Cat owners,please tell me everything

[becki x]

I have never had a cat and am seriously contemplating it,a friend has some unwanted kittens,and like you do i fell in love.

However no one in our family has ever owned cats and i have no idea how to care for them,hence the contemplation lol

You guys are my first point of call,apparantly apart from worming this will solely be my responsibility (he'll regret that when he see's the pink diamante collar i like lol)

So talk to me like a kid and tell me everything i need to know,good bad and ugly

Many thanks geeky peeps,have a nice day ! :hug:

 

[pips]

Well becki, Ive had cats all my life and have 4 at the moment, they pretty much look after themself unlike dogs who need walking everyday.

They need treatment for worming & ringworm (quite easy with one tablet) they can have booster jabs just like dogs but mine have never had any jabs as they are more like house cats and only go out for the loo them straight back in.

You can get a treatment called programme from the vets and its a liquid drop for the neck that kills flees and keeps them at bay.

You cant go wrong with a kitten, you will have hours of fun playing with him/her and hours of laughter watching them explore and be mischeivous as they grow.

Be prepaired to give up your bed, fave spot on the sofa and if ever lost in the house look in the ironing pile as cats love fresh washing lol

 

[worthit]

Hya,

I too have had cats all my life really and at the moment have 2 2 is quite enough they are very spoilt and to quote the last thread, they hog the bed, got their own settee but still like the one we sit on, they don't like the rain much or wind. They keep you calm when you most need and are very spiritual creatures and seem to know your needs and they love being stroked and loved.

My advice would be when they are kittens this is the best time to have them as they grow up with your ways and your rules (that doesn't last long as they make their own):lol: try and touch them as much as possible as human contact is best when they are little as left they will become like a wild cat and not like touch atall.

If they are boy and girl get them neautured as soon as possible (usually 6 months) as they do not understand the powers of nature and yes will breed like rabbits and very quickly too unlike us they can catch quickly so before you know it you have another 2 sets of kittens this has happened to me

The wonderful thing about cats is they are very independant and only sometimes want you to feed them that's not to say they are going to eat what you give them mine are sooo spoilt that they have all the best food and you know when people say Oh leave it down they will eat it THEY WON'T they know what they like and they rule where the food is concerned!!!

They give you hours of pleasure and make great friends as you can tell I am a proper cat person and I am never without them I love having them around they help me in the garden, they keep me company in bed I don't move not to disturb them (how sad am I) and kittens just want you to play with them 24/7 watch your settee especially if cotton they love scratching that get them a scratch post early on so they know that's to scratch, no good buying them a bed that's just wasting money believe me I've tried they know where is warm usually your bed that's their favourite.

I think I better shut up now about cats I sound like a right saddo but I do love them

Hope this has helped you if you want any more help just PM me

P.S you will need a litter tray to to train them and as they get a bit older put it nearer the door every time so they will eventually go outside

Kate x

 

[michelle g]

Cats are wonderful pets and as pips said apart from worming and
controlling fleas they pretty much take care of themselves.
well you have to feed them of course lol. it tells you on the cat food
how much they need per day and if you ring whiskers
they send you out a kitten pack with info and sample of food.
you will need a litter tray to start with and all you do is put the kitten
in and get there front paws and scrap the litter with them a couple of
times (iykwim) then they are aware of where it is, you only need to do
this once. cats are really clean animals. I would definately get a scratch
post for the kitten and when it's older buy it some catnip! they are so funny
to watch when they have catnip.
I would go for it had cats all my life and my mum has 9 they are great
pets.

 

[becki x]

Thanks all,that's great,i eally do need to know EVERYTHING i don't want to commit until i know exactly what i'm doing.

Male or female ?

 

[pips]

I have 2 of each but they have all been neutered and spayed...no making babies...no having babies lol

Female in my opinion stay on the smaller side and are more loving where as toms tend to roam and are alot larger, get in to fights and can smell your house out untill they get their coconuts chopped off lol (toms have this thing for spraying to mark their teritory, not all do but i had one that did)

 

[becki x]

I have spoken to the vet,i also wondered,my son suffers with mild asthma,would wthis be an issue ?


Online pet store recomendations.collars harness etc .

