Do you regret getting your cat?

[Breadnjammy]

Following on from the dog thread!

Yes I do. I had an old cat that died who was an absolute gem so i thought id get a kitten because a cat’s a cat right??
This now adult cat is noisy at night meowing and banging on doors to wake us up. She is very fussy about the litter tray so if you miss a scoop she will go and pee somewhere else around the house and I struggle to get the smell out of things. She has damaged doors by scratching on them and last night went into the pantry and chewed a packet of liquid stock, which seeped into the shelf and damaged the veneer.
On top of this she doesn’t really like to be petted and will randomly bite or scratch you. She will come and sit on you occasionally but it’s kind of threatening to be honest.
I can’t rehome her because no one wants an unfriendly, destructive, noisy nocturnal cat, and I’m not going to abandon her because I believe she is 100% my responsibility as her owner, but I do wish there wasn’t another 15 years of this. Having said all that, I think she’s a happy cat who likes us a family so maybe we just need a cat family therapist.

Mine is a pain in the arse but 100% no. I wouldn’t be without her. She wakes me up every night, especially annoying now as I’m suffering badly with pregnancy insomnia and she seems to time it perfectly for when I’ve finally had my eyes closed for 20 minutes! She’s a thief- constantly getting into cupboards and other places she shouldn’t be. Can’t get five minutes peace away from her most days but I’d be lost without her.

No, our two have seriously enriched our lives, they are wonderful additions to the family, with hindsight I'd rather have had more cats than children tbh 😂

I don't regret the first two. I love them bits and they've got me through hard times but they are senior cats so really chilled out happy cats.

The third & fourth I was forced into taking and I resent them a bit. (Was threatened to be PTS by a family member as no shelter would take them)

Sounds like she needs a friend and perhaps a cupboard for the pantry?

No way. I have always had cats, except for a brief period when i was in a city flat.

In january this year, our beloved Beryl had to be pts aged 17.

Obvs, with it being winter, no kittens available. As we have 2 dogs, we wanted young kittens that would not be scared of dogs.

In june, we got 2 tabbies from cat protection and they have fitted in like a dream. One has had 2 mice in but that's what you get with cats.

No issues at all. They use the cat scratch post, use the cat flap no problem. Get on with the dogs.

Bit of carpet pulling upstairs but nothing much at all.

Hopefully we will get 17 years out of these too.

But, all my best cats have been black. I know folks don't like black cats but i really do. Beryl was all black and out cat before Beryl was also all black. She got to 16.

My childhood cat was black and white. And then i had another all black.

Our cat is also very bitey and will also sit on our laps but will then suddenly have a look in her eye which will turn into a full blown bite (which hurts). No idea why. Have tried ignoring her, playing with her, distracting her, a loud OUCH. Nothing works. She is very very confident and not much scares her so I think it might just be her personality. We don't know much about her last home, just that she was shut in one room for the first year of her life (maybe because of the biting) but she has all the freedom she wants now with her microchip cat flap and the run of the house.

If you are saying another 15 years I'm guessing they are around 2 years old? If so that is prime teenagers phase. Is there a way you can let him outside to work off the excess energy.

When my rescue was a teenager I remember fantasising about taking him back to the rescue but he grew up.

I will add ours only have access to the kitchen and outdoors at night. So no night disturbances. Our cats have always done their hunting at nights so i don't want mice brought all over the house. This way, any killings are contained in the kitchen.

I get where you're coming from. I've had cats pretty much my whole life when I haven't been travelling. Most were trouble free, save a couple that clawed some carpets.

Then I got my current two. Who have ruined a sofa and a cupboard with their scratching, ruined two carpets and a wooden floor with urinating, and will actually wake you up by batting you across the face with their paws if they're hungry.

I love them dearly and wouldn't give them up but I feel you! If it helps, I solved the urination problem and that made a huge difference. It wasn't cheap though. I had to replace the two carpets/wooden floor and the underlay, and scrub the floorboards underneath with enzyme-based cleaners followed by a suitable drying out period to make sure all last traces of scent were removed. Otherwise they just revisit the same spot. I also had to experiment with type of tray and location and found that these two cats were really really fussy about cat litter. They will only use the old-fashioned clumping clay-based stuff and the three litter trays we have have to be emptied twice a day. But if I do this, no more accidents. You may have already tried all this of course.

Several expensive scratching posts later has solved scratching issue. Again I had to experiment with location before they became the preferred choice rather than my furniture!

Can't do much about the waking us up (especially as they're kept in overnight to save the birds) but as I'm up early anyway it's not too big a deal.

What must be hard for you is the lack of affection back though. My two are very sippy and it helps a lot.

Hope it gets better. 💐

I am in a right old mixture of emotions with this one. I started a thread a couple of months ago about getting a cat I knew nothing about as my husband just walked in one day with the thing and we all had to get used to it. I would start by saying everyone in the house needs to be on board with getting a cat or there will be problems. I have grown to love our cat, but DS16 is still not happy and feels he cannot relax in the house anymore as the cat is always wanting to play (scratch/bite) with him. DS12 loves him but is wary of the scratches and bites, and I also love him. I feel a sudden surge of emotion and worry of what if he escapes and doesn't come back, what if he gets ill or dies sooner than he should, all of those things. But also I'm annoyed that I have to shepherd the little bugger about the house on a morning when we're all trying to get ready for work/school and can't get in and out of the bathroom and bedrooms without him darting in and just getting in the way. And that I can't air the house by leaving windows open in case he jumps out. The feeding and the litter tray is no problem, it's all the other things you have to think about.

