Cats - What are the disadvantages

[Beral]

I have never had a cat but would love one, I have read a fair bit but all the books are full of how great they are. Aside from the potential cost/illness what are the day to day downsides?

As a family we have a lot of love to give but the fact that so many cats are in rescue centres makes me think 'what went wrong!' As it is a possible 18 yr commitment can anyone help & be honest?

Bugger! Sorry for you Liz!

My cat seems to vomit simply because she has leaped down from somewhere just after eating.... But overall I think from reading these she's very well behaved. Never asks for food, never miaows in the night, doesn't go on the worktops (in my sight anyway!!)

my cat who vomitted often turned out to have a stomach tumour

I definately seem to have had 4 very well behaved cats moggy and pedigrees, after all cats choose their owners - perhaps my vibes are ones of no nonsense tolerated.

The main consideration is how they will wee and poo. Can you get them outside, by yourself or via catflap? If not, then you will need a litter tray, which is stinky (not so bad if you have a utility room).

They can be difficult with food. OK if they are happy with dry food, but wet food can be annoying if they don't eat it all at once. You can get flies.

You need to make sure your cat has flea treatment (they can get an injection at the vet - collars are useless), otherwise you will end up with fleas in your carpets and they will bite your ankles.

You either need a cattery or a helpful neighbour for when you go away.

Other than that, cats can be lovely. You know when they are happy.

Cat vomit - butter knives. Get one specially; it will get cat vomit off your carpets predry or post dry - nothing like it.

We gave a one year old rescue cat a new home last Saturday. He is absolutely gorgeous - sitting on the table next to me purring and patting my fingers as I type. He is a brown tabby Maine Coon, and is both playful and cuddly. DH, who was most anti-cat, is entirely smitten with the kitten.

Friendly is an understatement. Anyone who comes into our home is another person who should be giving them lots of affection whether they wish to or not our my our female has bonded with me - I am followed, sat on, shoulder ridden, accompanied to the toilet, washed, nibbled and throughly loved by her aren't I luck

When I got home yesterday they'd been shut out in the rain and were soaking, they let me towel dry them - very laid back and tolerant of anything that can be interpreted as affection

Our previous somali was noisy though but he had spent the first 7 years of his life with a breeder (he was a prize champion) so I'm not sure whether he was kept in pens much of the time rather than having the roam of the house.

we have 5 cats and without a doubt the boys are friendlier than the girls.

They have wrecked the leather sofas and will always come in with dirty paws and jump onto the clean beds, walking over the whole bed before cleaning themselves and spitting out any grass seeds etc all over the "clean" beds.

The youngest went through a stage of bring in earth worms (with i am phobic about) so we put the backdoor catflap on lock so they can go out but not in. Once I have checked their mouths are empty, they are allowed in.

The front catflap is magnetic and only my cats can come into the porch which is where their food is.

Cats are great fun and recently when we went on holiday, my DS (aged 9) was crying half way through our holiday as he was missing the cats! We had a live in "carer" for them so we knew they were being looked after comfortably in their own home.

I think we will end up getting a moggy, all that I have read seems to indicate that they are healthier than pure breeds due to pedigree over breeding. Even the breed websites tell people not to mate siblings, mother/son, father/daughter in pursuit of the perfect cat. Can you believe people have to be told that!!

Fortunately Somalis aren't a popular breed and never seem to have been in fashion so they seem okay, and probably why they are nice!

My first cat was a moggy and it was lovely and a people person cat too - like everyone tells you cats pick their owners and not the other way around

Beral - you need to go where your heart is leading you and there are loads of lovely mogs also waiting for lovely homes.

But having said that, not all breeders line-breed and many have healthy, gorgeous kittens. And many mogs are due to careless breeding by people who couldn't be bothereed to neuter their cats and keep them in, or just thought - one litter and then we'll spay her. As a breeder, I've ben trying to widen the gene pool in a particular type/character of cat that I've always loved, with healthy kittens (having suffered a couple of early deaths from ill-thought-out breeding programmes.) Mine are all pretty much spoken for though!