Tell me everything about adopting a kitten

[Tattylou]

I would suggest an older cat. Kittens are better in pairs. Kittens are rambunctious and need lots of play. They keep you up at night. An older cat will have more information about their behavior and they need love. Everyone wants kittens and the sweet adults are overlooked.

Just my opinion. I’ve done both. I love kittens, but I would not get just one.

Agree. Plus you really know the personality when you get an older cat. With a young kitten you never know how they will be when they are older.
I have 5 cats and they all have different personalities. They also do whatever they damn well please. Cats are very different than dogs. I agree that you need to spend time with cats first to be sure that you want one and are ready for the long haul commitment of a cat's lifespan.

 

[VandVsmama]

Kittens can be a little insane. They start to settle down around 1 year old.

 

[sweetpeama]

1. If you adopt a cat under 4 months of age make sure you have it spayed or neutered at 4 months of age even if you are planning on having it be an indoor only cat-they have been known to escape and you don't want one coming back a parent if a female or attempting to escape all the time and spraying everywhere if a male.
2. Be willing to try different types of litter as some cats do not like certain types. We currently have 3 cats and we have 1 that perfers soil or dirt, 1 that will use the litter box and 1 that trained herself to use the toilet. She sits on the edge of the seat lifts her tail and does her business. She does not flush though and we do have to leave the lid up on the one toilet. She will come and meow to use when we accidentally leave the lid closed after flushing instead of lifting the lid for her.
3. Have a grooming kit and get your kitten or cat used to being brushed, nails clipped, and even bathed if necessary from a young age. You will have a lot less hairballs if you brush your cat on a regular basis even if a short haired breed.
4. Be prepared to have a variety of places for your cat to sleep. We have 2 that love sleeping in an old rabbit's cage in a cat bed placed in there with the door open-we have dubbed this the cats bedroom. Though they only seem to want it if the other one does in a ha ha brother or ha ha sister I got it first game. Their sister who we actually set it up for after she got in an altercation with we are thinking a coon on our farm and needed to have stitches with the insturction that she was not to be jumping stays clear away from that place thank you very much. (This is our same one who tore out her stitches and managed to get an infection when she was spayed). Amazing that they are all siblings because they have very different personalities and temperments.
5. Toys get a few of each kind until you learn what your cat likes. Out of our 4 origninal (we lost one to a urinary tract cyst that even if we had the funds to do surgery had less than a 5% chance of making it through surgery and not having a reoccurance within the next 2-3 months so my 15 year old daughter who raised them from 10 days old when they were orphaned (they were from one of my dad's barn cats) made the difficult decision to have him put to sleep a little over 10 days from his 4th birthday). One loved swirly toys and thought playing with a pipe cleaner was the best thing in the world (the one we lost), one loves toy mice though perfers real one (our one who had the fight with a coon) she will also take on the voles in the yard as well. One likes rings of any sort though balls are a close second particulary if they are large and make noise from the bells in them. The other one will occasionally pretend to play with the laser light but his true love is the food dish. They all like the dangly type toys that look a lot like a fish pond game fishing pole with a toy hanging off of them. The cat tunnel was not a very popular toy though they did play with it for a while until the bell in the center fell off.
6 Scratch posts-we have some of them that like only ones that sit on the ground, others have perfered a post, and others one that hangs on the door as far as material again they have different preferences from sissle rope, to carpet, to corogated cardboard. One of the most popular ones we had was a build your own cardboard frame one with a center piece from tractor supply that was very inexpensive-never got the frame to go together right but the center scratching piece sure was a hit with our cats. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/petlinks-scratchers-choice-double-corrugate-scratcher

 

[mousefan73]

my GD adopted a kitten a few months ago.. I believe the Kitty was maybe 4-6 months old. I was about my GD's age when I got my puppy.. Here are some differences I noticed.

1. A puppy/dog in most cases will not be terrified and hide from you. My GD's kitten was brought home and it took about 4 days for it to actually come out. It was WORK to gain its trust. Now I dont know if it was just this cat, but they were told it would take a week or two for the kitten to accept its suroundings. With dogs you really never have this issue, unless you adopt a dog with past issues or abusement. If you work out of the home it could be the cat gets used to having her way of the place without you ( which could be seen a threat) so she only comes out when you come home knowing you are about to feed her. My one friend's cat was "Trained" in a way to be like this. He got the cat, and then was never there. So the cat was isolated and when he came home, he was seen more as a food source and a disturbance. My GD's home has people there all the time, so Kitty is not really frightened of people.