No, my cats are the light of my life.

No.

I love my little monster even if she drives me crazy on a daily basis.

My previous cat was grumpy, ungrateful and often managed to scratch me but I still loved her.

I even like the neighbour's cat who insists on spending half of his time in my house and garden and eating my girl's food...

When I separated and moved to this house a couple of years ago with my young adult DC they were desperate for us to get a cat. I wasn’t that keen.
We got the most beautiful cat in the world and he’s a joy but I still wouldn’t have chosen to get him. It’s a tie and a daily chore and I am done with looking after everyone and everything.
I joke with them that the first to move out can take him and they look at me all shocked and think I am joking as they can’t conceive he isn’t the centre of my world. 😁
So no. I don’t regret him as the DC are obsessed with him but on my own I wouldn’t have bothered.

Definitely not. We've only had her since July but she's a bit older (9) and very calm and loves sleeping on your lap for as long as she can.
I always said we'll just keep rehoming senior cats after the previous one dies but I'm not sure any others would be as lovely so I'm not sure I'd risk it.
I never thought I'd love anyone or anything S much as DH and DD but the car is definitely up there!
Maybe we just lucked out😻

just to add that she is shut downstairs overnight and is happy sleeping/playing/pottering about so doesn't disturb us at all which I think helps

Yep we’re getting a pantry. I’d be happy to get a playmate but it sounds risky

@Julianne65
I have learned to pat her on the head around the ears only but I still feel anxious

@helpfulperson
probably around 4 or 5 years old. I’m imagining she’ll live to 20 because it just seems like my luck. Although obviously after all that time I’ll end up missing her like hell 🙄
She goes outside a lot but we haven’t managed to get her to use our new dog door yet. (We also have a dog and they used to be friends)

@Resilience
We have a polished cement floor so I have just been spraying the enzyme odour stuff. I am going to try with one of those new fangled self cleaning litter trays, and show my cat the price tag. I’ll experiment with different types of litter as well. I don’t mind having a litter tray in every corner of every room if it helps. I will also get scratching posts.

I am going to try with one of those new fangled self cleaning litter trays,

I was going to suggest this. We have one for our new cat and I absolutely love it. It massively reduces odor and the amount of time we need to spend on cat litter duty. It occasionally needs an extra clean but I can activate that from my phone.

No.

I had a gap of about 4 years between my last cats and the current lot, and yes they are a tie but they are adorable gremlins.

No. Never.

I fostered for 2 years, I waved 8 cats off to their new homes but Kitty is the one I couldn’t let go.

No - I adore her! She's greedy and vocal, but she's also the most lovely cat and she's the perfect blend of friendly and fiesty, bold and naughty for our family. I got her as a rescue aged about 2 and they said she'd be perfect for a family and she is. We all love her very much. Even DH (dog person) is fond of her.

Ive adored all my 10 cats (not all at the same time) they were/are ferals, cats in shelters that nobody wanted and other rejects. They have hugely enriched my life in every possible way. I dont mind the odd spraying or furniture destruction. They were all very special.

No - I love him so much. We adopted him very quickly after we had to have our lovely ten year old girl PTS because of cancer, and initially he felt like the "wrong cat", but I knew it would come. He took about four months to properly settle and become "our cat", but now he is, and while he is an absolute little monkey, a greedy pest, and a prolific hunter, he really is my best boy.

He'll be two in January and hopefully will stop his crazy spells a bit then, but he's orange, so perhaps not.

I might have been lucky, but all of my cats have been brilliant. Characters yes, but not annoying or destructive. I've had extremely chatty, very loving, or laid back and chill. They've all been moggys, farm cats generally, all outdoor. All kept in the kitchen overnight. All fit and healthy and long lived.

We've only had to re-home one, and that was because DH reacted really badly with asthma to her, odd, because all the other cats have been fine.

We currently have the most outrageous, mad, slightly psycho, very loud, Bengal cross. He is amazing, more like a dog. Even plays fetch with balls!

My previous cat was a perfect beautiful brainless angel and the light of my life (although his sister who predeceased him was also a real sweetheart) and when he went I said no more. Current cat was an unexpected rescue that we were asked to take in as an 8 week old kitten and through the first few weeks I wondered what the hell I had done as he was a pain in the arse - constantly climbing you or jumping on you and sinking in the claws, and climbing everything in the house. I lost about 60% of my plant pots. But he's about 18m now and has grown into such a lovely funny boy who is not one for the cuddles but makes up for it in personality, he's honestly just brilliant. Can't imagine the house without him.

I really wanted a second and we rehomed a very handsome cat from the local shelter that they claimed was super affectionate. He turned out to be a biter, with no warning signs, and he intended them to hurt. We lasted four days and had to take him back to the shelter. I was constantly petrified that he would turn on my daughter (who has seen two cats through old age and illness and is very sensible). We thought better to let him go to a more suitable home, maybe on a farm or somewhere where no visiting children would want to pet him. Never thought I would be someone who would return a cat to a shelter, I still feel awful about it but we really just weren't the right home for him.

I've had several cats over the past 44 years. The current one was a stray who found us a few months ago and eventually moved in 2 months ago. He's had a lot of health problems - cat flu, 9 teeth extracted, and was found to have FIV so hasn't been healing well. That, along with having him neutered and microchipped, has cost £850 (a lot in a short 8 weeks).

I don't regret helping him and taking him in at all.