asking cat owners (1 Viewer)

[Magician]

I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was thinking about adopting a cat
I went to to see a doctor bc I thought I was allergic to cats, but… I'm not. I'm allergic to dogs


so, I would like to ask cat owners a few questions, since I never owned a pet:
1. how many cats do you own? I read it’s better to have two cats, especially if the owner works full-time
2. how diffictult was it to train your cat(s)? Like teaching them to use the litter box
3. I live in an apartment and sadly can’t let them out. What toys or furnishing does your cat like?

If you have any other advices pls let me know

 

[seungfloral]

im not a cat owner, i had two that ran away, but i think scratching posts would be essential

 

[Ahsoka]

Well the lack of a cat allergy must have been a pleasant surprise I currently have one cat. I had one in the past too, but they never knew each other because the old one passed before we got the current one. But I have a dog as well, so he has company of some kind, even if a different species. They get along well usually (as long as my cat doesn't approach my dogs food dish or bother my dog too much when she's sleeping). My old cat was alone, but she was more of a I'll sleep on your lap during day and bring you rabbits to chase by night (we allowed her out). We didn't have to train them for the litterbox, they knew how to use it already (we adopted them). For my old cat we had some toys, all kinds tbh. She liked them a lot as a kitten, but cared less for them when older. Mine has a cat house he likes, but his favorite is just string or other dangly things (once even my dogs tail when she was wagging it). A scratching post can be useful if they like it. Could save some furniture. But neither of ours liked scratching posts we got that much (though my current did like the one on the cat tree. Not enough to stop scratching other things though). I'll show a photo of my cat and dog in a second.

Spoiler: Cuties

Even found one with my dog and older cat. My older cat wasn’t a fan of my dog (she was on the older side when we got my dog). My dog was a big fan of my cat though so a one sided relationship. My current cat likes my dog a lot more than my old one did.

 

[owo]

im a previous cat haver but ill answer this still bc i love cats


1. ive only had one indoor cat at a time, but i've been a cat haver for two cats!
2. not difficult at all. really once they know where their litter box they'll catch on pretty quickly.
3. they loved nothing more than literally anything on a string, like those feather on a string toys 😭 or even just a STRING. wiggle a string around and they go CRAZY for it, its so fun. so cute.... && lil toy balls w/ the bell or any small plushie was also a fan favorite bc they love to attack them (lovingly) LOL

 

[Day]

1. how many cats do you own? I read it’s better to have two cats, especially if the owner works full-time
2. how diffictult was it to train your cat(s)? Like teaching them to use the litter box
3. I live in an apartment and sadly can’t let them out. What toys or furnishing does your cat like?

If you have any other advices pls let me know

1. I had 4 cats for 9 years 3 for 3 years, 2 for 7 years, and now back up to 3 again. I definitely recommend getting two for the first time, never just one.
2. Ours were very simple which may have been due to the fact that all of our cats always had an older cat that was the "boss" of the household. When you get kittens or new cats for the first time it's best to keep them in one room or one area of the house until they learn to use the litterbox. We went from 4 > 3 > 2 > 1 > 3 > 2 > 3 in that order in terms of # of cats in the house, so there never was a moment where there wasn't an older cat.
3. Lasers can be fun, strings w/ fish on them or feathers, but honestly my current 3 cats consist of 1 outdoor turned indoor (thank you cat distribution system) and 2 indoor cats who enjoy the comfort of our backyard (and scream to go out into it). All cats are different and you'll just need to try a bunch of different toys and see what works for them. Cat trees are good, cardboard scratchers are good too. Get them some catnip as well and they'll like you a lot!

In terms of other advice I would say be careful choosing where to get your cat from. My most recent 2 cats were taken away from their mothers too soon and one of them does not groom himself. If you suspect your kittens could be the same way one thing that has helped my cats is a purring cat toy, my cat will make biscuits on it and it's his happy place.
My other advice is because of my personal bias I've only ever had boy cats so I recommend them. We usually also pick kittens from the same litter and so that's what I recommend to others (if you have the opportunity).

 

[BlingyBlinger]

1. how many cats do you own? I read it’s better to have two cats, especially if the owner works full-time
Just one. Would have liked another but with his level of possessiveness not sure it would have worked out. With someone who works, two would be better
2. how diffictult was it to train your cat(s)? Like teaching them to use the litter box
Using a litter box is second nature to a cat. Mine was an outdoor kitten from a farm and he picked it up immediately with no accidents (aside from the time he got accidentally locked in a room )
Other training depends on the cat tbh. Mine has a pitiful attention span so I've given up on anything aside from recall
3. I live in an apartment and sadly can’t let them out. What toys or furnishing does your cat like?
Cats need lots of high places to explore!! Anything that adds good height is a strong plus. Aside from that: wavy wands are great, puzzle feeders are great, fuzzy mice with squeakers in them are wonderful. You can never have too many toys in my opinion


Other advice:
-Wet food over dry food! Cats prefer to get hydration from their food so dry only cats may end up with dangerous urinary issues
-2 litterboxes + 1 for each extra cat
-Before bringing ANY plants into the apartment be sure to check for toxicity
-Getting older cats from rescue can be just as good as kittens! With kittens you're never completely sure how the personality will turn out as an adult + kittens are adopted so much easier. Giving adult cats a chance, especially the seldom adopted black ones, may be saving lives!
-

 

[Magician]

im not a cat owner, i had two that ran away, but i think scratching posts would be essential

that's true!

Well the lack of a cat allergy must have been a pleasant surprise I currently have one cat. I had one in the past too, but they never knew each other because the old one passed before we got the current one. But I have a dog as well, so he has company of some kind, even if a different species. They get along well usually (as long as my cat doesn't approach my dogs food dish or bother my dog too much when she's sleeping). My old cat was alone, but she was more of a I'll sleep on your lap during day and bring you rabbits to chase by night (we allowed her out). We didn't have to train them for the litterbox, they knew how to use it already (we adopted them). For my old cat we had some toys, all kinds tbh. She liked them a lot as a kitten, but cared less for them when older. Mine has a cat house he likes, but his favorite is just string or other dangly things (once even my dogs tail when she was wagging it). A scratching post can be useful if they like it. Could save some furniture. But neither of ours liked scratching posts we got that much (though my current did like the one on the cat tree. Not enough to stop scratching other things though). I'll show a photo of my cat and dog in a second.

Spoiler: Cuties

Even found one with my dog and older cat. My older cat wasn’t a fan of my dog (she was on the older side when we got my dog). My dog was a big fan of my cat though so a one sided relationship. My current cat likes my dog a lot more than my old one did.

Your pets are so cute!!
Yeah, I definitely would get a scratching post, bc I would like to save my furniture

im a previous cat haver but ill answer this still bc i love cats


1. ive only had one indoor cat at a time, but i've been a cat haver for two cats!
2. not difficult at all. really once they know where their litter box they'll catch on pretty quickly.
3. they loved nothing more than literally anything on a string, like those feather on a string toys 😭 or even just a STRING. wiggle a string around and they go CRAZY for it, its so fun. so cute.... && lil toy balls w/ the bell or any small plushie was also a fan favorite bc they love to attack them (lovingly) LOL

thanks for your advices! My sister has two cats and they destroy every toy (but they are still really young)

1. I had 4 cats for 9 years 3 for 3 years, 2 for 7 years, and now back up to 3 again. I definitely recommend getting two for the first time, never just one.
2. Ours were very simple which may have been due to the fact that all of our cats always had an older cat that was the "boss" of the household. When you get kittens or new cats for the first time it's best to keep them in one room or one area of the house until they learn to use the litterbox. We went from 4 > 3 > 2 > 1 > 3 > 2 > 3 in that order in terms of # of cats in the house, so there never was a moment where there wasn't an older cat.
3. Lasers can be fun, strings w/ fish on them or feathers, but honestly my current 3 cats consist of 1 outdoor turned indoor (thank you cat distribution system) and 2 indoor cats who enjoy the comfort of our backyard (and scream to go out into it). All cats are different and you'll just need to try a bunch of different toys and see what works for them. Cat trees are good, cardboard scratchers are good too. Get them some catnip as well and they'll like you a lot!

In terms of other advice I would say be careful choosing where to get your cat from. My most recent 2 cats were taken away from their mothers too soon and one of them does not groom himself. If you suspect your kittens could be the same way one thing that has helped my cats is a purring cat toy, my cat will make biscuits on it and it's his happy place.
My other advice is because of my personal bias I've only ever had boy cats so I recommend them. We usually also pick kittens from the same litter and so that's what I recommend to others (if you have the opportunity).

thanks day!!
There are some good shelters and something like animal welfare centers (some are only for cats) where I live
the animal welfare centers are always looking for forster homes, where you take care of cats until they find a new, permanent home (or you can adopt them)

1. how many cats do you own? I read it’s better to have two cats, especially if the owner works full-time
Just one. Would have liked another but with his level of possessiveness not sure it would have worked out. With someone who works, two would be better
2. how diffictult was it to train your cat(s)? Like teaching them to use the litter box
Using a litter box is second nature to a cat. Mine was an outdoor kitten from a farm and he picked it up immediately with no accidents (aside from the time he got accidentally locked in a room )
Other training depends on the cat tbh. Mine has a pitiful attention span so I've given up on anything aside from recall
3. I live in an apartment and sadly can’t let them out. What toys or furnishing does your cat like?
Cats need lots of high places to explore!! Anything that adds good height is a strong plus. Aside from that: wavy wands are great, puzzle feeders are great, fuzzy mice with squeakers in them are wonderful. You can never have too many toys in my opinion


Other advice:
-Wet food over dry food! Cats prefer to get hydration from their food so dry only cats may end up with dangerous urinary issues
-2 litterboxes + 1 for each extra cat
-Before bringing ANY plants into the apartment be sure to check for toxicity
-Getting older cats from rescue can be just as good as kittens! With kittens you're never completely sure how the personality will turn out as an adult + kittens are adopted so much easier. Giving adult cats a chance, especially the seldom adopted black ones, may be saving lives!
-

thanks for all the advice, especially with the food and high places!

 

[Ahsoka]

that's true!


Your pets are so cute!!
Yeah, I definitely would get a scratching post, bc I would like to save my furniture



thanks for your advices! My sister has two cats and they destroy every toy (but they are still really young)



thanks day!!
There are some good shelters and something like animal welfare centers (some are only for cats) where I live
the animal welfare centers are always looking for forster homes, where you take care of cats until they find a new, permanent home (or you can adopt them)


thanks for all the advice, especially with the food and high places!

Depending on your cat it might not help much in the furniture department But it’s worth a try for sure

 

[StrayMixx]

Are you still taking advice? I used to live with a roommate who had a cat, so I know a thing or two.

1) RE having two cats: on the one hand, it is better to have two cats, because then she'll have a friend to play with if she gets lonely. But then, on the other hand, you don't want to have two cats that don't get along or have the new cat be a bad influence on the original cat. Like, when I was nine or ten, I had a cat whom I gave a companion to the year after I adopted him. He was NOT happy with the new cat, and they were constantly fighting. In fact, she was a troublemaker and it rubbed off on the formerly sweet-as-pie OG. So two things if you want to adopt another after this one: be careful of how you intro them and make sure you're able to equally divide your attention between them. I didn't do either of these, which led to the aforementioned fighting and troublemaking. Otherwise, if you're looking to adopt two at once, I wouldn't recommend that unless you have the time to care for two. Just one will suffice for now, at least until you can get a handle on being a cat mom.

3) RE training your cat: yeah, it can be pretty hard. My ex-roommate tried to stroller-train her cat, but she failed miserably when she discovered the cat hated it. But it does depend on the cat; some cats are more willing than others.

3) RE apartment living: that's actually a good thing that you can't let her out, because when that's the case, they're probably ten times less likely to risk injury or kidnap. Just make sure she has enough things to do, like a cat tree overlooking a window, a scratching post, some agility toys (a cat tunnel, for one), and things for her to chase. Cats do love chasing things! Oh, and ofc make sure your landlord is okay with pets.

 

[Magician]

Are you still taking advice? I used to live with a roommate who had a cat, so I know a thing or two.

1) RE having two cats: on the one hand, it is better to have two cats, because then she'll have a friend to play with if she gets lonely. But then, on the other hand, you don't want to have two cats that don't get along or have the new cat be a bad influence on the original cat. Like, when I was nine or ten, I had a cat whom I gave a companion to the year after I adopted him. He was NOT happy with the new cat, and they were constantly fighting. In fact, she was a troublemaker and it rubbed off on the formerly sweet-as-pie OG. So two things if you want to adopt another after this one: be careful of how you intro them and make sure you're able to equally divide your attention between them. I didn't do either of these, which led to the aforementioned fighting and troublemaking. Otherwise, if you're looking to adopt two at once, I wouldn't recommend that unless you have the time to care for two. Just one will suffice for now, at least until you can get a handle on being a cat mom.

3) RE training your cat: yeah, it can be pretty hard. My ex-roommate tried to stroller-train her cat, but she failed miserably when she discovered the cat hated it. But it does depend on the cat; some cats are more willing than others.

3) RE apartment living: that's actually a good thing that you can't let her out, because when that's the case, they're probably ten times less likely to risk injury or kidnap. Just make sure she has enough things to do, like a cat tree overlooking a window, a scratching post, some agility toys (a cat tunnel, for one), and things for her to chase. Cats do love chasing things! Oh, and ofc make sure your landlord is okay with pets.

thanks for your advices!