Getting a cat

[arealcat]

I think yo should get a REAL CAT instead:

http://angelina-jolie.euweb.cz/angel...na_jolie_1.jpg

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[OrangeCat]

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Thoughts on getting a breed cat and/or breeding my own kittens?

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A reputable breeder with a good bloodline will not sell an unaltered cat (a cat that can reproduce) to someone not already involved in the cat exhibiting/breeding world. So you should probably forget about breeding your own pedigreed cat. Kittens from and established breeder can be rather pricy. However, breeders will often have retired show cats or breeders available for a nominal price.

Former show cats make really great pets because they are very well socialized and they usually look great. An adult cat (adult is defined as greater than 8 months old) can make a great pet if it has been well socialized as a kitten. Such a cat will love you as much as a cat you raised from birth if not more because breeders know how to raise cats.

Generally speaking, a nutered male cat makes the best pet.

You should definitely check out the local shelter but if you decide to go the pedigreed route check out this link: http://secure.cfa.org/Search.aspx

Don’t breed mut cats on purpose. There are already too many of those.

[steel108]

Would it be okay to leave my cat alone for the weekend if I left it like two bowls of dry food, two plates of wet food, and two bowls of water. I jsut dont want her starving to death while I'm away; she eats alot.

[steel108]

Oh yeah... another question, should I be cleaning the litter box every day? Sorry, I'm a cat noob and trying my best.

[lippy]

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Would it be okay to leave my cat alone for the weekend if I left it like two bowls of dry food, two plates of wet food, and two bowls of water. I jsut dont want her starving to death while I'm away; she eats alot.

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Whenever we leave our cats, we just leave a HUGE bowl of food, a huge bowl of water and leave the toilet seat up. That way, if something happens, they'll be fine for weeks.

Don't worry about leaving too much food, it isn't like you can't put it back in the bag.

[supafrey]

I've owned a half-dozen cats in my life and, personally, am one of those "people" that find declawing cats to be absolutely revolting. As nice as it is to have pretty furniture (which declawing doesn't insure, regardless, because of urine/crap) I'd hate to have to give up the top third of my fingers for it - why should a cat?

Unless, ofcourse, you see your cats as more of a possession than a pet/friend... Then do whatever you want to it, I guess. *grumble*

As for leaving it for the weekend, etc, the only prob is that younger kittens often don't know how to ration their own food properly - leaving two bowls of wet food out just leaves a super stuffed kitty one day and a super starving kitty the next. Having a neighbour drop by for 5 minutes of checking water/food is preferable.

[cianosheehan]

Im pretty sure I've seen some kind of automated pet feeder somewhere before, that opens up at a set time

[Fast Food Knight]

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.

Also, I have left my cat alone numerous times, for up to 6 days, and he was totally fine. However, during our last trip he started peeing on the couch, so we won't be doing that anymore.

Cats are cheap as hell.. a couple bags of food and a bag of litter per month... less than $20. They are super rewarding pets that are extremely low maintenance.

[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.

[samjjones]

We are the cat people of our town. We currently have 5 cats (that live indoors), and provide food/shelter for 3 more "strays" that live outdoors. I've also captured and gotten fixed about 4 or 5 other strays.

All of the indoor cats are declawed in front, and we've never had any problems with ruined furniture. All but one of our cats were formerly strays that we took in, trained, etc. After an initial period of skittishness, all are very outgoing and friendly now, and very happy to live inside.

Cats are smart animals who make great pets with proper care. Its usually okay to adopt from a shelter, but know that many shelter cats are former strays, and may be very scared of humans. This may or may not change with prolonged exposure...the younger the cat is, the better chance you have of it warming up to human contact.