jlammy

Hello there,

Well, the guinea pig thing fell through because I want one and she doesn't. Also, they require a larger cage and a lot of attention so yeah, not going to happen with our schedule. The max time I would have to spend per day with a pet is probably an hour or so. The next choice for us is a cat since we can't have a dog here in the apartment.

So, what am I looking at if I am going to be a cat owner. I don't want to be one of those D-bags who can't take care of his pet. Know what I mean? Here's what I can think of at the moment to ensure my cat won't be one of those neglected ones.

- Litter box + litter
- Cat bed
- Annual vet visit
- de-flea, de-sex , and heart worm vaccination?
- Cat food + feeding bowls
- scratching post - don't want it to mess up the couches and furniture
- Umm....

Any tips and advice is greatly appreciated. Again, I don't really know much about owning a cat.

NFRAP1

I like cats.
This isn't a cat, though.



The only thing you forgot is catnip.

doaner

http://www.declawing.com/

Also try to find a room where the cat can be by itself with the door closed. Bringing a cat home especially since it could be caged until now can be nerve wrecking for the cat. Some privacy time can help ease the cat into the new home.

There's an adoption fair I'm volunteering for if you interested in looking for a cat lmk Jimmy

jlammy

Thanks Hai. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment so he's SOL lol. Only thing I am afraid of is him/her going ape$hit on my furniture, hence the scratching post. Once I think I am ready I'll give you a call for more details.

onepieceluffy

Problem with cats is that they are very independent. Even if you have a scratching post they will still scratch at a whole lot of stuff. Instead of wasting money on a scratching post you may just want to buy a nail cutter and routinely snip the claws. I have 3 cats and my cats don't use the post. They scratch the carpet and things similar to that texture. Cool to have though. Simple to take care of. Food wise, the healthy ones are IAMS, Science Hill, and a few others. If this is an indoor cat, I didn't really do the Vet stuff. On my first cat I did some and found most to be a waste of time and money. I just got the shots when they were young. Ones 16 years and its find and I did really bare minimal with the vet. There was some issue recently that I took the cat, which afterwards really didnt' need to, but the Vet said my old cat was superb. For fleas, use Advantage.

doaner

Good thing my cat was an outdoor cat. All he did was scratch other cats that comes within 100ft from my house

doaner

http://www.cityofirvine.org/civica/fileban...sp?BlobID=13722

I experienced some lag in bringing up the PDF file but it does go through. A flyer for the adoption fair at Irvine Animal Care Center. They deserve to go to a good home.

Lummie

Cat's are pretty self sufficient. I have 2 cats that stay indoors 99% of the time. One of them got a gum infection and we had to pay $1200 to have it's rear teeth extracted, so pet insurance might be something you can think about. The vet also recommended that we use Pyrex bowls for the cat food and water since they are not porous and will not trap bacteria. We have a cat tree but they tend to claw at the couch and dining room chairs. The wooden door jamb for the back door is also pretty wrecked from clawing. If you have hardwood floors i'd recommend getting the Dirt Devil Brum vacuum broom. It makes sweeping up litter and cat hair so much easier.

This is the cat tree that we have.
http://www.therefinedfeline.com/lotus-cat-furniture.htm

It's less of an eyesore then the carpet clad ones you find in the pet store.

We also have this cabinet that hides the litter box from plane sight.
http://www.therefinedfeline.com/Cat-...-furniture.htm

Hope some of this info helps. Good luck with the cat.

chairmnofthboard

Cats are for lonely women. Dogs are for alpha male.

05TurboS2k

^

PM sent... I hated cats my whole life and have 2 now. Go figure.