2. Getting the cat into a schedule and adjusted to a litter box was no big deal and the cat figured things out right away.. A Puppy is more work to break in.

3. There were many scratches and tears.. Many cats simply do not want interaction and want to be left alone.. You're an adult and can understand this. My GD and her brother 11 and 8, had a hard time adjusting that the cat simply had moments where it didnt want to be touched and you could beg and yell all you wanted, the cat would not come to them. I kept saying to them you dont have a dog, but a cat.. A cat comes when it wants.




Also not to turn this in to a cat vs dog thread, but keep in mind in most cases a dog is begging for interaction with you. It could be your cat could care less about you, lol. I dont mean this in a mean way but a dog will run to you and in most cases come when called to. A cat depending on its personality could care less. I only say this as you noted you are a dog person.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Some breeds of cats are actually very dog-like. Ragdolls are very affectionate. The two I've had were both trained to fetch little craft balls. The first one greeted visitors at the door, but the second is not quite so friendly toward people he doesn't know we'll. I've heard that Maine Coons are similar. Purebred cats sometimes turn up in shelters or are listed online for adoption.

 

[dhardawa]

Cats are sooo easy. Give them a litter box and they’re housebroken. Put down food and water and love them and they’re happy.

I have four right now, but one is as old as dirt and won’t be around much longer. We have fostered litters of kittens too (that’s where the other three came from). They have very different personalities. plan to spend half a day or so at the shelter getting each one out to see how well you mesh.

 

[Silver saucer]

I found my 2 boys ( brothers/littermates) from a no kill shelter. They were a year old and "owner surrendered". Their previous owner had taken wonderful care of them and they were quite loving from the get go! I love my boys!
Best of luck to you!

 

[Keetchino]

One thing to consider, if you are looking for an older cat don’t completely rule out kittens (and vice versa, if you want a kitten don’t rule out older cats!).... I was a dog person, never owned cats, and wanted an older cat that was fully onboard with the litter box and that wouldn’t get lost under my appliances or anything. I also specifically wanted a male long haired cat that had the Maine Coon look.., well I went to the SPCA to get one that I had my eye on but found out she just got adopted. Happened to notice that they also JUST got three kittens in, and one was a male long haired Maine Coon looking kitten with a great personality ..,. He was perfect except he was a tiny 8 week old kitten, perfect for getting lost under appliances. I debated for a bit, but walked out with him even though he was much younger than I had wanted.... and I’m so glad I did! He is the most chill, even tempered, loving perfect boy I could’ve hoped for, and he even does a bunch of tricks! So don’t be scared off by kittens if you have your heart set on a more mature cat.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Volunteering at a shelter would give you a chance to make sure you aren't allergic to cat dander. Both DH and I are allergic, so having a cat just isn't do-able.

How do you feel about emptying a cat litter box?

I'm allergic but have lived with cats or been around them almost all my life. The reactions people have vary and vary from one cat to the next. Pet dander is usually the trigger and not all cats produce the same amount of pet dander.

With the cat we have right now rarely affects me. However when my in-laws had a cat that had kittens (that they ended up keeping all 4 kittens) I was a sneezing, itchy eyes, stuffy nose mess but only with the kittens I could barely be around them. Those kittens grew up and now I hardly have any issues with them. When I was growing up at my dad's we had 2 cats and only 1 did I have enough reactions to for it to be a bother.

Volunteering at a shelter is a great great idea because someone can get used to daily tasks, figure out if and because it helps their local community but I wouldn't exclude adopting a cat in general if you had reactions for allergies with a cat. Mild reactions can be aided by things like medication, filters for HVAC (or similar) system, daily routines and cleaning, etc and may not be what you have with another cat. Severe reactions are a different story because that should be monitored by a doctor for sure.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Kittens can be a little insane. They start to settle down around 1 year old.

Ours is 7 going on 8 and he's still his crazy self. He actually got more of a personality as he started getting older. As a kitten he had his quirks but nowhere near what he got older. Our vet said about age 3 is when they can get into habits and routines that they stubbornly insist on having/doing.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Cats are sooo easy. Give them a litter box and they’re housebroken. Put down food and water and love them and they’re happy.

