Cat owners what advice, thoughts, tips, things to consider would you give to someone thinking of getting a cat?

[BaroqinAroundTheChristmasTree]

• ie me.

It's something I've thought about for a while and told myself I'd consider properly in 2011......which is now appears to be !

Now, I like to think of myself are reasonably intelligent, and I have thought about it on my own, and we had pets when I was growing up (though no cat as my dad was allergic to them) - dog, rabbit, fish, rats (eek!) etc so I'm not a stranger to pet owning - but it's been a long time.

So your pearls of wisdom of things to consider (no matter how obvious they are ] would be much appreciated.

Oh - and where would I go about finding a cat once I've made sure I'm ready for one???

That's brilliant. You're doing a lovely thing, and you will get so much fun and joy out of it. I've even said to my husband that getting a kitten is like getting the fun cute bits of having a baby, without the massive hassle. He agrees! This is why I have one child, and two cats.

he's taking our dining room to start with - so I hope he doesn't take too long to settle .

The woman from the CPL that came this afternoon has all grown up children (and 11 grandchildren as well apparently - although she didn't look that old). And instead at home has 7 cats and 5 dogs.

She serves their dinner up in their bowls at the dining table and they eat there - at the table!!!......one kind of got the feeling that she has 12 animals at home instead of a husband

We got our kitten from the local rescue place last year and it was one of the BEST things I've ever done. We all love him so, so much. The joy I get from seeing the children with him is immense.

I paid £60 for him with vacs, microchipping and a few weeks pet insurance.

We had him done at 6 months, the rescue place gave us a voucher towards this to encourage us to do it. He's very much an outdoor cat during the day. We regularly have gifts brought to us, sadly a few robins around Christmas, he was obviously in a festive mood.

We did put him in a cattery for 2 weeks when we went on holiday in the summer, but I'd never do this again. As nice as the cattery was, he was sad there. And we all missed him so much!

Get it chipped, whatever you do!

he's already microchipped Knickers

Excellent!!! Sorry, didn't read the entire thread

nah - it's ok - not sure if I mentioned it earlier on or not

ysy - had a text this morning from woman at CPL - Jim has now been reserved for me us. His fosterer will ring me asap - but she's gone day with flu so may be a couple of days at least before I hear from her.

Which is actually fine - as at the moment I have nothing ready for him at all - still needy to go kitty shopping

and must resist the temptation to buy fancy stuff that he doesn't really need but which I think is cute/nice

need a carrier too

Am going to find out what food he eats - apparently he's on dried food - but she doesn't know which one.

She went through settling him in - but I'm not great with "verbal" learning/taking things in. So I've had a minor panic about it as it all got mixed up in my head .

I'm ok with reading stuff though (interestingly I've noticed DS1 is the same - he learns much better seeing/doing/reading than just listening) and so googled and found \link{http://www.romneyhousecatrescue.org.uk/settling\this} website with lots of tips and information - but if anyone else has any tips they would be much appreciated.

it's ok Maryz - so did the CPL women that came to visit - she rang me an hour or so afterwards to say she'd realised she'd forgotten to tell me to get a carrier

Yes - she said to start off with him in one room that's fairly quiet - shut him in there to start with (hence the dining room being used for the process as it's probably the quietest place other than upstairs) , Then once he's confident with that space block off the stair case and shut the kitchen door and open the door to that room and let him wander through to investigate the living room when he's feeling confident enough for it.

Then just open up each room as his confidence grows. She did say he's a fairly confident cat so shouldn't take too much settling into the house.

She told the boys how to make a play thing for him with boxes secured on top of each other with holes cut in so he can climb up and down and in and out. so they want to do that over the weekend

I'm generally a dog person but since me and exh split and we share our dogs and he was always unkeen on a cat wheras I love them too....I've got a cat for 24/7 company!

I'll leave you to guess her name but she is part burmese, very beautiful, a right little character and came from the local cats protection league. I can't recommend them highly enough. I paid £60 and ahe was vaxxed and spayed.

In fact she just landed on the keyboard to make the point!

Good luck. How exciting!

Think of pet insurance as well as food and annual vet bills when budgetting. You can get lots of pet sstuff ( carriers etc) secondhand quite cheaply if you need to.

ermmmmmm - is she called bella

Jambo is cute :)

Only thing I would say is have a place high up out of reach of toddlers (your youngest is quite little, isn't he?) where the cat can escape to and nobody is allowed to touch him.

it's actually Swahili for "Hello" - Thumbwitch was larking around on my FB last night (as in Wednesday night) saying "Jimmy" "Jumbo" - for when they've over fed him, "Jambo" - when they drop jam on him - and I went >>

Jambo - that's a real name - with a meaning - asked the boys what they thought today and they loved it

DS3 will be 4 in May >. Although Jambo will have his safe spot anyhow - it's actually DS2 (7) that is more likely to harass the poor lad (with petting rather than toddler style taunting).

I love the name Jambo

I have found DS (7 brilliant and very caring/responsible with our cat. DD (4) occasionally pulls his ears back, but he's so placid he doesn't seem to mind. If she's pissing him off with too much loving, he'll either go outside or hide in a box under our bed.

Erm, yes you're right, Baroquin! I'm sooo excited for you. Jambo is a great name, btw.

My next cat will be called Claude/Claudia ( gedddit

Our new cat came home today :)

She's not nervous at all and already strutting round like she owns the place!

Good luck Baroque and hope you get to bring your new boy home very soon.