Or being a cat's slave!
Planning to adopt a rescue over the next few weeks, what do I need to know/ will have forgotten to do? And any other tips for a first time owner.
Pictures very welcome 🙂
cat poo stinks ! make sure you get an enclosed litter tray.
Owning cats is easy
Females over Males as they tend to fight less, get into bother and don't suffer with blocked wee pipes that costs you £500 a time to sort.
You will see parts of the insides mice and other creatures that you never knew existed, often sicked up mixed with cat food and glued to the floor
It's very much like not owning a cat, but with higher Vets bills.
Get a cat flap. Feed it.
That's about it.
Apart from disposing of dead, dying and perfectly healthy mice, birds, rats, rabbits, bats, frogs...
Don't do it.
They're w@nkers, and that's said as a cat lover.
Females over Males as they tend to fight less, get into bother and don't suffer with blocked wee pipes that costs you £500 a time to sort.
You have no idea. Male cat with this issue reduced me to mental wreck. Admittedly I had a lot of other stuff going on which was probably more the problem, but £5k of bills made me glad of insurance.
Funny story, turned out I managed to figure out the cause myself. Vets = generally lovely people. Vet businesses = callous, patronising, heartless bastards
Don't mistake anything that they do as a show of affection. If they sit on your lap it's because it's warm. If they rub against your leg it's because they have an itch. You are there to give them food and drink and that's it.
Clever b@startds cats.
With a rescue you get to choose a friendly cat. With kittens you are taking a chance, and may end up with one that does 72hr bivvy/hunting trips and only comes back to check you are still keeping an eye on his gaff.
Invest in a microchipped cat flap, you'll be relieved when the local cats can't get in to steal food, resulting in your cat scent marking the house. (a rescue cat will normally be chipped so no need for a chip collar)
We've only had two birds and a mouse in two years, plenty of sick episodes with one of them though.
Other tips...put the cat flap in a different room to the kitchen if possible, ours get shut in the kitchen at night and leave hair/footprints all over the worktops, and eat any rubbish out of the sink strainer. Wish I'd put the flap in the dining room! If there is anything interesting in the kitchen bin we have to stack something on the lid...
We taught our to eat and drink at the table
[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8230/8385196726_f03e4be208_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8230/8385196726_f03e4be208_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/dLYjRm ]Jeff and George drinking at the table[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr
They dress up for Church on a Sunday
[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8373/8358488465_b1c0e088f1_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8373/8358488465_b1c0e088f1_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/dJBrq6 ]Jeff the killing machine[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr
They'll shit all over your neighbours garden
Fooflaps- We caught our old cat doing that, god knows how many times we'd taken a drink after it!
They get fleas.
They scrrarch furniture
They destroy carpet
They shit in sinks, washbaskets anywhere really.
They spray everything with pee
They lick and scratch when your trying to sleep.
They knock stuff over.
Othwr than that the are ok.
They hate cucumbers 🙂
We've had 4 rescue/other people's cast-off cats and they've all been totally different but ultimately lovely rewarding pets. We're about 3 months into the current one and she's really starting to have a lovely character now she's getting confidence and realising the house is all hers. Ours have all been very much mainly house cats though which means we have to spend more time amusing them but don't have to worry about traffic or sad t**ts inflicting cruelty on them. Saves on dealing with half-dead prey as well although probably not much difference when it comes to puke!
How funny is that cucumber video!
One is never enough...
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http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a491/loddrik1/Mobile%20Uploads/F5EA3063-E6D0-4F5C-A1AC-C5FB053B1BAA_zpsrbccrazl.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]
They're not good covered in Sudocrem
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/my-daughter-has-coated-cat-with-sudocrem-what-to-do
They get fleas.
Not if you keep on top of it with Advantage etc
They scrrarch furniture
Oh yes!
They destroy carpet
Oh boy yes.
They shit in sinks, washbaskets anywhere really.
Not if you keep a couple of clean litter trays they don't.
They spray everything with pee
See above
They lick and scratch when your trying to sleep.
Keep bedroom door closed. Though they do sleep on my kids beds who love them deeply.
They knock stuff over.
Oh yes.
They are great. We miss ours because we got lucky and got a complete cuddle tart!
...forget to mention.
They also eat hamsters, rats, gerbils etc which helps keep the total pet population down.
Dogs are much betterer
Goldfish are less hassle
Why compromise on something in between? 😛
After being a dog person for a long time, I've had cats for twenty years or so and have learned that there are a good many misconceptions about them.
Misconception #1. Ownership... it's not ownership at all, but a mutually beneficial relationship, based solely on how much your cat trusts and respects you. If you try to impose discipline on a cat, they'll merely cease to trust you and respect goes out the window. It is possible to establish boundaries though, with gentle perseverance.
Misconception #2. Intelligence. Dogs treat humans like other dogs. In order to get the best from your dog you have to behave like the pack leader, ergo dogs are too stupid to understand that humans aren't dogs at all. Cats absolutely understand that humans are different to other cats and will use different vocalizations and body language to a human than they would another cat - even a close litter mate. Cats will also behave differently once again towards trusted dogs, imposing themselves as de facto pack leader.
Misconception #3. Solitude. Cats aren't necessarily solitary creatures, they can exist in colonies in the semi-wild. My two are inseparable and never fight, despite both being males, they're extremely affectionate with one another. Cats can even co-operate when hunting...remember this if you get more than one cat, it's possible that both may be plotting to kill you at the same time (see 4).
