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Help me get some pussy.
noir_blood
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
No, not THAT kind of pussy. But the adorable, kitty version.
I been wanting to get a pet for a good while, and I finally have the means to do so(i.e, live in a place that allows them). It woudl have to be an indoor pet, so I'm thinking a cat would be good, although if anyone has any other suggestions, throw those out too.
Anyways, where would be the best place to get a cat? I mean, is there really any reason why I shouldn't just pick one up from an animal shelter as oppose to an actual cat store? I really would like to get one young though.
Also, where's the best place to put a litterbox? I have a really big walk in closet, so I was thinking there, but then thought that would probably stink up my clothes. The bathroom then? I rather the whole apartment doesn't smell like cat/litterbox.
I been wanting to get a pet for a good while, and I finally have the means to do so(i.e, live in a place that allows them). It woudl have to be an indoor pet, so I'm thinking a cat would be good, although if anyone has any other suggestions, throw those out too.
Anyways, where would be the best place to get a cat? I mean, is there really any reason why I shouldn't just pick one up from an animal shelter as oppose to an actual cat store? I really would like to get one young though.
Also, where's the best place to put a litterbox? I have a really big walk in closet, so I was thinking there, but then thought that would probably stink up my clothes. The bathroom then? I rather the whole apartment doesn't smell like cat/litterbox.
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I keep my litter box in my spare bedroom. The bathroom or kitchen area are probably both decent places as well.
That, or look around your local want ads/whatever and see who needs to give up a cat because they're moving into an apartment that won't let them keep their pet.
Don't spend money, though.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Emergency vets are crazy expensive.
but they're listening to every word I say
If you know a good vet you can always drop by their office and ask if any of their "clients" are pregnant. It's a good way of finding a kitten when a vet can vouch for the health of the mother.
That being said, my roomie's cat came from the local pet shop. She came with the basic shots as well but was not fixed and that was expensive for my roomie to do. The cat also cost $175. However, while she was expensvie she has a fun, frisky personality unlike any other cat I've ever met and was worth every penny.
Explore both options, visit shelters and pet stores. Not all pet stores are kitty mills and not all shelters have cats that are even safe to adopt. The important thing is to find a kitten you connect with.
I have my cat's litterbox in a quite corner of the living room. I clean it frequently so it doesn't smell. My roomie's cat's litterbox was in the same place. It's poop, however, smelled like death and stunk up the whole apartment no matter where the box was.
But, as far as cats go, you could get a kitten pretty much anywhere. There are probably adoption agencies who use foster owners to take care of the kittens. The ones around my house are pretty strict though... we actually had an interview and they even called our vet before we could get a kitten from them.
How much does it cost to keep a Maine Coon, say compared to a regular sized cat? I am planning to get one at some point
http://www.amazon.com/Tidy-Breeze-Litter-System-1-Count/dp/B001411SK0/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1219964468&sr=8-1
basically, it applies diaper technology to your litter box. no messy clay or scoopable litter to bother with - the pee goes right through what are basically some rocks into a diaper-like pad in a tray underneath, and no smell escapes from there. only have to change the pad once a week, the pellets once a month. the poop is easily scooped with minimal loss of pellets. Only problem is, if you have a kitty that has diarrhea frequently, this may not be the litter box for you.
honestly though, I got so sick of my apartment smelling like pee, and having to scrape up pee-encrusted litter from the bottom of a regular litter box. this one solves that problem so very well.
maine coons have a predisposition to be slightly bigger than most other breeds, but we're not talking a huge difference here. Most other housecat breeds are, like, 8 to 12 pounds when full grown and a maine coon is like 10 to 15. so it really doesn't cost significantly more to feed them and stuff.
My old cat is like 18-20 pounds, and really really good at killing things.
To OP: Scratching posts.. depends on the cat, but they will destroy furniture. Getting cats declawed is incredibly evil.
Also if you do go to a shelter or pet store, don't feel pressured to get a pet on the first visit. We all want to rescue animals, but if it's not a good fit then wait. It's not a bad idea to go to a few places to inquire about health policies and living conditions.
