<p>H is thinking that he wants a cat. (I am thinking H is having a midlife crisis, but that’s another story.) I have never had a cat. My first question (I am sure I will have others) is what do people do with their cats when they travel? I have heard of people boarding their dogs at a vet’s, but what about cats? </p>
<p>And–what else should I be thinking to ask? Cat owners, what would you want a prospective novice cat owner to know?</p>
<p>Some people board their cats, some people have a cat sitter come in and feed the cat and clean the litterbox. It’s not unusual for the cat sitter to never see the cat – just to note that the food vanishes and the litterbox needs cleaning.</p>
<p>One thing that comes to mind is the old phrase … dogs have owners, cats have staff.</p>
<p>We have an outdoor cat. She is the product of a feral mother and was captured as a newborn but still has the wild in her. We were unable to make her into an indoor cat.</p>
<p>However, I do believe that as a general rule, cats should be indoors. Keep the litter box somewhere out of general traffic patterns and train the cat to go there. Change the litter frequently. Wear dishwashing gloves or disposable latex gloves because cats can have diseases like toxoplasmosis.</p>
<p>My advice is never declaw a cat. You will leave it defenseless should it ever accidentally get out.</p>
<p>When we go away, we have a friend stop by and put food out for her and fill her water bowl from our garden hose.</p>
<p>If the only manifestation of a mid life crisis is wanting a cat, you’re a fortunate woman. </p>
<p>Cats love location. People too, but surroundings matter, a lot. Which is why they can stay in the house, if you’re gone, and be ok. However it depends on the cat. I have one who hates people aside from me, and is never seen by visitors. Others I’ve had are intrinsically social, and not happy to be alone. But the best solution for that if you travel much, is another cat. Two cats, raised together, can be a happier team if left alone. </p>
<p>For those of us that love them, all cats warm the heartstrings. But it is interesting to look at descriptions of various breeds, and see if any particularly appeal to you. I tend to get rescued cats/Craigslist cats, and as luck would have it, they tend to be Siamese. Our newer little Himalayan has a sweet personality, very soft fur, and is just a delight. My ex has Burmese, with unique personalities that he just loves. </p>
<p>But there are cats everywhere that just need homes and care, and you’ll grow to love them. I would really work on spending a good bit of time socializing a new kitten, lots of holding time, affection, toys. The most recent acquisition was when a D was home for the summer, so I knew the kitten would get plenty of attention.</p>
<p>^^^Ain’t that the truth!</p>
<p>Oh, but I love them. I could never live without my cats.</p>
<p>A pet sitter is the best way to go. My cats would get so stressed out when they’d be boarded. I had a wonderful pet sitter for years, who even gave injections to my diabetic cat. We all mourned when he passed away.</p>
<p>My 25 year old nephew has taken over the cat sitting job. He feeds them, plays with them, takes in my mail and newspaper, and scoops the litter. We feel comfortable traveling because he’s not only checking on the cats, but he’s also checking on the house. He loves it because he’s never had pets, as he grew up in an apartment, and still lives in an apartment with his new wife. Both of them are animal lovers, so the arrangement is a win win for all of us. I pay him 25 bucks a day, since he has to drive a half hour to my house. My old pet sitter lived around the corner and only charged 11 bucks a visit.</p>
<p>When and if you do adopt a cat, please have it spayed or neutered. Even if you intend to keep it inside. You never know what the future holds: if it gets out, you have to give it up for some reason, whatever catastrophes come about. </p>
<p>I am a big proponent of spaying and neutering your pets, as there are millions of unwanted pets euthanized in shelters every year. You can help save a life by spaying and neutering your pet.</p>
<p>Thank you and enjoy your new pet!</p>
<p>^ Agree with Joan about declawing. Cats let you train yourself to trim their claws and brush them, so long as you do it gently and frequently from the first day you get the new kitten. Since you can’t trim their claws every day as you train them to get used to it, you just pretend. Gently push their claws out, get the clippers, and pretend. Works just as well. Our cat just relaxes and sits still as I clip her claws or brush her. I do suggest you do this when they’re mellow, not when they’re in those run around moods.</p>
