Has he done this before? My advice would be, no more lit candelabras on the dining room table.
You might have to give up some things, like displaying fragile knick-knacks, or move them to different places, to accommodate your cat. Having a cat might limit your decorating choices a bit (Mr. Neville and I agreed that the cats mean no leather furniture for us). Safety and health for all members of our household, including our cats, always trumps any aesthetic considerations.
(OTOH, if you’ve got an ugly knick-knack that some troublesome relative gave you, and that you scurry to put out when they’re visiting, you could tell them the cats broke it, or that you put it away for fear they would break it. It’s not all downside.)
You will probably have to give up setting drinking glasses on the floor unattended, at least while the cats are young. This is something people sometimes do, in houses with no cats. My cats used to stick their paws in the glasses and fish for ice cubes. I don’t leave any non-empty glass unattended in our house unless it’s a travel mug with a secure lid. If I set a glass down, I’ve always got a watchful eye on it, to make sure no cats spill it or try to drink from it.
Bear in mind, cats vary. Different cats will bother different types of stuff, and their tastes in what to play with might change as they get older. We light Shabbat and holiday candles on the kitchen counter or our dining room table, and the cats pretty much leave them alone. Merlin is clearly more interested in candles than the Neville kitties are. I still don’t leave lit candles unattended, though- better safe than sorry.
Ack! One of the cats I’m currently caring for has had a favorite twist tie for the last four months. I’ve never thrown it away because she gets so much joy out of playing with it! Have I been a bad staff member?
I highly recommend this pet scratcher which has a toy underneath, a fun place to sit, and a cat scratcher all in one. Plus it looks nice in the living room.
I’m beginning to wonder if those were just recently invented. The first place I ever saw one was at the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee a few months ago (that site is catlover heaven, btw), and now they’re popping up everywhere. I got one for my cats and they adore it. I think they need a couple more.
Different people have different preferences about things like toys and litter, but I think the most important thing to research is what kind of cat food you want to feed. Even though Science Diet is widely used by shelters (I imagine because the company gives them a break on it) I personally think it’s not a very good food. It has some poor quality ingredients yet it’s not particularly cheap.
That’s why I recommend spending some time researching ingredients, comparing prices, and reading reviews of different cat food brands to find the best balance of price and quality for your food.
I like Wellness brand (salmon flavor) - my cats ate that until Diego developed a sensitivity. Now he eats Royal Canin Venison and Green Pea (and it ain’t cheap). I have only found it at the vet’s office.
I did a lot of research on food and eventually picked Solid Gold’s Katz-N-Flocken. Aside from the stupid name, it’s great. High quality ingredients, no animal testing, not ridiculously expensive. And my cats like it.
Yes, cats puke for a variety of reasons. But please know that they do so violently. I was horrified the first time I saw my cat puke and rushed him to the emergency room. $600 later, it turned out to be overeating and possibly a bit of constipation.
Making sure male cats get enough water is very important. But some are just genetically prone to urinary problems. One of my cats has trouble peeing once in a while. This recently got really really bad. He blocked entirely and his kidneys freaked out and the vet made it sound like he was going to die. He ended up making a full recovery (through some kind of magic, apparently), but I guess the lesson is: make sure your male cat is peeing. And, generally, keep an eye on your cats. If they’re acting weird—and I mean bad weird, like crying in pain, suddenly pooping outside the litterbox, puking a lot—get them to the vet.
Mileage may vary on this. When I got my first two cats I gave them this. For awhile they devoured it like it was candy, but after a while they got bored with it and I had to move to something else.
BTW, I think “Katz-n-Flocken” is sort of like “Cat Flakes” in German, but not quite.
We joke that our cats puke as a recreational activity. Not too many days go by that we don’t have to clean up at least one little pile. Fortunately it’s the overeating variety, which means they essentially turn little piles of dry kibble into little piles of wet kibble. A lot of times the cats take care of the cleanup on their own (“Look! Mom’s giving us wet food!”) Kinda gross, but you get used to it. Beats the heck out of baby puke IMO.
Looks like you’re getting good advice here, I’ll add my two cents.
Don’t believe the “feline overlord” crap, unless you just want to. Cats do not have to be obnoxious, destructive, spoiled brats. It is entirely possible to train them into good behaviour, especially if you start that way. It is also entirely possible to turn them into bratty little monsters, if that floats your boat.
Kittens are cute and little. If you let them get away with bad manners just because they’re cute and little, you will be fighting an uphill battle later. After a while, they’re not cute and little any longer, and neither is the behaviour.
Don’t wrestle too hard with kittens. It’s very fun to tumble them over and rub their bellies and such - but roughhousing tends to produce biting and scratching. Again, cute when they’re little, not so cute when they’re ten pounds.
