New kitty?

[Hidden_Mickey]

DD13 wants to get a kitty. I haven't had a pet since I was a kid. I have a full time job and 2 kids - I don't want any more responsibility/mess/worries, etc. I think DD is old enough to handle most of the responsibilities. Cats are the most low maintenance pets I can think of. And they are cute DH and I are on the fence about the issue. We know that "adopting" another family member is a big deal and we don't want to enter into it lightly.

So, what are the pros and cons? What should we know about before we do this? What should we consider, that as non-pet people, we might not think of?

What do you all do when you go on vacation?

Should we get a kitten or an adult rescue? Is there a behavioural difference?

If we do it, I would like to get one while we are all home for winter break... in a week!

Thanks DIS'ers

 

[elgerber]

I agree, that cats are low maintenance. Depending on the cat they can be either very independent/standoff-ish, or very sweet/loving/cuddly. They are generally quite easy to take care of, and you don't have to potty train them like dogs.
When we go out of town if it's only for a long weekend, we just leave her home, with and extra bowl of food and water. If it's longer, and no one is staying at our house, because we took the dogs with us, we will have a neighbor come over every other day to feed/water, check on her.

 

[SpecialK]

We adopted two kittens in May after our adult rescue developed renal failure and died.

Daily care: food, water, scoop the litter boxes morning and night.

Weekly: empty and scrub boxes and clean surrounding area

I've spent $300 in the last month for vet bills because they both picked up a virus. We also pay our niece to cat-sit when we're on vacation, so that's an additional expense. I wouldn't leave them alone for more than an overnight, but you'll get different opinions on that.

Cats are definitely lower maintenance than dogs, but there's still work involved. A kitten will get into everything. You'll have to deal with hair on you clothes and furniture. (I have lint rollers everywhere!) Litter is dusty. Do you have a place for the box that is out of the way?

We love having the cats around, but they do change your life a bit.

 

[dis-happy]

My cat lived to be 19 years old---something to think about if your dd is headed to college in 5 years!

Overall, cats are low maintenance. We ended up getting a 2nd kitten so they could keep each company when I was working full time and no one was home all day. Two cats really weren't any more work than one.

Vacations are fairly easy; if you're only gone a weekend you can leave out food and water and cat can take of itself. Can't do that with a dog! For longer trips we always had a neighbor come in and do the feeding.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Cats are low maintenance, and usually don't cost much. However, vet bills can be an unexpected add on. First, if you get a kitten, you will have a regimen of shots to go through, followed by a neuter/spaying, and possibly a declawing. Older cats have fewer vet bills, but even then issues may arise. Ourone cat had severe kidney issues a few years back. For what we paid to have her fixed up we could have taken a very nice trip to Disney (possibly two). That being said, we have always felt it was money well spent.

One issue with the cats? Our friends. I don't know how we managed to befriend every cat-allergic person in Michigan, but we did. Before parties we must clean and set out tissues. We know some of our friends will not be able to drink (because of their medications) or will have to leave early (because they're sneezing like crazy). One friend actually keeps an extra inhaler at our place.

 

[chyam]

