# Kitties



## meggels (May 30, 2010)

So, i think some of you on here have cats...

I was wondering...and this is probably incredibly naive of me...

But how much work is it to own a cat? 

I was toying with the idea of getting a kitten and hoping it would become pals with Abbie, Murph never plays with her. 

Lord knows I have enough samples of Natural Balance cat food to last it a year. I have bowls. All I'd need is a litter box, which I worry about the smell....


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## frogdog (Aug 10, 2011)

I do not own a kitty but my mother does and would say completely easy. Her cat is sweet but independent just make sure water is down and feed them accordingly. She does have her cat neutered which helps.

I love to watch the dogs and cat play. I think it's a great idea and they require less expense.


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

My cats are easy! The problem is though, kittens are a pain in the butt. They're like puppies but they can get into more things easier and harder to train. But if you want a companion for your dog, a kitten would probably be the way to go unless you can adopt one that you already know is good with dogs. 

But yeah, my cats are pretty simple, just feed em twice a day, make sure they have water, clean out their cat box and life is good. The only kibble that sort of kept their stool odor down was BB Wilderness, but it was still pretty smelly. So I switched them both to raw and voila, no more cat poop smell! I also use Arm and Hammer Essentials (natural litter) that smells amazing, so that helps with the smell too. The Tidy Cats 24/7 Odor Control was amazing for odors but I didn't want them to have clay-based litter anymore so I switched it. 

Anyway, kitties are great but they can be some work.


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## Paws&Tails (Sep 3, 2010)

Compared to dogs, cats are easy. There is obviously still work involved though. 

Rule of thumb for litter boxes is 1 box per cat plus 1. If you maintain it correctly, you won't have problems with smell. It should never smell. Scoop it twice a day. I use World's Best Cat Litter and love it. It's the best litter I've ever used, and I've tried practically all of them. It doesn't leave that heavy scent hanging in the room like clay litter does (clay litter also makes my allergies worse) and it's completely safe and environmentally friendly. Yeah, it's pricey, but if you scoop it often enough you won't need to do complete changes hardly ever, just add some litter to keep it at 2-3".

As far as food goes, raw is obviously best. If you do want to feed raw, it's typically MUCH easier when they are kittens. As well as all the other benefits, their poop has virtually no odor on raw. BIG plus! :biggrin: Some good websites for raw feeding cats are Raw Fed Cats and What About Cats?

Change the water every day, or get a pet fountain.

Play with them. Minimum of 30 minutes a day. I am able to let my cats outside which has made them ever so much happier and less stressed.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Cats are easy. I have 2 and they are raw fed. I scoop the litter box every week or so. No odor. My cats are indoor/outdoor so they don't use the litter box all that much. I feed them drumsticks and I cut off pork, beef heart, and fish pieces for the cats when I feed those to the dogs. I hardly ever know the cats are around.


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## emilie (Sep 15, 2011)

i have 3 siamese cats. they are fairly easy to take care of really. scoop the litter box a few times a day to keep the smell away, change the water daily. play with them 30-1h a day. they get into everything so make your house kitten friendly. I dont know if your dogs will be okay with the cat but if not i like to have an area where it is dog free so my cats can feel safe. my cats have the whole down stairs to them self but they do come up all the time.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

thanks guys  I think I'm going to not get a kitty and put extra time and money towards making Abigail into a rally dog, if she can handle it


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Cats CAN be easy. 
Unless you get a butthead....
in my experience, MOST are buttheads. 

I won't ever have another cat, after the ones that live here are gone. 

blunt. honest. sorry if I offended any cat people....


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## emilie (Sep 15, 2011)

I will agree with you, no more kitties for me well atleast not siamese anymore lol they miow to much like they talk to you if you even look at them they will start to miow for 10 minutes :O


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I've had a lot of cats. I miss MOST of them. Some are crazy (tortoiseshells and orange cats). You couldn't pay me to own another tortoiseshell even though I loved mine very much. They are crazy as loons! One minute purring and loving you, the next minute clawing their way up your curtains (or your legs). But our dogs used to love all our cats and would play with them, sleep with them, and snuggle them. Plus our human kids would haul them around the house and the cats were absolutely great with toddlers (even the tortie). 

We definitely plan on getting ourselves a great big Maine **** cat as soon as we move out west.


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## Paws&Tails (Sep 3, 2010)

chowder said:


> I've had a lot of cats. I miss MOST of them. Some are crazy (tortoiseshells and orange cats). You couldn't pay me to own another tortoiseshell even though I loved mine very much. They are crazy as loons! One minute purring and loving you, the next minute clawing their way up your curtains (or your legs). But our dogs used to love all our cats and would play with them, sleep with them, and snuggle them. Plus our human kids would haul them around the house and the cats were absolutely great with toddlers (even the tortie).



I think that saying one kind of cat in general has such and such behavior is very much like stereotyping dog breeds. It's not correct. I have two tortoiseshells and wouldn't trade them for the world. Penny is very skittish and flighty, and tolerates the other two cats (she was the runt of the litter). She will sleep in your lap and on your bed if you
re in a quiet place. Princess is a love bug. She's very sweet and cuddly. Rocky is a grey tabby and is the biggest baby. Always wants attention and to be held and played with when he's inside. 

When all's said and done, I am definitely a cat person. I like dogs and all, but I won't ever be getting any (Spike is our families dog, not mine, though I take care of his meals and morning walk and play with him a lot).


