Indoor cats?

I am sorry, that has interfered... At me a similar situation. It is possible to discuss. Write here or in PM.

These are so helpful! I keep thinking I am over my cat want but then here I am again, housesitting and dog and cat sitting. Joy has been curled up on my lap, purring up a storm and kneading my leg with her paws (feels so weird!). It's very endearing. I really love her.

If you will not tell, I brought her inside for a little bit just to see. Yeah, she's not allowed indoors. But I brought her in and other than being loud by the door for a while, she's been great.

I don't know how much is just her being 'Joy' and how much is just cat behavior in general. She is SO sweet and meek. I have never ever seen her bite or try to. You can pick her up and she loves it. She has hissed at the dogs some. But overall, she is very easy tempered. Very loudmouthed though and demands petting quite a lot (by being loudmouthed). Even when she's outside, she comes to the door she yammers on wanting pets. She is also pretty 'biddable'. That's not the right word, really, but I am drawing a blank. I've of course done some treat training with her. I'm getting a decent recall for a cat really quickly, lol. It's very interesting, she's a really intriguing animal to me just because it's so different. But the more I'm around her, the more I'm thinking I might want to try one.

I almost have thought about asking if I could just have her. She's 16 and old but I feel so bad for her sometimes. She seems happy enough but I know she's fed crap food and kept outside, declawed all the time. I think she'd adjust indoors easily. But I know the answer would be no.

I think if I do get a cat, I want one similar to her as a 'first cat'. So I'm thinking an easy going adult? Is there a good way to find that? I'm thinking shelter would be the way to go. I've heard a lot of cat rescues are interesting to deal with. Doubt I'd qualify with no cat experience.

Oh and one thing that is negative is that Mia, while good outdoors with the cat, is not so great indoors. The cat is VERY interesting. She wants to play with her and lick all over her. Joy is very tolerant but Mia is persistent. It's been a little bit since I brought her inside though and Mia's ignoring her unless I pick her up. When I pick Joy up, she starts barking at her and whining and trying to get to her. I think this will be easily overcome if she gets used to a cat though.

Then I keep thinking I'll be the crazy person with 3 dogs and a cat in a few years lol.

Oh and my mom was allergic to cats so I'm mildly worried I could be. But I've handled joy so much and not had any problems without doing much special. Think it's safe to say I'm not allergic?

Oh what are 'cat essentials' as far as supplies go?

Like I said, will probably wait till I move out and stop renting but I really am thinking I will end up with a cat in a few years.

How about short versus longhaired grooming? I actually like shorthaired cats more even though I'm opposite on dogs. But does it make much of a difference?

Oh and raw diets for cats, is it the same kind of percentages of bone/organ/muscle as dogs?

When I meant good brands, I meant the cat equivalent of the brand.

You can do with cats like with dogs... Find an older one in a foster with a known temperament. Older cats are usually sweet, anyways (sometimes) after all their sass has worn out.

And if the cat is cuddling you, she loves you. Lol. Joy or not, cats don't cuddle someone they don't genuinely want to cuddle.

Cat boxes, litter scoops, mat for under the cat box, feeding bowl (wide enough so their whiskers don't touch the sides...they hate that), random assortment of toys (fishing pole toy, mouse toys, laser light), scratching post, brush, you'll probably want to get a cat tree... And of course food and litter and all that jazz...

As far as grooming, it REALLY depends on the cat. I have two short haired and two long haired and one of my short hairs sheds WAY more than my two long haired COMBINED but my other short hair doesn't shed at all. Depends on what kind of mix or breed that the cat is.

What Barbara said. I also have one of those "chincilla" short hairs - OMG she sheds more than Sienna. And I'm mildly allergic to her, but not to most other cats. So you probably want to avoid the double coated cats if there's allergy potential.

Longhairs require more grooming to prevent mats, but I've never owned one so can't say if it's any worse than grooming a shorthair.

Fostering is a great idea! Most shelters around here at least, know the cats' personalities, and the ones that are friendly in the shelter are probably friendly elsewhere.

LOL at Mia's jealousy. My two are the same way. I can't pet the dog without the cat yelling at me, and I can't pet the cat without the dog looking hurt. When I get out the brushes, they both try to shove each other out of the way to be first. Joy sounds a lot like my kitty.

There's different kinds of shorthairs? I don't even know what the difference would be.

Mia's not jealous, just over-excited. The cat is just super super interesting to her. But she seems better now. I had the cat on my lap and the dog on my shoulder asleep.

Joy sat on my lap purring away for almost an hour this evening. I luff her.

Yeah. If your cat is from a shelter, it's like you'll get a domestic-mix-of-God-knows-what. Lol. Most cats are Heinz 57's.

Yep, in both short and long-haired cats, there are single and double coated varieties. Pretty much like with dogs.

How can you tell the difference?

Would this be double coated or single coated?

DSC_1287 by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr

Is she not totally awesome?

DSC_1293 by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr

A lot like you would with a dog. By pushing up their fur the opposite direction and looking to see if there are two distinct "layers". Sometimes in cats, those layers are different colors. For example, my short hair that is double coated is a tabby/calico, but his 2nd coat is solid orange.

Hahaha oh goodness I didn't know cats could be double coated either.

My cat is a shorthair (but now I don't know what kind! lol) and he sheds like omgwhoa. Even though he's on raw. That made no difference. I just go over him with a Furminator like once a week and that helps the issue A LOT. Also stopped the hairballs.

I am kind of biased against long hair cats because all the ones I saw at work were gross and matted and stinky. Always needing to shave them. This is just not a concern with short hairs.

Man, I have never heard of a matted cat. Usually they take care of that themselves. I bet that would be weird to see.

Ugh yes. It's mostly the super fat ones that physically can't clean themselves. Which unfortunately was a super common sight where I worked.

June Bug sez: Longhaired cats are purdy, and when they're on high end fishy food and brushed regularly, they barely shed/mat, too!



(She DOES shed more than Finnegan, but far less than, say... Beauty. Ugh.)

Morgan hardly ever sheds much, but the short haired cats do a bit.

That's so sad. ): cats have way sensitive skin. Poor things.

Don't do that until you're really comfortable with cats and have dealt with every personality under the sun. :rofl1: I'm at the point where if I were to get a cat, I would pick the one I thought was cutest and deal with the consequences of my actions later; but I'm not going to recommend it.

If I were you, I'd volunteer at a rescue or shelter and then try fostering a bit so you get used to different personalities and see what you like the best. I'm a sucker for the bitchy ones who like to scratch me, preferably medium or low-energy and long haired. Some people like active kitties, lazy ones, cuddlers, smart ones, etc. . . you never know until you try it.

And for the litterbox issue: there are magnetic collars and cat door combos you can get that will keep one animal out and another in. I knew two couples who lived in the same house with 8 cats, and they each kept the other couple's cats out of their room using the magnetic cat flaps. You could get the collars for the dogs to keep them out of the room with the box.