Cat Experts ~ Boy or Girl Kitten?

[ORMom2Four]

Boy cats are notorious sprayers. They will mark their territory with their urine. Doesn't matter if it's your couch, your curtains, or your carpet. They will mark it.

Right now we have 2 females. Neither spray and they are very sweet & cuddly.

If we were to get another cat, it would have to be a female.

 

[PatsGirl]

Okay, I get about the spraying but how many of you have had a male cat spray after being neutured? I've counted only one PP who has said this?

 

[PatsGirl]

They're not dogs. lol

And that says alot! I am very much a dog person, cat person not so much If we didn't travel so much and were home more, I'd get another dog but we do and we aren't so a cat will fit better into our lives. No to mention that this will be DDs pet, not mine, and she loves kitties

 

[DarthKTrava]

I have both male and female cats, all fixed. The boys are usually the cuddlers whereas the females tend to act more independent. They were fixed in time to keep them from spraying.

 

[61292cna]

While we have owned & loved both. However if we were getting another kitty & all other issues were about equal(cuteness, personality, etc.) we would take a female because unfotunatrly they are so much harder to get someone to adopt !!!

 

[MichelleVW]

They're not dogs. lol


btw, had both male and female kittens. one male NEUTERED cat is preferable, imho. for the reasons already mentioned.

Why only one male? We got our boys together as kittens and they are totally inseparable and the best cats ever.

 

[Tigger2252]

I have 3 girls and 1 boy. The girls are all cuddly with the family, but only one of them will stay out if we have company. Sebastian isn't cuddly unless he wants to be, will stay out if there is company but he won't interact with them. I have always had my cats spayed at around 4 months and have never had any problems with spraying.

 

[SaraJayne]

I have both male and female cats, all fixed. The boys are usually the cuddlers whereas the females tend to act more independent. They were fixed in time to keep them from spraying.

I had my male cat spayed at the earliest possible time and he was spraying before the surgery and after.

So each cat is different. The vet told me some males have a tendency to spray, regardless.

 

[donald&daisy]

I got my cat from the breeder when he was 1 year old (young adult cats are so much cheaper than kittens!). He has never sprayed. He is the epitomy of a well behaved cat. Always uses the box. He is also the most loveable cat I have ever been around. We had multiple cats when I was growing up (2 are still around actually, I don't think they'll ever die they must be on life #84...) and the males have always been more affectionate. My cat has never met a stranger and loves to be petted. Cats are fun, I'm more of a dog person, but I enjoy having one cat.

 

[hedgehog2owl]

Okay, I get about the spraying but how many of you have had a male cat spray after being neutured? I've counted only one PP who has said this?

I've had 3 boy cats in my life.
cat #1 neutered as a young kitten at shelter, never sprayed (RIP- hit by car)

cat #2 neutered as an adult of one year. He didn't even spray when he had 'em. He prefers to go outside for that business, thank you very much (he is a very prim and proper cat) He eats/drink goes out side to take care of nature, mews to come in. Unless it is a sitting outside in the sun day, of course.

cat #3 is still a kitten and he was neutered at 5 weeks of age at the shelter. He doesn't spray, but he uses his litter box with out fault and is not picky about placement or litter that I've heard some cats are.


I've never had a girl (cat #3 was suppose to be a girl, we have too much male pet energy in our house!) but we fell in love with him; plus they took his sisters to a different Petsmart.

None of our cats have ever been declawed and we've only noticed scratching issues when they are kittens. Cat #3 thinks it funny to climb me (when I have my hands full of something breakable or hot) and oooh his kitten claws are sharp! But I remember Cat #1 did that as a kitten, but stopped as an adult. Never an issue with Cat#2

So I've personally seen two personalities in male cats, two of our cats were/are feisty and cuddly, and one is friendly but reserved.

Oh Cat #2 hides from guests and doesn't like dogs, cat #3 likes people (he does the most adorable thing when he meets new people. He stands up on his back legs and looks at you quizzically "oh, hello. who are you now?" ) and will play with our dachshund and tolerate our German Shepherd licking him.

 

[denisem]

They're not dogs. lol

UNLESS you have a bengal cat - aka "dogs in cat suits". Ours greet everyone who comes in the door, they fetch, Millie loves walks in her harness & leash, and they've taught us tricks.

DH & I have had cats throughout our lives. He claims male cats are more affectionate, but females are smarter. I've only had two males (neutered early: 5-6 mos.) and never experienced spraying. Although Rocko, the bengal hybrid in my avatar, does what we call the "shakey tail-y": When he's underfoot (which is ALWAYS) and you talk baby-talk to him, he dances around and goes through the "motions" of spraying (arched back, shakey tail) - but nothing "happens", so it's amusing.