<p>Other things you should know? Well, if you collect or own breakables, put them away, at least through the kitten’s teenage years.</p>
<p>You sound very unsure of the idea of having a cat. My husband dislikes cats - except ours. They’re adorable, and far more affectionate than non-cat people give them credit for. </p>
<p>One other note. If you happen to own one of those bedside lamps that turn on when you touch it, put it away. NOW. Otherwise, your cat will learn how to turn it on at 3 am to be petted. Trust me. :)</p>
<p>We have a neighbor kid come over and feed the cat when we are gone. Cats are pretty low maintenance. Litter training was no problem. We have a covered litter pan as our male is somewhat messy when he pees. As for toxoplasmosis, you really don’t have to worry about it unless you are pregnant.</p>
<p>Neighbor kid is the way to go if you can. My dad and his wife have to pay $22/day to board a cat in their town… and the last time they visited they had to board 2 cats. Yikes. </p>
<p>Another advantage of the neighbor kid idea is that you may be able to skim of 2 days. Dad has to drop his cat(s) off the day before he leaves and do pickup the day after return.</p>
<p>I pay the neighbor girl $5 a day and the cat is less stressed staying home. The girl also gets the mail.</p>
<p>Depending on who it was, we paid between $5 and $45per day (lowest to 12 year old neighbor who only cat-sat, 15 minutes per day to feed and scoop, highest to young teacher in the area who also house and garden-sat). Still better than taking psycho-kitty to the wonderful vet for boarding. Went once, turned all her Siamese brown points white and the vet asked that we never bring her back for boarding…</p>
<p>To be honest if we are going away for a week or less, our cats are fine with a huge bowl of water and their normal dosage of food plus an extra few servings ( just in case). They are really self sufficient and are perfectly healthy when we return.</p>
<p>Our cat went on a hunger strike when we tried to board her at the vets office so we didn’t try that again. When our cat needed medication we hired a pet sitter from the vets office and kept her in the dining room so the sitter didn’t have to hunt her down. Without medication we just use a family friend to feed her and clean litter box. He never actually sees her.</p>
<p>Onward -</p>
<p>My H contracted toxo from a cat other than ours. A tiny scratch developed into cellulitis and he almost died - was in the hospital for a week. I am hyperfanatic about toxo because of that and because I know two women who miscarried due to it. I know a scratch is different from cleaning the litter box but the germs are in both places.</p>
<p>A little selfish here, but please take into account any immediate family members who might have allergies to cats (parents, aunts/uncles/, siblings, etc.) and realize that when you get a cat, you basically ban them from your house forever if their allergies are bad enough. </p>
<p>I am the only member of our family who is not very allergic to cats (and yes, I know some breeds are worse than others), so we rarely attend functions at our friends’ homes who have cats. If we do, everyone has to drug up ahead of time (Benadryl, which means no alcohol), which then inevitably makes them sleepy (have had family members fall asleep at parties) and we have to leave early. It never matters how clean people say their house is, how they keep the cat out of certain rooms; my family will feel it.</p>
<p>H is so allergic, that over ten years ago, I had taken D2 to our hair dresser’s home to get her hair cut (this was before D2 developed the allergy). She played with the cat there for a few minutes before the hair cut. Several hours later when H came home, and she sat on his lap, his eyes started turning red and getting puffy. He started to experience some wheezing and when we realized what was going on, he took two Benadryls. He didn’t develop this allergy until after he moved away for college, and until the day she died, his mother believed he was making up this allergy to avoid staying with her when he visited.</p>
