Getting a cat

[XXXNoahXXX]

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I'd like to go against the grain and recommend getting a grown cat rather than a kitten. It's really heartbreaking to be at an animal shelter and see all the little kids oohing and ahhing over the cute kittens while the grown-up ones are wasting away in their cages. I have found that kittens are much more high maintenance than a grown cat, and it's pretty easy to tell which adult ones are going to be affectionate and friendly. I adopted my cat last summer at the age of 3 and he is like, THE MOST friendly kitty, ever.

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Yeah, this was my initial thought going in, but when I went to two shelters and every grown cat I encountered was nuts. You need to find one that is there because his owner died or something, because some of the older cats have either been on their own for a long while or they were mistreated.

I ended up getting two kittens because of this and because I have never experienced kittens. I definitely recommend getting two. I have a relatively small studio apartment, and it doesn't seem too small or crowded at all. The apartment never smells at all as long as you get one of those igloo litter boxes with a flap door and you clean it out a lot. In addition, caring for two cats is the same as caring for one. It's just a matter of putting out two bowls of food instead of one, and the additional cost isn't great.

Some people worry that "if I get two kittens they'll play with each other and not me" but that is definitely not the case. They will play with each other which is awesome to watch, but they'll play with you too. Then they have someone to play with when you're not home and you don't have to feel bad about leaving them overnight or for a long day at work.

[michw]

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I definitely recommend getting two. I have a relatively small studio apartment, and it doesn't seem too small or crowded at all. The apartment never smells at all as long as you get one of those igloo litter boxes with a flap door and you clean it out a lot.

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How often is alot? My girlfriend has been pressuing me to get a kitten lately. I live in a 3rd floor apartment and have been using the smell of a litter box as an excuse not to.

Also, what does everyone do about cat hair? I've been to people's homes where you can't sit on the furniture without being covered in hair. I find this terribly annoying. How often does one need to vacuum to keep the living room 'livable'?

[Soulman]

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How often is alot? My girlfriend has been pressuing me to get a kitten lately. I live in a 3rd floor apartment and have been using the smell of a litter box as an excuse not to.

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Not too often. With two cats, I usually clean it out every three days or so. Less often when I change the sand (I put in a new 20 pound bag every 3-4 weeks or so), more often when the sand gets low. It doesn't take more than 5 mins though.

With the filter, you really won't notice the smell at all.


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Also, what does everyone do about cat hair? I've been to people's homes where you can't sit on the furniture without being covered in hair. I find this terribly annoying. How often does one need to vacuum to keep the living room 'livable'?

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This depends a lot on if the cats are short-haired or not. Also, the quality of their food will definitely impact hair loss. We only vacuum our furniture every two weeks (or well, our maid does), seems plenty good enough if you do the floors once a week as well.

[networkman]

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Not too often. With two cats, I usually clean it out every three days or so. Less often when I change the sand (I put in a new 20 pound bag every 3-4 weeks or so), more often when the sand gets low. It doesn't take more than 5 mins though.

With the filter, you really won't notice the smell at all.


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WTF kind of litter box is this?

My wife got us 2 kittens and we scoop the litter 4/5 times a day, even the pee reeks and we are spending £10 ($20) per week on 'high end' litter.

Also, for all you cat people, when do they start crapping outside? Ours are 6 months old and we started letting them out a month ago but so far they still do everything in the litter box.

[MicroBob]

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and we scoop the litter 4/5 times a day

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I've never heard of anyone doing this.

[jzpiano]

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and we scoop the litter 4/5 times a day

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I've never heard of anyone doing this.

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OCD?

[Stuey]

The trick to making cats stop doing stuff you don't want them to do is just make other stuff funner for them. Cats just want to have fun.

Scratching - Why do you think they want to scratch your couch? You need to give them something funner to scratch and make your couch less fun.

A couch and furniture in general are heavy and they can reach up high and get a good scratch in without fear of it falling on them. Most scratching posts are too short and light. Either buy or build a good one that is bottom heavy and does not move at all when they scratch. None of the ones you can buy with be heavy or sturdy enough imo. I put some 25 lb plates from my weight set on the bottom of mine. It does not budge when he scratches.