Indoor vs. outdoor? Even under the best of circumstances, outdoor cats have a diminished lifespan. I leave it to the owner, but do believe once you declaw a cat, they should not be allowed outdoors.

Declawing: See above. I've personally only declawed once and it was a last resort when various scratching posts, soft claws, and even a sacrifical piece of furniture didn't do the trick. To be honest, I don't know why I'm squeamish - as every declawed cat I've owned or encountered were well-adjusted to their declawing. I think the key is to do it young.

As to the previous poster who "put down" their spraying cat...I'm not as quick to judge and have sympathy for those who have tried "everything" to modify a behaviour without good results. I'd prefer to humanely euthanize an incorrigible pet than "pass them along" to who-knows-what fate.

 

[Katieinwonderland]

I have two boys and a girl, and they're really different.

The female is very picky about what she eats, what she drinks, who she sits with...she adores DH but never really comes near me. But she keeps herself to herself and is very easy to take care of.

The boys are both very sweet and loving, they love to cuddle and are constantly after our attention. They aren't picky eaters or anything, so they're easier in that area but definitely need to be loved more!

Example...right now Magic (the female) is in the bedroom, under the bed. Hershey (the eldest male) is meowing because he's trying to put his head under my hand so I can pet him and Cheeto (the baby male) keeps walking across the computer keyboard to have his ears scratched!

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

My two boy cats are much more affectionate than my girl cat. We spay/neuter our cats so I don't have any negative experiences with spraying or anything.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I definitely say male cats. I have 3 and they are my babies. All three were adopted, 2 form the Humane Socitety and they choose me and one was given to me by a friend who wanted to get rid of to to get a Chihuahua. I also have a female tortie from the HS (they said she was 2 when I adopted her, but vet said she was much older and we believe she is about 15 now).

My female is not my favorite by any means. She is not affectionate no matter what you do, but she loves for strangers to come over, then she gets in their faces and shows off. She is a peculiar cat and does as she pleases. My males on the other hand, 1 Maux Mix (similar to a bengal mix), a huge white American long hair, and a small orange tabby(the baby, literally). Oh yeah, I also have my grandmother's Himalayan who insists on staying outside ALL the time, she is temperamental and b*tchy (that is her nickname). All are inside cats, except the himalayan and she is during the winter.

My boys are my babies and will sometimes fight over me and on me.

Do not declaw a cat that is cruel. My big white one was delcawed and he has no defense mechanism, except to bite. I think it is so terrible to declaw a cat.

Suzanne

 

[browneyes106]

I grew up always having cats. We had a mix of male and female cats. We used to foster kittens and young adult cats in our small one room guest cabin. It depends on the personalties of individual kittens and cats and the backgrounds of them and their mothers. Kittens that had very friendly mothers were very affectionate and well behaved. Once we fostered an abused female cat that gave birth shortly after being rescued by the animal shelter. She was ok with us petting her and holding her for short amounts of time. Her kittens were any friendlier than her. She had a male kitten that was very mean. He ended up getting injured because of his aggression. He got a broken leg while fighting with another a kitten on bookshelf. He ended up wearing a cast for two months and his adoption time was delayed. He was difficult to place.

Since the kittens you are interested in are in a great home they should be very affecionate and well behaved. Some males cats do spray after being neutered. But often discpline training can help in those situations. We used to confine our males who sprayed in a large cage with a litter box and food for 24 hours and after their "jail" time they were cured of spraying.

In a few weeks try visiting the kittens with your daughter and you will see which kitten will work for her. How old is she by the way?

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

In my lifetime we've owned 3 boy cats and 4 girl cats. Two boys and 3 girls are still with us.

I have found that everything has less to do with gender and more to do with that specific cat. You'll have more luck predicting personality by breed. I have heard that about flipping on their back as well, at least for us it doesn't work. Makya would never tolerate that when he was a kitten, but he is a truly loving cat. Charity, when she was a kitten, would let you flip her on her back. She also used to sleep on top of my pillow and purr. Once she grew up she turned into a total anti social grump and only my mom is allowed to even pet her. You just never know.

 

[PatsGirl]

In a few weeks try visiting the kittens with your daughter and you will see which kitten will work for her. How old is she by the way?

DD is 12 and very responsible. In an effort to avoid getting a "real pet" I did get her two bunnies a few years back and she spent many hours cleaning the cage and taking care of them. Unfortunately, as time progressed they became less friendly and one actually starting biting her every time she tried to handle it. I had them both neutured and had a rabbit condo built ~ in all they turned out to be very expensive, aggressive pets and I gave them away to a friend (who still has them).

