He's wanted a kitten for a long time, since he was 3 or so. We never could have one because I KNEW Smokey was not cat friendly (accident with neighbors cat) and in the light of re-homing Lily (which I've found her a good home but they are waiting to move in their house and be rid of their roommate so she's staying here until then, even offered to give me money to hang onto her, which I refused but it was a nice gesture) we are considering letting him have a kitten, probably for his birthday (October) or Christmas (if it's X-mas we'll wait until sometime in January to look and give him needed supplies for a kitty at X-mas)
I intend to watch Craigslist or go to a shelter for a kitten, it's not something I care if it's purebred or not and probably a shelter because I want it spayed/neutered - I'm not dealing with a cat pissing on my furniture because it want's to go get some, lol.
Obviously Jasper is good with cats, as DrMom said and I'm guessing Fran has a cat? So I'm not concerned so much with him, but Lacey I don't think has ever been around a cat (at least not at my house) we have a good solid "leave it" with her but I also have concerns on whether or not she'll be ok with a cat, as I don't have anyway to test her on this. So how do you go about testing? I'd love to see how she does with one before committing to such a thing, I don't want my sons heart broken because my dog killed or hurt his cat.
Now to be honest, I don't like cats a whole lot, and I'm allergic to them. Long hairs seem to be better than the short hairs for me so that's where I get to make the decision - it will be long haired. I say "it" because we haven't decided on male or female. I can tolerate the long hair (i.e. it doesn't make me sneeze and itch myself to death, just minor allergy). I have no expectations of my son to be the caretaker of said cat/kitten obviously but it will be good to teach him responsibility considering I'll be there to make sure the animal is taken care of.
I tried to convince him a puppy would be better and easier to integrate, but he wants a cat, seriously, who turns down a puppy for a cat? No idea why but it's been a long time and he's not giving up on this. I've finally broken down to a "we'll see" instead of a "no we can't have a cat because..."
Also, I know that black dogs usually have lower adoption rates, is it the same with cats? For "just a pet" I'd like to find one that really needs a home, though I have to say I'm more drawn to a white/siamese looking cat personally. I haven't asked my son because I don't want to get his hopes really high and find out that Lacey won't be nice to a kitty and he can't have one.
So what do you guys think, can it be done?
I intend to watch Craigslist or go to a shelter for a kitten, it's not something I care if it's purebred or not and probably a shelter because I want it spayed/neutered - I'm not dealing with a cat pissing on my furniture because it want's to go get some, lol.
Obviously Jasper is good with cats, as DrMom said and I'm guessing Fran has a cat? So I'm not concerned so much with him, but Lacey I don't think has ever been around a cat (at least not at my house) we have a good solid "leave it" with her but I also have concerns on whether or not she'll be ok with a cat, as I don't have anyway to test her on this. So how do you go about testing? I'd love to see how she does with one before committing to such a thing, I don't want my sons heart broken because my dog killed or hurt his cat.
Now to be honest, I don't like cats a whole lot, and I'm allergic to them. Long hairs seem to be better than the short hairs for me so that's where I get to make the decision - it will be long haired. I say "it" because we haven't decided on male or female. I can tolerate the long hair (i.e. it doesn't make me sneeze and itch myself to death, just minor allergy). I have no expectations of my son to be the caretaker of said cat/kitten obviously but it will be good to teach him responsibility considering I'll be there to make sure the animal is taken care of.
I tried to convince him a puppy would be better and easier to integrate, but he wants a cat, seriously, who turns down a puppy for a cat? No idea why but it's been a long time and he's not giving up on this. I've finally broken down to a "we'll see" instead of a "no we can't have a cat because..."
Also, I know that black dogs usually have lower adoption rates, is it the same with cats? For "just a pet" I'd like to find one that really needs a home, though I have to say I'm more drawn to a white/siamese looking cat personally. I haven't asked my son because I don't want to get his hopes really high and find out that Lacey won't be nice to a kitty and he can't have one.
So what do you guys think, can it be done?