Getting a cat. Need startup advice.
- Thread starter Aragorn
- Start date
Yeah, she is strictly an indoor cat. The only time she's ever even been outside are when I've moved (and then, she's in her carrier).
And kitty never escapes. She's terrified of the door.In the 5 years I've had her, she's never even attempted to get out.
Ah, that's okay then.
When I moved back to Canada for a couple of years I adopted two supposedly indoor cats. After I'd had them for a month one of them spent so much time meowling by the kitchen door I let her out (they were both fully vaccinated). Her sister soon followed her outside, and they were out every day when there wasn't snow on the ground. They moved back to England with us, and our remaining cat, now aged 12 and stiff with arthritis, still insists on going out every day, even in drizzle.
Our cat is an indoor cat but I take him regularly to the vet. He doesn't try to escape here but it would really just take one time. When we lived in Chicago, he did run out into the hallway twice. The first time he was so amazed he made it past the door he just froze. The second time he bounded down the hallway, encountered another person, and came running back.
for the litter tray itself, i used to use an office document tray. cheaper than a fancy-ass thing from the pet shop and does the job perfectly well. we used a litter that was somewhat like gravel, it clumped up quite well. (no point me telling you the brand, it was a UK chain's own brand). i dunno about others, but we'd put a newspaper in the tray and the litter on top. makes things easier for cleaning the tray and it's cheaper than liners (assuming you read a newspaper of course).
i'd say it's definitely a good idea to have at least 2 trays for one cat. Shade more than once got on one tray took a leak and then, as mum or i cleaned that tray up (if she'd already peed on it before), she'd get on the other tray to poop. or more often vice-versa. don't be afraid to simply cover up where kitty pees and not change the whole litter. liberal additions of litter and it'll go back and pee again. saves time, effort and litter. - which saves money.
kitten might like a fancy bed - Shade had one - but as others said, after a while they'll get fed up of it. Be fully prepared for kitten to start trying to sleep in your laundry baskets. - clean or dirty. Shade really liked to do that later in life. you could even try provding kitten with a wash basket and some old towels as a bed, but will just as likely ignore it.
Shade would sleep in certain places for a week or two and then find another place. or sometimes she'd sleep in one place for a while and then get up, go somewhere else and then go back to sleep. in her last year or so, she liked to sleep in my sisters' old room either in one of the windows or on a bed and then, around 8PM, when I was on my PC, she'd come into my room and get on my lap for the next two hours.
a mix of dry and wet food is definitely a good idea. my vet said that they really need the combo. but be careful what wet food you buy, some of it's the equivalent of the cat eating cheeseburgers all day. LOLCats notwithstanding, that's not good for them and then you face trying to get the cat to lose weight with expensive diet food from the vet.
i back up the idea of neutering the cat, it's really important for 3 reasons: 1. if your cat's male, it makes it less likely to wind up in fights with other males when they're in heat. 2. it means you don't wind up with a pregnant cat to deal with if you've got a female and 3. like someone else said, there's enough abandoned cats as it is.
if your cat is an outdoors type, something my family has done with our last 4 cats is to make sure it's in the house of an evening and overnight. people might say that's cruel, but we lost a cat due to him staying out late in the winter and he froze to death. (and part of the reason he stayed out? he wasn't neutered.) depending on your own preferences, you might also consider confining the cat to one room overnight such as the kitchen, with their food, tray and drink. again, people might call it cruel, but if they're conditioned to it from an early age, they'll get used to it. we did it with all of our last 4 and they got used to it. a kitchen with a tiled floor is good, cuz it makes it easier to clean up if the cat does wind up barfing overnight.
and on the subject of cat's vomiting, it's okay if they're just throwing up fur or grass (outdoors cats will often eat grass and puke it up, it's not really understood why, but they do and it doesn't seem to harm them), but if they're persistantly eating and then vomiting all the food back up, your cat's got health issues.
i'd say it's definitely a good idea to have at least 2 trays for one cat. Shade more than once got on one tray took a leak and then, as mum or i cleaned that tray up (if she'd already peed on it before), she'd get on the other tray to poop. or more often vice-versa. don't be afraid to simply cover up where kitty pees and not change the whole litter. liberal additions of litter and it'll go back and pee again. saves time, effort and litter. - which saves money.
kitten might like a fancy bed - Shade had one - but as others said, after a while they'll get fed up of it. Be fully prepared for kitten to start trying to sleep in your laundry baskets. - clean or dirty. Shade really liked to do that later in life. you could even try provding kitten with a wash basket and some old towels as a bed, but will just as likely ignore it.