It also needs to be made of the right material. Cats hate when they are scratching and their claws get stuck. Sisal Fabric or sisal rope is the best stuff. Having a scratching post made of an material dissimilar to anything else in your house is also good. It confuses them if the post is made of rug or materials similar to your couch. If the post is so similar to the couch then in a cat's mind both must be ok for scratching.

Since they hate getting their claws stuck use this to get them to stop going after the couch. Just drape a wool knit blanket over the couch or something that gets tangled in their claws when they scratch. It does not have to be permanent just until they get to liking the post and break the habit of scratching the couch. Then you couch is safe without it.

Also the location of the post is very important. They be marking their turf. Put it right next to the item you don't want him to scratch. And you might need several posts throughout the house. It is his crib after all he be marking all the rooms. As he gets with the program you can move the post to a less intrusive spot in the room a little each week and the cat will adjust. But at first it needs to be in a prime spot.

Lots of other stuff you can do like catnip the post. Or spray water at him when you catch him. Which is not really a good idea imo he will either hate you for it or turn it into a game and they are smart enough to wait and scratch when you are not looking anyways. But really I think the other stuff is more important. Also important to have everything ready before he comes to your house. Easy to train them but hard to retrain them. Learn as much as you can about cats before you get him then you are ready for his tricks.

My cat often scratches stuff when he wants to play. But I never play with him right after he has scratches something he is not allowed to scratch. If he scratches the post tho I reward him with playtime. He really gets this he will scratch his post and look over at me like he is saying "come play". Playing with your cat also solves almost all bad behaviours. They be bored and even tho playing with them is boring it does not take very long and we all need to play more anyways if you ask me. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I only have one cat but I have 2 litter boxes. Then you only have to clean them every second day if you get lazy but everyday is best by far they stay cleaner and he has options for different areas of the house or privacy ect. Don't put his litter in the same room you feed him tho they hates that. I use clumping scented litter and with spreading his use over two boxes I can't really smell it until I go to clean it out. He always uses each one about the same amount. I think he just picks which he feels is cleanest at the time. I would. I got him as a kitten and he has never not used the litter once! When I first got him I feed him and gave him water and then I watched him. Cats always go like clockwork. When it looked like he was ready to go I just picked him up and set him in the box. And he got it that easy. Don't put them in the box and drag their claws in it to show them how to scratch. They don't like it and then they don't like the litter box and go elsewhere.

I might just have a good cat tho. Sorry for the ramble.

[networkman]

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and we scoop the litter 4/5 times a day

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I've never heard of anyone doing this.

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OCD?

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LOL I'm actually a lazy bastard.
Seriously though, A typical day:

My wife does the litter around 7 am then I do it when I get home at 5:30. As soon as I clean it, one of em drops a log - I clean it, then they eat and the other one drops a log - I clean it. I don't know how anyone could NOT clean it when you can smell it because the smell of kitten [censored] is pretty foul.

[Squareview]

my GF just got a nother kitty. it was climbing on my head this morning and i woke up to it biting my nipple. little scrap.

[XXXNoahXXX]

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I definitely recommend getting two. I have a relatively small studio apartment, and it doesn't seem too small or crowded at all. The apartment never smells at all as long as you get one of those igloo litter boxes with a flap door and you clean it out a lot.

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How often is alot? My girlfriend has been pressuing me to get a kitten lately. I live in a 3rd floor apartment and have been using the smell of a litter box as an excuse not to.

Also, what does everyone do about cat hair? I've been to people's homes where you can't sit on the furniture without being covered in hair. I find this terribly annoying. How often does one need to vacuum to keep the living room 'livable'?

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We got one of those igloo litter boxes with the flap door and we scoop it like every other day. Literally takes 90 seconds and isn't that gross at all. Get a plastic grocery bag, scoop out the clumps, spread a cup of fresh litter on top, done.


If you can get short hairs, hasn't been an issue at all. I've only noticed white fur on my black sweater once because they sometimes climb into the closet and sleep on it. Haven't ever brushed them.