How time consuming is it having a cat?

[cobwebsoncornices]

I know this sounds like a ridiculous question but bear with me!
Household of 2 adults, 2 primary aged DC. Both DH and I work with me being part time & some days from home and DH working long hours and travelling overseas a fair amount.
We decided a while ago to get a cat; we as a family & our house were approved by the rescue centre a few months ago but, due to us having various weekends away planned in the autumn term, we decided to postpone getting a cat until after Christmas - so, now!
Just spent Christmas with family and have had DMum and MIL expressing the view that I would be mad to get a cat as I'm constantly busy now and they think this would just be another responsibility and list of things to deal with. Are they right? Neither DH nor I have had prime responsibility for a cat before as we had them in our respective childhood homes where we got to do the good bits (play, cuddles) but could generally ignore the bad bits (decapitated mice etc) and this continued in my adult life when I flat shared and it was my flatmate's cat. Both as a teenager and a flat mate, I would deal with "presents"'when I had to but it was never my ultimate responsibility.
Is there really that much responsibility and is it that time consuming having a cat? I'd envisaged feeding it & giving it water, cleaning out the bowls & litter trays, quite probably a bit more hoovering, dealing with the odd "present" but am hoping to get one without a history of this, taking it to the vets when necessary, standing by the back door of an evening and various other times hoping it will come in ... and cuddles, play, general worshipping of the cat?
Am I missing anything? I swear everyone in the village has at least one cat and manages to bring up children, go to work etc so I think my mum & MIL are exaggerating but do want to go into this with my eyes open.

My cat just needs feeding morning and night. With a cat flap he comes and goes as he pleases. No litter tray. Never been to the vet apart from getting him done years ago.

He's no trouble at all. Go for it 👍

Very little time required. Feeding a couple of times a day, lap time when we're watching TV in the evening, funny 5 minutes at 10pm (playing with the laser pointer and mad zoomies up and down the stairs), vet once a year for boosters. That's it really.

Have you allowed for the period where you need to keep them inside?
I personally wouldn't leave a cat alone in the house for at least a week - two of my work allowed it.
I have had cats, and want to get another (my last one was pts due to his decline, being around 21), but at the moment I don't have the right amount of time to settle a new cat in, so I'm waiting.
After that, once they're allowed to go out, there's not much to do.... except what they demand of course!

Ours are very little bother but you can guarantee that the one time they bring a live bird in will be when you are just about to go to work/school/urgent appointment.

You do need to remember to organise cat care every time you go away too (we have autofeeders for single nights away but always use a cattery/sitter/friend for longer breaks). They really aren't much work overall though.

My cat has a cat flap. She has a pouch of food twice a day and biscuits all day. She ignores us all and sleeps on the coffee table on a cushion. I can't say she is much bother. In 15 years she has been to the vets twice.

N

Our cat is very needy, she needs at least 2 hours of cuddles a day. She's lovely. She's 16 and has only been to the vets twice. She still looks really young, but she doesn't play much anymore.

Feed twice a day, play, clean up feathers or bits of mouse, flea treatment once a month, evening snuggles and once a year to the vets. Occasionally have to catch the odd live mouse. More hoovering and cleaning bowls. We have a cat flap so no litter tray to clean. That’s about it really. Wouldn’t say it took up a lot of time.

Oops, posted too soon!

Depends if you include lap time! Looking after time probably no more than 5-10 minutes per day. Amount of time wasted because cat is asleep on your lap and it would be a shame to wake them, that could take the best part of a day. Some cats can be quite needy. Ours will cry at the door to be let in and then the only place in the whole house which is deemed worthy enough to sit is on the computer keyboard with their bottom between you and the screen. Only if you have an important deadline though, otherwise happy to ignore you.

Get a rescue and an older cat. We did and they were able to give us the lowdown of the cat's temperament to choose the right cat that fits in with us and our lifestyle.

Our cat was 8 when we got her. She's perfect for us and no trouble. But I said I wanted a cat that didn't hunt and didn't go on work surfaces. Ours doesn't, but she's independent and no trouble, except needing feeding twice a day.

Amount of time wasted because cat is asleep on your lap and it would be a shame to wake them, that could take the best part of a day

Known as feline paralysis in our house

I absolutely do not lure them onto my lap right as the dishwasher needs emptying so Someone else has to do it....

It depends on the cat. Our boy is very needy and doesn't like being alone. He follows me around and only goes out for less than an hour a day and doesn't go further than our neighbours garden. I have to feed him twice a day but he does like attention and cuddles. I work from home so it suits us.

