[Safrguns]

I love Siamese cats.

Cats are the only pets that I am aware of that KNOW how to get revenge when you piss them off.

So don’t treat it like a dog ;)

[ConorMacNessa]

A pair of rescues:



Rorschach, a Calico, showed up on our doorstep one winter morning in the 90's. We found Paris on the Westie rescue site. Paris was a puppy who was either turned out or lost and was out in the wild for a year or so. The picture was taken in 2002, shortly before Rorschach's death. Paris stayed with us for six more years before his passage. They both gave us much joy during the time they were with us.

We now have three rescue cats and one Silky Terrier that we purchased from a breeder. We are very much in favor of rescues, but here in the People's Republic, it is almost as expensive to rescue a cat or dog as to buy one outright.



EAGLES UP! Sunday 13 October 2013 at 0900 – WWII Memorial on the National Mall!

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[Nepeta]

As a cat novice, I strongly urge you to get a pair of short-hair rescue cats, preferably litter mates who have been neutered and socialized to like people.

Since you are a cat novice, although long haired cats are wonderful, you may not be enchanted with the accumulating hair. I loved my Maine Coon kittehs, but their hair was amazing.

Cats have a few weeks during kittenhood when they MUST learn to like and trust humans. If this fails to happen, they'll never be as closely bonded as you might like. Since you have never raised kittens, I urge you to acquire kittehs that are old enough to have been thoroughly socialized. They will still bounce and play and be more entertaining than most tv.

Why not a particular breed? Most breeds (with the exception of Maine Coons and some others) have a narrow genetic base and may have health problems as a result. Ordinary kittehs of no pedigree, unless they come from an inbred colony of cats, will almost always be very healthy.

Be prepared to cat-proof your living space. Many indoor plants are toxic to cats. String, yarn, etc., may be swallowed and twisted around in the gut, requiring surgery for removal. Get household chemicals out of reach. Do not give kittehs even small doses of human medications--Tylenol is toxic to them, for example.

Cats are obligate carnivores. Feed kittehs a meat based diet, NOT a grain based one as most dry foods are. Cats do not handle carbohydrates the way dogs can, and tend to develop diabetes. Diabetes is not a death sentence for cats; I kept one alive for years with insulin injections and proper diet, but best to try to avoid the problem completely. www.felinediabetes.com

De-flea any cat you acquire before bringing it inside. I suspect flea eggs are immortal, and their hatchings are difficult to eliminate.

Consider strongly keeping your cats indoors ALL THE TIME. They will live longer, be healthier, and they will not die a horrifying, painful death by a wild animal or under a car. Make your living space a playground, and they will reward you with years of entertainment and devotion. Mine "help" me with most things that I do.

[pluvmantelo]

A Snowshoe cat showed up in the backyard one day. Wife and I took her in. Best kitteh evah!

[puppypusher]

I would reccomend getting a cat from an animal rescue group.Because their are so many,they tend to euthanise them more often.

Cats are very independent but they don’t need a lot of care just a good home and someome to care for their minor needs.

[faithhopecharity]

Consider if you can get two kittens and raise them together do they have company when you’re not available And they’re loads of fun to watch playing together !

[JRandomFreeper]

Catz are cool. Here is one of mine, getting ready to nap in a coffin.

/johnny

[KittenClaws]

My best advise is do not go for the expectations of breed.

I once went to the “pound” and while looking at a cute Persian kitty, the ugly grey cat in the next cage yowled demanding attention.

He really was ugly, this skinny, dull coated, older kitten.

When I got him home, I found he had a broken leg, cost me money I didn't have.

18 years later, I lost him. Best companion, best cat, I ever had. BTW, turned out he was a Russian Blue.

[Maurice Tift]

  I have a porch with pet screening and keep a cat tree house there. I recommend the pet screening because it lets you keep your cat (or cats) safe and they can still go out and get some fresh air and lounge around in the sunlight.
Booger the cat on the porch

note to self: pick up pet hair roller at grocery store

[madison10]

Ragamuffin. Newer breed, long hair, but as friendly, loyal and human-tuned as a dog. They are so congenial and trusting that they really should not be let outdoors.

My sister has one and he is a sweet character.

[Rodamala]

You asked for advice...

I grew up with cats. I am a "cat person". I am a guy. It's OK... it builds character. More on that in a bit.

Well, we lived in a rural area, so our cats always had the freedom to come and go from the house at their leisure. Our cats we barn cats from the litters the cats at the feed mill would have, or just strays that showed up, or cats from a shelter. The best cats we had were the American Tabbies from the feed mill... my brother's cat was Tiger... a male and I adopted a girl kittie, Trouble (as a kid I thought it would be clever to say, "Here comes Trouble").

As it turned out, Trouble, the most gentle queen... would live to be 21 years old... a grand old lady that would eventually go hard of hearing... and then one day mom went to leave the house and tragically ran over Trouble whonwas sleeping under the car. It was awful... and upsetting that nobody had bothered to tell me until I was home for easter dinner and asked where my cat was.

ANYWAY... you need to accept that every cat has a different temperment... some cats are playful, others hide under the couch. Some are affectionate, and some are nasty. Truthfully, cats are good for guys because they teach patience and respect for independence or willfulness.

Whatever cat you adopt, realize that it is the cat you chose and you have to live with it. It builds character... probably good skills for how to relate to human females, actually.

I do not recommend a fashionable "designer cat"... no lynxes, or savahanna cats... just get a cat. Go to a shelter and adopt a cat that needs a loving owner. Understand there will be adjustment. UNDERSTAND the cat may not be exactly what you thought it would be... if you opt to get a kitten... consider getting 2 so that they have a friend when you are not there, as they are like us, social animals. Try the ASPCA or a animal shelter... save a tiny creature from living it's last days in a cowering in a cage like in some really heartwrenching commercial with a Sarah MacGlaughlin voiceover.

