My son wants a cat?!

[Labyrinth]

First of all I have to say, I'm really glad to hear that you've found a place for Lily

I agree with Dekka, you should probably spend some time up close with cats before saying yes to your son to make sure your allergies aren't too bad. As for Lacey, don't shelters let you bring your dog in to meet the cat before adopting? When I was looking at a kitten at the shelter they offered to let me bring my dogs down to see how he'd react to them.

[Romy]

Our cats loved stuff like smooshed plastic pop bottles and twist ties for toys. HOURS of entertainment to be had for free.

[babymomma]

Catnip.. Nothin like a high kitteh.. :P

Litter box will depend on the individual kitteh kat. Some dont like to be closed in and oddly enough, some like privacy :S..

Wet food is a must...

I also dont recomend letting it outside, i cant tell you what to do obviously but would you let your dog run loose? People put poison out for them, shoot them. etc.

For the first week at leat kitteh should have its own small room and gradually be let into knew rooms. Maybe keep a baby gated small guest room or something for the cat to get into the room without being disturbed by the dogs or children. Kittehs like some alone time sometimes.

[AGonzalez]

Yes it will be an indoor only cat, that's for certain. I'm afraid of what could happen to a cat that's out wandering and how much heartbreak it would cause if the cat didn't come back.

Brushes I have lots of, I imagine same brush for the dog can be used on the cat (furminator and a slicker)
I'll see what I can find, I'm going to give my son the stuff he needs for a kitty for his birthday then we're going to make a trip to the Humane Society or a rescue and let him pick out a long haired cat/kitten.

[babymomma]

They love boxes .. Oddly enough.. these things are weird.. And pretty simple.

[AGonzalez]

Oh I"m also going to do the "sniff" test on cats at the shelter...short haired cats set my sinuses off almost immediately so I don't think it will take very long for me to know if that cat is going to be ok for me or not. I feel bad limiting my kid because of my allergies, but hey, at least he's being allowed to have a kitty.

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by babymomma

They love boxes .. Oddly enough.. these things are weird.. And pretty simple.

Soooo true, we have pictures of our Jade in a variety of boxes including a tissue box we kept around for quite a while just so she could sleep in it.

ETA: Sniffing a cat in a shelter probably won't help. I'm only allergic to long haired cats really but a shelter will always set me off. Perhaps try handling the cat in one of the meet and greet rooms.

[mjb]

We have found it works great to have a gate in the doorway to the room where we feed our cats and where the litter box is. That was the dog can't get to either. Some people put them up on the dryer, too. I'm sure there are quite a few creative ways to keep the doggies out of the food and litter, but we were fortunate to have a storage room that houses our kitties' food and litter, and has a gate in the doorway.

Actually, our vet had told us sprinkling meat tenderizer on the cats' food would make their poop distatesful to dogs. I couldn't vouch for that, though. We never tried it.

[Labyrinth]

Originally Posted by ACampbell0304

Can't I skip a step there and vacuum the cat? I do it to Lily, she doesn't seem to mind the brush part of the vacuum too much. I am also a Febreze-***** and soak my house in it to begin with, so that will help.

Ok cat people, what's a good cat litter to use? I cannot stand the smell of cat pee at all so I need something that smells decent and covers that nasty smell.
Hubby agreed to getting Matt a kitty for his birthday so we should have a new addition soon.
Also, what kind of stuff do cats need? I understand a cat box, litter, dishes, food...what am I missing here? A new puppy, easy! A cat? No clue, lol.

Actually, some cats will let you vacuum them! I was able to vacuum my cat Sam (RIP), but never tried until about a year before he died. My other cat wanted nothing to do with it though

For litter I really like Feline Pine. Feline pine is recycled wood pellets that turn into sawdust after drying, and I've never noticed a urine odor with it.

As for supplies, that's pretty much it for necessities. Cats tend to play with whatever they want. Bring home a nice expensive cat toy? Great, they'll play with the receipt or the bag it came in. You can also get a bed, but they'll sleep wherever they want to. Cat trees are awesome, but my boys have done fine without one and just hang out on the backs of chairs or on top of the dog crates if they want to get up higher. I don't keep a collar on my boys since they aren't allowed outside.

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

[babymomma]

Ive hear of people doing the meat tederizer stuff before, It works for some but not all *shrug*