getting a cat

[damz]

My girlfriend and I are thinking of getting a cat when we move into a new flat and I was looking for some advice. I've lived with cats quite a lot and in our last place we stayed the landlord also had a cat (my girlfriend wanted a dog but that cat changed her mind).

anway i know theres a lot of cat owners here and was wanting to know what to do. We plan to get a rescue cat rather than a breeders. As we are living in a flat an indoor cat would probobly be best. The flat is pretty big so it will have plenty of space.

heres a few questions

How much weekly does it cost to keep a cat, food, cat litter etc?

are there certain breeds that handle indoors better than others? Also my girlfriend wants a cat that craves attention as it would remind her of herself.

and heres an odd question, can you take indoor cats out for a treat to lets say a park. pretty sure i read someone on here walked a cat on a leash.

any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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[CaNsA]

With the questions you have asked mate, a cat isnt a good idea.

Get one of them tiny dogs that will crave attention, and you can take to the park.

You will be hard pushed to find a cat that craves attention. We have 3 and they are affectionate when it suits them. Most of the time they are away doing their own thing.

As for taking a cat to the park for a walk..........
If you really have to ask that question then you and your girlfriend haven't got a clue about cats. You will be in for a shock.

Cats are very independent animals, they choose who to live with not the other way round.

An indoor cat is ok. If it has never been outside and it doesnt know any different then its all good.
BUT! You will have to provide it with ALOT of stimulation.
Toys, scratching posts and playing/interaction etc etc

Do not try and keep an outdoor cat inside, it will kick your fucking arse!

[damz]

i've had 2 outdoor cats for several years and lived with an indoor one for a year as well as dogs but i prefer cats in general as you have stated they will do their own thing and not be jumping around all over the place demanding you to stroke them. I however dont want a cat that wouldnt give a shit if you were there or not. as for the cat walking, i remember someone posting it and i saw it on tv. i thought it was a joke like cats using toilets but after seeing a cat taking a crap on a toilet anything is possible i guess.

as for tiny dogs, they annoy me so much, its apet not a fashion accessory.
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Current Bikes RVF400 - 94
Cars: RX7 FD, Eunos Roadster
Former Bikes: FZR 250R 89, ZX7R 98

[potato]

Cats seem like such pointless pets.

They are outside eating shit, birds, god knows what else, then they come in for something to eat and a shit, they stink, are dirty and cost money.

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OOOooosshh!

[waffles]

For a cat that craves attention there are some breeds that are more cuddly than others, domestic short hairs are the most common type of cat and they are pretty friendly. When they want to be! The advice at the moment is to buy cats in pairs so that they can keep each other company.

My cat goes through four tins of food a week plus dried biscuits so roughly £4 a week.
She has a bag of litter a fortnight, £5
Worm/flea treatment is £20 for three months
Yearly jabs and vet checkup was £70 last time
Monthly insurance is £8 because she is an older cat and fairly accident-prone

If you are getting a rescue cat they will check out your home and advise you if it is suitable for a cat and will show you a few different kitties so you can find one that you like (and that likes you). You'll need to get a scratching post unless you want your furniture or carpets to get shredded! Plus bedding, toys, bowls etc.

Oh, my neighbours took their Siamese for walks on a lead. It used to flip the hell out whenever someone drove past and all you could see was this light brown ball of anger on the end of a pink string held by a slightly embarrased guy....
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[t121anf]

got 2 indoor cats.

food, erm they get 2 sachets of wet food a week as a treat is 1 box of 12 lasts 3 weeks, so £1 a week.

they live on dry food but i buy the indoor stuff when its cheap (£2 a box) doubt i get through a box a week.

litter, buy those big wood pellet bags from pets at home, 2 for £18, 1 bags lasts up to 3 months.

mine have never missed roaming about, the older one doesn't even attempt to escape when i put her in the garden, younger one does but returns promptly scared witless, they now have a run to play outside in safely.

then older is less affectionate than the younger, both are generic moggies, luck of the draw imo when it comes to attention

any questions just fire away

[The Artist]

Food. We used to feed just dry food. It doesn't smell rank like wet food does but we discovered aldi sell small square tins of wet cat for 17p each. 2 a day we give our cat.

