Pros and cons of having a cat?

[CommuterMummy]

Never had a cat in my whole life and tbh I am and always will be a dog lover. But dogs are high maintenance and DH and I work FT mostly outside the house so I think a cat is more appropriate for us - I want DS to grow up with a pet.
The main things I am scared of are them brining in mice (I am absolutely terrified of them, one of my biggest fears), them disappearing if they escape from the garden, them runing all our furniture etc.
We’d be looking to buy a house in a Surrey commuter town so quite green but not too rural - is the mice risk still high?
Is there a way of ensuring we get one with a slightly calmer and more affectionate personality (like with dogs for example, even if of course there can be differences bewteen the same breed, they tend to share certain characteristisc).
I basically want a low maintenance sofa cat that is sweet and is going to be a good family companion, especially for DS.
Am I asking too much? I genuinely don’t know anything about them!

OP please do not think that only gardens in rural areas have rodents in them.
I live on a densely populated estate in Birmingham and I’ve seen loads of rats and mice in my garden.

Despite having spent a fortune on scratching posts my cat has ruined my sofa and dining room chairs so prepare for the worst!

Just a normal b/w moggy. We went to view another cat in the rescue, but it was very ... feisty ... 😁. So the staff redirected us to our girl. Best decision ever. We just love her.

Thank you , though yesterday the Male ( the one on the windowsill) came in from he garden, managed to float upstairs and prance about on our bed which had no sheets ( in the wash)
So the mattress topper was sporting a lovely pattern of filthy pawprints .

<sigh> little swine

Our bengals paws had mud delivery powers im sure could be harnessed by science. Even in 2018 when it was so hot he could find mud, walk through the kitchen, hall and stairs with no mess before depositing muddy paw prints all over the duvet cover.

One time in the snow he came in with dog diarrhoea all over his paws and jumped on the dining table and windowsill. I had to wash him first because god knows what germs are in dog shit.

Pros/cons are so personal and will also depend on the personality of the car, whether you let them out and their breed.

We have three indoor moggies.

Cons

• hair everywhere - they all seem to shed at different times of the year so there's never any respite.
• despite buying scratching posts, they destroy the sofa and carpet,
• litter trays - litter tracks everywhere and poo smells.

Pros

• they get on really well and they're fantastic company for us and each other.
• can be left all day with no issues whatsoever and are cheap to find care for if we go away.
• fairly cheap to keep - insurance, food etc. doesn't cost loads.
• low maintenance

I’d always been a dog person, but we looked after MIL’s cats for a month and I realised I could be both. We adopted our cat the next month. She was three and we adopted her direct from a family where she was stressed by their noisy toddler, so we knew what her personality was like. She’d been an indoor cat and a total lapcat.

pros:

she’s very cuddly, very funny, and a great little chum

she’s very food motivated so we’ve been able to train her - she sits on command and always comes in when she’s called because she gets a treat

after we started letting her out she stopped using the litter tray completely

cons:

hair everywhere. I brushed a tennis ball worth off her earlier today

she hates the litter tray so in bad weather it’s a nuisance - in the recent snow we had to dig her toilet spot over and carry her out

she can be a pest around food

despite being a bossy, feisty little madam she can also be very nervous around noise - even just the doorbell

She’s a total joy and I love her so much. She’s nine now.

@Judystilldreamsofhorses does she bring mice in? Is she still an indoor cat?

As much as a cat can be left for longer than a dog, they're still hard work in other ways.

I got a kitten 3 years ago and he was so cute then, I mean don't get me wrong he's cute and I love him but I'd never had a cat before and he:

Scratches all furniture including sofas, the bed frame and doors. He runs around like a mad man in the middle of the night running up the curtains and swinging off them till he falls down, he takes running charges and jumps the wall too. He jumps on us in the middle of the night. He's also not affectionate but not vicious, he'll give cuddles if BF is out but he like him more than me generally.

It's also really hard with the kids, not sure how old yours is but mine just get too boisterous with him and take their playing too far - it actually really upsets me. They are still young so it's hard to make them understand.

No, @CommuterMummy she goes out - she doesn’t roam though, she’s either in our garden or the neighbours on either side. She catches mice but doesn’t tend to bring them in. We have a utility room between the back door and kitchen and can check her there, plus she’s never out overnight or through the day when no-one is home.

I think if you have a phobia of mice then you really need an inside cat tbh.