Am i mad?

[FoodyMcDude]

I havent had a cat for a few years now my last ran away i was devasted and so was my son.

I have a 4 year old and 2 year old they both love animals especially my eldest. We miss having a cat around the house and really want to adopt. We had a look around a resue centre today and fell in love with one of the cats.

We are in a position finacially to care for a cat and i work part time so im in the house a lot.

The question is am i mad with such young kids? I really would love for them to be brought up with a pet but theres just a niggle that maybe they are too young even though they are great with animals and will be supervised.

Would love to hear peoples thoughts.

It depends on the rescue, as they all have different policies, but it shouldn't be a problem. The rescue will be able to suggest 'child-proof' cats - ie very laid back ones that should tolerate children well.

Kittens would be a bad idea, but if you get the right cat it should be fine.

We took the kids with us today and the resuce centre were happy to adopt to use as we are looking for an older cat who is used to kids which they do have a few.

They seemed to be concerned with us been able to keep the cat indoors for 4 weeks as she thought that the kids would let them out because my youngest was trying to open the cages (because he was excited!) Neither of them are able to open the front or back door which hopefully i can explain properly when they do a home visit!

I volunteer for a rescue and we advise post it notes on the doors with a cat's face drawn on to remind everyone in the house not to open the doors without checking where the cat is first. It's not always the DC either. It's things like when you walk back into the house after being out you need to make sure the cat can't zoom past you that you need to watch too.

As tcn says rescues are pretty good at matching cats to potential owners.

Good luck!

Would it be a good solution be that the cat can be shut in our kitchen/diner where his food and tray will be as we are leaving or if we need to open the front door. The kids cant open the kitchen door as it sticks.

Im a bit worried that they wont approve us at the home check because of this i will be gutted.

Usually it's recommended to contain the cat to one area for a while anyway so that would work well. Explain what your plans are at the HV, they will then know you have thought about it all.

It's only for 4 weeks. it's worse in the summer when you want the windows open but can't.

Ah thats good thank you.

Yes i did think earlier that this is a much easier time of year for trying to keep a cat in!

We've got an under stairs cupboard where the door opens in to the kitchen i can't decide wheather to make it into a sleeping area or to put the litter tray. We have space in our bedroom for a cat bed where he will get some peace as the kids dont go upstairs throughout the day or in my bedroom.

Yes, just say 'I thought what we would do is.......' and explain what the plans are. Sounds like there's places the cat can get some quiet if need be, and that's important when it's settling in.

I would put the litter tray in the best place for the DC not having anything to do with it, again making sure it's fairly quiet and well away from food bowls.

Yes thats why im thinking under the stairs we could fit a flap to the door and put the litter tray in there where the kids cant get to it and food will be at the other side of the kitchen.

Hopefully they can see that we will ensure hes well looked after!

I am sure they will. When's the visit?

Not filled out the form yet going back tomorrow wanted to think it over tonight before comitting to anything.

She said once we have filled out the form we can have one within a week

Brill. I hope it all goes well, then in the rules of The Litter Tray we will need pictures.

Ah thank you! Of course i will update.

Excited now