Getting a cat. Need startup advice.

[Rhaven]

The secret to using a carrier is to let the cat see it as a safe place to be. I leave mine, with it's door open in the laundry room, next to the litter box. Jonesie uses his to nap when the dryer is running on cold days.

 

[RoJoHen]

What I've learned about putting my cat in the carrier:

1) Put her in ass first so she can't see where she's going.

2) While holding her, grab the flesh around the back of her neck. This will immobilize her front legs and prevent her from fighting.

 

[Shazam!]

My cat will dive right in there if you throw in a scrap of ham or chicken.

 

[captcalhoun]

my cat got good at one time. she went in with very little bother as we were taking her for regular weight checks, about once a week or so. then when the branch of the vets in our village shut, we stopped getting her regularly weighed and stopped seeing the vet so often, so she got back out of the habit and when she did have to go, we had a battle.

 

[Davros]

I have a cat carrier that opens on top, so getting a cat in there isn't much of a challenge.

 

[scotpens]

I attempt to write this as my cat stands on the desk in front of the monitor. Cats also love keyboards and blocking the television when possible.

In general, cats have a knack for interposing themselves between you and whatever it is you're doing. It's their way of saying, "Don't you dare ignore me!"

I remember when I got one of my big males spayed.

Females are spayed; males are neutered.

. . . I always thought if I had a black cat, I'd name it Sabbath.

I had a beautiful black cat named Sammy. I used to joke that we gave him that name because he was black and Jewish. (He had two good eyes, though.)

 

[Gary7]

Don't buy toys; your cat will get tired of them. Don't buy a bed; your cat will never sleep on it. It will sleep on everything that isn't its bed.

With toys, I think a lot of it depends upon the cat. Some love toys, especially something like the Bergan Turbo Scratcher (check out the video--this cat is pretty skilled at it). They have another design as well that makes it a little more interesting.

A friend of mine has a cat who sleeps in a designated cat bed most of the time... but she changes it up and sleeps in other places once in a while.

Call it whatever you want... cats have this tendency to not pay any attention to their human-given name being called anyway.

True that it's mostly the voice they're paying attention to, not their name. However, I have seen some cases where a cat is more responsive to their actual name than to something else. It's not consistent, but enough where it certainly "feels" like they know their name.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I attempt to write this as my cat stands on the desk in front of the monitor. Cats also love keyboards and blocking the television when possible.

In general, cats have a knack for interposing themselves between you and whatever it is you're doing. It's their way of saying, "Don't you dare ignore me!"

I remember when I got one of my big males spayed.

Females are spayed; males are neutered.

. . . I always thought if I had a black cat, I'd name it Sabbath.

I had a beautiful black cat named Sammy. I used to joke that we gave him that name because he was black and Jewish. (He had two good eyes, though.)

My mom has had 2 black cats named Samantha (or Sammy). They were both belligerent. The first was part burmese and the second (& her B&W sister) has some siamese, so there ya go.

A more generic term for spaying or neutering is "fixed". What, were they broken?

 

[scotpens]

Females are spayed; males are neutered.

A more generic term for spaying or neutering is "fixed". What, were they broken?

Or "altered." As if you're having their legs lengthened a couple of inches.