Cat Dopers, what is the plus/minus factor of cat ownership?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Our dog is not long for this world. Arthritis is setting in rapidly, probaby brought on by the fact that our 9 year old lab thinks she is 3 still and likes to wrestle the 100+ pound lab/st. bernard mix puppy next door. She ain’t the dog she use to be.

I adore my dog and would get another Lab in a heartbeat if it weren’t for the hair shedding and vet, grooming bills. Oye ! and the poo—eeek! Outstanding all around dog. If I could clone her to her 2 year old self, I would.

I have always wanted a cat. Had one briefly when I was a teen, but I was not ready to be owned by a cat at that stage. My uncle had a farm and naturally had about 20 barn cats. I loved playing with them and watching them run off any stray dog that came loping in.

My kids, without any prompting or encouragement from me, love cats and kitties. Dogs too, but for some reason, they just gravitate towards felines. Maybe it is because we don’t have one and there is a dog at home that it is an accessability factor.

My husband & his family hate cats. The family is a minor obstacle. My husband could be the roadblock. Ok, he is The Roadblock

What is the plus/minus factor of having a cat?

Costs, food, vet bills, boarding, spraying, disease & general maintence. And what I fear the most, the kitty litter & its smell. I’d rather set the mower on low and shoot poop elsewear on the lawn until it is obliviated than clean out a litter box. Barf.

This would be mostly an indoor cat, who would definately have access in our garage & barn to handle the mouse situation as it warrants.
I have been enjoying myself on the Cat Fancier’s breed websight to educate myself on cats more and their personalities. I am partial to British Shorthairs, Ocicat, Siamese, Havana Cat. I’m all over the Cat Map, so to speak. I would probably adopt a shelter/rescue cat or get a free kitty, but I believe strongly in educmacation of the animals.

If this Cat thing happens, it probably won’t be until after Xmas or later on. If. If. If.

There is also a secret reason of why I would like a cat. so I can talk incessently here on the Dope of why my cat is the bestest, brightest, cutest, smartest furball barfing cat in da world. I wants to be a part of the in crowd.

2

My cat is mega-low-maintenance. He’s an indoor/outdoor cat and only uses the litter box once every 6 months. If yours will have garage access, leave the litter box in there. If you have a big “ick” factor you could just dump the whole thing and refill it without fishing for turd biscuits. Vet bills +/- $100/yr and Cat Chow is cheap.

I might be one of the lucky ones though.

3

turd biscuit…I could live without that imagary. :smiley:

4

Havana is good, from what I’ve heard, if you want a dog-like cat. I’ve had half abbeys as well (abyssinaan) and heard good things about their personalities from other owners. When I become catted, those are my choices.

I too have the garage/indoor problem, can’t deal really with putting a catflap out and keeping him safe in the yard - still working that out.

As for poop … what about an automatic electric cat box? I’ll probably find away to make them “poop outdoors” cats and hope for the best.

But I would suggest opting for a pair if you work all day - they need companionship, IMO.

5

Cats are so much lower maintainence than dogs. I’ve got two: the older one is a mostly indoor cat and the younger one comes and goes as he pleases. Vet bills are no higher than they would be for a dog. Yeah, the litterbox is kinda icky but I’ve just developed a habit of scooping it first thing when I walk in the door in the evening and then it’s over with. I think it’s way easier than carrying around a plastic bag like my dog owner friends do. If your cat is gonna be indoor/outdoor, he probably won’t even use the litterbox anyway. Big upside to a cat, if I wann go away for the weekend, I can just leave out a lot of food and go. No worries about cat sitting, etc…

6

We have had four cats on a regular basis around our house. All indoor cats. We have 4 liter boxes that are cleaned out daily and I know our house does not smell of liter box. I use to travel alot, so returning home you could tell if the house smelled bad.

Up side to cats, they are pretty low maintenance. We have left our cats alone in the house for 4 days. As long as you provide them with enough food and water, they are okay on their own. Unlike dogs that will tend to gorge everything you set out for them in the first 2 hours. They are mega affectionate, at least ours are, they are small enough to curl up on a desk or lap. They purr, instead of the deadly tail wagging dog that will clear a coffee table because you called it’s name. Our cats know their own names and will come when called.

