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#12
10-24-2005, 10:54 AM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
I see you live in San Dog. The shelter that they have here is unreal. Its like an animal heaven. They have a great number for you to choose from, babies and grown up ones alike. I forgot exactly what its called, but I think it has 'Humane Society' in it, and its right off the I-8.
-Jihad PS. Don't get a cat. 
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#13
10-24-2005, 11:02 AM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
[ QUOTE ]
Our two cats becane outdoor cats the first time my son left the front door open. After that time it was impossible to get them to stay inside. Good luck with keeping them inside. [/ QUOTE ] I've had cats all my life and they've always been indoor cats. Once they reach a certain age they get skittish about going outside and won't try to run out the door if they get a chance. These days, if my cats get outside, they go no farther than the front porch, and then usually turn around and run inside once they hear a strange noise.
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#14
10-24-2005, 11:06 AM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
[ QUOTE ]
Its a post like this that reminds me of that "Men should act like men" commercial... [/ QUOTE ] This was exactly what I was thinking as I clicked on this thread. To the OP (and most of the other people in here): Look out for giant beer cans falling from the sky.
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#16
10-24-2005, 11:36 AM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
 i'm sorry, but it was left wide open.
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#18
10-24-2005, 02:12 PM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
Great ideas, man. Two is very nice, because they usually really do like each other's company. Cats are much more sociable than a lot of cat haters think. And they don't have to get used to each other if they're siblings, and seem to like each other right off the bat. Plus, females are mellow and won't stink up the place by spraying. Not declawing is the only way to do it; declawing actually removes the first joint of their paws and or course is very painful for them, plus it leaves them unable to climb properly or defend themselves if they ever have to.
Best set of decisions I've seen talked about on OOT for a good while! Two suggestions on toys -- that kind that is like a wire or a fishing pole that has a string dangling from it, to which is attached usually a piece of cloth as if it were the "bait" you were fishing with. You can just make little flicks of your finger while holding it and make the bait dance, and I've never seen a cat not go NUTS over chasing it. They really love it! Well worth the small expense. Also, from everything I've heard, they really really love the hollow tube that is formed into a ring and has plastic balls in it, with slots cut out of the side of the ring so the cats can swat at the balls. Also, be generous with the size of the litter tray. Especially if you have two cats. And change it frequently. That kind of litter that clumps up the pee so you can lift it out as a solid ball is excellent. Sooner or later you might want to change the fresh litter, but it won't build up much smell at all for quite a while. Another tip: when you empty the tray, clean it VERY thoroughly. Cats' senses of smell is acute. I'd suggest a bleach solution soaking for a bit, to really kill the odors. The problem with odors and cats is that cats actually get physically ill from the effort they will take to avoid bad odors. And like I said, they're sensitive and stuff will smell bad to them long before it does to you. A cat that doesn't like the cleanliness of his box will start holding his pee and hurting himself internally -- yep, it really happens, and it's not good for them. Kidney trouble, bladder trouble, eating problems result. And they might start to pee in odd places, or anywhere but their box. This is a double whammy because cats readily become habituated to peeing in a certain place, so once they feel more comfy peeing in your relatively smell free living room than their stinky box, they might be peeing in your living room for a long time to come. This is another reason why you should keep your cat's food and water in another room from his litter box. Cats can easily develop eating and drinking problems if they're hit with urine and feces smells when they try to eat. Again, at a level undetectable by you. Many people have cats with eating problems, and this is one of the biggest reasons. Drinking problems again turns into kidney damage and digestion problems. So, make litter box cleanliness a big priority, not an afterthought. By the time it smells to you, it will be a turturous stink to your cat. And get some good cat food, like Iams. This will have less ash in it than ordinary cat foods, and they like the taste a lot more too. Get it in the 25 lb. bags to cut way, way back on the cost. The smaller bags will kill you and make you want to give them awful stuff like Purina just because it's cheap. Also, humans love variety; cats crave sameness. Merely changing a picture on the wall can make some cats hide under the bed for a week. Establish a cat food flavor with them while they are young, and they will not only have a preference for it, but think that's how food ought to taste. And they'll be quite happy with that food forever after. It's extremely common for humans to try to help their cats get a little joy out of