I have signed up with wiskas kitten club,any advise at all would be much appreciated .thanks x

 

[cabinkel]

my son has asthma, and he is fine with the cat as long as he keeps his face away from him. He can stroke the cat without problem, (although all asthma sufferes differant) but cannot put his face near him. Cats are lovely pets, and very easy to look after! I have a boy cat at mo, but previously, have always had girls. hth:hug:

 

[min11]

I'll agree with everything regarding the care, flea treatments, worming etc but the one area I differ in is that having had cats as kittens and one cat of mine who did have kittens, I now go for adult cats. I had to re-home all my cats when we went to Norway as at the time we couldn't afford to take them over and the costs that entails. Whilst there we bought two cats, both adults. One sadly died but the other is now back in the UK and we have since bought another adult cat. I have loved all my cats but just found adult cats so much easier. They don't have the kitten scratching and curtain climbing phase either. You can go and meet the cat and have an idea of personality. Some of our kittens, despite all being raised the same were not particularly friendly. Not nasty at all, just not lap cats. I also have found over the years that you can get a pedigree cat for a lot less money when breeders re-home their breeding cats or cats returned to them (Becca was returned to her breeder, as per her contract, when the family moved and couldn't take her with them, Belly came to us when her breeder downsized her numbers).

The two I have now, Becca came back from Norway, is definitely my cat and is as I type laying to the right of my laptop. Belly we have had for 7 months or so now and her name suits her. She loves to be carried and cajoled and lays like a baby in your arms. Pick her up and you can feel her trying to lean back so she can have her Belly rubbed. Sadly I need to re-home her because Stuart has had asthma since she arrived.

So adult cats all the way for me now.

A scratch post and toys are a must, mine use their scratch post so well we are needing to replace it :lol:

 

[min11]

my son has asthma, and he is fine with the cat as long as he keeps his face away from him. He can stroke the cat without problem, (although all asthma sufferes differant) but cannot put his face near him.

Stuart had always had a mild allergy to cats but the longer they were with us the less the allergy showed up. Since buying Bella though he has suffered. He's put up with it hoping it would ease but its not happening sadly. If anything he is getting worse.

 

[pips]

I can honestly say ive never had a problem with kittens scratching.

All my cats have been from kittens (rescue) and they have had a scratch post in every room along with toys so always had something to scratch on instead of using my furnature.
It dont have to cost the earth either, forget pets @ home go to argos and they do a good enough post there for around £5. Again toys can be bought cheaper of the markets and small family run pet stores.

My lads have asthma and so has my grandson (just found out & hes on an inhaler now) but the cats dont seem to agrivate it in any way. They suffered more from been outside running around but different things trigger it off depending on the severity of asthma the person has.

I would deffo get a collar and id disc as soon as old enough to wear one. All mine have a collar and engraved disc detailing their name, my postcode and my home number just incase they should go for a long walk and get lost. (I sound like an over protective mother lol BUT they are my babies and they are treat like kings & queens)

They get fed morning, 1 foil tray each then dinner to early tea they have munchies then later on at night they have fresh chicken, fish or tuna.

 

[becki x]

Thnak guys are know i need to know everything i just donj't want to make a mistake,i want to go into it eyes wide open and responsible so my pet is for life

 

[pips]

Understandable becki chick.

The eldest cat i have at the moment is 10 years old then brother and sister at 7 years then 4 years.

Also dont forget to concider...if you go abroad often there will be cattery fees unless you have a neighbour, friend or relative that can go 2/3 times a day to feed, play and check on moggie.

 

[Nicks83]

Hi Becki,

I would highly recommend anyone to get a cat! I have two and i love them to bits.

Sex wise - it depends what you want - there isn't a huge difference - i have had females and males and they were both very affectionate. Males do tend to be bigger, and could possible "spray urine" to mark his territory as he gets older but if you get him neutered at around 6mths old this can usually be prevented (it would be best to discuss this with your vet as to what they recommend) and i would highly recommend that you get your cat wheter male or female neutered. With females it reduces the risk of them becoming pregnant if they get outside. There are other health benefits also which again i would recommend you talk to your vet about.

The main considerations are wheter you want your kitten to be kept indoors all the time? or are they going to get outside? This is personal prefrence and obviously will depend on wheter the kitten shows an interest in going outside! I personally let my cats out - but had one go missing for 7mths luckily i got her back as she has an identichip - but it is heartbreaking; also my 2 year old male got knocked down and killed on the roads. But on the other had Molly has been fine all these years! and she goes out too!

I would highly recommend getting your kitten vaccinated wheter it would be kept indoors or not there are different types of vacciantion avaliable so it would be worth talking to your vet again to see what they would recommend!
And would be able to advise you on cost - it could be around £35-45 approx?

