How much of a tie is a cat?

[aperolspritzbasicbitch]

Ok, so probably a really silly question, especially as a dog owner 😬

Are cats easy pets?

I really want a cat, never owned one as an adult. I'm taken with the rag doll breed (however, this is on minimal research so far, so is based purely on looks. Would obviously research properly if decided to go ahead)
The biggest question mark over whether or not to give it more serious thought is what we would do with a cat when we went away?
My dog either goes to family, or we go on dog friendly trips.
Also, if you are out for the whole day, can cats just be left to it? Or would the time they can left alone for be the same as a dog?
Especially as rag dolls are recommended to be indoor cats.

Absolutely 💯. Cat n dog homes are full of beauties.
I've never understood alleged cat/dog lovers to go for specific breeds. If u love em, you love em.

The on,y problem with having a cat is, if you are like me, you won’t want to leave them . . .holidays have lost their appeal!

Our rag doll is 12 and has never ventured from the back garden. She’s perfectly capable of climbing/jumping out but has no desire to.
She’s very needy - crying for food as soon as it’s light and she hates a closed door!
Her preference is to sleep on us.
We used to have a Persian aswell and they seemed fine with Catteries as a pair, sharing an enclosure, but we’ve not sent the rag doll on her own since we lost the Persian last year.
With a former cat we had people popping in to feed and that was fine too.
Much less work than a dog.

Much less work than a dog. Feed twice a day, apply flea treatment once a month. That’s it assuming you have a cat flap and they can let themselves in and out. Cats are tied to a place rather than people like dogs. They’d sooner be at home.

That said because you will worship your fuzzy overlord you will make sure their blanket it just so, that they have 3/4 of the bed even though they are a small kitten, open the window or door for them several times a day, play with them endlessly etc.

I agree completely with getting a moggy rather than a breed. In my experience breeds are far more needy.

I also agree that back cats are best but impossible to photograph. There is a cat here.

I'd love to know where all these rescues are? None locally, other than ones with serious health issues, and those which cannot be with kids or other pets.

We have three moggies and they're super easy to look after.

If we do go away, someone just pops in twice a day to feed them.

I have 2 rescue boys who are indoors. Rescue were great at finding us personalities that suited our lifestyle and would be happy indoors. One of mine is a little more chill than the other 😬.

They do have FIV so I'm a little more cautious with them than I would be with a standard moggy as it means I want someone to have sight of them, review the contents of the litter box etc when I'm away!

Roughly it looks like this.

1 night away/24 hours: leave with timed feeders.
2/3/4 nights away: leave at home with family/cleaner/cat sitter coming in once or twice a day depending on length of trip.
Anything more: trusted cattery, runs right next door to the owner's house, have know the owner for donkey's years as they've done the same for all our family cats.

I'm not sure why people don't like catteries. We tried one that we didn't like but not all are created equal! I know ours spends loads of time with them and they are more closely monitored for their health than they would be with a person just popping in to our house. We know this because one of ours does tricks for Dreamies and the guy at the cattery worked this out and was SO excited to tell us he'd trained our cat when we got home, only for us to tell him that we knew he could do it! It's out in the countryside, we know they spend time with them every day, administer their special diet and medications and they get a lovely roomy chalet in front of a pond where my lively one will sit and watch the ducks all day and my chill one will get "heat drunk" under their special lamps and conk out upside down.

Try looking on local FB pages.
One near us are always posting about how overwhelmed they are with cats, they have to close their doors to new rescues because of it. This is a small independant though, not cat protection.

Standard moggies are easy peasy as they’ll toilet outdoors, come and go through a cat flap and you’ll just need someone to dump some whiskers in a bowl once a day if you’re away for more than 1 night which isn’t a tall ask so it shouldn’t be hard to find a neighbour, local teen or cat sitter to do it. Pure breeds are a lot more work. Not just personality wise (ragdolls have a rep for being thick and needy) but you’ll need a litter tray and asking someone to deal with that is a lot more work, also they’ll need entertaining as they won’t have the stimulation of outdoors and they may hate a cattery because most cats do so holidays can become tricky.

Following with interest as also considering a cat.

So is a litter tray much work? What about one of the automatic litter boxes?

Cats more generally (know nothing about ragdolls) are in a way easier as you can leave all days and over night once a cat rather than kitten stage, BUT in other ways they are harder as they can't come away with you, or most won't at least.

We have the automatic litter robot. My elderly long hair got used to being indoors when we lived in America and now won’t dream of toileting outdoors, also we have a kitten that’s still too young to go out. It’s great but it did cost £700 so it’s quite the investment! Cheaper knock offs from amazon have killed cats so it’s not something to skimp on if you’re going to go down that route.

We've got a moggy, he's 15 now. Never been to a cattery. We've always found someone who would pop in and feed twice a day. He was quite happy after we'd been away whether it's a weekend or 3 weeks. He's got a catflap.

Would we get another one, probably not. Just so we don't have to find someone to look after him really.

Adopt a 4 year old black or ginger boy. They will be past the crazy kitten phase, they will be soppy and affectionate, they will be perfect.

We have two ragdolls. They are amazing but so needy. My male ragdoll likes to herd us so if one of us is upstairs and another downstairs, he will just cry as he wants us all together. I would not advise a ragdoll if you want a low maintenance cat - they also need to be indoor cats as they have zero road sense, so need a lot more stimulation. However, if you have the time and attention to give them, they are brilliant cats. I could not live without them now, they are so loving and make me laugh everyday. I wouldn't have any other breed now.

A litter tray really isn’t too bad. You need to scope out the solids and any clumps each morning and night and top up with fresh litter. That only takes a couple of minutes but keeping on top of it keeps the whole tray fresh for longer. You also need to change all the litter and wash out the tray - but how often depends on what type of litter you have - with the right type of litter this might only be once a week.

If you have outdoor cats, you can train them to use an area in your garden and then the litter tray will just be for occasional use (or not at all - none of my childhood cats used an indoor litter tray once they were adults).

If I had purely indoor cats I could imagine investing in a litter robot in order to never think about it. But as mine will be going outside in a couple of months it wouldn’t be worth it.

Please rescue a little fluff that needs a home, rather than a pedigree.
My cat is very loving and people- centred. She sulks hugely when left for too long. Cats do require a decent amount of input. Just no walks, thank God.

Don't, I speak as someone who has 3 and potentially might end up with a fourth by the end of the week!
Dont do it unless you're prepared. They require a LOT of work.

I have 3 black/black and white rescues and this is true, they are often left in rescues. My 3 are all cuddle monsters. I have a cat flap and two of them go out daily, the other one only when it’s warm and sunny and not very far.
They cope perfectly fine with gravity feeders for biscuits and water. When we go away my parents visit every other day for an afternoon to give them cuddles.

Most cats are no trouble, mine on the other hand are nothing but trouble. Looking at you Penelope! But seriously they are great pets and other than sorting them out when you go away. They are fine.

Thanks guys, that's really helpful. Defo given me food for thought, and it would appear that for the stage we are in right now, a pedigree may not be the way to go, and a cat that can go outside would be best.

The next big question mark that I have absolutely no idea how to tackle would be how I know if my dog would mix well with a cat!

This really is just a thought at the moment though, so don't worry - if I do decide to go ahead I would do more research, and I would never just get a cat just to discard if there was an issue between having one with the dog.

Love the idea of a rescue actually, I like the thought of an older lady or gent.

I have a Ragdoll and wouldn't leave him overnight on his own, they are more like dogs when it comes to needyness than regular Moggies. E.G you'll never pee alone again 🤣