Misconception #4. You can't train a cat. You can absolutely train a cat, but it has to trust and respect you first (see 1). I've had cats who will sit and do tricks on command (or more accurately request). Remember though that training a cat is a two way street and that the cat you share a home with will actively be trying to train you to respond to their own commands and requests and will show absolute disdain if you're too stupid to interpret these correctly.
There's a great many more, they're a species of individual characters. My two are snuggled up next to me as I type, one subtly attempting to usurp the laptop from my lap by any means available.
Where are you? Anywhere near Brighton? I've got a house trained neutered pair of 5yr old black cats here you can have. Came from a rspca. Great with kids, very affectionate, surplus to requirement.
You can spook them with cucumbers.....
Consider who will look after the at when you go holidays
....... and the c
It can be great fun. They are not all aloof and distant. Ours was brilliant - loved being a part of everything.
They get fleas.nope
They scrrarch furniture ..nope
They destroy carpet.tried to but only when they were kittens
They shit in sinks, washbaskets anywhere really.nope,never
They spray everything with pee,nope
They lick and scratch when your trying to sleep.nope,they don't get in to bedrooms at night.
They knock stuff over.nope although they did try to climb the xmas tree
Get two from the same family. Ours are ace and bestist of mates.
PJM1974 is spot on.
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Got one of these, great entertainment, and I love how the characterstics are bred in. Baffles me how personality can be bred into something
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There's nothing quite the like the proud look on his tiny face when you find mouse innards in your slippers.
Or a mouse with no face on the rug.
Or a battered blackbird flying around your bedroom.
It's lucky he's awesome or he'd be living on the streets
Piece of advice from my mother that Mrs R picked up - get a high-pitched bell or something as a food signal. It'll soon learn what it means and when you want it in you won't have to stand by the back door shouting out what is invariably a stupid name.
Teach it early on that being wrapped in a towel is a good thing. Saves endless scratching if you need to clean it or protect it if it's hurt itself.
Elastoplast spray is great for when playing gets out of control (for you, not the cat - it'll be fine).
Corrugated cardboard cat-scratchers are one of the greatest inventions ever for cats and their owners. Saves endless wear on the carpets and furniture. And forget expensive cat toys - your cat will love you for a cardboard box and some pingpong balls.
And a final piece of advice - avoid using your cat's name as a username on forums, it can cause emotional problems when they go - RIP Rio 2003-2015.
Not sure how funny that last line was meant to be but it was better than Jason Manford or Peter Kaye have managed this week of FB.
Reminds me of a girl I met in St Thomas 1990 but thats another story..
The lazy persons pet
Basically put food down then let it roam around the neighbourhood killing small animals and shitting in other people's gardens
They are complete tossers
I reckon goldfish take more looking after
Before feeding:
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After feeding:
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Ours are too lazy to roam the neighbourhood, and incapable of bringing in an animal that wasn't already cold when found. And they use our garden...although they won't if you don't encourage them.
Don't let it shit in my garden.
One is never enough
Two can seem like more than plenty.
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Seriously- cats are easier to live with than a dog, far more intelligent and are great to have around the house.
Get your cat registered for insurance before taking it to the vet for the first time - other wise anything that the vet thinks that they might have found will have to be declared and won't be covered.
Give your cat somewhere nice and high - that'll be a safe place for them to look down on their territory.
A few toys - I can recommend cat springs if you have a hard floor - will go a long way to keeping your cat active and happy and help the two of you to bond.
Cats are ace, where I live is a little monster who is now 8 months old, will say hello most mornings. Some bastard hoofed him about a month ago for just sitting on the side of the path. He got a bit wary then but if he is out the front always comes for a little cwtch.
Pigeon killer extraordinaire.
Like people they're all different
Have had nutter cats and scaredy cats and everything in between
Their instinctive sense of self preservation gives the impression they don't really care about anything other than the essentials but they notice everything and they don't forget
Treat them with kindness and never misplace their trust and they can be very rewarding pets. Here's ours in action
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They are not all aloof and distant.
Ours follow us round the house / up the garden and regularly cry wanting to picked up and cuddled. They can hear me locking my bike when I get home and are both waiting for me by the door (the wife has already fed them).
I'f you do get an outdoor cat, at least be curtuous to your neightbours and either;
Teach you cat to tidy up its shit.
Teach your cat not to shit in other gardens. Gonround yourself picking up all it's shit like dog owners do.
Seriously, my garden ****ing stinks of cat shit year round as I'm one of the few non cat owners in the area (I'm allergic). Ove tried ultrasound deterrents, curry plants and citrus. None made much impact and still get the delight of stepping in shit whilst hanging up my laundry.
Irresponsible cat owners piss me right off.
cat poo stinks ! make sure you get an enclosed litter tray.
feed them a raw meat diet, then it doesn't - it's like big rabbit droppings so easy to scoop up and put in the bin.
If its a house cat or a single cat that doesn't roam much then make sure you play with it reasonably often so they don't get bored and then disruptive or even spiteful.
This cat wand has been fantastic - ours still goes nuts to play with it even though he is adult now - and it is very useful for luring the cat out of hidaways so he can be caught:
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A little scary because it uses a thin wire, but it helps with flicking it around quickly - you just have to be a little careful. The wire does wear out after a while, as do the mice things. We have gone through a few now and many mice.
They scrrarch furniture
They destroy carpet
They shit in sinks, washbaskets anywhere really.
They spray everything with pee
They lick and scratch when your trying to sleep.
They knock stuff over.
All of these can be avoided by making sure they spend a lot of time outside. I put a box lined with one of my old fleeces in the shed and he's quite happy sleeping in it at night all year round.