<p>We have an indoor only cat. Our vet advised declawing, and we did have this done–front only. I have mixed feelings about it, but my vet told me that he had his indoor cats declawed–the laser procedure used today is less traumatic and they heal quickly. Cats can damage your furniture and woodwork with their claws, so it is something you should consider. Also, if you get a male cat/kitten, it is best to have him neutered at a fairly young age–before he starts the habit of spraying urine to mark his territory. Our cat is a neutered male, and we’ve never had any problems with this. I am so glad we got this pet–he brings the whole family together with his antics. Even when he’s sleeping (which cats do a lot) his odd positions are entertaining. Cats will naturally go in a litter box, so you don’t have to do anything much to “train” them. If we travel, we get a neighbor to feed him. If you have an indoor/outdoor cat, you have to worry about what the cat is catching/eating outdoors and potential parasites he might be bringing in. We used to have outdoor only cats. This one is strictly indoor only. He has plenty of room to roam in the house, so it is not a problem.</p>
<p>I had a cat for seventeen years. Now I have dogs. Really big dogs. My advice - talk H into a dog.</p>
<p>We have a cat-sitter come over once a day. Cats can get by with a lot less attention than dogs while you’re away.</p>
<p>We used to board our indoor/outdoor cat when we went away for more than a couple of days. The cat was very popular at the kennel - he was an extremely fat, fluffy cat. When the cat died, the kennel made a donation to a vet school in his memory (I’m not kidding).</p>
<p>Are you a cat person? Have you had cats before? While my husband and sons loved our cat, I was not a cat person before we got him, and living with a cat only confirmed my feelings about cats. I’m with sylvan - I’m a dog person, I really love our dog. Have you considered a dog? :)</p>
<p>Dogs and cats are so different, dogs are almost as big a commitment as a child lol do only get a dog if you don’t plan on leaving the house for more than 2-3 hrs at a time. Cats need lots of love and affection too but as long as they have fresh water and food you can leave them for a whole day if you need to. Dont forget pets are expensive though if you care for them properly, you’ve got food, pet insurance, vaccinations, health checks, holiday boarding etc. I take my cat to a boarding cattery when I go on vacation for peace of mind as I had a cat get hit by a car a year ago n as I was out of the house alot I didn’t realise she was acting differently until I found her barely conscious n found out her liver had ruptured (vet estimated she’d been hit around a week before I’d brought her in) so now I like to know my cat is in a nice big pod at a cattery where he can’t get into any trouble</p>
<p>I have had 3 cats over the last 25 years. The first two I rescued as random DSH kittens, one lived until 4, the other until 16. We adopted a then-9,5 y.o. Bengal about 3 years ago. The first and 3rd pets had cattitude from head to tail! The second one was like a dog (never aloof, always around). We always hire a neighbor kid to catsit/do mail duty.</p>
<p>A cat scratch CAN cause problems even for other cats. We declawed the front claws only for the first two cats. The third was too old to have this procedure by the time we adopted her. Cat2 and Cat1 overlapped their time by about 6 months. An inadvertant scratch by a very playful kitten(just a week before the scheduled neutering/declawing) to the older Cat1 caused a series of infections that entered the nervous system and we had to ultimately put her to sleep. All 3 were spayed/neutered. Females may not mark territory as much as a male but a cat in heat is crazy! Cat3 was spayed long before we got her but Cat1 went into heat just once before her spaying/declawing. She seemed as if she was possessed.</p>
<p>Our nearly 13 y.o. Bengal is awesome. Their beautifully marked coats are thick and luxuriously soft but short so they don’t need tons of grooming. They are very vocal and are quite dextrous. The one we have can turn a round doorknob to open a door and she is as loud and noisy as a Siamese. She is an extremely efficient hunter despite her advanced age so we try not to let her out.</p>
<p>I never thought that I would care about cat breeds but I think my next one (won’t be happening until this one is deceased as she loves humans but hates all other animals) would have to be a Bengal. The personality factor is just wonderful.</p>