I have 9 cats...and would not even think twice about not leaving them for a weekend, longer than that my neighbor will come over and check their food and water and scoop the litter boxes. If I do go away for a couple of days I add a couple more litter boxes, and a couple more water bowls, they have an automatic dry food feeder, that I fill up with a large bag of dry food and they eat whenever they want to. Do I have hair on my furniture yes and I do clean more than normal that is because I have so many, 1 or 2 cats should not add that much more work for you.
I use the clumping cat litter, it is a little dusty but not near as bad as the clay stuff....I use under the bed storage bins (28 qt) for their litter boxes...I scoop twice a day and change it out completely every 2 weeks. I would not even consider the extra work a chore, my cats give me lots of love and attention. Did I set out to have 9 cats (NO) I was very happy with 4, then my father passed away and I inherited his , and the other 2 were rescued, one off a busy street, he had a collar but no tags, no chip and no answer to 2 weeks worth of ads.
In your position I would try to find 2 kittens, since you are gone a good part of the day, they then have each other for company and it REALLY is not that much more work!
I don't really have large vet bills, I take mine to a low cost shot clinic once a year, and I think they are in almost every large city these days....the animal service facility here gives rabies shots for $1.00. I guess I am very fortunate that mine tend not to be sick to often, I truely believe it is because they are all "mutts".
I feed them a good quality food but not the best, and honestly the last 3 cats that I had that passed were in their 20's so I must be either lucky or doing something right.
The important thing for you to remember is although your DD will do the bulk of the care, she is 13 and in a few more years will be either leaving for college or maybe even getting married, and then you maybe the guardian for the cat or cats since they can live into their 20's with the average being about 15 so that maybe something to consider.
Don't think of cats or pets as more work but as an extention of your family who loves you and you love them back. Good luck

Also if you adopt from a shelter they will most likely be "fixed" and have some of their 1st shots, so that does help with the cost.

 

[elcodfish]

Another crazy cat lady jumping in! I have 5 cats and we have left for a couple nights and just put out a big food bowl and they are happy. If you are unsure, call a local shelter about a foster program. They often have cats that need help being socialized, or maybe just need medications and so are not ready to be adopted yet. The shelter will usually give you everything you need accept litter. That way, you can try out a cat in your house and see if anyone has hidden allergies and see if a cat is a good fit.

I agree, get 2 young cats from the same litter if possible. They will cuddle and be adorable! I think around 6 months, they are a little calmer than a baby, and PLEASE go to a shelter!!! you get all your shots and the animal will be fixed before you take them home. I know locally, our shelter is giving away cats older than 5 months FREE because there are so many.

 

[akcire]

We have 2 cats. You may need to get two if your house is empty all day, or the cat can get lonely (even though they sleep 16+ hours a day). Like PP stated expect the cat to live to be 20 years old, and expect your daughter will not be taking the cat to college. I spend approximately $1000-$1500 a year on cat stuff (mostly food and litter).

That said, our cats are as automated as they can be. We have two large water fountains--water added every 3-4 days, scrubbed clean 3 times per month. They have an automatic feeder that dispenses dry food 3 times per day, and holds 10-14 days of food--I just fill it when I walk by and it looks less than half full.

We tried the automatic litter box, it was not for us. We have two litter boxes and they get scooped every day or every other day, and then scrubbed once a week. Our cat is allergic to regular litter--so we use the newspaper pellets (Yesterday's news).

Since they are on auto-pilot we don't bother with a cat sitter for a weekend. If we go for a week an old neighbor stops in 3 times. She scoops the box, and plays with them (but she is a cat person and really likes our cats). If she is unavailable our next door neighbor scoops the box every few days--they are not pet people.

Our cats never go outside, and have yearly trips to the vet. We feed high quality pet food, and have very low vet bills--as my husband says quality in, quality out.

If you get a pair of cats, it may be beneficial to have similarly colored cats--I am a neat freak and like to only look for black/gray hair (my mother's white cat comes over when she vacations and her white hair drives me nuts). Also expect to need a good vacuum cleaner, if you don't already own one.

Other cat maintenance includes nail cutting (every few weeks), cat baths (most people don't bother--I wash them every two weeks and have since they were kittens), and occasional ear cleanings. If you have a lot of carpet, you may also want a carpet cleaner--cats vomit and spit up hair-balls. This probably happens once a month, and I like to get the carpet perfectly clean.

Also if you are a great fan of indoor plants--they have to go. Most indoor plants are toxic and all cats love them. Any flowers that get delivered to my house have the cards removed, and they are promptly taken to my neighbors house. The cats would chew on them and puke!

