Cats for beginners
Discussion
Wife has wanted to get a cat for months, I’ve finally been beaten and agreed to it.
Absolute novices, looking to rehome one locally, she has been in touch with a few places already who have suggested some around a year old so they generally know the personality already as we have two young kids (3 & 5).
What am I getting myself in to!?!?! What do I need to know
Absolute novices, looking to rehome one locally, she has been in touch with a few places already who have suggested some around a year old so they generally know the personality already as we have two young kids (3 & 5).
What am I getting myself in to!?!?! What do I need to know
vixen1700 said:
Every cat is different with their own personality so you'll only discover what they're like once they've been with you a while.
Some may be aloof, some cuddly, some paranoid, some inquisitive, who knows?
Pictures when the cat arrives though.
Thats my worry haha, she has this perfect vision of a cuddly cat sitting on her lap in the evening and joyfully playing with the kids all the time. I know we will get some moody **** who wants nothing to do with us and wrecks all the furniture Some may be aloof, some cuddly, some paranoid, some inquisitive, who knows?
Pictures when the cat arrives though.
HustleRussell said:
Agree with vixen1700. Your concerns are valid!
Looks like we will be entering the cat lottery 
Rehomed cat would be neutered/spayed and vaccinated and the plan is for an indoor/outdoor cat. How long before you can let them outside once they come home with you?
Our neighbour has two cats - what is the likelihood of them fighting over territory as they regularly come in our garden - will they have claimed that as their own?
Thanks very much for all of the replies guys, much appreciated.
It’s taken me a little while to come round to the idea of having a cat, so to curveball me with two might be a bridge too far! Is having only one considered poor form? Should they have a mate?
Yeah no intention of going directly to a breeder, would much rather re-home. The two possibles are both female, 1 year old and “apparently” would be ok with younger children, but as you all mention….. who really knows at this point. I guess when we go to see them we can decide if one seems friendlier etc.
We do not have a cat flap but my wife works from home 100%, and we don’t regularly go away for any periods of time.
We would definitely insure, we have two rabbits (live outdoors in a completely closed off hutch and run) who are both insured anyways. Another thing to consider I guess having rabbits outside? They don’t free roam and are completely closed in.
It’s taken me a little while to come round to the idea of having a cat, so to curveball me with two might be a bridge too far! Is having only one considered poor form? Should they have a mate?
Yeah no intention of going directly to a breeder, would much rather re-home. The two possibles are both female, 1 year old and “apparently” would be ok with younger children, but as you all mention….. who really knows at this point. I guess when we go to see them we can decide if one seems friendlier etc.
We do not have a cat flap but my wife works from home 100%, and we don’t regularly go away for any periods of time.
We would definitely insure, we have two rabbits (live outdoors in a completely closed off hutch and run) who are both insured anyways. Another thing to consider I guess having rabbits outside? They don’t free roam and are completely closed in.
So the wife has been in touch with a few rescues and they have spoken to her and she's discussed our home and our ideal requirements etc. So waiting on them to come back to use with any other options.
We do not have a cat flap, and getting one would be difficult possibly too difficult.
Our back door is glazed which I understand is not a problem, but it's out from a conservatory which we always have the internal door shut to as otherwise it's freezing in the kitchen and rest of the house!! So we would need to keep opening that internal door anyways, in which case you might as well just open the back door too?
Although I guess the cat could hide in the conservatory if raining etc when we are out? Things to consider I guess.
Newest curve ball, on the walk to school there is a really beautiful cat that the wife and kids see every morning and is super friendly and rolls over for them. Few of the residents say it's homeless?!?? Now she wants it haha. Can you even do that and surely that is a bad idea?!??
We do not have a cat flap, and getting one would be difficult possibly too difficult.
Our back door is glazed which I understand is not a problem, but it's out from a conservatory which we always have the internal door shut to as otherwise it's freezing in the kitchen and rest of the house!! So we would need to keep opening that internal door anyways, in which case you might as well just open the back door too?
