Thinking, JUST thinking, that is vaguely considering the notion of the possibility of maybe purchasing a kitten and needing some info please

[Rhubarb]

I'm not really a cat person. That is, they're ok and everything, but I was brought up with dogs.
I've always had animals around me but since Max, my parrot was nicked 4 years ago, we've had nothing.

Now the kids have been mithering for a couple of years for a pet. A cat seems ok. But I need to know from cat people if my ideas are complete and utter tosh or not.

You can go away and ask the neighbour to feed the cat, so you don't have to pay for kennels.
You can put a bell on it's collar so it doesn't catch birds and stuff.
You don't need a cat flap.

But what I'm worried about is cat piss - how come some cat owner's houses smell of cat piss? What are they doing wrong?

How much do you spend on cat food?

Just tell me everything I need to know before I start to even consider getting a cat.

But if I do get one, it'll be a rescue one that will already be neutered.

oh, and if you get a cat sometime when you ARE able to intall a cat flap, make sure it's one that reacts to a magnet on the cat's collar. Otherwise all the neighbourhood cats come in and eat your cat's food. We had one get in earlier this year who panicked when it saw me, ran straight upstairs and disappeared up our bedroom chimney! Took ages to persuade it to come down, then managed to get it out of the opened back door. I would love to have seen its owner's face when it went home all traumatised and covered in ancient soot !

Make sure you let them boil briskly for 10 mins to ensure the skins come off easily!

Wow, you love your cats!
Do you have lots of cat things too? Like cushions with cats on, cat mugs, cat coasters, cat ornaments and so on?

Not taking the piss (well, not quite), just curious!

Ooops sorry, just went ot have my lunch there on my cat plate, drinking from my cat mug, reading Cats Today and trying not to spill anything on my cat sweater.

What was the question again?

pmsl!

At what exactly, Rhubarb?

I just don't understand sometimes. You try & give someone honest helpful advice (not to mention the fre lab puppy over Christmas) and they just come out with all this weird stuff.

Sniff!

Off to have little sob into my cat hankie on top of my cat duvet in my cat papered bedroom...

We got a cat a month or so ago, its about 4 months old. So far it has:
chewed through my mobile phone charger
chewed through the wiring on some lights
mangled 3 of dd1s favourite toys
played with so many of dd2s socks that I can't find any now
scratched dd2's toes
pooed in our bedroom, on our lovely Iranian carpet, 5 times
dug up my spring bulbs and pooed in the containers
got stuck and has had to be rescued twice by the neighbours.

On the plus side, the dds love it, and it is very good natured, and copes with all the torture that a 2 yr old and 6 month old inflict on it.

Is your bed shaped like a cat basket too? Do you wear little cat earrings? Bet you've got a "Cat On Board" sign on your car haven't you?

pmsl at my own jokes!

mew - sorry - just scratching my fleabites.

Rhubarb, you are being very very naughty. Go back to your scratching post and don't come out again until you can say sorry. We'll all be waiting in our cat pyjamas.

We got our cats from a friend whose cat got into trouble the week she was due to be spayed. When they were kittens, her toddler used to warn people, 'be careful when you touch them - they've got sharp points'.

I've got to pick the brats up now. Nice talking to you weirdy lovely cat people! Good luck with the hairballs!

"Cough cough eraugh spit" hairball coming your way.

Now, I'm a cat person and I'd say don't get one unless you really want one. I've had a couple get run over and it's heartbreaking, I was never ever going to have another, but DD came home with a sob story about a poor kitten and wore me down, and I gave in. Well, bloody thing has scratched the wallpaper up to the ceiling on the landing, it used to go flying up the stairs and just keep going up the wall. It has scratched my leather sofa and ruined the carpet on the landing by pulling it up and chewing the corner.
It's the most destructive cat I've ever had. And now DD is talking about moving out ( she's 20 ) and leaving it here with me. He is calming down now though.
As to cat flaps, ( if I haven't put you off altogether, ) you're better off without one. No strange cats coming in and terrorising yours and spraying everywhere, and no shredded wildlife all over the kitchen when you get up in the morning.

Thanks Moshie, Rhubarb will be thinking that the boa is becoming more and more attractive!

They give good hugs, I hear

But you have to deal with all that shedded skin. And then they sneak out and eat next door's new kitten.

pmsl at the cat's home you rang

last time i rehomed a cat from a shelter they practically threw him at me with vague mutterings of 'please try not to kill it'

apparently your area doesn't have quite the stray cat problem we do here then!

i've had cats my whole life and none of them have ever had a cat flap.... actually i lie, my parents usually have one on the garden shed door so the cats can get in there but their cat is the only one in the neighbourhood who can't use it generally they end up with a damp cat on the windowsill and the neighbours cats warm and snug in the shed

i've had cats in rented houses for 6 years now and never had any problems.... one leather couch got a bit of a remodeling but naught was ever said by the landlord and there was never any other damage done.

as for the killing of wildlife..... well to be perfectly honest i encourage mine to hunt. we haven't had a rat problem since the cats took care of them and i have a sneaking suspicion judging by the fact they merely have to walk out the door and have a mouse in their mouths that the local mouse populations aren't suffering.

i love cats but do agree with whoever it was that said the personality of the cat makes a huge differance, i've had some that were incredibly loving and affectionate and others who only gave me the time of day if they saw food in my hand. in that respect i have to say getting a cat as a kitten gives the best results as if the kitten grows up with your family they seem to fit in better and generally be more affectionate, ime anyway.

i couldn't not have cats in the house and drive dp made adopting strays that wander past (am in the dog house for the last few months as the feral cat i was feeding decided to move herself and 4 kittens in and has since produced another 4 kittens you can have some of them if you want.... i'm sure they'll be fine if i post for next day delivery )

the only time we've had an issue with toilet/smelliness was with our old tom cat and that was solved by restricting his territory within the house.

Tanee, I'm beginning to think that myself!

I notice Rhubarb has disappeared. We rumbled her, you see. She was all talk but actually when it came to the crunch and we had cats in jiffy bags and on trains she just did a runner.

My Cats Protection friend tells me this wet summer & autumn has made for a bumper crop of kittens (sadly) so they are out there, Rhubarb, and we're not falling for the 'haven't got a cat flap' routine.

Get yourself a cat, woman or we shall come round and forcibly install one in your home.

Together with oodles of dinky oh-so-cute kitty ornaments

Rhubarb, we know you're out there. My cats refused point blank to get into the jiffybag, but I have a sackful of cat products on their way . Except my cat pyjamas. I'm keeping those!

i just hope my pussy arrived safetly.

Yup, I have 2 lovely cats in North Wales lined up for you too, Rhubarb

You can run, but you can't hide....

Are those your best cat pyjamas, your everyday cat pyjamas or your Christmas cat pyjamas, Tanee?

x post with cheese - quote of the year, methinks!