Down side, is they are pretty small compared to a dog, so it they get out, chances are you won’t find them, they will find you.

We currently have 1 adult cat, 2 kittens and a 75 golden retriever. I prefer the cats over the dog any day. Mainly because when a cat gets wet, it doesn’t smell like wet dog, and they don’t leave muddy paw prints coming into the house.

7

We’ve had six different cats over the past 18 years. Three of them are with us now & have adjusted remarkably well to the arrival of our twins.

Almost all of our cat experiences have been good. They’ve been affectionate, playful, responsive (cats WILL come if you call their name), interesting members of our family. They made our house feel like a home. And we could leave them for a short weekend without worrying.

There have been two downsides to cat ownership. With our very first cat I wasn’t a good cat-mommy & didn’t change the litter box often enough, so this cat developed a habit of peeing on the carpet. It was my fault, but I didn’t realize it until later. There is NO getting that stink out if the peeing has gone on for a good while. Once I learned my lesson I changed my habit & it hasn’t been a problem with our other cats. And, actually, the cat that did the peeing was really high-strung her whole life. She once looked Hubby straight in the eye and peed on his shoe as he was talking on the phone and ignoring her. I adopted that cat from the shelter as an adult, and she was never quite happy.

The other downside was when another of our cats developed kidney stones. We spent $3,000 on his care, including surgery, only to have him die while in the vet’s office. Three thousand dollars for a dead cat was a lousy deal. I don’t know how to get around that - I’m not sure if the answer is to just accept his illness & let him die w/out trying to save him, or if we could have gotten better care by having more money/cat insurance. That might be something to answer in the back of your mind going into this. But don’t let it stop you - cats are wonderful. I still miss our cat fessie.

8

An indoor/outdoor cat will likely do its business outside, so long as you provide it easy access (and once you train it, which takes very little time, especially compared to a dog). The cat will be safer and healthier as an indoor-only cat, however. If you adopt a de-clawed cat (or have it de-clawed, which I recommend only as a very last resort), you *absolutely must keep it inside all the time. *

I have a cat door to my garage and keep the litter box out there, so odor isn’t a problem.

The one real downside to cats: hairballs. Get a short-haired cat if you want to minimize the hairball issue. Truthfully, no matter how bad the hairballs get, it’s not enough of a downside to keep me away from cats.

While not true of all cats, my two hate travelling and new experiences. I don’t take them places unless I have to.

My cats are very affectionate, and one of them rivals dogs in socialbility. They take care of themselves; need less attention and play time than dogs; and most can be left for short periods of time on their own as long as you provide plenty of food, water, and toilet access.

9

Some folks would say it’s the price of kids and cats and if you aren’t willing to pay it, you shouldn’t have cats. Or kids.

But yeah, sometimes things happen - even to the indoorsist of cats. I recall we spent that much one one who didn’t quite make it over the Razor Wire.

I think with major illnesses, the question becomes is this: Are these heroic efforts? Will it give them quality of life? Or a longer time alive, with serious pain, so you don’t ‘lose’ them?

It’s not always an easy decision.

(oh, my stats: 30 odd cats in and out over 30 odd years - not counting the feral colony my parents have half tamed and fully fixed)

10

I volunteer at a kitty shelter, and I would strongly recommend keeping cats indoors if you get them. We regularly see evidence of or hear stories about cats disappearing, being hit by cars, eating things that make them sick, getting worms, etc. If you live in the country where there are wild dogs/coyotes/other wild animals, the cats can be attacked. It’s much safer for them to be inside where they’re safe and sound.

That being said, cats are wonderful companions and certainly less work than dogs, but they still do take time and energy. I’ve only had my two for about two months and we’re still in the adjustment phase. I’m used to coming home from work and just relaxing on the sofa for a while. Now I have to feed them, clean their litter box, and entertain them. Sometimes that can be annoying when I just want to relax, but then they curl up on my lap and start purring and it’s all worth it.

Good luck with the decision!

