Is it realistic to get a cat in these circumstances?

[Inniu]

My 15 year old DD has wanted a cat for years. We have always said no because one of her sisters has allergies.

We have a spare bedroom downstairs that was built as an extension off the return so down a hallway separate from the rest of the house with a French door to the garden. None of the children ever wanted that bedroom as we have one of those tall terraced townhouses and it is door floors below the other bedrooms.

DD would like to move to this bedroom and get a cat. The only room the cat would be let into would be that bedroom and there would be easy access to the garden.

I haven’t had a cat since I was about 7 so I am not sure how realistic this plan is. Can the cat be kept to one room plus the garden?

Well you can try but cats are curious and go where they please and if they find an open door or window they will investigate. So you will see kitty around the house at times, even if you keep moving her back.

Do you know for sure that her sister is allergic to cats? Might be worth getting tested if not.

No, I don't think that would work and wouldn't be fair on the cat. The cat would end up being cut off from human contact for long periods of the day when people would usually have their cat around unless your daughter would spend all her evenings in her bedroom.

There will be times you need to keep the cat exclusively indoors (for example for the first 4-8 weeks after getting the cat, and ideally night time for safety, sometimes when the cat is unwell, during fireworks again for safety etc.) so you would need to have everything in that one room - litter tray, food, water, scratching furniture, toys etc...

Your daughter would also need to be super careful about her door as cats are quick and would no doubt slip into the house often - indeed many cats hate closed doors and will scratch and meow until they've been let in/door opened.

It's also possible your other daughter would react anyway if the allergy is bad.

As well as being cruel to the cat, there would be no guarantee that the allergens are confined to one room. Cat hair has a habit of getting onto clothes etc and being spread around the house.

I don't think it's fair to keep a cat in one room. And whenever you have doors or windows open in the house the cat will get in elsewhere. You can't really tell a cat what to do, they go where they want.

Ok so possibly cruel and impractical.

I don't know if the hairless cats are any good for allergies, it would mean you could let it have run of the house. They are extremely expensive though, like several hundred +.

If a member of your household is allergic to cats, you should not have a cat in the home anywhere.

Would a Siberian cat be an option? They are unfortunately cats you have to pay for, but gorgeous family cats and often well tolerated by people with allergies.

Most people are not allergic to short-haired cats. You could get your DD tested.

It would be fairer on the cat to let it roam wherever it pleases in the house. They do love exploring.

Remember that if you get a kitten, they cannot go out until they're over six months old.

Siberian cats are hypoallergenic for some people. Plus they are very fun and gorgeous.

Another vote for no. Cat would be lonely - and would definitely make it in to the rest of the house.

Not sure what age your daughter is - I assume teen if you are ok with her sleeping in that room - bit I assume she has quite an active social life. Unfair on the cat if your daughter is the only human contact, but the cat can hear the rest of you in the house.

Sorry

For context, my cat slept in my room last night - has had a little run outside and is now asleep on my knee in the sitting room. She will follow me from room to room when she isn’t outside exploring. Doors are never closed and she has a little cave bad in three different rooms around the house so she has somewhere to curl up if she needs alone time.

Cats are very social pets .

My cat would hate that. She has odd times when she will toddle off to sleep on our bed or in the spare room while we’re in the lounge, and times when she will howl outside the bathroom door if I dare to go for a wee. She’s on her own while we’re at work in the day, but otherwise likes to be able to boss us around and let her in and out to the garden 999 times a night.