys, etc around here and will just hope for the best. As for my parents dog, that will be an issue for down the road. We'll just be sure to introduce them to one another slowly, and hope they become best buddies!

Thanks for all the info guys, and for the pics of all your beautiful babies! (and, sorry for any typos...just typing quickly from my iPhone!)

 

[dalt01]

i hate cats........they eat baby bunnies in my neighborhood..........they will skulk around at nite and scare you when you take your dog out........they will sit on your deck rails and stare at you.........they go to the can in your mulch.......they come up to you and act like you are best buds when you are grilling steak.....when you chase them they only run far enough to make you chase them some more.......they leave footprints on the hood of your car.........i hate cats.

 

[kaligal]

I have a female cat. She very much has her own personality (which can pretty much be summed up by, "bad"). She's very affectionate (when she isn't being bad) and there is no other cat (which may account for the badness, I dunno.)

But I like her. She's easy to take care of and very cute and even sweet (when she isn't being bad.)

She has scratching things - her favorite is the S thing that sits on the floor...but she still goes after the furniture on occasion...because - you got it - she's bad.

Animals have a hold on your heart in the way small children do (though, of course, not to the same extent) and when they damage your stuff, you accept it without getting too worked up because you love them (even when they're bad.)

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I've had cats all my life. I discovered that I would much prefer to adopt the adult cats about 1 -2 years old. I can tell their personalities much easier and they train faster to use the scratching post with cat nip.

I did break down and adopt a white calico kitten a year and a half ago. The kids named her Lola but I think Spitfire would have been a better name. She's a go-go-go kitty. Loves to play, not a cuddler except with my DS14 whom she adores. She always wants to cuddle with him.

We adopted a 3 year old cat this spring after our old guy died of a brain tumor. He's a brown gray tabby named Rocky and a big cuddler. He loves to lay across my chest and purr away. He was an indoor/outdoor cat though so he's had a tough time adjusting to indoor only.

We do have 3 litter boxes that are cleaned once a day. We've found that having the 3rd box really makes a difference in Rocky's happiness.

Have fun choosing your kitty.

 

[Magpie]

Just wanted to give you all an update! I think we have decided to go with an adult cat for right now. Following all the advice from you guys, as well as friends and family with cats, I think this is the way to go for us. As much as I would love to get two, I think we'd be better off starting with just one. If we went the kitten route, I would agree with most of you that they should be adopted in pairs! Also, I like the idea that their personalities will already be somewhat developed, so we're hoping to find a cuddler!

As for the declawing issue...Mike, I apologize! I never intended to single you out, in any way! You said right away that your kitty was already declawed before you brought her home! . We are going to Petsmart adoptions today, as well as one of our local shelters. We'll see who wants to come home with us the most...if they're declawed, so be it. But, if not, we won't be having our new baby declawed. We intend to have lots of scratching posts, toys, etc around here and will just hope for the best. As for my parents dog, that will be an issue for down the road. We'll just be sure to introduce them to one another slowly, and hope they become best buddies!

Thanks for all the info guys, and for the pics of all your beautiful babies! (and, sorry for any typos...just typing quickly from my iPhone!)

Congratulations!

Make sure to mention to the shelter staff that you're looking for an "only" cat. Some cats are loners, and some cats don't play well with other cats. These cats are always harder to place in homes, so I'm sure the staff will appreciate knowing that you're looking for one of these.

My mother's cat is an "only" and last Wednesday she dropped her off at my house to stay for a week. Her name is Suzanna, but we've been calling her "Ninja" because she's black and silent, incredibly fast, very good at hiding and she only comes out at night. I was panicking that I was going to find a dead cat somewhere in the house, because I couldn't tell if she was eating or drinking anything. But then a friend of ours who is staying over (and who likes to stay up late at night writing) spotted her drinking from the dog's bowl. Just one glimpse and then whoosh! She's gone. So I figure she's been taking care of herself.

Last night I caught an actual glimpse of her myself, at about 4 am. I tried to give her some treats, but when I pushed them under the couch she growled at me.

Sigh... the real trick is going to be finding her and giving her back to my mom when she gets back. According to my mother she's incredibly sweet and affectionate, loves cuddles, comes running whenever my mother sings "Oh, Susannah", and frequently goes out on the balcony to kill birds and bring them back to demonstrate her love for my mom.

Like I said... Ninja.