Some cats will sleep all day, some will be hyper active. Our will sit on you r shoulder as you walk round the house. It will relax and curl up on your lap when sat etc but we think it has brain damage because of its eyes.

Cats are not like dogs, you can't walk them unless you want to be cruel. Cats do not like being on a leash or held. If you are holding a cat and it wants to leave, let it, it will not relax after a while.

I suggest letting it outside because they will dig a hole and bury their own sh1t which is win.

[t121anf]

[The Artist]

Our cat digs a hole every time. Usually in the hedge where no one goes.

The only cats that shit on top of grass are ones raised in doors with a litter. Ours shat indoors once and my dad did the old push its face close to it then threw it outside and he never shat indoors again.

[MattJ]

Cats are evil.

Get a dog.

[dgo1212]

[quote="t121anf"]
or it wont and it'll shit in your neighbours garden who will then get rather upset[quote="t121anf"]

This^^^

[quote="t121anf"]and leave a bowl of antifreeze out to "feed" your cat...[quote="t121anf"]

Thanks They don't take the rat poison that was put down for the erm-rats, do they like antifreeze? and do they prefer the pink stuff or the cheaper blue stuff?

[t121anf]

don't know,

ask this evil bitch

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223626/Woman-kills-neighbours-cats-anti-freeze-stop-urinating-strawberries.html

[dgo1212]

Interesting read, as much as I'd love to I couldn't kill the cat, and the rat poison is actually for rats and is in a plastic box with a small hole in it, doubt the cat would get into it. However the comment about the woman saying she should send her kids to shit in the neighbours garden to see how they like it has given me an idea, I'm fed up of throwing her cat shit over her fence with a shovel so I might just throw a real shit over, or I could just hop the fence and do it in front of them Jim Carrey style

[panrider_uk]

[Polarbear]

I'm not a cat person. At least my dog looks at me with some sort of affection. Cats look at you as though you just crawled out of a mouse hole.
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Victory Cross Country American tractor.

[scorps]

I love cats and dogs but have never got another dog after my last one which was a tri colour rough collie, he was wonderful. I do have five cats now though.

We are rural surrounded by fields so no hassles from the couple of neighbours we have who also have cats. One of our cats has cardiomyopathy which is chronic and untreatable and we have had to end up allowing the other cats to eat the same food as him so its bloody expensive.
I think trying to find a suitable breed that is extra cuddly is a bit hit and miss,our most affectionate pair are plain old moggies who sit and pat you until you fuss them, we have a main coon who was regularly taken out quite happily on a lead when he was a kitten when we were scared to death of letting him out because of how much he cost but he goes out anyway.

We used to have hassle with the amount of mice etc he brought home but hes decided that he likes chasing deer now and hasnt bothered bringing us small gifts since.

Rag dolls are best for indoors apparently and affectionate.
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[Adamantis]

If you want to be able to take your cat out on a lead, you kind of need to get it used to the lead from a very early age. Which means that adopting an older rescue cat might not lead to success.

We have four cats (why, oh why?!?). The older two we tried to get on a leash because we were worried about them going outside, but they mithered at the door for hours on end

Now, Tigger is the ultimate whore cat - if we can't find him, we have a pretty good idea whose house he is at - he sits outside doors and howls until he is let in...

Unless you keep them in all the time (and once they have been out, you won't get any peace until you let them out again), you won't ever get a real house cat.

A friend of mine has acquired a pair on Bengals, which she reckons are insanely affectionate. But they are expensive, and stretching the definition of "house cat" in their size! (But they do look pretty awesome).

My only thing would be to get a pair, rather than a single cat - unless you're in all the time, cats can become pretty destructive without companionship.

Apologies for drunken cat-rants! I blame the lack of sleep caused by Tigger beginning his "I want to go out" howling at 0530...
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[potato]

[The Artist]

Our cat has probably caught 2 animals and brought them inside.

I would rather have that than everything smelling of dog. Also dogs need to be walked every day, no one at home in the day time here.

Our cat knows not to walk on surfaces unless it is put there.

Cats are independent so you don't have to worry about them. When we go away for a week in the summer, we just leave a big bowl of food outside and we know if it is hungry, it will go an find something to kill/eat. It will only do this if we don't feed him.

[Ariel Badger]

Cats and dogs are pricks (different types of prick but still pricks) get a ferret.
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