Following on from the puppy regret thread, anyone got cat regret?

[hornsbeeping]

I feel bad as I do love them. But recently we were away and got back late. They spent an extra night in the cattery. And … it was bliss.

No cats shoving their arseholes in their face as I try to read my book, able to eat without the cats trying to steal it, grated cheese without the cats trying to steal it, opened the door without cats thundering in and out, it was so lovely and calm.

Is it just me? I’ve always had cats because … well, I’ve always had cats, but mine are currently doing my head in!

I have multiple cats because of the men in my life. If it were up to me I wouldn't have any. Having taken then on, of course I do what's needed to take care of them.

I made dp start to shut them out of our bedroom at night, for starters. He was amazed to find that - surprise! - he slept a lot better without them on the bed.

I don't do treats or play for adult cats. I feed them and take them to the vet if absolutely necessary, and stroke them if required. I'm lucky I suppose that if they're driving me mad I can put them out or in a different room. I have to insure them because I'm surrounded by sentimental men who treat animals like children.

Set boundaries, I suppose is my advice.

Never!

I love our cats but do often regret getting them. Usually when I'm cleaning the litter tray!

Cats are so much more independent and sasg to look after,no comparison between to 2,I've had dog regret,never cat.

We have a cat because my 18 year old son wanted one. After we months he went missing for 7 weeks. I seriously thought he was dead as I'd been to see a cat who was found dead the day after he went missing which looked like our cat but a fox must have took his head so I couldn't be sure. For those 7 weeks I deeply regretted getting a cat and felt we had let him down. Turns out he was in the woods less than half a mile away. He's not left the boundaries of our house and garden ever since! (August)

i do sort of... i had 2 sistersm little black and white girls and they got on perfectly but it had always been my dream to have a ginger cat. when the girls were about 6, i was offered a ginger kittie which i immediately took. and for a while it was ok, 1 of the older cats got on really well with the ginger and the other one just minded her own business.

sadly one of the b/w ones passed, leaving the ginger and the aloof b/w and they hate each other. the ginger went missing before christmas, he was gone for 3 months and i genuinely thought that was it, and my little b/w lady was so happy and content.. until one day the ginger f**ker walked back in!

i love them both, but its hard and i do regret my decision to add the ginger cat to the family

One of mine likes to either be the little spoon while we sleep. Or she insists we hold hands like otters 😅

My kitten had liquid arse for 8 months before i found a cure. There were moments when i was cleaning the millionth puddle (his preference was my bed ☹️) and throwing out yet more bedding, when I momentarily rued the day I got him, but he is an exceptionally lovely cat, I could never give him up, or any cat.

It doesn’t sound like you’re much of a cat fan. Maybe don’t replace the current guard?

Slight regrets... I had the best childhood cat, he was so cuddly and you could lie down with him on a bed and put your face into his fur and he never ever scratched. So I always wanted cats once we owned our own home.

We now have two six year old cats who mostly hate human contact, who really dislike our kids, and one of whom went through a long phase of peeing in random places.

I kind of wish we had waited till we had kids to get kittens as then they'd be accustomed to kids from the outset.

Adore my little woman to bits but … no, can’t do it- she follows me everywhere and runs across the field to get food greet me when I return from anywhere 😍

Sometimes it makes life more challenging when DH and I want to go for a weekend away and once again have to find someone who can feed her. Day to day it's lovely though. She runs to the door to greet me when I get home from work, and is very chill otherwise. We did deliberately adopt an older cat so that we could have a sense of her personality rather than going for a kitten.

Not regret at having cats but maybe having quite so many, and one really should be an only cat because he’s a bit of a bully to the others at times - but he’s great with people. The house would be calmer without him but I wouldn’t do anything to give him up. He’s a huge fat lump and currently curled up tight against me, after having a wank, following his dinner 🙄

Isn't he neutered?!

Oh yes! When he was quite young. That hasn’t stopped him though, and we have a performance most nights. He’s the only cat I’ve ever had who has done this and I try to dissuade him when we have company.

I got an outdoor enclosure and that makes it a lot better. They spend a lot of the day outside and if they start being annoying, I'll put one or both out there.

Did you find him in woods when searching for him? Or did he just come home on his own? 7 weeks is such a long time. Lovely to hear he was ok.

No regrets at all about my 14 year old boy but man he does like to howl at 6am in the morning to get everyone up

Our last guy humped things until we got him done!

I've got one that dries her arse on the carpet after using the litter tray! They're gross! Lucky that they're cute!

I did recently, but he ended up going back to his previous owner who wanted him back and was happy to pay for his care.
He was lovely, but hard work:
Constantly ran around my feet, tripped me up a couple of times and I stood on his paws accidentally once or twice.
Tried to get in my bins quite a lot.
Went after the other cat's food.
Loud meowing during the night.
Couldn't eat anything/cook anything for myself without him trying to get at it.
It turns out a lot of the symptoms were down to illness, and he was very gentle cat, just very hyperactive. I hope he's having a lovely life now.

I have two indoor cats and have an automatic food dispenser that I used when away at the weekend, you don't need anyone to come to feed your cats. The automatic food dispenser has two bowls, one for each cat, it also have a camera so I can keep an eye on the cats. Great thing.

I do love our cat. We've got one left now. She just turned 17 - and we've had 4 different cats over 25 years (since the kids were little.) Had just this one for the last four years since the last one died.

I do love her to bits and I look after her and care for her and cuddle her and love her. But to be honest with you, I won't have another cat as long as I live when she's gone. They are not difficult and demanding pets, but they live for SO LONG. 😆 Like often near 2 decades. You have to be sure you are in it for the long haul with cats!

Maybe it's coz I'm a miserable menopausal moo at the moment, but my cat just irritates me about 40% of her waking hours; whining and howling and mithering and fussing. Following me around from room to room, tripping me up, begging for food and then leaving it, jumping on my laptop and phone and paperwork, shoving her arse in my face, pretty much wrecking parts of the house - scratching at the furniture scratching and at the carpets too, and squashing her food into the carpet!

She's also starting to cost us quite a lot in vet fees now for a certain monthly treatment she has to have. She's going downhill slowly. Bit of arthritis. Gone rather deaf. Lost 15% of her body weight in the last year and a half. Getting very bony. I don't think we'll have her a lot longer, but we do love her .. However, truthfully, I can't wait to be pet free I have to admit.

We will never have another pet. I can't wait to be able to tootle off for a few days without having to worry about someone caring for her while we're away. And she can't be left alone with a food dispenser; she is too clingy, and needs company. And I would be too worried the food dispenser may malfunction while we are away, and we wouldn't enjoy ourselves because of worrying about her!

By the way, she has only started to annoy me 40% of her waking hours for the past couple of years. Not sure if it's just her being more annoying, or if it's down to me being irritated more easily these days. She irritates DH almost as much as she irritates me though LOL!

The food dispenser is a great idea, but what about litter? For an indoor cat, I have 2 litter trays but if I'm away more than a day I'm not sure how I'd manage that.

Never have any regrets about our cats, except that we don't have all the cats! I'd have lots more if we could.

Never regretted having cats - even the one who tries to steal my breakfast every morning.
Life would be much duller without them.

Now we’re heading for retirement and getting away more I regret the 40.00 a night cattery fees, Otherwise our two are great.