Our cat occasionally comes and sleeps between us, down near our feet. However, most of the time she uses the spare room (where we’ve put a blanket to stop her from furring up the bed) presumably because she gets a better night’s sleep there, and doesn’t have to cope with two big lumps under the duvet - it works both ways. Neither of us have ever rolled over on her, and if we did I think she’d just screech and run away.
I don’t know why everyone thinks cats will sit on your head in the night. I’ve never met one that does.
Funny thing, though–the itchy eyes and inability to breathe through my nose, when I’m sleeping at his house, is a thousand times less irritating to me than when the damn things chase each other across my head and ass while I’m sleeping! Scares the living shit out of me.
What will be equally irritating, I imagine, is that when we finally manage to find a way to keep their asses from getting into the bedroom at night (I swear, those things have Superhuman–err, Superkitty strength, because no matter how we block the door, they always seem to push their way in and lo, I wake up with a rumbling love machine in the back of my neck), they’ll sit outside the door and yowl all night.
Yep. I’m definitely a dog person.
We may actually get rid of the cats, which I think will cause me more guilt than it will my fiance. I may not like the little suckers, but I keep imagining their poor little faces and I feel sad thinking about how confused (and possibly very upset) they’ll be when they wind up in a new and unfamiliar place.
My parent’s old cat, Misha, used to climb up a drainpipe, push open the window and get into their bedroom from the OUTSIDE.
Our other cat, Hamish, used to climb over the dog (a lab/alsatian cross who hated him) who sleeps at the bottom of the stairs, to get to my parent’s room.
On the other hand (or paw), some cats are smarter than others, to put it kindly. For example, one sweet but dumb-as-a-post fellow we had could not figure out how to get back in the kitchen after I’d put him into the hall and shut the door. He sat there YELLLINGGG forever. Our smarter cat turned around and scampered through the living room, through the dining room and through the OTHER kitchen door before I could close it.
I don’t think you know cats very well. Your room will now be its favorite room in the whole house and it will always be in there. It’ll burrow through the walls, if it has to. Doom. DOOM!
Awww, see Phlosphr, you are already getting soft on your no cats in bed position and the little bugger isn’t even home yet. How sweet of you to worry about little kitty’s safety!
Oh happy days! Your wife got (or is getting) a cat! While it’s totally not true, I feel like I helped in the process. (Yes, that song is about me.) I’m not sure about your/her choice of a Siamese, but hey, more power to ya. Likely a repeat of what lots of other people have told you, but…
a) how hard will it be to keep the cat out of our room?
Keep the door closed. All the time. Be prepared for lots of protesting and meowing. With a Siamese, you may want to invest in earplugs. My cat sleeps with me (quietly and usually at the foot of the bed, where I’ve laid down a towel) so I don’t have first hand experience in this, however, a friend is the same way about her new kitten. After a couple of weeks, she thinks that the cat has gotten the message, or at least she doesn’t mew as much by the door any more.
b) what do I do if our dog hates the cat?
No clue. Keep them as separated as possible? Seriously, I don’t know except that with enough time, most dogs and cats can be trained not to eat each other/claw out eyes. Maybe one good kitten claw to dog nose will do it, or you never know - your Rhodesian could love the kitten.
c) should we get the cat declawed? (it’s going to be an indoor cat)
NOOOOOO!!! It’s just mean and really unnecessary.
**d) what kind of food do siamese like? anyone have a siamese? **
Don’t have a Siamese (partial to whatever shows up at the shelter) but I would recommend a high quality food for kittens like Iams. Stick with the dry stuff, as the cat’s poo will be less odiferous and easier to clean. Nice thing about cats is that they usually come litter box trained.
FWIW, I found Cats for Dummies quite educational. Maybe you will, too.
They sleep by your feet, between your legs, usually.
They have very fast reflexes, and except as a tiny kitten you can’t move that fast. Don’t worry.
Introduce the cat & dog slowly. Give the cat his own room for a while, with all his stuff, including his litter box, food & water, scratching posts, and a place to sleep. Let it become acclimatated for a few weeks before getting the two of them together. Some dogs will kill cats. Rare, I’ll admit. You will need a place where the cat can hide from the dog- like a real small “pet door” into that room.
