I think I want to adopt a cat but I’ve never had a cat before and I have questions!

[Pigeonqueen]

Please be kind, some of my questions might seem daft 🙈

I’ve only ever had Guinea pigs before - many, many of them in a huge indoor cage, and I loved them to bits but my health is declining now (lupus, joint issues) and bending down on my hands and knees to clean the huge cage out was becoming very hard for me. Over time the herd became less and less and I sadly lost my very last one 3 weeks ago 😞. (Old age).

So…. Now I am Guinea pig free, and I’m thinking I’d like a cat. But I don’t know a lot about actually the day to day stuff of caring for a cat. I’m googling and watching you tube stuff etc. And I’d like to rehome rather than get a kitten I think (although open to a kitten through a rescue I guess).

The main things I’m confused about are -

If my hypothetical cat has a cat flap and can go in and out as it pleases (we’re in rural Norfolk) do I still need a litter tray?

Is getting an air tag collar a good idea?

Insurance - there’s a difference between costs for the same age of cat depending on whether it’s male (more expensive) or female (cheaper), why is this?

Are kittens easy to litter train? Or am I better to go for an older cat, maybe around 2 years ish?

Really going back and forwards on this and want to make the right choices for the cat and us all. (No other pets now, I can’t work due to disabilities so home a lot, Ds aged 13 and dd aged 21 who is at university most of the time and a dh who works full time).

I'm less the cat whisper than DCat1 is the human whisperer.

If he wants to go outside he scratches at the cat litter near the front door.
If he is out of dry food he comes and smells my mouth and if he wants water he sits and scratches at the bath panel.

Cats destroy houses, I took in dsd's cat and it scratched, wouldn't use a litter tray or the cat flap and hair got everywhere. You will need to be able to look after the cat and I'm not sure it's much less than guinea pigs. I also discovered I'm allergic to cats. Needless to say when she passed away we haven't replaced her. Dogs are much easier in so many ways (bar walking)

We got a rescue 5 years ago, about 6 months before lockdown. She settled in straight away, followed my teen daughter about like a shadow and was bloody delighted by lockdown as it meant 3 humans at her beck and call all day!

She spends most of the day sleeping but prefers to be by or on someone. She has a very loud purr which is comforting.

She needed training on how to use a cat flap (preferring a human to open the back door) but now comes and goes. Rarely hunts, thank goodness. Ignores any cat bed presented to her, preferring the middle of my king-size human one or any WIP crochet blanket (finished blankets do not have the same appeal).

I wasn't really wanting a cat, it was DD and now ex-H who wore me down. But she's a gorgeous creature and I'm delighted she's in my life.

That's not normal

I have a lovely home with my cat, yes he sheds but I use a fur remover
He always uses his tray and never scratches furniture

My rescue girl was 10 when we got her, she’s now 13 and still has zoomies and likes to play.

Trays can go on a table or raised area if it helps you empty it.

Kittens are generally already litter trained when you get them, even my born free kittens only had to watch me picking their shit up and dumping it in their trays once and they figured it out.

Kittens will destroy your house (e.g curtains, sofa, chairs, Nintendo WII wire, landline wire and PS4 wires, DH's shoes 🤣) but they are super cute and fun, best in pairs though😍

Cats are a really easy pet, give them a cosy place to sleep (that may be your ironing pile), feed and water them, deal with their shit and they are happy with that. Don't go mad buying toys, a scrumpled up biscuit wrapper, empty toilet roll tube and ping-pong ball is more than enough!

I would always recommend insurance, my last cat had a long term illness and the medication alone was £50 per month plus a special diet at £30 per bag.

Including insurance and vaccines, my current cat costs an average of £50 per month, probably less really as his bank account is increasing slowly over the years (yes, I have a bank account for the cat 🤣).

Sounds like you're looking for something similar to what we were looking for.

I asked our local rescue for a youngish adult cat (not a kitten) who could live with children and had a cuddly, friendly personality.

We were offered a wonderful boy who's been with us since September. He's about 4 or 5 years old, very easy to care for and a very soppy, cuddly cat.

He's our first cat, too (I had cats as a child but never my own) and he's so lovely. I'd recommend an adult rescue to anyone because the rescue can match your family to the kind of cat that would suit you - it's not like getting a kitten and rolling the dice on what kind of personality it will grow up to have. Though kittens are very cute, of course.

Agree that that’s not typical. We’ve had cats, dogs, goldfish and hamsters. The cats are by far the least work.

On top of what everyone else has said, I recommend getting a microchip cat flap. They only allow your cat in. Also you can set a timer to lock them. This means that you can easily keep them in over night. If you do that then have a litter tray on standby. We do that and the litter tray gets used about ten times a year during the night.

I rehomed a cat in May - had a tray at first but gradually moved it to the back door and then outside and now he goes out for the loo.

He was a stray and is just delightful and delighted to have a new home. He goes out and about but prefers snoozing near me while I WFH although his absolute favourite is my teenage daughter whom he adores and she him.