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I'm a teeny bit more of a cat person than a dog person.. I had a siamese cat when I was a kid, then a tortoiseshell. She was a shy cat but wasn't too crazy.. now I have a black and white cat who is a TOTAL lovebug.. he drools and wants to be in your lap 24/7.. and a tabby cat who is a lot more crazy, and only loves me. :smile:


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I'm definately more a dog person, in fact, I hated cats, detested them even. Then, May last year, walking round Pet Supermarket, I noticed a white cat with black bits staring at me. She was up for adoption from the local shelter. Went over to her cage, stared at her for a bit, then Mollie and her nuzzled noses and I will never be able to explain why, but they put her in a box and she came home with me. 
Best decision ever (other than Mol of course), I'm still astounded how much I simply adore her. Any extra work she causes is a pleasure. 
There's nothing like coming home from a walk with Mol and seeing a cat of all things running 3 houses down the road to greet you. 
She's not a cuddler, but neither am I, so that works as well.
So, what I think I'm trying to say is that I'll now never again be without a cat. Thats if I ever get over it when Windy dies. 

As a side note, I also use that Worlds Best Cat Litter. The thing I like about it (other than no dust to harm the cat and the environmental issues) is that you can flush it down the loo. So, because the litter box is in our bathroom, its no hassle at all to clean it every time Windy goes to the loo.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I'm not sure if I'd like owning a cat or not. I'm technically allergic, but have been on meds for a few years, so am not sure if they would make a difference at this point. 

I mean I love my dogs. I LOVE THEM. They are my children. But I've heard of "dog people" being converted to "cat people" after owning one. I don't like the thought of litterboxes indoors. And I've been known to call cat's "real a-holes" on many occasions. Murph was attacked by a cat last weekend lol. Real witch of a cat. 

I think I'd like a Maine ****, have heard they are quite dog like. But again with the allergies and all of their hair...dunno how that'd work.

My friend just got a Sphinx cat named Sushi who she says she LOVES and is very uncatlike. She also has a whippet named Moto Moto.


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

MollyWoppy said:


> I'm definately more a dog person, in fact, I hated cats, detested them even. Then, May last year, walking round Pet Supermarket, I noticed a white cat with black bits staring at me. She was up for adoption from the local shelter. Went over to her cage, stared at her for a bit, then Mollie and her nuzzled noses and I will never be able to explain why, but they put her in a box and she came home with me.
> Best decision ever (other than Mol of course), *I'm still astounded how much I simply adore her. *


See, that is why I don't like it when people say "oh I hate cats!!" but they've never owned one lol. I've ALWAYS been a real cat lover, and wanted a cat for so long when I moved in with my boyfriend (now hubby). He kept saying no until our housemate, his friend, said "yeah cats are cool, you should get one!" so hubby agreed. Now, he absolutely loves her to death (though he is convinced she is the only cat in the world with a personality - he still doesn't like other peoples cats). 

Honestly, cat's are easy as. My cat is kibble fed (chose to starve herself when I tried to switch to raw, so that wasn't really an option) and she is free-fed, which I like because a) she never over eats, and b) it's so easy to look after her when you only have to fill up her food every other week lol. She gets fresh water (I use a pet fountain, because she loves running water) and I clean her litter once a week (doesn't even smell bad after a week, it only smells bad if I'm being air-headed and forget to empty it haha). Other than that, there's nothing else to do! She is indoors only, so she keeps herself perfectly clean, and if she wants attention, she'll come to us - if she doesn't, she'll avoid us haha. They're so indepedent, they're really easy to care for.

As for breed, I don't even know what Nala is (it says short-haired domestic on her vet sheet, is that actually a breed? lol). She was a pet-shop kitten but I love her and wouldn't trade her for the world. Maybe we got lucky, but I don't see the need to spend hundreds on kitten breeds when you can get one that most people would over-look, and give it a loving home


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## emilie (Sep 15, 2011)

Yes an american shorthair is a breed of cat  i watch cat 101 and dog 101 lmao they go over every breed


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

I have 3 cats, one just happens to also be my Mum's and thus lives with her!:wink:

I love my "Meow-Babies"!!

Boots, rescued at 6-ish months old, best guess is a rag-doll/x as our neighbor had a rag-doll female who we believe was his Mum. He is THE BEST CAT EVVVER!! He is pretty much a dog!:biggrin:

Ducki, my 1 year old Turkish Van Cat. She is AMAZING, adorable and great.....she grew up with Brody so has a LOT of Puggie ways!LOL

Pidgin, 2 year old who we got in August, she is either a snow-shoe or rag-doll mix....she is SUPER sweet and VERY attentive to Ducki and both Daddy and Mommi. Not my all time favorite cat....but still great.


So yes, I have 3 cats, 2-the girls-live together with us.....they are all 3 long haired, Boots more then the other two...he gets groomed at least 5 times a year, more regularly now that they live in such a hot climate....and he LOVES it...and the groomer who clips him LOVES him, because he is SUCH a good boy....she told my Mum that she wishes that she had more canine clients like him!LOL

Anyways.....they can be relatively easy...but it all depends on the cat!LOL I, luckily, have 2 VERY EASY girls right now......while Boots is a little higher maintenance!!


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

hmbutler said:


> See, that is why I don't like it when people say "oh I hate cats!!" but they've never owned one lol. I've ALWAYS been a real cat lover, and wanted a cat for so long when I moved in with my boyfriend (now hubby). He kept saying no until our housemate, his friend, said "yeah cats are cool, you should get one!" so hubby agreed. Now, he absolutely loves her to death (though he is convinced she is the only cat in the world with a personality - he still doesn't like other peoples cats).


Totally agree with you here. How many kittens could I have saved during my lifetime if I'd known what I know now??


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