95% of cats that are declawed have this done to them unnessesarily. I don’t say “never” but this is an absolute last resort.
I would NOT recommend a siamese for a new cat owner! :dubious: I’d go for a shelter adoption of some cute little shorthair of no particular breed.
From what I know of Siamese, they’re the most likely to be able to get into your room in some sneaky way, the most likely to want to sleep on your head (just because he’ll somehow know you don’t want him to), and the most likely to meow outside your door the entire night. If any cat can jump 8 feet easily, it’s a Siamese.
Also, the most likely to beat your dog into submission is a Siamese.
Seriously, I remember the old thread, and I don’t really think a Siamese is a great choice, but if that’s what your going with, good luck. They’re beautiful, but probably the most demanding type of cat out there.
You’ve gotten good advice on your Qs so far. Most cats and dogs will at least tolerate each other eventually. Tell your cat breeder that you have a dog and if the dog absolutely cannot live with the cat, return the cat to the breeder.
IIRC you have some allergy problems, right? Well, good luck on keeping the adorable little furball completely out of your bedroom. But you might want to consider keeping your pillow well covered during the day or even storing it away in a closet or dresser drawer.
I like cats but I’m allergic to them; not horribly but there it is. (Flonase helps keep some of the worst symptoms in check, i.e. throat tightening up, head clogging, itching, etc.) I can even stroke them and play with them as long as I remember to wash my hands immediately. Otherwise, one careless touch to my face and there’s hell to pay.
I can have some real problems when I stay at my sister’s house if her cat has gotten on the bed, which the little sweetie always loves to do. The trouble is, if she sleeps right on the pillow or the bed clothes nearby, my face inevitably nestles into that spot while I sleep. The results ain’t pretty and can be damned painful, as in rashy skin, eyes burning–I mean hurting and swelling almost shut. So…you may want to take a few simple precautions. If I keep the pillows covered (or stored) during the day and fold the coverlet well back the problem’s solved. Simple.
FWIW I polled some of my cat-loving friends and most of their purrs do the head-snuggle thing. Highly unscientific but apparently it’s not unusual behavior. It sounds wonderful from a snuggling aspect but it’d just about wipe me out otherwise. I’ll leave that one to more cat-experienced Dopers though.
Oh geez folks you are not going to beleive what Mrs.Phlosphr brought home last night.
Check out this selfwashing litter box. **the link is to the discontinued model, Mrs.Phlosphr bought a newer model…Looks the same.
This is a damn $350 self-washing litter box that doesn’t use kitty litter but some sort of granules. That it actually washes with a flushing solution… Check out the specs on the link.
“But Honey! we’re trying to have a baby in the next year or so, you don’t want me to get sick from cleaning the kitty litter do you?”
:rolleyes:
“Baby, of course I don’t but why did you go out and spend $350 dollars on a friggin washing machine for cat poop? I would have cleaned the mess!”
It’s beginning, I can sense it.
ENTER THE QUEEN
After a couple margarita’s last night we actually spoke civily to each other, and worked a couple things out. The cat will have free reign but not in our room. We will take every precaution. The cat will most likely sleep downstairs in our finished basement. However, the dog kind of ownes that right now. but We’ll see.
BTW, the siamese idea is her own. She grew up with one, and loves the breed.
VEB I am very allergic to cats as well. I have flonase and it should work. People tell me that I will grow accustomed to it and I will get used to it just from being around it everyday. My sister-in-law, who has feline neurosis (cat psychosis - she worships her kitties) - trained my brother to not be allergic, so she is egging my wife on saying everything will be ok.
The fight will be on and I will win! That cat will not enter the master bedroom. No.
Thanks for the link … we got a good chuckle out of that one!
I think we will stick with tidy cat ourselves… and being pregnant I never have to so much as see the boxes… they live in our unfinished basement next to the washing machine I also haven’t seen in months Lucky me!
With the allergy issue I would keep your bedroom closed at all times. Good luck! I’m not sure what exactly you’re allergic to in the cat but train kitty from the moment you get her that baths are good and that may also help your allergies!
Lucky me!