My son wants a cat?!

[Zhucca]

I use Feline Fresh (pine litter) and it clumps. Clay litter is dangerous because it can cause blockages if ingested .. in both cats and dogs. It also has dust which can lead to respiratory infections.

However, feline fresh has no dust, smells nicer than clay, is flushable, holds odor better and clumps really well too. I have always used clumpable cat litter.. if it doesn't urine sits in the bottom and :x

Scoopable Feline Fresh: Scoopable Pine Cat Litter / Environmentally Friendly Cat Litter

It lasts longer as well, doesn't get so scummy as quickly as clay does.

[AGonzalez]

Originally Posted by Labyrinth

One thing you will want to get if you don't have a spare already is a crate for trips to the vet, etc.

Good thinking on the crate! I don't think an XL plastic crate would be appropriate for a 10 lb animal...I only have XL crates. I imagine a small crate wouldn't cost an arm and a leg either...what a wonderful idea! I could take the crate and stuff it full of cat goodies and wrap it up for my boy.

I kind of like the idea of a cat for the express reason that if I need to go home to AZ I can load it down with food and a cat box and have someone check in on them and not worry about it barking and driving the neighbors insane, chewing my house to ribbons, peeing on the floor, etc. As it is I've missed going home to AZ because Lacey came in heat and my mom has intact male dogs (that are fenced with no neighbors for 5+ miles so they aren't out getting at anything lol) and we didn't want to have to keep her locked up the entire time.

Oh flushable litter? That sounds like a winner there! Pine should smell decent too.

So does sex really matter with cats? I prefer female dogs (I've had both) because they seem to have a different attitude about things, same with cats?

[babymomma]

It all depends on the cat, but I have personally found males to be friendlier and more tolerate of things while the females were bitchy and hissed at me.

[Grab]

It really varies from cat to cat..I've known plenty of cats with great temperaments of both sexes.

Also, if his birthday is in October and you look at black cats, some shelters refrain from adopting black cats out near the end of that month, due to Halloween/evil people possibilities. So something to keep in mind.

[Xandra]

First of all, you have to watch this: YouTube - Cat eats with fork and chopsticks

Sex doesn't matter, I don't think, although I would lean towards a (neutered early) male, just because I've had the best luck with them.

The cat in the pic was a neutered male that I got at 5 years old from an SPCA on the other side of the province- I saw his ad on petfinder, thought he had pretty eyes and they transported him over. He had been in there for over 8 months!

The cat we have now is also a male, and he is very even tempered- I can clean out abcesses, poke at wounds, whatever, and he sits there and takes it all. He is also dumber than a sack of bricks.

Otherwise I would go for an adult cat. I'm not a cat expert, but I have never been able to tell the difference between kitten personalities, like I can with puppies.

One last thing about "breed": The cat I attached pictures and a blurb about was called Sammy. He was seriously the coolest animal ever. You get cats with the personality of a goldfish (like our current cat), and some that are at least on par with a dog. He was a mutt (they had "Balinese" down on his card... but, really), but he had an oriental body type, with a pointy face and finer features. Oriental cats are known to be intelligent and I figure this what gave him that above and beyond. So if you have the opportunity and the cat seems friendly and whatnot, that is what I would get.



When you picked him up he felt like a furry bag of glue with some hard stuff and weird angles-- totally, totally limp, he was so relaxed. He could unlatch windows (he was wickedly smart, smarter than my GSD), and would *only* drink running tap water. If he wanted me wake me up he would push stuff off my headboard onto my head and then run off. Unfortunately, I brought a new kitten in last summer, which offended his delicate sensibilities to the point that he took a 1/4 mile trek to a busy road (this cat otherwise stayed within 50 ft of the house, unless he was following me and the dog on a walk). I really don't blame it on me letting him outside, because honestly if he was that disturbed he would've found a way out of the house.

I once heard that dogs attach to their people and cats attach to their homes, I think that's pretty accurate.

[AGonzalez]

Yeah I thought about black cats around Halloween...my son's B-day is Oct 4th though.
I'd prefer a white cat (though my furniture wouldn't I'm sure) or a calico...but again depends on what he likes and wants, after all, it's going to be his pet (though I'm surely going to have to clean litter box for him, but he's great about helping me feed the dogs)

Also, is the Kirkland cat food any good like the dog food is? Oh and see some folks mentioned wet food, why?

[Xandra]

Kirkland dry has always worked well for our cats. I mean, it isn't the BEST out there but they have always been healthy.

I know cats that will only eat wet food but I expect most people do it for the variety. I remember reading something that cats are meant to derive most of their moisture from their food vs drinking, so feeding only dry is hard on the kidneys, etc but you'd have to confirm that.

[Xandra]

Also, I think those pine pellets might just be expensive wood stove pellets.

The wood stove pellets don't form hard clumps like clay litter, they turn to sawdust. We used wood stove for the rabbit boxes for years and they worked well, and the wood stove pellets are like, $5 for 40lbs or something like that? Really cheap.

[Maxy24]

You MUST get a scratching post if you like your furniture, cats need to scratch. You can buy flat cardboard ones pretty cheaply. Eventually, I'd buy a cat tree too.

I use arm and hammer super scoop litter. I like it but I have also heard good things about feline pine.

As was stated wet food should be the staple of your cats diet. I wrote why in this thread (main reasons are moisture because cats don't have a strong thirst drive and will become somewhat dehydrated without drinking and low carb content, ALL dry foods have too many carbs for strict carnivores like cats-they are not omnivores like dogs): http://www.chazhound.com/forums/t104325/

and I agree that cheap toys are usually favorites. Heck a balled up piece of paper, pipe cleaners and the rings you pull off of milk are the general favorites of most cats. I do have two really popular toys that I play with them with but make SURE they are put away when you are not playing:
Cat charmer(I left this out the first day i bought it and Neko had half down his throat before I noticed, then I had to slowly pull it out, so put it away): Amazon.com: Cat Charmer: Kitchen & Dining

Da Bird: Amazon.com: Da Bird Feather Teaser: Kitchen & Dining

those are the types of toys that will tire a cat out really well, like for before bed use.

I personally like male cats but it is to be kept in mind that I like "PET MEEEEE, I LOVE YOU MOMMY, PAY ATTENTION TO ME, PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!" cats. I like male dogs for the same reason. Which is also why I love Siamese cats. They are like many dogs (think lab and pit bull) who just adore attention. They also like to talk. Siamese are annoying to most people so keep that in mind if you are looking at those mixes (although the only thing on the cat you posted from petfinder that really looks Siamese are his eyes).

If you want a more independent cat then consider a female.

Good luck with the new kitty!!

[bubbatd]

I'm anxious to see what he picks !!!