11

On the other hand, though we have severely domesticated them, they are very outdoor creatures. My plan at this point is to put up Friendly Fence (google it) so they can be outdoors but safe. Right now I just have to figure out how to put a catflap through a cement wall to give them back yard access.

12

I might sing the praises of the little bast…er, furballs more effectively if my two kitties hadn’t woken me up so many times last night. We seem to be having some issues. However, the cat I had before I adopted these two was the light of my life and never gave me any trouble. (Except for that one time when he chewed a hole in the garbage bag, and I am willing to accept full blame for filling it with such deliciousness.)
The fact is, if you love a cat enough, you can scoop turd biscuits and excuse the wet spots and replace the torn screens and still love the cat. If you’re a dog person, you might never understand why someone would put up with these evil demon spawn.

13

The other thing to consider re: outdoor cats is that they kill a lot of songbirds. It’s a real problem. You can argue that it’s just nature at work, but with the loss of habitat & the huge cat population, poor little birdies are really under attack.

We keep our cats indoors. Saves a ton of problems.

14

Some Pros:

  1. Low maintainance. You can leave them for a weekend, or even a little longer, with food, water, and a fresh litterbox, and no need for a pet sitter.
  2. More personable than you think. Many felisophobes complain about purported feline aloofness. It’s bunk. My cat is like static cling. He adores me, and I him, and we spend lots of quality time playing and lounging together.
  3. Gets rid of pests. Got mice? The cat will kill the mice. 'Nuff said.
  4. Grooming no big deal. Cats don’t need to be bathed and brushed as often as dogs. I can get away with giving my cat a bath about twice a year (which is good, because I look like I put my arms in a woodchipper after the bathing ritual).

Some Cons:

  1. Can’t play frisbee or go on long walks. That low maintainance thing comes with downside. Did you get your daily exercise walking the dog? Well, kiss that goodbye. Cat’s just don’t like leashes unless you start them very young; and even then, some cats just won’t take to them.
  2. Less personable than most dogs. Cats love you, but they don’t need you. If you demand from your pet not only affection, but slavering worship, then you really are a dog person, not a cat person.
  3. Mutilates the pests. The cat will kill the mice. It may also bite their heads off and leave their mangled bodies in highly-trafficked places as a kind of “prize” for your inspection and approval.
  4. Hairballs. Cats do most of their own grooming. That hair they lick up doesn’t just vanish into thin air, though. If it isn’t passed, it’s got to go someplace, and often that someplace is back up the way it came. There are few more revolting sights then a fresh hairball; yet nothing makes a cat happier than coughing them up. Brushing and special food can mitigate this problem, but only to a limited extent. The longer the hair, the greater the frequency and sheer repulsivity of the hairball. I heartily endorse shorthair over longhair breeds for this reason alone.
15

The upside is that they’re fuzzy and cute and a lot of them are fun and affectionate. (Most of the time, anyway; even the nicest cat gets a bug up its butt from time to time.)

The downside is that while a healthy cat is really cheap to maintain, the more common health problems for cats aren’t cheap things to fix. They don’t get hypothyroid and have a $10 prescription every month. No, they get hyperthyroid and need surgery. They become diabetic and require frequent testing and daily insulin shots. They go into kidney failure and need daily subcutaneous fluids and periodic hospitalization for IV fluids. They develop urethral blockages and have to be hospitalized (or in some cases, surgerized.)

Of course, anything any of us say here is just generalizations. We can’t predict what will be good and bad about owning your cat, because it’s going to depend almost entirely on that individual cat. Some cats are meaner than shit, and are horrible companions. (I once had an owner call frantic because her cat was obviously horribly ill. The tipoff was that he was letting her pet him. I shit you not.) Some cats, like my Eppy, are clingy and needy and as much work or more than the dogs. I might as well just strap her to my ass with velcro and save both of us a lot of hassle.

16

My wife is severely allergic to cats.

We have friend’s whose house we basically can’t stay at for more than an hour (and sometimes that’s too long) because of the cat.

And, if you have a cat in your house, the allergens stay around forever.

Just one thing to consider. If I’d had a cat when I started dating my wife, I siply would have had to get rid of it.

