Lots of good advice in this thread that I won’t repeat. But…
I will say that if a cat pisses in strange places, like the bathtub, it’s a strong sign of a urinary infection. To the vet toot de suite. Takes a few weeks of pills to fix, so don’t delay.
Male, unfixed cats can spray, quite nasty to find on a chair leg. I have found that males fixed late in life may continue this behavior, so beware if you get a mature, unfixed male.
Our cats were never, ever allowed on counter or table tops. Makes food preparation, eating, and computer use much more enjoyable. They can be trained, although I wouldn’t advise leaving an unattended chicken out for a test.
I’ve had cats and dogs my entire life. I love them both, but I’m more of a cat guy.
Most of our cats were American Shorthair, but we had a Manx (good hunter; used to bring live snakes home to scare mom and sis), a Siamese (that cat was nuts) and 3 Main Coons (all exceedingly sweet-natured).
Our current cat is an American Shorthair. A lady rescued him from an owl who was in flight with it’s talon clamped onto the kitten’s head (I don’t believe the owl was taking the feline for a joy ride). She whacked the owl with a broom and kitty fell to the ground. I adopted him. He’s got a permanent scar on the back of his head and a bent ear from the talon. His name’s Tibby (coincidentally, my name, too).
Tibby is by far the most affectionate cat I’ve ever had. In fact, he’s much too affectionate. I now work from home and he sticks to me like white on rice 24/7. Follows me everywhere I go. Purrs and chatters constantly like a Siamese. Wakes me up every night with his dough kneading and edging me off to a corner of the bed.
We had to have our schnoodle dog Daisy put down on Monday (she was mainly my daughter’s dog). Tibby misses her, too (he used to dive bomb Daisy from the table as she walked by).
Here’s a pic of Tibby. But, I warn you, if you have a cat, you may not want to click—he’s the handsomest tomcat on the planet and he’ll make your cat look ugly by comparison.