Shade would sleep in certain places for a week or two and then find another place. or sometimes she'd sleep in one place for a while and then get up, go somewhere else and then go back to sleep. in her last year or so, she liked to sleep in my sisters' old room either in one of the windows or on a bed and then, around 8PM, when I was on my PC, she'd come into my room and get on my lap for the next two hours.
a mix of dry and wet food is definitely a good idea. my vet said that they really need the combo. but be careful what wet food you buy, some of it's the equivalent of the cat eating cheeseburgers all day. LOLCats notwithstanding, that's not good for them and then you face trying to get the cat to lose weight with expensive diet food from the vet.
i back up the idea of neutering the cat, it's really important for 3 reasons: 1. if your cat's male, it makes it less likely to wind up in fights with other males when they're in heat. 2. it means you don't wind up with a pregnant cat to deal with if you've got a female and 3. like someone else said, there's enough abandoned cats as it is.
if your cat is an outdoors type, something my family has done with our last 4 cats is to make sure it's in the house of an evening and overnight. people might say that's cruel, but we lost a cat due to him staying out late in the winter and he froze to death. (and part of the reason he stayed out? he wasn't neutered.) depending on your own preferences, you might also consider confining the cat to one room overnight such as the kitchen, with their food, tray and drink. again, people might call it cruel, but if they're conditioned to it from an early age, they'll get used to it. we did it with all of our last 4 and they got used to it. a kitchen with a tiled floor is good, cuz it makes it easier to clean up if the cat does wind up barfing overnight.
and on the subject of cat's vomiting, it's okay if they're just throwing up fur or grass (outdoors cats will often eat grass and puke it up, it's not really understood why, but they do and it doesn't seem to harm them), but if they're persistantly eating and then vomiting all the food back up, your cat's got health issues.
I guess you do need some wet food if you're an indoor cat. Mine eat a lot of lizards and rats and moths which is wet food enough. If they slow down in old age and stop catching stuff I will be buying them geriatric special cat food.
^ That's true. My male wasn't drinking enough water so I have to give them both wet food every day. I also force feed him water a couple times a day to prevent UT problems.
Another thing if you've never had cats is, you need to learn how to walk all over again. Sliding your feet more is important since a cats truly favorite place to be is right under your feet.
Maybe some nite-lites around the house for when it's dark so you have a chance of seeing them before they try to kill you.
Another thing if you've never had cats is, you need to learn how to walk all over again. Sliding your feet more is important since a cats truly favorite place to be is right under your feet.
Maybe some nite-lites around the house for when it's dark so you have a chance of seeing them before they try to kill you.
I want more cats.
Our old cat got really fat from eating wet food, which caused him health problems. I do not give my current cat any wet food, though I do occasionally give her milk and let her lick my dinner plates clean. I'm not at all concerned with her water consumption; every morning she wakes me up, runs to the bathroom, jumps on the sink, and waits for me to turn it on so she can start drinking.
Be sure to check all plants you have in your house. Cats like to nibble on plants, and many common potted plants are poisonous to cats. An example are all orchids. There should be lists on the net somewhere which plants are cat poisons. The same is true for some human food. Chocolate for example.
Keep low pots of "cat grass" ready, and make sure that the cat can easily reach it.
A cat will react best to its name if it has an "i" in it.
Keep low pots of "cat grass" ready, and make sure that the cat can easily reach it.
A cat will react best to its name if it has an "i" in it.
And kitty never escapes. She's terrified of the door.
Your cats are a bunch of pussies.
You were probably lucky and they were not, or only mildly and you didn't notice.
With diet and such like that, you obviously need to just figure out what your cat is like. Ours is totally content with his dry food and I have to coax him to eat his fish. He has never shown any interest in people food other than ginger snaps. He's long and big but I'm not worried about him getting fat right now.
We have a water fountain for our kitty because I like to spoil him and there is nothing in the world too good for him.
Of course, this is also useful to know...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p5Q6_ZRY-A
I don't know how to embed youtube links, gonna have to click
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p5Q6_ZRY-A
I don't know how to embed youtube links, gonna have to click
And do NOT edit or it will all vanish!
also if you're scooping into the toilet, make sure it's the flushable kind . . . clumping litter can totally stop up the pipes
QFT. And the little buggers sometimes like to attack your shoes (especially loose laces) without warning. Has anyone else also had the kamikaze kind who leap on you from bookcases or other heights?
So do I, but the only other animal our cat ever tolerated was her own sister, who had to be put to sleep 2 1/2 years ago. Our dog's been trying to make friends with our cat for 5 years now, but the cat still hates him. In fact, she hates every other non-human creature on the planet, so for her sake we're not getting any other cats for now.
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