Then i would HIGHLY revommend getting your kitten identichiped - this is a wee implant that goes into the "scruff" on the back of the neck - its is about the size of a grain of rice and has a 15 digit code unique to your kitten - it is registered on a national database so that if he does go missing and is found he can be scanned and traced back to you.

Another thing i would strongly revommend is insurance for your kitten - again costs can vary for this - you want to make sure that you get a covered for life policy rather than a 12 month policy (the difference being 12 month policies tend to exclude you from treatments you have claimed for at the renewal - again you vet should be able to assist you more on this respect)

The other things include feeding; worming and flea treatments. Flea and worm treatments can be purchased from your vet who will advise you on the best products avaliable for you.

Sorry to waffle on - i used to work as a veterinary nurse so once i start its hard to stop! if you need any more advice feel free to pm me

Oh and if you phone any local vet they are usually happy to help with these things over the phone and give you prices for vaccination courses; neutering and identichips etc!

HTH Good luck what ever you decide; and it will be worth it if you do get one! Lol

 

[becki x]

He he thanks hun,phoned the vet so i have all the prices for vacinations and micro chip etc,waiting to speak to the nurse about the asthma issue,i just need to know how to train and play and encourage etc xx

 

[pips]

He he thanks hun,phoned the vet so i have all the prices for vacinations and micro chip etc,waiting to speak to the nurse about the asthma issue,i just need to know how to train and play and encourage etc xx

That will all come naturaly chick, just by rolling a small ball along the floor and allowing the kitten to run after it will encourage it to follow.

(my tom cat is trained to fetch the ball back) lol

Training is also easy, place the little tray where the kitten can easily access it (only a small amount of cat litter as they scuttle it out on to the floor) Place the kitten on it and let it get a feel & smell (there is something in the litter that attracts them to it) If kitten is found to be weeing on the floor, pick up and place on the tray, even if they do a small poo, place it in the tray and then place the kitten so they get a smell and know where to go to next time.
All mine took to the tray and after a few days went on their own accord.

 

[louiser]

Cats are great, I've grown up with them and I would love some of my own but I can't due to my other half having allergys.

One great bit of advice my Mum gave me was when they're growing up if they start to scratch as your stroking them not to keep whipping your hand away, they will see it as a game and grow up scratching you. If you just leave your hand in place you get a weird little look from them like 'oh right your not moving then?'!

They all have their own personalities, some love fuss some not so much,

Louise xx

 

[pips]

This is a good site to read up on, it has loads of info from kitten to adult, treatments & insurance etc

PDSA - Kittens & Cats

 

[min11]

Someone else mentioned cattery fees if you go away, another one is that Belly needs special food due to a sensitive stomach. Its not a major extra expense but depending on where you live its not as handy as a box/tin of food from the corner shop if you run out. We have to drive to the nearest petshop or vet as its not carried by Sainsbury's.

Not the norm but it does go to show that on the face of it the costs seem quite good but its the hidden and unexpected costs that make it mount up.

I'd also recommend pet insurance, a small monthly payment really helped us when one of our cats needed major treatment years ago, we didn't have it in Norway and Kelly's vets fees ran to almost £800 by the time she died weeks later. The financial impact was huge as we were already struggling.

 

[monty]

Well what can I say.........I have 2 cats one white (imagine Arthur from cat food add) and one black & white (imagine felix from cat food add) they are called Won Ton & Dim Sum (I like chinese food) dont ask me what my son is called :lol: so anyway, I woke up this morning to the most disgusting smell and thought my baby boy who was laying beside me had messed the bed,,,,,,I whipped him out and ran to his changing mat only to nearly step in a big mound of runny poo on my brand new real wool £300 rug!!!!!!!!!!! now this isnt the first time this has happened, it happened 3 days ago aswell and I had to have it steam cleaned...............I am going to have to throw it out now,, as the smell from 3 days ago never really left the rug and while sitting on the sofa (the leather £3000 sofa which they have claw marked to ribbons and ruined) ,,,,,,,kept getting a pungent smell drifting up,,,,,,,:cry: My cats are in the dog house , so to speak...................Apart from that,,,,,,,,they rule the house, take all the comfy chairs, think our bed belongs to them, cant move them from the computer chair without a fight, just anywhere that you would like to sit or lay down they get their first.......you cant stay out over night as you need to get home to feed and let them in or out, you cant just do things on impulse anymore,,,you have to treat them like children,,,,big responsibility,,,oh and they gave my baby boy flee bites at 3 months old..........Im not a big fan today.........sorry....still dont know which one is responsible for ruining my rug. They were such cute and adorable looking kittens to. But Im sure you will get some great stories from others...good luck