We are lucky in that are cats are not destructive at all, nor have we had issues with them urinating indoors. These are possibilities. Our cats are both good tempted, and very cuddly. Some cats are very stand-offish.

As an added bonus, my house has no live spiders. The cats enjoy catching and killing them. Every once in a while a bee gets in our house, and the cat manages to kill that too. Somehow lady bugs elude them?

I am not trying to discourage you, I volunteer at our local shelter and love cats; but think you may want to do more research before you make this commitment since it sounds like your not currently a pet family.

 

[SookieStackhouse]

I love cats! I have one, she is Siamese.

The Pros, they make good companions, entertaining, cute and lovable

Cons....might scratch on furniture and stuff.

Just keep up w/maintenance and stuff... feed, scoop litter box etc... I guess they all have their own personalities. Some are outgoing and friendly an others are standoffish.

 

[SOnotLayuh]

I can help alleviate one of the prementioned cons!

Declawing is cruel, so if your cats are scratching on the furniture check in to Soft Paws. We used them on our cats until we were able to train them to NOT scratch. It can be done. Soft Paws are little sheaths that slip on to the nail, and they last for about 4 months. It doesn't hurt, in fact the cats don't even actually realize they are there.

Since you asked about getting an adult or a kitten... adult cats (around 2 years and older) and pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to find homes for. We volunteer in animal rescue and it's heartbreaking how so many cats will just live at our organization's cat house until they die of old age. We've had some for more than 7 years. Most people just will not take home an adult cat.

There are things to worry about, though, with adult kitties. They could be really stubborn and set in their ways - so what I would recommend is (if you're thinking about rescuing an adult cat) really talk to the organization you are considering adopting from. Most organizations socialize cats, and they normally live out of foster homes for the majority of the time. The foster parents can tell you all about the cat's personality. Really listen to them, because they have often been living with an adult cat for years.

Check out www.petfinder.com for your area - I love it!

 

[hereyago]

We have German Shepard and a cat-yes they get along.

In a few days will be the 1st anniversary of getting the cat, which we got on the GS"s birthday-lol. He is FIV positive and we knew this before we adopted him. We can't have another cat unless it's FIV positive and we can't nor would we have him stay outside.

I do agree to get 2. I know it sounds crazy, but I am actually used to having 2 dogs, but the cat and the dog keep each other company, that is when the cat "feels like it".

Do any of your friends have cats that your DD could "take care of" for a weekend, such as cleaning the litter box to see if she could handle the poop factor? automatic water and feeders are good.


You could get an older cat as people always want a kitten and older cats are lower to get adopted. black cats/kittens are sometimes low on the adoption scale because people are still superstitcous of black cats.

scratch pads with different textures help as well as having their nails trimmed,etc.

DD12 takes care of our pets. scooping, etc. SHe has always had animals around her, so she started from early age helping take care of them. she wants to become a dog trainer and open her own doggy day care/ boarding and a seperate cat boarding place when she is older.

Have her go online or to the libary and gets book and ya'll see together what the needs of cats are.

Good luck

 

[Princess_Meghan <3]

My family has two cats, one is my sister's, and the other one is mine.

We got my cat first, and when we did, it was understood by me that cleaning the litterbox and making sure there was food and water were my responsibility. We got her when I was 16 (3 years ago), and my mother took my sisters and I to the animal shelter "just to look" (she said this both times we went there, and both times, we've left with an animal- my mother now refuses to go near the animal shelter ). I had my heart set on a kitten, but when we got there, I fell in love with a 3 year old cat that was the sweetest thing . She was rubbing up against the bars and purring, and was so happy when we stopped in front of her cage. My suggestion would be to take your DD to the local shelter, and have her look at the cats and see if she finds one that 'calls out' to her.

My sister's cat was found as a stray kitten- my other sister's boyfriend at the time had found him at his grandparents house, but wasn't allowed to keep him. he was very little, and all alone, and we begged my mother to take him in. she said no, but that she would take him to the animal shelter for us. She saw the kitten and couldn't take him to the shelter, so we ended up keeping him.