Edit: 20 lb cats are usually very overweight, my freakish supercat was not though. He caught a bird in midflight! and proceeded to tear it to shreds which was really quite disgusting.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Secondly, if you want a furry friend but don't want to worry about litter box location (I'm a long-time cat owner, so I know what you mean), why not a rat (another animal I've been a long-time owner of)? They're clean, affectionate, they don't take up much space, and can be trained easily. They're even fully as intelligent as a dog (I've even trained one of my rats to fetch), you can train them to come when you call them and to use a "litter box" corner in their cage, making cleanup easier. As long as you keep their cage in an area where nighttime noises won't disturb your sleep a rat can be a great pet, especially in an apartment.
The only downside is that they only live 3-4 years and, unless you're willing to spend a lot of time with them, it's better to get two rats so they can keep each other company (rats can actually die from loneliness, since they'll stop eating if they feel lonely).
edit: I forgot, but if it's only the litter box which is preventing you from getting a kitty, did you know you can train your cat to use the toilet? Strange but true.
Face Twit Rav Gram
They are superior.
Also - Yes, parrots are awesome.
There you go. Don't get a cat from a pet store; you'd be supporting breeding mills, which are horrible. (The exception is if the petstore is hosting animals from a reputable rescue; Petsmart often does this.)
If you change the litter often and scoop it at least once a day, your place won't smell bad.
Don't let your cat out loose and don't declaw it. If you want your kitty to experience the great outdoors, you can probably train it to walk on a leash with a harness. This works even better for younger cats, as they get used to it quicker. You can easily learn to trim a cat's nails so it doesn't scratch up your stuff, and that added to teaching it to use a scratching post will probably leave your furniture unmolested.
One of the ways you can keep the cat from smelling bad, keep the litter-box less vile, and cut down on shedding is to feed the cat high-quality food. To find out if a food is high-quality, look at the first five or so ingrediants: these should mostly be actual, named meat, not byproducts, and with as little corn as possible. Cats don't digest corn, so feeding it to them just makes them poop more. The higher-quality food costs a bit more, but you don't have to feed as much of it because it contains less filler.
A good one will usually charge you anywhere from $60-100. The reasoning behind that being 1) if you can't afford that, you can't afford a pet in the first place, 2) If you're willing to pay for something, you should care about it.
I also recommend the shelter route because I got my both of my cats from a stray who kept having kittens outside of my mom's house. I love my cats...well, one of them (the other we have a live and let live relationship) but man...that "free" cat ended up being a lot more expensive than a shelter cat. First she scratched her eye, which cost a vet bill and medicine...but that could've happened to any cat. But then she turned out to have coccidia, which is pretty common thing but it was resistant so I had to take her there several times. Then I had to get her fixed and all her shots(thankfully austin has an awesome government funded animal clinic for those things).
But yes...in general they have positively adorable cats and kittens at the shelter that come out cheaper in the long run.
But really...in the end, despite everyone telling you all of these things...you're probably going to just come across a kitten somewhere you positively love and it really won't matter where it's from
Also because shelters generally spend several times the adoption fee getting the cat spayed/neutered, treated for any medical issues, vaccinated, fed, housed, etc.. $60-100 is a real bargain.
I've never actually gotten a pet from a shelter or a pet store. It seems like whenever I am about to go looking for a pet someone or something finds me.
Oh, I also forgot to mention. If you do have a specific breed of cat you're interested in just google "(cat type) rescue", and there are plenty of kitties at those places too.
I'm going to be living primarily on my own in an apartment/suite while I attend university (I already have permission from the landlords to have a pet in the apartment). From my experiences with cats when I was younger, they were pretty solitary (seemingly more attached to the house than the owner) but I wonder if it's fair to get one if I'm going to be at university for most of the day five days a week. Is this something I should mention when I start searching for a suitable cat at the shelter? I assume leaving a really social cat alone this much will cause behavioral problems.
The other issue is money: I can definitely afford the initial cost as well as the monthly/yearly food and vet costs, and I'm already putting away about $50/month for any unexpected bills. What's the worst case scenario as far as veterinarian bills go?
