I’m so torn! I’ve got smoogly little Dewey, and we like and enjoy him, but I think maybe he’s bored. Maybe he doesn’t have enough to do.
And we’ve watched fat old Walt and little Dr. Zaius get along at my boyfriend’s house, and it’s sweet how they lick each other now.
And I can’t stop thinking about another cat. And I’d like to get a kitten so it doesn’t upset Dewey’s place in the house and hopefully his personality - I mean, I adopted Dewey as an adult cat, so I’ve paid my social dues, right?
But a kitten? Overenergized, with sharp sharp sharp little claws, and my poor furniture? A cat of unknown temperment? I dunno, man. What if it changes Dewey? What if I can’t stand the little bastard? What if it causes even more trouble with the dog? What if it gets out and the dog eats it?
So I’m going to look, and I’m taking a carrier with me. But contemplating two cats does NOT make me a cat person, and I’m NOT sure I’m gonna get one. So there.
Two cats are better than one. Ours don’t snuggle or anything, but they seem to appreciate each other’s company (they’ve gotten dangerously close to playing together on occasion). No, having two cats won’t make you a cat person. Honest.
I got a male kitten for my female cat a while ago. It was after trying out an older male and those two didn’t get along very much (mostly the older one going after the female). I’d seen my female get along with other cats closer to her age before so I thought a kitten would bring out the liveliness in her. Who could get mad at a kitten?!?!
I’m happy to report that my little female has been thriving since the kitten arrived and is happy to play mama cat with him most of the time.
Unfortunately, I do have to tell you that kittens aren’t all they are wrapped up to be. Depending on how hyper of a kitten you get, you could be in for a lot of chaos. My list of annoying things my kitten has done can go on forever, so I’ll just put it this way:
Kitten are a lot like small children. They tear things open and they climb into cuboards with dangerous chemicals. They have sharp itty bitty claws that don’t cause too much damage on the skin, but give them a bag of treats and they can have them strewn around in five seconds. They think everything is a toy. And lastly, a kitten has many things to learn, such as knowing the limit on how much to bother his big sister and learning what the consequences of harassing his big sister too much is.
If you have the time and discipline to train a kitten, go for it, otherwise, I would reccommend a young adult, about ten months and up because I find cats that age to have settled down in terms of activity, but are still young enough to adapt to the environment.
What they got over on Dogs is that they Purrrrrr, and that’s so soothing, and then there’s the little crab-walk psycho move that kittens do, along with the fun fun of being able to play with the most mundane moving objects. They make ya laugh!
A kitten will definitely turn you tward the Catside. Bwaaahahhhahhhaaa!
Well, the kittens at the shelter were assholes, and then we tried the sherlter kitties at PetSmart and we couldn’t look at some of them because the right people weren’t there, and the one we liked we found out required a home visit and $120, which, hell no! No, you cannot come to my home and decide if it is a fine environment for a homeless kitten, and yes, $120 is too much. The regular ones are $95, the city shelter (with no kittens) is $58.
Okay, so I was embarassed about what a mess my house was, and also a little pride-stricken. But I wanted to look at the friendly orange one, and the right people won’t be there until next weekend! I mean, way to not get animals adopted!
No kidding. I agree with getting a slightly-older one - I got Feather when she was around six months old, and as far as I’m concerned, it was the perfect age to adopt a cat (especially for someone who is working and can’t babysit a kitten all day). She was young enough to be very playful, but she was old enough to not go overboard with anything. There has been no problem with bonding with her - she’s my little shadow. I might get a young kitten next time, because I have never raised a kitten myself and I’d like to try it out, but I have no problem recommending adopting a slightly-older kitten.
FYI–my shelter kitty cost $85 out of pocket for spaying, chipping, worming, first vet visit and shots. My “free to a good home” kitten? Easily $300 for the same. Stick with the shelter kitties.
Okay, there’s another place way out in East Bumblefuck that, according, to their website, has Sunday hours and five month old kittens. If they ever answer their phones, I’ll go check them out.
I wish I could give you the magic sign I seem to have at my house that makes stray cats and kittens line up sucker me into adotping them. Apparently my cats send out invitations that say “dude, party’s over here” so we never have less than 4 cats in residence and others in the process of being adopted out. I’d love to have the capacity to adopt shelter cats (I’m not allowed in that part of the local PetSmart anymore). Good luck finding the perfect kitten(s).
Eh, no sweet young things at the East Bumblefuck Animal Shelter either. The lady suggested I wait until Kitten Season, which evidently begins in March or so. I think that’s probably good advice, although I may start calling the city shelter every so often to see what they get in.
Yep, Kitten Season generally starts in early spring. At that time, shelters are simply overloaded with adorable baby kitties, and all of them want to get OUT of there. Sometimes vets will have or know of a litter of kittens up for adoption. Sometimes pet stores have bulletin boards with notices of kittens (puppies, whatever) that can be adopted. Don’t worry, the right kitten WILL find you, eventually. Though the right kitten might turn out to be a cat!
Dewey will probably be much happier with another cat around, after they adjust to each other.
Have you checked your local craigslist.com? They often have inexpensive or even free kittens.
It’s where we got Maxx the younger last year. He was born Oct 27 and came home Christmas Eve 2005. We already had two adult girls. They all got along right away.
Good Lord, South Carolina apparently needs some cats. So many shelters without young cats seems weird. I wish our shelters could share the kitty-wealth.
