We have decided to look into getting a cat as my son (8) is really keen to have a pet; I am not keen on small pets like hamsters/guinea pigs etc but think a cat would fit well into our lives (and I really love them) We also have a 3 year old.
I really want to have considered all the angles though so I was wondering if the experienced cat owners on here could help me out with a couple of questions?
For context, we live rurally, nearest road is not busy but can be quite fast; it’s about 800 yards from our actual property, and loads of countryside around. We have a large garden which cannot be cat proofed, but I’m not keen on the idea of keeping indoor cats when we live in such a quiet place. But we live next to a large disused quarry and the boundary to our property is basically a cliff edge (lots of trees on it and it’s not a sheer drop) Obviously we have a sturdy fence to keep the kids safe, but I’d be so worried about a cat jumping over and being hurt. Is this a rational fear? My husband doesn’t think it is because of their instincts but I don’t want to get a cat at all if it’s not going to be safe and I have known some clumsy/accident prone cats in my time. There are a few cats in the area and to my knowledge none of them have ever fallen in. But would we be able to train a kitten or a rehomed older cat to be safe around a drop like that?
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We’d intended getting just one but a couple of people have said two is better in terms of keeping each other company. Is this true? I work part time and mainly from home so I would be around a lot, so not sure the company issue applies.
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I have been allergic to some cats in the past, but not to others (I lived with two cats for two years and had no issues, but always end up itching and sneezing when I visit my friend who has cats) i know that no breeds can be truly hypoallergenic, but I have read that some breeds are better than others for people with allergies. I’d love to hear any experiences with this. I love Russian Blues and have heard they are one of the better ones.
In light of the issues above, if we decided to go ahead, would we be better off going for rehoming or buying a kitten? I really like the idea of rehoming but appreciate there are pros and cons to both. I’ve heard that adopting/rehoming a cat can be difficult if you have small children.
Thanks for reading and any advice you can throw my way would be much appreciated. I’m reading up as much as I can as I like to research everything to the nth degree (weirdly Google didn’t have the answer to ‘can a cat live next to a disused quarry’!) but I’d love to hear some personal opinions/experiences.