Ours is cuddly, but accepts we have a busy house

Definitely factor in cuddle time! We have 4 and 3 of them fight over laps.

It takes next to no time having a cat on a daily basis, but if you're away all the time at the weekend is it a good idea?

Mine is really independent, but come 10pm if I'm not sitting on the couch ready for him to come for a cuddle, he just wanders the house meeping for me. It's not just time, you have to actually emotionally invest too really.

I think it depends on the cat and you have to be prepared for all eventualities.

For the last two years looking after my two has been extremely time-consuming due to serious illnesses and conditions they have developed. Between them they have very complex care needs involving a strict routine of daily medications and injections and numerous visits to the vet. This has meant that I have not been able to go away this year or leave them for long periods during the day. My whole life pretty much revolves around them at present and, as I live alone and work full-time, it has been physically, emotionally and financially exhausting but I love my girls and would do anything for them. Personally I would never be without a kitty or two in my life but, like any other animal, they're a long-term commitment and you just have to be prepared for any outcome.

Generally we don’t lose a lot of time to caring for our cat. She gets one bowl of biscuits a day that she just nibbles her way through and a bowl of water that lasts 24hrs too. So two mins in the morning doing that. She uses a litter tray which DH poop scoops every evening when he gets home from work and changes the litter fully every 7 days. That’s a ten minute job. She has a cat flap so comes and goes as she pleases in the day and then we shut her in at night so she just sleeps most of the evening and night, usually on our knees or takes herself off to her “bed”. So almost no time sacrifice at all.

She’s taken up a lot of time in the last 12 weeks because I’ve had her back and forward to the vet every few days because she’s had an operation and some complications afterwards, but that’s highly unusual. From now on it will be one 30 minute trip to the vets every 5 weeks for an injection she needs that we are not allowed to give at home.

It’s the cost that’s the main thing. Cats are fairly self sufficient as long as you put the bowl of food and water down, but vet fees when Poorly or cattery fees for holidays add up.

We have two indoor cats and they barely take up any time at all.

They have biscuits down 24/7 and they get half a pouch of wet food each twice a day.

The litter trays are poop scooped twice w day as well (morning and night) which takes all of 60 seconds and they're changed fully once a week.

They're very easy pets imo.

I work FT and my cat is quite content
Food, water, litter tray. He doesn't do hunting however he does demand 5 mins of cuddles before I go to work. After I'm dressed he sits by the bed, I sit on the bed and he jumps up and wants fuss then trots off back to sleep
If I'm home he's on my lap but he is very... needy (see attached photo)

Cats are great. Get two rescues for company for each other.

In addition to what others have said, I chose to have a litter tray as I don’t like the idea of my cat toileting in neighbours gardens and annoying them. Some of them are the kind who would put down poison. It’s a rough area! This may not apply to you but I’m just mentioning in case there have been incidents before when people were annoyed at cat shit in their flowerbeds and the likes!

I recently rescued a senior indoor cat. If anything, she’s made my life less busy because I occasionally ditch doing something meaningless to spend time relaxing with her. These are always things that I have no particular desire to do but feel that I should because I’m lacking a specific reason not to. Staying in with my cat is the best reason ever!!

Totally depends on the cat. Mine is really needy and more like a puppy really, craves human contact and definitely can't be left for more than a night at a time and that includes having a neighbour come and give him a cuddle and a stroke and a chat,and yes,he does chat back too!

Took a long time to find food that works for him, half raw and half grain free is best.

We've had a LOT of trips to the vet with UTIs which were over £1k each episode so make sure you have pet insurance.

He needs flea treatment and worming treatment which is a tenner a month, Cystaid which is £7 per month plus food plus pet insurance. Quite a lot if you add it up.

Totally worth it though

My cat is no effort at all. I feed her when
I put the kettle on in the morning and then again at teatime, chase her with flea drops monthly and take her to the vet for jabs once a year. If she wants company she'll come and find me. She sorts herself out with the cat flap. Other than jabs she's been to the vet twice in 9 years and one of those was to be spayed. My old cat who died in October was a bit more work towards the end of his life. He needed a litter tray and had to go to the vet several times and had daily medication. Overall, it's like having a really cool flatmate. You look out for each other a bit, but mostly you just hang out together in an undemanding way.

You will need litter trays unless you live miles from other people, its not fair on the neighbours otherwise. Also the contents can give warning of illness. So you need a bit of space somewhere for those, it can be a bit trial and error. Ours didn't like using them in view of a window as next doors cat would jump on the sill and stare at them.

Mine take five minutes in the morning. Feed, change water and scoop their litter tray. That's about it!