I've been looking into the Litter-Robot. The smell is my primary issue and it seems like the Litter-Robot addresses that. The biggest complaint I seem to see online about it is that the noise sometimes scares the cats which makes them unlikely to use it again. Is this something you've run into with yours? If it was in a small apartment, would it be noisy enough to wake a relatively-deep sleeper?
As an anecdote my 20lb supercat got sick and I didn't have the heart to put him to sleep so I ended up spending $3000. (I was young and naive and didn't really understand how credit cards worked)
This will probably not happen to your cat (my cat is still alive 4 years later and doing fine, so I think it was worth it).
This is why I suggested researching vets before you actually get a pet. Find out about their rates, hours, what to do in case of emergency, etc. Part of the reason why my bill was so high was I did not do this. I ended up going to a veterinary ER that is open 24/7 and supremely expensive.
The other option was to put the cat to sleep which I understand is fairly affordable (but think of the cost to your soul!).
I would slightly dissuade you from getting a pet in college since you may not know where you will be living, and what you will be doing for the next 10 years, also for the people suggesting a parrot this is like 40 years.
You bring up a good point; as much as I'd like to believe I could work my housing around my pet, that's probably not very realistic. I do, however, have a few trustworthy family members to fall back on in the event that I am forced to move into an apartment that doesn't allow pets.
How ingrained is a cat's name to them, in most cases? A kitten wouldn't have this problem, obviously, but if I get a cat older than 1 year from a shelter with a boring name, could I theoretically retrain it to respond to another name?
It's not really that noisy, my husband is a light sleeper, it's in the guest room across the hall from the master bedroom and it doesn't wake him up. The only cat that would refuse to use it was a cat I had that was claustrophobic, all the rest take to it easily. In fact the kitten I found outside who was using a box with a trash-bag in it for a week took to it quick when we let her out into the rest of the house.
Really, I've had no problems with it, the only thing that tends to slow it down is if you don't change the litter often enough. The ball part of the litter-robot will brush against the full pan, and cover itself in litter-covered poo... but it's easy to empty it and take it out to spray with the hose.
Once a week is a must, but I've got two full grown cats and a kitten, so it might go longer with just one kitten or cat.
I didn't even call my cats name, I just made a clicking noise.
The name is meaningless to the cat, so call it whatever you want.
You definitely could retrain it to respond to a different name. My afore-mentioned claustrophobic cat was named Sammy by the shelter, but we renamed him Cipher. Most of the older cats that they get in are strays with no one calling them anything anyways... so I don't think they care too much. :P
No offense if that's your cat's name, anyone.
Pet Stores
Generally these don't sell cats or dogs. If they do, they're "on lease" from the local SPCA or similar. I know it's like this across Maryland and also in Minnesota, and it's unlikely you're going to find a big chain that doesn't do it like that (I know PetCo and Petsmart don't "sell" pets, but have adoptees from the local shelter there). In that case, it's usually no different from going to the shelter, except you can buy food there.
SPCA
These go by a few names but are generally state run humane societies where you adopt cats. Prices vary, policies vary, but there's a mix of excess cats and litter cats. Don't assume that picking up a cat from a shelter "saves it from death" as many shelters are going no-kill, and are often full (when a cat leaves, a new one can come in).
Some cats from the SPCA have personality issues due to having a rough life, while others are happy as clams. Don't pick out a cat unless you can play with it a bit, and make sure to ask about its shots etc.
Prices vary (local SPCA is $60 for a cat, $100 for kitten), and I'd actually suggest NOT getting a small kitten from the SPCA because you have no idea what it's going to look like in a few months. Get a mostly adult cat, so you fall in love with how your cat is when you pick him or her up, not only for their kitten looks.
Breeders
Breeders are great, but expensive. This is not backyard breeders, who should be drowned in the backyard, but registered breeders who focus on specific pedigrees. This is where you find your real Siamese, your Maine Coons, your Abyssinians. Assume that any cat without paperwork is NOT a pedigreed cat. Personally, I'm a big fan of breeders because a professional breeder typically produces some of the most personable, uniquely-personalitied cats, and it makes sense: Breeders focus on it. Every professional breeder will typically be a small operation and will let the kitten stay with the mama cat until the mama cat weans it, and will be playing with it and holding the kitten daily from the time it's born to the time it's sold. That means these cats are very used to being around people, and because they played with mama and their siblings, they know what "play" is and when and where to [not] use their claws.