Our cats all love the flat scratchers from PetSmart or Walmart. They’re cardboard boxes packed with corrugated cardboard. I don’t remember if they come with catnip or if we add some. But the kitties love ripping them to shreds.
Ours had all been outdoor cats, so we also have a large log. It sits upright in a corner and they use that for their vertical scratching needs. It does create a bit of a mess, but keeps them out of trouble. So far they’ve ignored purchased scratchposts.
Enjoy your kitties! They are grand little critters to have around.
[Mel Blanc]“I will name him George, and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him…and pat him and pet him and…rub him and caress him and…”[/Mel Blanc]
You’ve probably heard that children and dogs will not starve themselves to the point of doing harm to themselves just because they don’t like the food you’re offering them. This does not apply to cats. Some cats will refuse to eat if they don’t like their food, in some cases to the point of getting feline fatty liver disease.
Untreated feline fatty liver disease is fatal in 90% of cases (though the odds are much better if you catch it early and get the cat to a vet). Treatment involves a vet force-feeding the cat and is, just at a guess, not cheap. It’s not something to be messed around with.
One of the awful things about feline fatty liver disease is that it causes nausea. That further discourages the cat from eating, which gets a vicious cycle going. This isn’t a road you want to start down.
*Feed your cats a biologically appropriate diet: 2-4 small meals per day of fresh raw animals (including fat, meat, bones, and organs). If you do this you don’t need to worry about vomiting, teeth cleaning and dental disease, hairballs, constipation, stinky poop, dehydration, UTIs, obesity, diabetes, and any number of the often expensive conditions that plague most domesticated indoor cats.
*You should have at least as many litterboxes as cats +1. And keep them as clean as possible. I have two cats and 4 litterboxes in my little apartment, it’s worth a little extra maintenance because they’ve never gone outside the box despite what else is going on in the home (I have two dogs who merely tolerate the cats, and have had a variety of roommates and other animals move in and out, so it can be stressful for the kitties).
*The more scratching posts, the better. Don’t get the carpeted ones, get sisal or jute (I have some cardboard ones too, but they don’t last long and make a mess); it holds up better, and it isn’t a common household material, so clawing carpet doesn’t become a familiar feeling. Reward a new cat for using his posts.
*Give your kitty exercise! Play with him as much as possible.
*Train your cats consistantly. It’s not that hard to have cats that reliably respond to commands. I use both food rewards (for teaching them to come when called, etc), and negative consequences (clapping to startle them, spray bottle, a good smack once in a while). DON’T give in to your kitten’s every demand, you will learn to regret it. They will learn very quickly to manipulate you if you allow it, but you should be able to outsmart a creature with the brain the size of a peanut.
Our cats love those too, but they make a HUGE mess. The dream curl scratcher I linked above has replaced these cardboard scratchers and the cats love them just as much.
I almost lost a cat to this and it cost $3,000 and 2 weeks of hospitalization followed by a feeding tube still in place at home and daily feedings of a liquid diet directly into the stomach for another week or two. Not a fun process but the cat lived for another 10 years, so it was worth it.
Yes, definitely pay attention to input as well as output - we spent about $1000 and only 4 days in the hospital, but the kitty in question was young and we caught it fairly early. That was 9 years ago, and she is still going strong! (OpalCat, you forgot the fun of “Hey, I feel better - so before you can rinse the tube with water and cap it, I think I’ll shake and get the liquid food all over the walls, and the floor, and you, and my fur … fun!” So. So. Gross. )
My understanding is that fatty liver is more likely in overweight cats, which is one more reason to determine early on whether you can free feed or need to measure out meals and prevent feline obesity. My cat was quite the little porker, although we still free feed and she has maintained a healthy weight ever since her ordeal.
Make sure you get the location and number of a well regarded pet ER for those Thanksgiving weekend or 3AM visits when the regular vet is closed.
Seconding the World’s Best kitty litter recommendation. I also rather like the Litter Locker so I don’t have to feel guilty about asking for plastic bags at the grocery. You can buy the refills in bulk off Amazon as well when the local doesn’t have any in stock.
And yup, watch catbox habits like a hawk. That was how I knew my cat was having another FLUTD attack before the vet could confirm it the last time. Keep a can of plain pumpkin puree around for when the cat needs extra fiber in its diet to move things along.
Buy stock in carpet cleaner, especially the enzymatic kind. As others have said, cats will vomit for a lot of reasons.
Buy a silicon sponge for getting cat fur off things, and resign yourself to more frequent vaccuuming and dryer lint filter clearing.
Regarding cat trees and posts, make doubly sure that they’re stable as one of my cats could and did get badly hurt in a bad landing off one.
Beats the heck out of baby puke IMO.