# Any cats I should avoid?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 1, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199 "2009-10-01T03:10:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199/101 "2009-10-06T05:09:36Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#):
>
> I was reading the documents to see what breed we had selected. It reads Domestic Short Hair, which I take as some euphemism for ‘back alley tryst’.
That is exactly [correct](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_shorthaired_cat) :).
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### Author:  [@sethness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethness)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199/102 "2009-10-06T05:19:21Z")
1. Get it checked by a vet, particularly if you’re planning on having more kids. For example, cats can carry menengitis and give it to babies, I’m told. As another example, “cat scratch fever” is not merely a rock song.
2. Weather-appropriateness: If you’re in the tropics, avoid a longhaired cat unless you reeeally like torturing kitties by chronically overheating them.
3. Allergies: although the allergy is to cat dandruff (skin flakes), I’ve heard that shorthaired cats and regular vacuuming make cat allergies more manageable than longhaired varieties in moderately mussed homes. Also, check your lease! Your landlord may not allow cats or dogs because cleaning a livingspace for a next, possibly allergic, tenant is difficult and costly.
4. Wild/domestic mixes. Wild cats like Servals and mixed wild-domestic cats like Savannahs may make great pets, but in some states and cities they are heavily regulated or outright banned. New York City, for example, does not permit wild cats as pets.
Another consideration is the temperament of these wild and semi-wild animals: Servals, for example, are notorious for attaching themselves emotionally to _just one person or family_, and being unable to adjust to new families. If you’re 99 years old or planning to move frequently, don’t make a commitment to one of these cats.
1. Overly inbred cats are probably something you should avoid.
The Japanese, for example, are in love with exotic pets. If your cat or dog is a breed that nobody on your block has seen before, you get significant bragging rights. Aside from creating pressure to import exotic pets like green monkeys and chinchillas, that demand also prompts the pet industry to take inbreeding risks to produce a large marketable crop when they find a mutation that might be appealing. Inbreeding can produce a marked increase in the presence of the desired trait, but it can also reinforce recessive bad genes.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2009, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199/103 "2009-10-06T06:37:12Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#):
>
> For the record the shelter did give us a carry case for the kitty. The lady that helped us said don’t open the case ON THE COMPOUND. I gave the ok to open the case in the car (What could go wrong?)
>
> I was reading the documents to see what breed we had selected. It reads Domestic Short Hair, which I take as some euphemism for ‘back alley tryst’.
>
> My daughter fell in love with this little firecracker. The hard part was leaving with just the one. The pod we were in had about 50 cats and 30 of them were meowing and reaching out as we passed. There was one huge (16 lbs) dust-mop that we liked but he was 13. He was friendly enough but a bit too ‘dignified’.
>
> I’m sure I’ll have more episodes to relate over the next few weeks. Thanks for all of the advice, I’ll be sure to put it to use.
You were supposed to get two. Oh well, I guess you now have a Winterfest gift that you can give.
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### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199/104 "2009-10-06T12:33:11Z")
If your kitchen trash can doesn’t have a lid, get one with a lid now.
> [@sethness](#):
>
> 1. Get it checked by a vet, particularly if you’re planning on having more kids. For example, cats can carry menengitis and give it to babies, I’m told.
It’s not meningitis, it’s [toxoplasmosis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis) that is carried by cats. That’s mostly harmless (as far as we know) unless a woman gets it while she’s pregnant, or to someone with immune system problems. Pregnant women and immunocompromised people should not clean litter boxes. If your cat is a strictly indoor cat, though, it’s unlikely to get toxoplasmosis.
> [@G0sp3l](#):
>
> For the record the shelter did give us a carry case for the kitty. The lady that helped us said don’t open the case ON THE COMPOUND. I gave the ok to open the case in the car (What could go wrong?)
Well, now you know.
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### Author:  [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199/105 "2009-10-06T16:32:47Z")
As a bit of a mutt myself I’ve learned to read between the lines 😃
We could have gotten two without going into debt but I really wanted ease our daughter into this. The dog my son SWORE he would take care of ended up being my dog.
We’re done with kids but we’ve scheduled a vet visit already.
I knew (logically) that letting kitty out wasn’t a good idea. Still who expects a kitten assassin? Consider me chastened.
😃 thanks for no burns about the ‘lord of the manner’ I do know what a manor is. Fricken short edit window. I’m not known for proofreading.
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### Author:  [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199/106 "2009-10-06T16:34:50Z")
As a bit of a mutt myself I’ve learned to read between the lines 😃
We could have gotten two without going into debt but I really wanted ease our daughter into this. The dog my son SWORE he would take care of ended up being my dog.
We’re done with kids but we’ve scheduled a vet visit already.
I knew (logically) that letting kitty out wasn’t a good idea. Still who expects a kitten assassin? Consider me chastened.
😃 thanks for no burns about the ‘lord of the manner’ I do know what a manor is. Fricken short edit window. I’m not known for proofreading.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199/107 "2009-10-07T04:37:46Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Still who expects a kitten assassin? Consider me chastened.
Oh boy, are YOU in for some fun times.
Cats, and especially kittens, regard human feet as their natural prey. Especially at 3 AM. This is where the second cat is essential, as both felines will be awake and ready to play at that time, and will usually take their aggressions out on each other, instead of your poor vulnerable toes. Human feet can be attacked at any time, but cats LOVE to pounce on feet that are under the blanket.
You need to get a [laser pointer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2jlJzTEjXU&feature=fvw), but don’t shine it into Sugar’s eyes.
And here’s a few websites that you need:
> **[The CAT User's Manual | Specs FAQ | andreas.com](http://www.andreas.com/catman.html)**
>
> CAT Units are User Friendly | Mouse-Driven | Self-Cleaning | Energy-Saving Standby Mode | Self-Portable | Dual Video | Manufactured by MOMCAT
[http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/hum1/guidelines\_for\_cats.htm](http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/hum1/guidelines_for_cats.htm)
[http://icanhascheezburger.com/](http://icanhascheezburger.com/)
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### Author:  [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199/108 "2009-10-07T05:06:07Z")
**Bert** LOVES to chase the laser pointer, **Lynn**!😃
We have also found a "treat’ for him called “The Good Life Recipe” which I call “Kitty Crack”! 🙂 He has learned where it’s kept and you oughta see that tail move when D opens it up!
Also, **Lynn** - please correct me on this - but isn’t there a “food” for “indoor kitties” called _Kitty Green_, which is supposed to help regulate their digestive function?
We’ve looked, but haven’t been able to find it at the grocery store.
Thanks
Q
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cats-i-should-avoid/512199/109 "2009-10-07T05:19:07Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#):
>
> We could have gotten two without going into debt but I really wanted ease our daughter into this. The dog my son SWORE he would take care of ended up being my dog.
Honestly all the more reason to get two, _if_ you can afford the extra food/vet/adoption fees and don’t mind another litter box ( better to have one per cat for any potential territorial reasons, though you may find it is unnecessary ). Generally two kittens that get along really are less of a handful than one bored kitten.
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