IF, and that is a big IF, I decide to surprise her with a kitten, we will visit them as soon as DF thinks it is okay and then a few more times so she can make her selection. Once she does that, she can spend a couple of hours every few days with "her" kitten until it is ready to come home with us.

My biggest fear is getting one with "attitude" DD really needs a friendly kitten/cat who will allow her to handle it and be affectionate. She tried so hard with the bunnies and, while this may seem a bit dramatic, felt rejected, like she hadn't done something right.

 

[pl71]

Any cat can spray. I have a 10 year old spayed female (spayed at less than a year old) who sprayed on vertical surfaces. I never knew that was possible and had gotten only female cats to avoid spraying. She did it for about 4 years getting worse and worse until we figured out it was just her and not the other cats. The vet put her on Prozac which has drastically reduced the number of incidents. She's just very territorial (she's very mean to the other cats too).

I think the best way to ensure that a cat doesn't spray is to neuter early and only have one cat. If you want more than one cat, multiple females tend to have the greatest problems. Neutered males get along better with other cats (male-male or male-female is okay, avoid female-female).

Denisem-- 2 of my cats are Bengals, including the one who sprays. I love them dearly, but I think my problem cat has her wild genes showing a little too much! I love how soft they are.

And to the poster who put down the spraying cat...I understand completely. If the Prozac hadn't worked (and this is a fairly new drug option) I think I'd be doing the same. People often don't understand who haven't been in that situation.

 

[browneyes106]

DD is 12 and very responsible. In an effort to avoid getting a "real pet" I did get her two bunnies a few years back and she spent many hours cleaning the cage and taking care of them. Unfortunately, as time progressed they became less friendly and one actually starting biting her every time she tried to handle it. I had them both neutured and had a rabbit condo built ~ in all they turned out to be very expensive, aggressive pets and I gave them away to a friend (who still has them).

IF, and that is a big IF, I decide to surprise her with a kitten, we will visit them as soon as DF thinks it is okay and then a few more times so she can make her selection. Once she does that, she can spend a couple of hours every few days with "her" kitten until it is ready to come home with us.

My biggest fear is getting one with "attitude" DD really needs a friendly kitten/cat who will allow her to handle it and be affectionate. She tried so hard with the bunnies and, while this may seem a bit dramatic, felt rejected, like she hadn't done something right.

Your daughter seems ready for kitten. If you got her kitten. The only things she would have to worry about is litter box care, food and water. Cats sometimes aren't high maintenance animals. I have heard of bunnies being very aggressive pets. Growing up my cousins had them as pets and over time they had to give them up because they got aggressive. The same thing recently happened to a friend of mine.

My friend lost her parents and dog a few years ago in an accident. She told me for years that she felt like getting a pet but she didn't want to because it would bring back memories of her family. Last October she decided to go a pet fair to get a puppy instead she got a bunny. The bunny was very affectionate in the beginning. But by March he was less friendly. Sometime in early May my friend decided to turn him over to a friend lives on a farm. My friend who is 24 also felt a bit rejected by the bunny. My friend said she won't try with another pet for about a year. She is going to live in Japan for 8 months to do an internship.

I have a couple of cats get less friendly over the time. But usually they became less friendly once they got a bit older like around 5 or 6. They never tried to bite or scratch they just didn't like being held or if you tried to pet them they would walk away. But most of the cats I've had were very friendly up until they died or they got really old. Also talk to your friend about which kittens seem to be the friendliest and most affectionate.

 

[walkerag]

My personal experience has always been that my cats haven't gotten less friendly over time, just lazy (don't we all ) Sometimes it's hard to tell how they'll turn out..

My 11 year old cat isa good example of that. I worked as a vet assistent for several years and he was brought in to us by a family who found him in a cardboard box on the side of a road while they were walking thier dogs. They were going to take him to the shelter but brought him to us first to have him FIV/Leukemia tested first and I couldn't resist him
He has always been very nervous but sweet at the same time. He's just really jumpy but he's gotten really cuddly as he's gotten older, very sweet boy.

They younger one, Gus, is 2 and still a ball of energy. He is extremely affectionate and will follow me EVERYWHERE.. more like a dog really.
He was born at a horse barn and I got him through an add in the paper. He was skiddish and was hissing and meowing in the carrier so I was a little worried but he turned out to be a great cat too.

I'm a cat person.. can you tell???

DD wants a dog and we're considering it but I'm a little nervous about it because it's been years since I've had a dog. I've gotten so used to my nearly maintenence free cats and I know how much of a responsibility a dog is. I love them to pieces though