My $0.02.

[catnipman]

Nothing wrong with guys liking cats :):):)

My experience has been that male cats (neutered of course) tend to be more social and more involved in household activities than females cats. Lots of times the girl cats are pretty much content with curling up in a quiet location and sleeping all day, whereas guy cats like to be doing stuff a lot more.

Good advice about getting two to keep themselves entertained and happy while you’re away, but be sure to get two litter mates to assure compatibility; lots of times random cats will hate each other’s guts for no apparent reason to humans, and that makes for a VERY unhappy household.

Also, if you’re willing to spend a fair amount of time with your cats (especially the first few months), get a pair of kitten litter-mates and you’ll be greatly rewarded by the time you spend with them. If you’ll respond to their attempts to communicate, they’ll catch on and before you know it, you’ll have a pair of cats demanding the most minute and most outrageous things from you. On the other hand, if you DON’T respond to their initial attempts to communicate, they’ll soon give up and pretty much never try again.

Be advised that domestic house cats will grow up feral without human contact, but with human interaction they essentially never grow up, instead transferring their mother-bonding from their own cat mother to the new human “mother”, remaining in a kitten-like state the rest of their lives. In effect, any human (male or female) with whom a cat bonds is that cat’s mother-substitute.

Right now, I have a male Manx and his sister, and these two are quite a pair. Male Manxes make great pets, and are often referred to as the “dog cat” because they’ll follow you around “helping” with whatever you do.

Please feed your cat(s) a high quality food with NO carbs or byproducts. If you want your cats to remain healthy and active throughout their long lives, feed them one of the frozen foods that consists basically of nothing but ground meat and bone. Second best is the best canned food you can buy. Never feed dry food as your cat(s) are much less likely to live beyond 11-12 years. Even with the best canned cat foods, many (most?) cats will sooner or later develop an allergy to one or more of the additives and develop liver, pancreas, or bowel disease. With dry foods that can happen MUCH quicker.

Pay attention to cat nutrition as much as you do your own, maybe even more, because cats are way different than a human. For one thing, cat livers are extremely limited in the medications and substances that they can metabolize because a cat is an obligate carnivore and has been designed to only metabolize a much smaller number of meat-related compounds rather than the MUCH larger number of plant-derived compounds a human is designed to deal with. For example, many simple household products such as aspirin, acetaminophen and even chocolate can be fatal to a cat.

Minute quantities of antifreeze or hydraulic fluid are fatal to both cats and dogs (and actually humans in slightly larger amounts), as the ethylene glycol in them will destroy the kidneys.

Finally, if at all possible, don’t let your cats outdoors alone as their longevity will be tremendously reduced over staying indoors. The outdoor world is extremely dangerous to kitties.

[redfreedom]

I recommend a mutt, a give away. There’s nothing gay or girlish about a guy having a cat.

After being strictly dog people, we now have a house cat of mixed breed, a freebie. She’s a friend, very smart, entertaining, shows affection, demands attention. She’s trainable with regards to knowing what furniture or counter tops she’s not allowed on. It’s an animal you have to get to know and understand.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Check out the Bombay. A true Bombay has stunning copper eyes, silky black fur, unusual deep throaty voice, they are very affectionate and exceptionally intelligent. Our Bombay would follow Mr. Peel & I when we’d take our evening walk, just like a dog - with no leash.

[catnipman]

One other piece of advice: don't vaccinate your cats if they never go outdoors. And if you DO have to vaccinate, vaccinate only for rabies and ONLY the Purevax vaccine.

Regular cat vaccines have nasty chemical compounds (usually inorganic, aluminum-based) call adjuvants that deliberately irritate the cat's immune system because the vaccine itself is too weak to do any good. As a consequence of these adjuvants (and their accumulative impact because of over-vaccination), there has been an epidemic of cat hyperthyroidism and injection site sarcomas.

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/small_animal/internal_medicine/newsletters/vaccination_protocols.cfm

[MarkL]

For what it’s worth, check out a few of the TV shows on “Animal Planet.” “Cats 101” and “My Cat from Hell” are very informative and I’ve learned quite a bit from both.

I’ve always had cats that were either strays that decided to stay with us, or rescue cats. All were “mutts,” however I’m pretty sure that one was a Turkish Angora.

What ever you get, be sure to research the breed first, and think about getting 2 cats if you’re going to be out of the house for very long hours. That way they’ll have a playmate. Cats are NOT solitary creatures by nature. If you can, get your cat or cats very young, and handle them as much as they’ll stand: You’ll find that the cat is far more sociable, and not at all standoffish.

Good luck on your upcoming adventure!

Mark

[MeshugeMikey]

If youve never had the company of a MANX CAT THIS COULD BE A GREAT TIME TO LET ONE ADOPT YOU.

I will not likely ever forget seeing my manx at the distance of nearly a city block bounding along like a rabbit. In fact I though it was a rabbit until I noted its rather abbreviated ears...

[Varda]

I’ve had about 20 cats.
- longest lived, purebred Siamese (20yrs).
- dumbest, purebred Abbysinian, pretty though.
- smartest, purebred Turkish Angora.
The others were all strays or from the pound and were nice pets. They weren’t any healthier than the purebreds. We don’t skimp on care for any animal we own including the ones we get from the pound. My next cat will be a Bengal or two. I like large active pets.

[Jack Hydrazine]

See if you can find a barking cat like this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP3gzee1cps

Once you get a cat do the tape experiment with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-mmjCDHzFQ

[lonster]

i would suggest looking behind an old business or home and find a cat that needs a home. it might be hard to choose though because in many places there can be alot of them. i’m sure there’s an ole turned out house cat or a kitten that might take to you.