Getting a cat

[PartyGirlUK]

Some questions

i) How much does a cat cost per month to upkeep?
ii) How do I stop my cat from [censored] up my apartment, whether by poo/wee or destroying my furniture?
iii) How difficult is it to get someone to look after a cat if I go away for the weekend? Is there any way to leave them alone for a few days?

[kyleb]

I have three cats and I love them.

i) Not much if you adopt one with initial shots and vet checkups done (usually around $100-150 for a kitten with most of the shots done, usually lacking rabies shot which costs $50 or so at the vet). For my three cats I pay about $60/month in food and litter plus the occasional treats, toys, and a ballin' water fountain for them to drink out of ($40 for the fountain, $10 for new filters every 2 months). Pretty cheap.
ii) They are pretty well potty trained if you adopt from a shelter and they are spayed/neutered early. As for destroying your furniture, they're gonna do it no matter what. You can declaw them, but most people think it's "inhumane" to do so. My cats just [censored] up my cheap couch from Ikea, so I don't really care.
iii) I wouldn't leave them alone for a few days, but "kitty sitter" services aren't expensive.

The best toys the cats will love are:

-A jar of catnip that you can put on their scratch posts once a week or so
-A laser pointer

That's all you really need. Getting two kittens is usually best so they have someone to play with when you are out/busy. Get males if you can.

[mbillie1]

Dean,

i) very little. Dry cat food is cheap (a huge bag is probably like $10-15 and will easily last a month or more) and water is free. Cat litter is about the same and lasts about the same, so maybe like $25-30/month. When you first get it you have to take it to the vet to get shots/etc, that costs a bit more but that's really a one-time thing (and then maybe once a year, or once every other year for regular vet visits).

ii) just train it when it's young. Make sure you get a kitten. Keep a spray bottle filled with water and when the cat jumps on the counter, scratches at the couch, etc just spritz it in the face with water. For the first couple weeks you might need to show it where the litterbox is, but cats become housetrained very easily.

iii) super easy. Once the cat's housetrained (figure after 2-3 months) all you need to do is have someone come and give it food / change the water once or twice a day, it takes maybe 5-10 minutes. Cats are very low maintenance.

I recommend getting 2 kittens, just because then they have someone to play with and if you're busy they do get bored, and that tends to lead to them destroying more stuff (until you train them not to, anyway).

Also, just play with your kitten(s) a lot when you first get it. A lot of people claim that cats are mean/whatever, but as long as you pet it a lot, have it chase a cat-toy or something, they actually become very mellow and nice. I've had 4 cats in my life and all of them have been extremely nice, they don't bite people, they don't crap the house or tear apart the curtains, etc. Obviously kittens are a little problematic at first but really after a few months (2-3) they're very well behaved and great pets.

[Doc]

This is actually one of the few things on this board I am qualified to talk about.

1. Initial cost is fairly cheap, get the cat (most shelters and rescue groups will have them by the boatloads this time of year or can get through an acquaintance whose cat got knocked up), food - get a good quality food - better quality equals less poop to clean - I like Science diet, but Eukanuba (Iams) and Purina make some good foods too. Vet bills depend on if you just need the checkups and vaccines or also need surgery for getting it fixed and/or declawed (Most shelters/rescues won't adopt kittens until sterilized). Other costs are litter boxes and litter. Over the long run, litter and food are your biggest expenses.

2. The most important thing to keep your cat from messing in your apt/home is CTFB (Clean the freaking box!) The whole idea of a cat using a litterbox is that the box is the most pleasant place in the house for a cat to eliminate. A dirty box is not a nice bathroom. I am also a big believer in declawing to minimize damage to people and stuff, but if you decide not to declaw, you need to take some time and help train your cat to a scratching post (ask your vet).

3. I have no problem with leaving a cat for a couple of days in a safe home. Make sure you remove any collars (no accidental hanging), leave a clean box, and plenty of food/water.

If you have any questions, just let me know,

Doc
(I am a veterinarian in St. Louis)

[MicroBob]

kyleb - I don't know whether 'most people' think it's inhumane to declaw them.
But I know that I certainly don't think it's inhumane.

We had 3 cats growing up and all were declawed (front paws only) as kittens and got along just fine. All 3 would go outside some as well and could even climb trees.

Had a couple cats with my ex-wife and we declawed both and they were fine also.

My sister is a vet and has done these declawing procedures before and does not consider it a big deal.
All of her own cats are declawed and she wouldn't have done it if she thought it was cruel.

The only cat I've had that I didn't get declawed is the one in my avatar. But that was because I adopter her as a neighborhood stray and she was 10 or 11 or so when I took her in.
Even then, she didn't mess up my furniture in the least. She loved to go into the basement and scratch up cardboard-boxes though.


I've only had 1 cat who had some issues with peeing on the carpet and marking his territory and what-not. Just spray a water-bottle at him when you catch him in the act. Or take him to the spot where he did it if you don't catch it right-away, put his nose up to it and yell "No!" at him or something.
That was our strategy anyway and it seemed to work.


One idea I had when we went to an adopt-a-pet place to pick one out: Pick the kitten that doesn't meow a ton. If you grab a cute cat and it is meowing non-stop then maybe there's a greater chance it will keep bugging you with non-stop meowing at 4am or something.
We were looking at two identical and equally cute kittens. I suggested we take the one that wasn't meowing and crying non-stop.


Cats are super-cheap and easy to care for.

Most cats that are okay with dry-food can be left on their own for a couple days or more.
If they only eat canned-food or something then you might have to hire a friend or a pet-sitter.

You can just look up pet-sitters in your area I think.
They usually charge $10-$15/day to come to your place and feed them and change the litter, etc.

My next-door neighbor did this full-time so it was pretty easy for me to just drop off the keys to my place when I went off for a week or more.

[Rhone]

Don't declaw, but do keep their claws clipped regularly. If you get them used this early on, they'll be fine with it and you can do it yourself in 2 minutes. If for some reason your cat freaks out and won't let you clip their claws, your vet can do it. Keeping their claws trimmed means less damage to furniture. Also, make sure you're giving them a scratching post and encouraging them to use it, in addition to discouraging them from scratching your furniture.

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
food - get a good quality food - better quality equals less poop to clean - I like Science diet, but Eukanuba (Iams) and Purina make some good foods too.

[/ QUOTE ]


Doc - As i mentioned in my last post, my sister is a vet too (in Florida).
For years she has sworn by the healthier cat-foods and really despises the cheapo varieties.
I think she saw that whole pet-food contamination fiasco coming for a long time now.

She had done some research on some of this stuff and thinks that Iams is 'okay' but you can do even better (can't recall the brand-names off the top of my head)

Overall she is somewhat appalled at the lack of nutrition and unhealthiness of 9 Lives and other cat foods.
Basically she equates it to feeding your cat nothing but Big Macs or something like that.

Healthier cat food, if you can get your cat to eat it, should also help give your cat more energy and be more playful and they will generally be happier.

A couple of her clients who were concerned about their dog/cat's lack of energy have reported significant improvement after a couple weeks of healthier food.
This could be their own wishful observations playing a role too of course, but it certainly seems reasonable to think that eating healthier can lead to more energy.

[Doc]

FWIW, I agree with everything Microbob says.

Doc

[MoBetta]

If you want a kitten go for it, but there are plenty of good older cats out there as well. My cat Mimi (Alotuvagina) was two when we got her, she's an extremely good cat. We weren't looking for an older cat but she ran up to us when we walked by and pretty much sold herself. You might not want to go through the hassle of training a kitten, I don't know.

[PartyGirlUK]

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