Advice on getting a cat

[JDRoest]

telecat said:

I was in Orlando in November and went to a pet store where there were a number of cats waiting to be re homed. Aside from the Heat even in November I couldn't help wondering how they'd get on with the local wildlife. Most of which is bigger and nastier than they are!!!

It's not a good life for a cat. The biggest issue is the temperature and any wound they get. They get infected really fast as it just festers. Plus they have to be treated for fleas 100% of the time, and their coats are just plain nasty with the heat. They'll meet the wild cat population and pick up all sorts of crap off them as well. And you can't trust drivers in FL either.

Which is why our Florida cats are all indoor cats.

As for them being outdoors - one was abandoned - we took her in as a stray that was days from death through starvation. She wanted to be indoor/outdoor cat but a few months later she was grounded for getting injured in a fight. She'll happily stare out of an open door, feel the 33C heat, and seek sanctuary over an aircon vent. The other cat has never been outside and doesn't even bother making a dart for the door, and the third cat would happily live outside - but seeing as she's in her high teens - has no front claws (previous bd owner) - and it's the ditsiest thing around - (found her kicking our pitbull out of his food bowl the other day so she could chow down!) - she has no business being outside.

[otolith]

Makes no difference to the songbird population - their reproductive strategies are based on massive overproduction of young in the face of high predation and limited winter carrying capacity. Fewer eaten just means more starved.

[rohrl]

JDRoest said:

...has no front claws (previous bd owner)

This is bloody horrible. I'm glad to say it's illegal in the UK.

[JDRoest]

rohrl said:

JDRoest said:

...has no front claws (previous bd owner)

This is bloody horrible. I'm glad to say it's illegal in the UK.

We have had a cat declawed for it's own good before. Evil little cat in my opinion and was starting to harm the other cats in the household, drawing blood, shredded ears, etc. Properly disturbed cat. It was the claws or her put her down. Having her front claws removed actually made her a 'nicer' cat as she could no longer look for a fight.

But the little white Siamese cross we have, whoever did that to her needed their fingers amputating.

[bigdom]

rohrl said:

vsonix said:

Also they eat all the sparrows/robins/bluetits etc. Much better keeping them in.

Some do, some don't. I had two cats for many years and while one of them was a born killer her brother has never caught anything more threatening than a ping-pong ball or a spider. You can work this out and fit a bell to the offender's collar which dramatically reduces their success rate.

Our ones don't tend to bring in the small birds get plenty of rodents,rabbits, squirrels, pigeons and occasionally a fish from someone's pond