Both of my cats are from professional breeders, are registered with CFA and TICA, and it's been just a great experience all around. Of course, a pedigreed cat typically starts at $400 on the low end and can go up to $1000 for popular or rare breeds (like Maine Coons or Egyptian Maus).
General Advice
Buy high quality food. Do not buy Whiskas or Friskies or Flippers or whatever the hell the cheap crap is. A high quality food leads to a shinier, softer coat, more energy, less stinky poop and fewer health problems overall. It's no different from any other animal, really, including people -- if you only eat junk food, you're not going to be healthy. And the cheap corn-filled cat food is junk food (corn filler sprayed with chemicals to taste & smell good). Good cat food should contain no grain (no wheat or corn) and wet or dry food should have meats as the main ingredient.
Avoid Craigslist and "Free Kittens" because these are almost assuredly "kitten factories," where people don't neuter their cats and then try to get rid of excess kittens. They have usually never been to a vet, they're taken away from mama cat way too soon, and by taking these pets you're almost assuredly encouraging them to mistreat their pets. Craigslist does have some "I'm moving and need to get rid of Fluffy" posts which are, of course, just fine, but assume that "free" or "cheap" kittens means "kitten factory."
Any cat that does NOT have paperwork is NOT a special breed of cat. A can can look like a Siamese cat, but if there's no paperwork, it's just Pointed -- it's not a Siamese. SPCAs will almost always mark all of their cats as "Domestic Short/Long Hair" which means "generic cat," and cats can come in many colors and patterns. Do not let anyone talk you into spending more money on a cat that looks like a pedigreed cat (because it looks that way by pure chance) if there's no paperwork.
Closing or tl/dr.
Haha this is like a term paper or something. If you want a fluffy buddy, go to the SPCA and play with the cats there. You should find one that has a good personality that you like, and they should bond with you after a week or so. If you have your heart set on a particular breed, see about local breeders that focus on those cats, but it doesn't sound like you have a particular breed in mind. Avoid "free kittens" or anyone claiming to sell a particular breed w/o paperwork -- in fact, if it's not a shelter or SPCA, ignore it.
buy good food for the cat.
It's perfectly fine to have a cat alone during the day. You should definitely mention this to the shelter when you go looking, they can put you with a cat that is fine being on its own. My own cat only likes me, she hates my dog, and when I watched my brothers cats for a few days, she let me know how much she liked it by pissing on my bed. In short, she's a one-cat kitty. I know she sleeps all day and is awake at night when I'm around.
EDIT: Haha. I should've known that Maine Coons would have already been mentioned.
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My mother, sisters and aunts are all crazy cat women. The one thing I learned, is that it's better to have two [or more] then just one. Preferable from the same litter OR get them both when they are young and around the same age.
The reason, is that they will play and entrain themselves when you are gone. They will help keep each other exercising and running around. I've found that if you only have one cat, then it gets lazy, fat and doesn't seem as happy as a pair of them.
Or you can pay attention to your pet and play with it when your home and keep it occupied while your gone by giving it toys and a scratching post. Keeping a cat on a balanced diet of non crap cat food will also keep it from getting fat.
Edit to add: If you're going to regularly be gone for most of the day (in the 12+ hour range) you might want to wait to get a pet until you will have more time to spend with it. There's no point in getting a pet if you'll only see it for 2 hours a night before you go to bed.
Oh my god, is this why my roommate's cat scratches the ever living crap out of me (and anybody else who plays with him)? He came from a store (I think) at not even a month old, and I was commenting pretty early on that it didn't seem a great idea that my roommate was training him to attack hands - my roommate'd move to sorta grab the kitten and nudge him backwards on his back. Damn cat even jumped on my leg while I was cooking once... It was a whole lot more adorable when he was wee and not so much when he was like 8 pounds of cat hanging by his claws on my leg.