17

I don’t know if this applies to your husband but I have never understood the feeling many men have that liking cats makes them less masculine. If that is the case it is possible to win him over, it worked for my dad, but don’t ever expect him to clean the litter box.

I’m a kitty person and proud to say it. Our cat, Dusty, has bonded with me somewhat more than TheLadyLion because she knows I’m always good for a cuddle and I don’t freak out too badly when she tries to groom my face with that sharkskin tonge of hers. The one thing I couldn’t tolerate was her biting my chin as she chewed on my beard but I’ve broken her of that habit. All cats know I’m a soft touch. If I go over to a friend’s house and hear “oh, my cat hates men,” I say “bullshit! I’ll have that cat on her back, purring and making bread and butter like a nursing kitten while I scratch her belly inside of five minutes.”

As a working animal cats can vary a lot. I’m not sure Dusty is up to killing anything more than a wounded moth. All the instincts are there. She loves chasing a laser pointer. She’s so conditioned to it she starts getting agitated if one of us just picks up the pointer or clicks the buttom. Since we don’t have vermin she found a substite, shotgun wads, soft pieces of plastic about 7/8" in diameter and a couple of inches long, shaped like a thin cup with split sides. She loves hiding them in our bed. I finally figured out she was, in her mind, bringing us dead mice. I felt really touched. Unfortunately TheLadyLion hates rolling over on them in bed. One day I was laying in bed and found a shotgun wad under my ass. I grumbled and tossed it out the bedroom door and was amazed to see Dusty bolt after it. I was even more amazed to have her bring it back and deposit it in front of me. I have a cat that plays fetch! She loves that game now.

18

My sweetie is allergic to cats, so no kitties in the near future for me. :frowning: He’s actually apologized for it, but I pointed out that I can’t hold an allergy against him. And he really likes my family’s Isaac, a fabulous yellow lab. (Yes, I’m living at home. And yes, I hope I’ll be moving out soon. I had my reasons.) I think there might be a dog or so in our future. He never had pets growing up, poor guy. I think he’s got the idea that where I go, critters go, even if they’re only my bettas. Now those are some amusing fish.

Routine vet stuff is cheaper with cats – shots and whatnot. As is food, barring any special diets.

Personally, I think that the more you interact with your cats the more they will interact with you, given that the cat is at all social to begin with. I’ve lived with a series of cats and none of them were ever standoffish.

Minuses probably include the fact that cats tend to be nocturnal. Some cats make a lot more noise at night than others. They can also scratch in places you don’t want them to no matter what you do to try to keep them from doing it. sigh…there went my security deposit on my old apartment

I love cats. I can deal with the downsides. A serious dog person might not be able to handle 3 AM yowling, however…

19

Cats are generally easy to maintain. Scooping the box is no big deal, It’s hardly any more trouble than letting the dog out. If you keep up on cleanliness, it won’t smell at all, and the cat won’t go peeing and pooping elsewhere in frustration. We have 4 cats and 1 box (small manhattan apartment), we make sure to dump the works twice a day, our apt doesn’t smell, and the cats never have accidents.

They will, however, scratch things. Give them good things to scratch, like a sisal wrapped post or cardboard scratcher (the corrugated ends are stacked, they love scratching that) and you’ll minimize extraneous scratching. Keep a water pistol around to discourage other bad behavior. You can get them declawed, but I think (wild accusation) that this causes other bad behavior because cats seem to de-stress themselves by scratching. I know my cats will often run to the scratcher if they are upset.

They also jump up on top of everything. One of our cats has learned to scale an Ikea wardrobe, straight up the drawer fronts, then jump to a separate shelf, then jump to the top of the wardrobe ~ 8 feet up. This one also managed to get to a different shelf 8’ up, and fall straight to the floor, unharmed and embarassed. Knicknacks, watch out!

Be sure to read up on the different traits of whatever kind of cat you might get. Some are very vocal, or have other potentially annoying traits you want to avoid.

20

I really don’t get this either. I grew up all my life with cats and dogs, and they’re just different, is all. Any guy who has ever watched a cat hunt knows cats have got that “manly” killer instinct; and any guy who hasn’t squealed like a little girl over a cute puppy is a goddamn liar.