Ours requires water from the tub AND it must be the downstairs tub AND just after his wet food (oh he has water fountain too), ours tells us when it's time to go upstairs for bed laying on the bed til we turn off the light and get off the cell phones (he'll lay at the foot of the bed meowing every now and then to nudge you) and immediately after turning off the light he'll leave and eventually come back. And if you stay upstairs too long after you wake up he'll climb on the bed meowing at you. Ours needs specific toy mice that rattle (either sand or beads) and have a tail (preferably feathers) so he can toss it up in the air. Also hair ties those are a must these days. You cannot close off a door to him oh no that's just not right and he'll let you know. You must throw the treats individually so he can chase them. I could go on.

In comparison to dogs as far as letting them go outside for the bathroom, walks, potty training yes I would say they are easy. But the putting down food, water, love them and they're happy..some cats are demand (in their own ways of course lol) much more than that.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I am a dog person but when I moved in with my DW, we got a cat, and have had cats ever since as well as dogs). Cats do get along with dogs. I can offer tips for how to make that happen if you need them. Here are some other things we've learned through the years;

• Get 2 kittens, not 1. Reason being, they will entertain each other and your furniture, your legs, etc. will not take nearly as much damage. They destroy things because they get bored.
• Also note I said "kittens". Kittens from the same litter will get along and happily grow up together. Introducing 2 unrelated cats to a household can be...challenging, to say the least. Cats can be very territorial.
• All cats are not the same, but you can make generalizations about similar cat breeds. We've had great luck with calicos and mostly white shorthairs. LOVE black cats, but I have yet to see one that is happy being an indoor cat. If you can let them out and you want a mouser, the black cat is the one for you, and the ones we and our neighbors have had have been very friendly to humans. The black cat we had destroyed every screen in the house and could open doors though - he was not staying in and there was nothing we could do about it.
• Males are far more likely to spray and mark territory, but are more friendly.
• Get the cat(s) from a shelter. I have no idea why anyone would ever buy a cat from a breeder. There are dozens of cats at your local shelter needing homes right now, and cats are not like dogs - the difference between the breeds is not so great that you would even notice.
• There are "kitten seasons", usually in the spring and early summer where there are A LOT of kittens needing homes in the shelters. If you want a kitten and there's not one in the shelter, just wait and come back - there will be.

 

[holden]

Everyone above has covered most of the info. Here's what I agree with:

1. If you get a kitten, get 2 litter mates.

2. I'd recommend an older cat.

3. Adopt a cat from a rescue/foster place. They will be able to recommend a cat that will best fit your lifestyle/personality, etc.

4. Be sure to provide scratching posts and train the cat to use them. Offer treats whenever the cat scratches on it.

5. You'll need to clip the cat's nails on a regular basis.

6. Please do not declaw.

 

[Keetchino]

In regards to cat claws, I was super nervous getting a cat for the first time and having him claw the heck out of everything...... as it turned out I showed him the scratching posts and he pretty much only used those. There were a handful of times early on where he tested out a corner of the couch but I was on him pretty quick about it and he lost interest and didn’t bother with those since

 

[kymom99]

One thing to consider, if you are looking for an older cat don’t completely rule out kittens (and vice versa, if you want a kitten don’t rule out older cats!).... I was a dog person, never owned cats, and wanted an older cat that was fully onboard with the litter box and that wouldn’t get lost under my appliances or anything. I also specifically wanted a male long haired cat that had the Maine Coon look.., well I went to the SPCA to get one that I had my eye on but found out she just got adopted. Happened to notice that they also JUST got three kittens in, and one was a male long haired Maine Coon looking kitten with a great personality ..,. He was perfect except he was a tiny 8 week old kitten, perfect for getting lost under appliances. I debated for a bit, but walked out with him even though he was much younger than I had wanted.... and I’m so glad I did! He is the most chill, even tempered, loving perfect boy I could’ve hoped for, and he even does a bunch of tricks! So don’t be scared off by kittens if you have your heart set on a more mature cat.

Many years ago my boss’s daughter needed to rehome a one year old main coon looking cat. She was the most awesome, sweet kitty! My parents even fell in love with her. By my best estimate she lived to be 16 years old. She was the best!

 

[Keetchino]

Many years ago my boss’s daughter needed to rehome a one year old main coon looking cat. She was the most awesome, sweet kitty! My parents even fell in love with her. By my best estimate she lived to be 16 years old. She was the best!

They’re the best

 

[LSUmiss]

If you’re interested in paying for a cat, I would suggest getting a ragdoll. They’re very dog-like & known for being that way. They’re still the low maintenance of a cat vs a dog though.