life by switching foods up on them. This isn't so great from the cat perspective. It can not only lead to digestive problems, but to them simply not eating, or eating just enough to not starve. Some cats are exceptions to this, but they are by far the exception. If you want to give you cat some variety and love, give it more playtime and cuddling. Save the changing food around for yourself. This also means you'll have to pass up the "cat food of the week" sale at stores. Deal with it. Your cat's health and happiness is much more important than pinching pennies on food, one of the few demands, they make on you, and not a big one. A single 25 lb. bag of Iams for two cats will last you a long, long time. P.S. -- on food, dry is not only fine, but preferable. Wet food goes bad much more quickly. Dry food retains its palatability all day. Throw any leftovers out the next day. P.P.S. -- Don't forget what I said about cleanliness applies very much to food and water bowls! Cats can easily develop problems if their food and water dishes are not kept scrupulously clean. After all, you woulnd't want to eat out of dishes that smell like ass either, right? And your cat can smell ass 20 times better than you. So -- clean those dishes good, like a mom, not a frat boy. Water and food dishes should be separate, and the water dish especially should be cleaned every day. Sorry if I made any of this sound like trouble, but cats are extremely low maintenance, and deserve at least the small courtesies I mentioned. You could have an unhappy cat, and even some vet bills, if you give your cats less than the minimum courtesies any living creature would want, and deserves. Oh, another note -- get them some of that chocolate or caramel or whatever flavored stuff, comes in a tube, that helps dissolve hairballs. They absolutely love the stuff. It's like five or six bucks a tube, or was when i had cats, but you don't use it up all that quickly. They'll lick it right off your finger and love it.
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#19
10-24-2005, 02:24 PM
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Re: I\'m buying 2 kittens this week
[ QUOTE ]
There are people here who will tell you that keeping them inside is cruel, I believe you MUST keep them inside. The life expectancy of indoor cats is much much longer than outdoor, and if you get them as kittens they won't know the difference. You should still put collars and tags on them, though, in case they get outside. My cats also have microchips imbedded under their skin so they can be tracked if they ever get out. I don't think it was that expensive, maybe $75/cat. I have only heard stories about un-fixed cats, but I'm told that if your cats are not fixed they go nuts when they are in heat and you'll have lots of gentleman callers. You should fix them unless you're going to be a breeder. If you can stay in the habit of clipping their nails from the very beginning you'll be happier. We didn't do it regularly enough, so the cats hate it, so we don't do it, and they tear lots of stuff up. Do not declaw. [/ QUOTE ] I agree with this. THe lifespan of an outdoor cat is like a year and a half. Exposing your babies to that means they are subjected the violence a big nasty world can afflict on what are essentially prey animals. They're really not impressive compared to a dog, a hawk, a car, a coyote, or jerky kids. And just as bad, cat diseases are astoundingly quick and virulent. They can literally die in a couple of days after catching them. Also agreed on the nail clipping. You should get them used to it very young. Even going so far as to touch and separate their claws when they don't need clipping. What you want is to have them habituated to your doing the deed and handling their body in intrusive ways in general. This is very necessary for when they get injured or really need it. Take your time and don't rush the clipping, because clipping the meat in their nails will freak them out for a long time to come. If they start squirm too much, discipline them by laying your finger down, with a little pressure, along the top of their nose up to the forehead. This works very well with cats to show them who is boss, yet is completely non-violent and low stress for both of you. Only clip when you can see that none of the nail bud is in the grip of the scissors. Use the special nail scissor device, not regular scissors. It's like a little guillotine. This also goes for showers. Bathing a cat can be a violent and bloody nightmare if you don't get them used to it while young. But if you do, they'll trust you and let you do almost anything to them. I got mine so mellow that even the vet marveled at how docile and trusting they were. I built up that trust with frequent intrusive handling started when they were very young. When I bathed my cats, I would take them in the shower naked and sit cross legged, with one of those extended shower top hoses to do the rinsing and keep us warm. They were stepping around my nuts, but even when quite unhappy about the soaking and scrubbing, were docile enough to never scratch me even once, and completely trustworthy. This happens when you give your cats plenty of handling and reason to trust you. Putting off things like clipping nails and bathing them only makes doing it harder and harder and more of a battle between you. Start young, and they'll act toward you as if you were their loving mommy. They might not like what you're doing, but they'd never dream of giving you real trouble or trying to hurt you.
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