Have appointment with cat shelter on Xmas

[cnu5000]

I have my first appointment with a cat shelter on Xmas. It just happened to be a good day for me. On Facebook, I am getting alot of online support from cat friends.

My mother is excited(My father does not like pets) and calls the prospective cat her grand cat.

[preraph]

Well, it will be an adventure. You will have to convince them since you're going on Christmas that this is not a gift for anyone and that it's not impulsive. They get a lot of Christmas pets returned.

[cnu5000]

We are all Jewish including the woman who runs the shelfter so we don't celebrate xMas. I think what I will have to do is convince them that while I want a cat that is a mouser(we have had some mice) I do see it as a long term. FYI I don't care about the fact that there may be mice bodies or I will have to kill the mouse to stop it from being tortured.

Tonight I buy cat suppplies. Any suggestions as what is necessary to do as part of cat-proofing an apartment?

[cnu5000]

Also I am glad I have I have read up on cat breeds-not that one gets a breed at a shelter but I found out that many breeds of black cats are nice. I still have a little prejudice about black cats(never let a black cat cross your path). Actually there is a domestic black cat that I see where I live and he is very friendly and will come up to me and purr.

[happy2bchildfree]

Dec 16, 2011 9:24:35 GMT -5 cnu5000 said:

We are all Jewish including the woman who runs the shelfter so we don't celebrate xMas. I think what I will have to do is convince them that while I want a cat that is a mouser(we have had some mice) I do see it as a long term. FYI I don't care about the fact that there may be mice bodies or I will have to kill the mouse to stop it from being tortured.

Tonight I buy cat suppplies. Any suggestions as what is necessary to do as part of cat-proofing an apartment?

I thought it odd that the cat shelter would be open on Christmas. Makes sense now.

[preraph]

I don't know that I would even mention that you want a mouser, only because, number one, most cats will chase a mouse anyway, but number two, the rescuers worry because cats are often poisoned by eating a mouse who has eaten poison. Anyway, as long as you tell them you're keeping them inside, and that it's a permanent pet for you, they should be happy to adopt to you. But really, most cats will chase anything that moves! And yes, they will torture it and bring it to you alive and dead and you will have to dispose of it.

I will tell you right now, cats get worms from eating mice. Now, many well fed cats will kill a mouse or rat but never eat it. My cat only eats one occasionally - and each time she does, then she gets those nasty worms that are white and look like little rice on their butt fur. It's nasty. You have to go to the vet or pet store and get pills for it and give either one or two pills a couple of weeks apart. So DO try to NOT let the cat eat the mouse if you can help it.

[preraph]

Catproofing - well, mostly move anything breakable that can be knocked over, just like you would if a toddler was in the house. This will mostly be lighter weight items that are fragile.

Best toy for a cat: a paper bag and a box with two 4-inch square holes cut in it so it can go in and sneak around and peek out, etc. Once it gets tired of those items, throw them out, wait a month, and then make new ones. It will be like new to them.

Cats really shed, so you may want to cover some of the furniture or block it off from the bedroom or living room or something like that if you're fussy.

Cats don't need much. What I prefer for a litter box is not a litter box, which are expensive and shallow, but a clear plastic bin like you'd store clothes in, a deep one, about a foot deep, filled with about 3 inches of "clumping" litter. Buy yourself a litter scoop at the pet store and you scoop out the clumps of pee/poop and throw it away and do not have to keep changing litter, just add some as needed. Also, a tip: the most expensive litter, like Tidy Cat, is not the best litter. I buy a cheap kind at the pet store and just look for one that clumps easily (it should be like a roundish ball for pee and should coat the doodoo thoroughly - not anything that breaks apart when you move it) and one that doesn't create a lot of dust when you're cleaning it. (Tidy Cat is dusty in the extreme).

You need a wide flat heavy water bowl ideally so if the cat becomes rambunctious while you're gone, it can't knock it over. Do not let the cat drink from the toilet. It can give some of them diarrhea. You may have to put the seat down to prevent it. Some cats like getting in a shower and licking water in there. That should be okay. It's cool in there, so they like that.

So litter box, food and water bowls, cheap toys like paper bags and boxes (you can treat them with catnip once in awhile, but don't start off with it until the cat is settled, and don't make it a daily habit), a piece of ribbon or heavy string or small rope to let the cat chase as you twirl it in a circle on the floor. That's really all the toys they need. They don't need treats, but if your cat is thin by nature, you can use them to try to fatten them up.

Most cats can be free-fed and won't overeat, but maybe 10-20 percent of them will eat to obesity, so you have to not leave food out and only feed a couple of times a day. You will soon see how big a pig yours is. I have trouble getting mine to fatten up, so I do use treats. Otherwise, I would not, because they're more fattening.

Again, only give the wet food at night before bedtime if you want the cat to be trained to come to a certain place for the night. It will come willingly and then after eating the biggest meal of the day, the wet food (and maybe some crunchies after), it may just pass out for the night and not keep you up. That's how mine is. But I'm really lucky with animals.

It will be so much fun to pick out your cat. Now, my family was in the business of black cats. We were all about black cats. I think they're the best. We had a huge beast of a black cat when I was young, and it was part some type of wildcat and had no tail. My little cat now is a calico, but I'm partial to black animals, and the thing is, they put a lot of them down because people with not much sense sometimes choose animals based mainly on how they look and look for long haired with white on them or things like that.

Whatever cat you get, even if it's the homliest one in the place, you will think it's the prettiest one once it's been yours for a couple of months. So give some thought as to short hair or long hair, because that's a legitimate preference, I think, with some practical considerations. Long hair is just even more shedding, more allergies for some people. I like a short hair, myself.

Cats are by nature aloof, so don't reject one or all of the rescue cats because they're not getting up and coming to you or don't want you to hold them. None of them will likely be very friendly to ANY stranger. You have to earn their trust and love over time, but they will all come around eventually. The rescuers will have an idea which ones are really too wild for a new cat owner, so enlist their opinion. But choose from the heart. The best pets seem to just "happen" to us, whether we were ready for them or not.

[preraph]

PS - the reason I prefer the bin to the litter box, besides cost, is the cat can't knock their litter out when they're in there digging. In a shallow box, they dig and litter flies outside the box. They have no trouble getting into and out of a deep box, believe me.

[cnu5000]

thanks.