My son wants a cat?!

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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!!

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

I've heard good things about wood stove pellets, but I've been unable to try them out personally. I went to my local Home Depot asking for some and they looked at me like I was crazy

My experience is mostly with male cats as well, but I have met a few nice female cats too. When I went to the shelter to adopt after I lost Sam I looked at both genders, but it happened to be a male that clicked with me. I wouldn't given gender a second thought, and just see what cat clicks with your family.

Awwww!!!!!

I just read the first post, but I wanted to give you my advice.

I grew up with dogs, but I think I'm more of a cat person somtimes. :rofl1:

Male cats are better pets then female cats, IMHO. Male cats actually seem to like people and are attention whores. My male cat actually gets separation anxiety when I'm gone, and is a total mush.

Female cats are more independent, less interested in people, and more apt to get annoyed with too much attention.

This is a rule, but as you know, there are exceptions to that and I've met some very sweet female kitties and some aloof male kitties.

Certain cat breeds are more people oriented then others- siamese cats are aloof and independent to the nth degree. Maine Coons and Rag Dolls and Persians are very people oriented (well, as far as cats go)

If you're looking for something specific, you could try a kitty rescue or just go to a shelter.

I have a Maine Coon mix (that I'm about to post some cute pictures of here) that I found at a shelter when he was 6 weeks old. I had no idea what he was until at 6 months he was a skinny 13 lbs and still growing.

With a shelter "mutt", you neeeeeever know.

As for food, wet is best. Dry food isn't really that good for cats. Innova, however, makes some fantastic cat food.

As for litter...I do the clay litter. Most cat people will tell you that's the devil, but Mr. Meowgi does fine with it.

The only thing about shelter cats that I would worry about is feline rhino virus, aka Kitty Herpes. My cat has feline herpes and any type of stress will bring it out in him. The shelter environment is bad for that.

But, any kitten anywhere could have it. Sometimes they're born with it. It's not as bad as it sounds, but once they have it you should try to limit their exposure to other cats if possible.

The boyfriend said I should tell you that Mr. Meowgi, though he is about 6 or so, acts like he's about 2 years old and is a total pain in the butt. He still runs around like a crazy cat and he's so noisy! He has to tell you everything that's going through his his head which comes out like, "MRROOOW? MEEEOOOWWWWWWWWWW. OOOOWWWWWWWW. meow?"

He has to be in the middle of all attention and he follows us around like a dog and is forever underfoot. In fact, right now he's watching me type this. He likes it when I move the cursor.

Any house plants are fair game, so we don't have any of those. He likes to chew them and knock them over and then bat the dirt clods all over the kitchen.

Er....I hope I didn't just talk you out of getting a cat. Just make sure you have plenty of toys around and hope that your kitty is not like mine LOL

AC .... I doubt if you'll have much say about the sex !

I concur with everyone here who feels that on the balance, male cats make better kids pets than females. I have three black cats because they are indeed hard to find homes for.

I have one cat that is exceptionally fussy about his cat litter. He only likes the stuff made out of corn cobs. There are several brands. It looks more expensive, but isn't really because it is sold by weight and is really light compared with clay. It clumps, but not as hard as clumping clay.

My three boys also like cats better than dogs. An interesting phenomenon.

I've found female cats to be more dignified and male cats to be friendlier and goofier. I had my males neutered as young kittens (well, the shelter did) and they have never, ever sprayed on anything. Bonus!

If you do go for kittens, rather than adults, think about getting two. Two kittens are honestly a lot less work than one kitten . . . They will wrestle and play with each other in the middle of the night instead of waking you up.

Oh, and I don't know if all kittens are like this, but mine LOVED to pounce on fingers. With their painful, tiny claws. Unless you want a full grown cat mauling your hands in a year or two, you need to get everyone on board with teaching the kittens that hands are not playthings. I did it by turning around and ignoring them for one minute every time they did it . . . Crying "OW!!" like they mortally wounded me also had a good effect.

Boemy has given you fantastic advice about two kittens. That is so, so dead on.

Really, when cats hit about 4 months, they turn from these sweet, adorable babies into these demon animals that want to pounce on your legs as you walk by and hold on with their claws...

yes, two will keep eachother busy. you won't regret it.

not to be nit picky but I must say I disagree with this a lot. Siamese are known to be one of the most affection, dependent cat breeds in existence. They are often clingy to the point of being downright annoying to most people. They are "My" breed so I felt the need to say something, not to mention I wouldn't want Acamp getting a Siamese mix because she wanted an more independent animal, she'd be in for a surprise!

I have heard of some Siamese cats with extreme aggression problems, generally intact males. These cats are the exception and may be a result of over breeding, or poor upbringing, who knows. But the breed as a whole, and as it is supposed to be is extremely affectionate.

Two kittens? Ok now you guys are pushing it, lol.
Obviously I'm not going to have too much say in the picking out the kitty other than it's going to be long-haired and I have to pay for it, .

So he and I looked on petfinder, and he liked the white striped one and the calico. He wasn't fond of the black ones I had kind of picked out, but I think if he met them in the shelter that might change.

Yikes! Okee! Got it. Siamese= crazy affectionate.

I will say that kittens do turn into wild demons for a while. Just remember that, just like puppies, they grow out of this stage.

My roommate in college got a kitten. She was going into vet school and had never been allowed to have a cat because her parents did not like them. She thought she should have some exposure to them before becoming a vet, thus we ended up with a kitten.

I remember, as he was attacking us in the middle of the night one night, that she decided we must bundle this kitten up and drive him to the vet school so they could rule out the fact that he had gone mad with rabies!! Of course, he was only kitten-mad.

We spent our first married summer with a kitten sweltering under heavy quilts because sweating with protective cover was better than being slashed to death in the middle of the night.

We have 2 cats now because we got the 2nd one to keep the lst one from constantly stalking our elderly dog! This was during that kitten stage.

Just keep in mind, they're cute as a button, and that ferocious kitty-lion stage is short-lived.

As a kid, I had a kitten that would go through that attack mode every evening, and I would be afraid. My dad would eventually have to get the kitten and hold her down, petting her, until she calmed. Then, I had another one who never did the attack. Every evening when she got into her crazy mode, she would shred the daily newspaper.