Now at 19, I'm away at college, so my sister does most of the work for both of our cats, but when I'm home I do clean the litter box and check the food and water. We empty our litter box every other day-- it gets dirty quicker because we have two cats. When it was just my cat, it didn't actually need cleaning but every 2 days. It really depends in the cat.

Our kitties do like to scratch at furniture and the carpet, but we spray them with a water bottle when this happens. My suggestion would to have plenty of scratching boards/posts available for a kitty to scratch on.

when we go away, we have a family friend check on the kitties and play with them. the same friend also takes the dog out a few times a day for us if he stays home as well (she lives very close to us and its no problem for her).

I currently pay for my cat's vet bills, but my mother and step-father still pay for food and litter, which can get expensive. My sister's cat has to have a special diet, and the food is very expensive.

in a kitty, you get a loving companion, and that could be good for your DD - my kitty comforted me through some very hard times in my life. she's very sweet, and if I cry, she'll sit in my lap and look up at me, because it worries her. she doesn't like to see her humans sad

 

[DisneyAngel83]

I grew up with one outside cat and DH's Mom had lots of pets growing up, so I had minimal experience and DH had pets around, be he didn't care for them.

Last May we got 2 little tuxedo shorthair kittens from the same litter, both girls. I have to say that it was a little bit of an adjustment at first. DH and I have no kids, so we went from having nothing but ourselves to take care of to having two little (mostly independent) animals that needed us for food, water and love.

This was my experience. We decided that they would live in our utility room/half bath area of our house as we can close it off from the rest of the house. Kittens can be destructive and so we wanted to keep them from the rest of the house while we were not home. We adjusted them to their "room" by only putting them in the small bathroom first. Every night I would go in and sit with them for a few hours and pet them and talk to them to get them used to me. This also gave them a space to feel safe in so that later they wouldn't just simply run and hide. After a couple weeks we opened the door and let them come out to explore while we were there. Eventually they came to us while we watched TV, cuddled and slept when they were not playing with each other. I have trained them to go back into their room every night when I say "bedtime!" I think some people think you can't train or socialize cats, and that has not been my experience. They have two totally different personalities (one friendly, the other is skittish), but both kitties love us and give us both great joy. They both come to us for affection.

We refill their food and water bowls as needed. We have two litter boxes with the paper pellets in the Breeze litter system. Those get cleaned once per day or as soon as possible. We had to experiment with their food a bit and found that Purina One for Sensetive Systems works the best. We buy this in the really large bags at Petsmart and it lasts for a couple of months. We fully clean the litter boxes and steam clean the rooms they live in during the day every month or so. (the pellets get discarded over time when you clean the litter box, unlike the dusty types of litter) Living with mostly hard floors and tile makes it easier to have them, but be prepared for the claws in your furniture.. we should have gotten a slip cover for our couch when we first got them. When we first got them, one developed a virus and had to have antibiotics and the other also contracted the same virus later probably due to being around lots of other kittens (2 other litters). We spent about $500 total adopting them, spaying, initial supplies, and a couple of vet visits. Now we spend maybe $50 every 2-3 months. We like having two because they keep each other company since we work all day.

When we are gone my MIL (she lives further back in our neighborhood) comes over every other day to check on them and empty their litter boxes. One cat is very friendly so she cuddles her and the other hides (she is the best example of a scaredy cat I have seen). We don't pay her but usually just bring her back a souvineer or something to say thanks.

I love our cats, but then I am a cat person. DH also loves them, but they took longer to warm up to him. They do not take much chore time and they bring us so much joy!

 

[tiggersbombed2]

I'd suggest two kittens. Two isn't much more trouble than one, and they keep each other company while everyone is gone all day.