Although I guess the cat could hide in the conservatory if raining etc when we are out? Things to consider I guess.
Newest curve ball, on the walk to school there is a really beautiful cat that the wife and kids see every morning and is super friendly and rolls over for them. Few of the residents say it's homeless?!?? Now she wants it haha. Can you even do that and surely that is a bad idea?!??
So the latest is my wife has been successfully matched up with a almost 2 year old female which is being rehomed due to not agreeing with the current owners dog.
Potentially picking her up this weekend. She is spayed and is fully vaccinated already.
Wife is absolutely buzzing and the kids too.
We've been advised to keep her inside for 4-6 weeks until we let he venture out so she can become used to her new home and also learn where to come back to.
Potentially picking her up this weekend. She is spayed and is fully vaccinated already.
Wife is absolutely buzzing and the kids too.
We've been advised to keep her inside for 4-6 weeks until we let he venture out so she can become used to her new home and also learn where to come back to.
So she has been home since Sunday and seems to be settling well. Spent the first afternoon hiding under our bed but is happy roaming around now and eating and using litter tray no worries at all.
She's taken a shine to scratching our carpeted stairs. We've got a scratch post at the top and bottom of the staircase to try and discourage it, any other ideas?
Was a case of a poor night's sleep last night as she was up and meowing for a good hour at about 2 in the morning. She has shown no interest in using her own bed, even the one the previous owners let us have. She plonks herself at the base of our bed and then after a few hours she's up. Is that bad practise to allow her to do that??
We haven't confined her to one room, she's got the run of the house, but likes to follow us everywhere including when we go to bed.
Any tips to reduce the night time meowing? Shes fully fed and used the litter tray when we go up about 10ish.
She's taken a shine to scratching our carpeted stairs. We've got a scratch post at the top and bottom of the staircase to try and discourage it, any other ideas?
Was a case of a poor night's sleep last night as she was up and meowing for a good hour at about 2 in the morning. She has shown no interest in using her own bed, even the one the previous owners let us have. She plonks herself at the base of our bed and then after a few hours she's up. Is that bad practise to allow her to do that??
We haven't confined her to one room, she's got the run of the house, but likes to follow us everywhere including when we go to bed.
Any tips to reduce the night time meowing? Shes fully fed and used the litter tray when we go up about 10ish.
Put two scratching posts over the carpet where she has been enjoying scratching, and wedged them in so really difficult to move.
Woke up this morning, she's managed to move one of them and pull all the carpet out from the door threshold again!! Arrrrgghh.
Do those anti-scratch sprays work at all?
Woke up this morning, she's managed to move one of them and pull all the carpet out from the door threshold again!! Arrrrgghh.
Do those anti-scratch sprays work at all?
Lord Marylebone said:
Very good suggestion. Get some heavy duty zip ties.
That is a great shout. We have some carpet off cuts stored away in the loft from when we had it done a few years back.Will be digging them out later. I'll try the newel post trick and I'll try and weigh/secure down a fresh piece over the door threshold she has taken a shine too
She's settled in beautifully now.
Using her scratching post nicely and no more carpet attacking! Happy days.
We have a decent sized litter tray which she is using lovely, but I think it may be slightly too small, as after she has done her business she is trying to cover it up with the litter but where she tries to dig is the lip of the tray and she just keeps digging the plastic not the littler, then gets annoyed and just leaves it.
Any recommendations on decent sized litter trays? Are the completely covered ones better and more usable for the cats themselves?
Using her scratching post nicely and no more carpet attacking! Happy days.
We have a decent sized litter tray which she is using lovely, but I think it may be slightly too small, as after she has done her business she is trying to cover it up with the litter but where she tries to dig is the lip of the tray and she just keeps digging the plastic not the littler, then gets annoyed and just leaves it.
Any recommendations on decent sized litter trays? Are the completely covered ones better and more usable for the cats themselves?
Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff