Thinking of getting a cat

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I really expected a lot of negative comments on this topic-heck, my first response in my head was "why a cat", although I love my cat. I've had 2, this one (in my 60's) and one when I was a kid. All dogs in between. Glad to see the great responses. All animals have a personality from what I've learned. Had a few birds that had personalities and hearts as big as anything.
 
Originally Posted by BlueOvalFitter
I have had several cats. I always got them as kittens. A grown cat has already made his personality. A kitten will grow with you and you learn each others personality.


My ex used to fall in love with kittens and bring them home. This is the first and only cat I've ever picked out myself - a long-haired 7.5 pounder. Her original owners had a baby and put her up for adoption. She follows me around the house and, much to my surprise, she likes dogs. Not little yappers, but big dogs. I was looking after my neighbours lab, and she stuck her head in his bowl while he was gulping down his dinner...


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While I absolutely love my dog to death, my cat will always be my bestie. He and I have always been the only males around, and we've been attached since the day we met. When he was a kitten he insisted on riding around on my shoulder AT ALL TIMES. Cooking, cleaning, brushing my teeth, whatever. While he's far too big to pull that stunt now, he's no less curious. I've had a 30 person party at my house (Halloween, not a dinner party HA) and he was happy as a clam to mingle among everyone. He's an absolute sucker for attention, and the most laid back cat I've ever met.

Oh, and he weighs 16 pounds. No, he's not overweight. I believe he's a mix with Norwegian forest cat, but who knows on Craigslist. This is Habanero:

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Unfortunately, this is ALSO Habanero...
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Our second friendliest is our orange tabby, the friendliest cat we ever had was a ragdoll. Dog like, greeted people at the door, wonderful personality.
 
Go for it.

I got Buddy when I was 16. Earlier this year after 8-1/2 years I unfortunately had to put him down due to kidney problems. I couldn't have asked for more in a cat. He was so sweet and loved dogs. We have 4 dogs, and it's gonna be a while before I'll get another cat. The problem is, is Buddy set the bar really high. Not sure I'll find a cat as good as he was. But maybe so. Need time.

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Originally Posted by joegreen
Cats are the coolest. They do vomit hair balls that you will have to clean up

That's actually an interesting topic. None of my cats ever had hair balls. One of my mom's cats would cough up a hair ball maybe once every few months, so not a big deal.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
You don't pick the cat, the cat picks you.

Does your Humane Society screen for proper pet ownership? They might ask a bunch of personal questions. Ours does.


This, all the way. My wife and I have 4 cats, and all of them have spoken to us in one fashion or another. One of them, our Bombay girl, literally just walked into our garage as we were opening it to go for a late-night walk. She walked into our lives, and has been a wonderful companion.
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Two of our others are twins from the same litter. We went in looking to get just one a couple months after the loss of another, and the pair just spoke to us in a way that just one could not have..
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Odds are good that if you volunteer at the Humane Society, there will be a cat at some point who just clicks with you.



.. as others have said, get at least one scratching post.. and a big ol' cat tree. Also, bond as much as you can early on. It will make a big difference. Our most recent cat, a beautiful Russian Blue girl, sleeps in the bed with me, ever night, pressed up right against me. Even crawls into the covers.. all because the first night I had her home, I fell asleep snuggling with her on the bed.
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You don't pick the cat, the cat picks you.

Does your Humane Society screen for proper pet ownership? They might ask a bunch of personal questions. Ours does.


^this for sure. All our cats just wandered up. We never went out and got any of them.

All cats have one of a kind personalities. The trick is to find one that is quirky in a fun, lovable way, not one that's the devil's spawn. We currently have a gray tuxedo female that thinks she is the supervisor of our 85 lb black lab- and she is. Our funnest cat was a gray tabby tom that the neighbors called cat-dog. If anyone was out it would go over and sit and visit for a while. Inside the house he would randomly start running around the room attacking imaginary mice. Our experience is the females have had more stand-offish personalities where the males have been more social and goofy.

All cats want an elevated place to sleep.. They all like something warm to sleep on if the weather is cool. They are born litter box trained. They are going to throw up from time to time. If you get a kitten from someone get it fixed at the appropriate age. This is essential for reasons too numerous to list.
 
Cant really give any advice. The wife and I adopted our cat about a year ago right after we bought the house. My parents have a tortoise shell that we both like so that's what we wanted to go with.

Just like my parents cat, this one thinks she's a dog. She will wrestle with the pug all the time and is buddies with the German Shepherd. Can't complain whatsoever.

I will say of all the cats she was with in the glass walled kitty room, she was the only one to get up on the windowsill after we left while we were in the lobby so yes I guess they do pick you out in a way.
 
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Disregard the pallet art. It came with the house.
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Here she is with the big boy. This was taken about a month or so after introducing her to him. Hopefully the pic orientation is correct.

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Our one and only cat was a dump off that followed us one winter day with about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. It was around six weeks old. We kept her for many years, got her neutered and she was a pretty good mouser as well since we lived in a rural area at the time.

All of my pets have been either strays or pick ups from other people.
 
Cats are just the best. We have three. My cat, the old woman, is not too fond of other animals so she gets the upstairs to herself. But when I hang out up there, she likes to come up on my shoulder and knead and groom me. The other two cats - tabby cat and black cat - are quite friendly. they even get along with the dog! I love my dog (German Shepherd) and she's a great dog, but she will never be a cat.

They're affectionate, they aren't overly needy and they quite enjoy sitting on your lap or next to you when you watch TV or whatever. And if you have to, you can leave them for a few days.

My cat likes to curl up on a ball right next to my chest when I go to sleep. Most night she will wrap herself around my arm and falls asleep as I rub her belly and she kneads the air.
 
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