 

[tiggersbombed2]

Sorry, not only wrong thread, wrong forum! lol **delete**

 

[SOnotLayuh]

Yeah...but was he a good Congressman? I don't really care about his personal life as long as he isn't raping or killing people, or harming animals, something really vile. He could **** a stump in his backyard for all I care. Just do your job. Is he a jerk? Sure, but if you were axing politicians because they are self absorbed jerks, you wouldn't have many.

I'm not sure where this came from

 

[hopemax]

While DH and I both had cats growing up, we adopted our first last March. We went in looking for a kitten, but came home with a 7 year old, male kitty who lost his home when his owner passed away. I petted him a little, while trying to meet a younger kitty, but Kipsy wouldn't let me pay any attention to the other cats, and kept reaching out to me with his paw. He was so affectionate that I felt really bad for him being in a shelter environment and thought because of his age and coloring (he is all black) he would stay there awhile if we didn't take him home. As it turns out, the cat he was living with is still at the shelter after a year (they fought, and the shelter did not recommend them be adopted together, otherwise we would have brought the other cat home too).

As it turned out, he is the best cat ever. Since he came from a home environment he had no problems with litter boxes, knew to stay off the tables and counters. He's never once tried to jump up. And though he hates it, he was familiar with the word "no" so correcting him with scratching and when he would get into places he shouldn't, it's been super easy to correct him. And surprisingly, he loves, loves, loves to play. There are times we say that he's "8 going on 2" because he is tearing around the house chasing his ball, or climbing up his scratching tower.

So definitely consider an older kitty. They can be every bit of fun as a kitten, but with less destructive tendencies (or razor sharp teeth ).

 

[tiggersbombed2]

I'm not sure where this came from

LOL...I posted that in the wrong forum on the wrong board. My apologies. Too much multitasking and not enough coffee I guess. Thank goodness I'm not in a position to email an office building or something.

 

[Kycha]

I had my heart set on a kitten, but when we got there, I fell in love with a 3 year old cat that was the sweetest thing . She was rubbing up against the bars and purring, and was so happy when we stopped in front of her cage. My suggestion would be to take your DD to the local shelter, and have her look at the cats and see if she finds one that 'calls out' to her.

I totally agree with this. DH and I went to the Humane League to get a kitten. There was one room(really more like a hallway) that was narrow and long with cages along one wall with cats/kittens in them. We were walking along, looking at all the cats when one of them reached her little paw through the cage door and grabbed my sweater with her claw. She was a juvenile(about 5-6 months old) with a beautiful Russian Blue like fur. We had to take her home with us. 10 years later and she is the sweetest, most loving, laid back cat. I am so glad she picked us.

I would definitely suggest going to your local ASPCA or Humane League to find a kitten or cat. The one in our county charges:


Cat Adoption Fees

• 6 months and under: $115.00
• 7 months through 4 years: $85.00
• 5 years through 7 years: $45.00
• 8 years or older: Free to a good home

These adoption fees include:

• Spay/Neuter Surgery
• Felv/FIV testing
• Basic Vaccinations
• Flea Treatment
• Microchipping
• Complimentary Exam** at a Participating Vet
• Collar with Humane League ID tag
• 30 days of free ShelterCare Pet Insurance

** The complimentary exam covers only the cost of the office visit. Any additional tests, treatments, etc. that your veterinarian recommends will be at cost to you.

 

[pixiewings71]

We have 3 cats (sisters) and 1 kitten (DD14 rescued him and has raised him, she gave him medicine twice a day and fed him every couple of hours while he was very young). The girls take care of all the litter boxes (we have 3, one for each cat), they are scooped every 1-2 days. When we go out of town we board the dog but we have a friend of DD14's come by and take care of the cats for us, they have a large feeder (the adults, not the kitten, he still gets kitten food) and a large water dish as well. Cats are very easy pets to have, they are quite independent. I really do love our cats, they are great pets. But I do agree, if you are gone for much of the day, get 2, 2 isn't much more work than one is.