Kids want a cat, I'm not a cat lover, what to do...and how much to keep them?

[Flyingtree]

Not a huge cat fan myself, they seem pointless as they just sleep and then spend most of the time outdoors (also biased as grown up with dogs and used to have one myself!) but my children love animals and are used to being around them at their Nan's, so Nan suggested rehoming an older cat for them.

I def don't want a kitten that will need training, etc. enough responsibilities already with two young children.

I'd like to know how much they cost to keep though, ie vet bills and weekly food bil before I make a decision.

My sister lives in the next street and adores cats so there will be no problems with care if we go away.

Also, male or female, do you think, or any particular types to avoid, ie Siamese. I think we just need Bagpuss really, a big lump of a cat that will be cuddly as my kids like to manhandle the big ginger Tom that lives on our road.

PS - and if they're neutered, it doesn't stink as much if they were to have a spray.

We adopted two male cats, both of whom were neutered. We've had no spraying issues with either of them. They have very different personalities. One of them likes to go out and explore the during the day, but comes back for sleeps. The other will go out into the garden and occasionally likes to go next door, but otherwise hangs around the house. We keep them in at night and the explorer likes to sleep on the bed, while the homebody prefers the sofa... (and yes we do have cat beds, which do get used by the explorer...) Both of them 'talk' to us and come to us for head rubs.

As a dog person, I was quite surprised how much they do like to be near their people (read servants), but then I suspect that after a year I'm well and truly under the paw

The good flea stuff works - Advocate. And I get a prescription from vet (mine charges £10 per cat per prescription, lasts a year) and then order the Advocate online via Quidco (so I get cashback too) and it works out much cheaper than buying it at the vet.

I'd recommend pet insurance - ours is about £8 per month.

Flea treatments do work (the proper ones from chemists/the vet - not the off the shelf stuff).

Neutered male cats are very, very unlikely to spray. And no, a kitten would probably be traumatised by enthusiastic children. You're much better off getting an adult cat that has already been assessed as being 'child proof' by the rescue centre.

Not previously a cat person at all but we just adopted a rescue kitten and I'm completely in love!

We have a 12week old female and she's very loving, confident and funny. The kids have been pretty full on with her but she's taken it all in her stride.

One thing I would say is that she's been well socialised - we did get her from cats protection but she was born in a safe place at a foster home and was handled during that crucial period of time between 4-8 weeks old.

Good luck with your decision - I haven't looked back since we got her even despite that she's ruined our summer hols as we don't want to leave her to go away!!

Dp wasn't a cat person either but he's firmly in the cat camp now. They have a knack for insinuating themselves into a family.

We have 5, a mixed bunch of rescues which came to us at varying ages. Only one wanderer, the rest are all homebodies and all of them are incredibly tolerant of the kids, they seem to prefer them to me and dp tbh!

Lidl catfood is surprisingly good quality and far cheaper than branded. Mine all love it and they're fussy so it must be alright.

We're lucky, they don't get fleas. When we lived in a city though our cat was constantly infested and a lot of the treatments don't work, you may have to try a few to find one that works... I used one with tea tree oil in it that did the job.

You can get worm tablets in some chemists, cheaper than from the vet. Drontal seem to be the best ime.

You won't regret getting a cat, they're brilliant pets

I know someone whose daughter took in a stray, she wasn't a cat person but she's completely converted too, the relief in her voice when the cat comes in after several hours out is palpable.

If you did get a rat you wouldn't have to cage it all the time, rats are litter trainable. There are some lovely youtube videos of rats and cats together, particularly one rat called peanut.