What are the downsides of owning a cat?

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

If I was thinking very vaguely of getting a cat some time in the next year, what are all the downsides? The upsides are pretty obvious, but as a long-time "doggy person" and someone who has never owned a cat in her life, I would like to know if the downsides might just put me off ever getting one. I would never get a cat on a whim and would want to do some serious research so I could be properly prepared for the things that I have not heard about before.

eg. I've been looking at some of the other threads on here and see that someone has had problems with poo from the cat litter being trod all over the house, and I just thought ! Not sure I'm ready to deal with mess like that - I thought cats were supposed to be clean?!

ps. My kids are 7 and nearly 5 and are showing an interest in owning a pet, but the only thing that comes near to what we might be able to manage in terms of responsibility vs. what you actually get back from the pet is a cat, I think.

Our cat is beautiful and lovely. She doesn't leave fur around as she's short-haired. She eats nicely, always uses the litter box, comes when she's called and has the nicest temperament.

The main downside is her habit of destroying the furniture in our rented house (art deco original sofa....oh dear). Other than though, she's brilliant!

our cat is short haired.....there are still hairs everywhere!

Thanks for everyone's posts - they're very interesting as opinions seem to vary widely, as do cats' personalities. I think that's what the problem is, there's no guarantee that a cat would be inclined to behave nicely, I suppose.

My grandma had a lovely cat who was no bother and loved to sit on your lap. But I bet if I got a cat I would get one like my mum had when she was young that basically was a bit mental and got worse so that eventually it had to be locked in an outside shed and the vet called for. (it was running up the walls, across the ceiling and down the other wall - round and round!!)

It's the uncertainty that worries me, whether I would be able to put up with the bad points without resenting the cat.

Curly you are more likely to get undesirable behaviours from a rescue cat, unfortunately. Normally I would be a strong advocate of rescue cats but in my own case, I bought kittens from families because I had no experience. If it helps, I had just started working with kids with ASD, so practised on the cats when I got home from work . Seems to have worked though! You might find a cat is more settled if it has only ever known one environment. you can always chuck a big donation the RSPCA's way later if you feel guilty

That's interesting. My two are rescue cats which we adopted when they were a year old. One of them is still incredibly nervous 10 years on. For years and years we had problems with her weeing all over the house - in fact, touch wood, this is the first house we've had that doesn't stink of cat pee. She still hides from strangers. I think something very bad must have happened to her when she was a kitten.

There could be something in that. My sister recently tried to give a home to a young cat that had been found by a colleague in the street as a stray. The colleague kept it for a week and fed it up (it wasn't claimed by anyone when they tried to search for the owner) but couldn't keep it as his wife was allergic. Shame as their son had already grown attached to the cat. Anyway.....the cat was in my sister's house for only a few hours and it just kept attacking and biting both her kids who are only young (and the kids were just minding their own business at on the sofa). The 2 year old ended up terrified and wouldn't even come downstairs so they rang the colleague who had found the cat and he was shocked to hear it was behaving like that with the kids as it hadn't been like that with his son. But his son was a lot older. So between them they assumed that the cat had had a bad experience with very young children somewhere along the line.

Anyway, the colleague took the cat back and I guess it ended up in a rescue place. Shame.

Not being able to eat in peace with out standing on guard.

We have burmese, they are short, silky haired and hardly moult. Also very domesticated, dog like breed. Kittens tend to cause damage to furniture (scratching sofa, climbing curtains) but now they're older and go out a bit they have calmed down and much easier, no longer destructive So you could go for a burmese adult rescue. They are a vocal breed who like to be with their people, they are also good with other cats and pets.

Vet bills are high so get insurance. Need to worm quarterly and flea spot on monthly. I prefer an indoors litter tray as more social for neighbours and you can monitor cat health. If you feed certain quality food their poos are small and don't stink. Of course with any pet (or human) there is risk of being unwell and making mess but on the whole cats are incredibly careful and come litter trained. When mine got the runs they did everything in their trays. While I cleaned out the trays one got caught short and instead of crapping everywhere they found an empty carrier bag and went in that. Good boys!

They blame you when it's raining, and they sleep on anything soft and cover it in hair.

They are also very picky.

My kitten will only drink warm milk but likes her wet food from the fridge.

Just remember that you are the cats slave and no amount training will cure it.

Mine are no problem at all. Just the vets fees and vaccinations, flea/wormer and food to fund.

No wreckage or scratched stuff. The worst that happens is that I'm sometimes woken up at half six by a fluffy bum in my face and some nose licks

Having owned both a dog and then a cat as an adult I would say the cat is a far easier pet. I got her out of desperation as we were overrun with mice. She is completely a member of the family, like a dog.

Take out pet insurance and budget for vaccinations, boarding/pet sitting as others have said. We get routine vet treatment free as my daughter volunteered there for a couple of years, but you need to think about vaccines, flea treatment, worming, neutering etc.

Our cat has dried food - the litter tray isn't so stinky. Short hair so not too much of a hair problem, scratches the sofa and carpets but that goes with cats unfortunately. She vomits occasionally but mainly hair balls so a regular brush minimalises it.

I live in a flat and was prepared to give an indoor rescue cat a home but they didn't think I was suitable without window guards. I got an adult cat from Gumtree, the previous owner said she was allergic. Big risk but she has a good temperament - really lucky. Don't think Gumtree should deal in animals tbh.