Vet says he's about 2/3 years old from his teeth.

My only complaint is he's so greedy. I think this is a trauma response as he was very skinny when I got him from the shelter (he'd only been there 2 weeks) and was a stray. It makes me sad to think about his past life.

I had to keep him in until he'd been vacc'd by my vet for feline flu - about a month. Cats Protection neutered and vacc'd for everything else except feline flu. I was a wee bit concerned he may not come back when he went out but he doesn't go far or for long.

Best thing I've done in ages plus I had mice last winter and have been mouse free this year.

Which one do you have? We got the SureFlap one with the intention of being able to remotely lock them in before dark, but one of the furry little devils can thwart the electronic lock. This means we have to be home to put the physical lock on, rendering it a little pointless 🤦‍♀️

I have a Sureflap pet door. It’s worked fine for me but friends had the same one and their cat, who was a cunning bastard, could unlock it.

We love lap cats too! We have adopted four rescue cats over the last 16 years ranging from 1 to 4 years old, and we always do the lap test in the shelter! If they get on your lap for a snuggle having just met you and in the stressful environment of the cattery, they're likely going to be pretty friendly. It's worked a treat so far! Currently got our latest acquisition on my lap where she's been snoozing for the last hour 🥰

Hi OP,

I grew up with cats. The main thing that I have noticed is that cats that are ginger or tortoiseshell can be a bit crabby, and brown or champagne cats tend to be very easy going.

Our cats always liked to claw the sofa and climb the curtains. We just had to accept it.

Only our boy cats fought other cats in the street. We had one who would get injured in a fight every summer. Cats fight by initially having an opera singing match. Our guy always won the singing competition, but then would turn his back nonchalantly to walk away, and get a great swipe with a clawed paw from behind. I spent many happy summers sitting in with my cat, with his lampshade on, while he recovered from winning his singing contests.

Back in the 90s when a cat got ill, it was just put to sleep peacefully, but now the vets seem to keep them going into advanced illness, and I really don't like that. I thought it was kinder for our cats not to have to suffer through chonic illness in later life.

We have had 2 rescue cats for 9 years, one is still very timid and doesn't like being petted or looked at the other is quite a lap cat. Both hate all visitors and leave the house as soon as anyone different is here.

They have a cat flap and they come and go as they please. We keep them in during bonfire/diwali season and NYE but they dislike using the litter tray and generally wait until we let them out again, although once they did resort to using it when it was snowing.

They have never used a scratch post and prefer to sharpen their claws on posts outside (although they did use an armchair when we first had them 😬) and a pile of clean washing is a much preferable place to sleep than any sort of cat bed.

Shy cats won’t pass the lap test in shelters and need a home to blossom because they find the shelter too stressful to thrive.

Thanks. My vet had the same one and her cat could also get out of it so definitely a bit of an issue. Ours manages to get a claw round the side and pull it towards him.

I only found out when I got back from somewhere late at night and saw a distinctly familiar black cat sat on our neighbour’s doorstep 😐

Seven of the nine cats I fostered are now lap cats. Only one of them was a lap cat when he first came to me.

One of them took 2 years before he first sat down on his mum’s lap. She cried because coming from him, it meant such a lot.

I've had cats since childhood. They are very low maintenance. You'll need a litter tray for the first 3 weeks or so when they can't go out. Since ours started going outside we don't use the litter tray except in rare cases where she has to be kept in the house.

Pet insurance can be pricey but is essential. They need regular worm/flea treatment. The vets tell you to do it every month but I only do it every three months or so as cat doesn't go out much.

Older cats often find it harder to get rehomed so it would be lovely to take one in. The rescue centre should know a bit about their personality and if they are likely to be lap cats or not.

Here are my two. We rescued them from a shelter at about 6 months old. They had been abandoned at 3 months old and were always overlooked because they weren't friendly. Our girl just hissed at us and hid when we met them. We've had them just under a year now and whilst she is still quite skittish at times and not a lap cat (though regularly demands attention), he is the most affectionate cuddle boy.

I've had rescues over the years, and the last pair were a mother and older kitten.

The kitten was a little on the feral side at first. It took a few months of careful handling to win him round, and wow, he turned into the loveliest boy. Loved anyone who visited.

He died a few weeks back, but spent the last two years of his life practically clamped to my chest every time I sat on the sofa, with his face inches from mine. Annoying at the time, but boy do I miss him.

For some reason my photo didn't attach to my post, and now I can't add any older ones. So he's my cuddly boy

My shy cats took a while to turn into lap cats. But it was so worth the wait.

I have had 6 cats, never had a litter tray always let them in and out as needed.Also never even had a cat flap, let them in and out in morning sometimes at night.
Worked really well and less work , I was also very rural.
5 were cuddily, 1 not so much, but we still loved it.
One was part persian and I had to brush comb that one a lot.

Sorry I did have a litter tray with kittens first few weeks, after that no more.