The girlfriend and I are getting a kitten - what are we getting ourselves into?

[Sho'Nuff]

Also, as lxskllr mentioned, females tend to have a more mild temperament?

I would like to avoid furniture being destroyed if possible. I'm sure there is something that could be done to discourage that behavior (without being provided a condescending response).

When our cats were young, we would observe where they would scratch. When they would scratch something we did not want scratched, we covered that spot with double sided tape. The stickiness of it drove the cats nuts and they stopped scratching those places in short order. Worked well and did not require us to be present at the time of scratching.

Also since you are looking to get a male, you should consider putting them on a diet low in ash and magnesium. Male cats have a tendency to develop urinary blockages. Those blockages result from uric acid crystallizing in the urethra when the pH of the cats urine is too high. Magnesium and ash contribute to high urine pH, and thus are a major cause of urinary blockages in male cats. It happened once to my male cat and it cost ~$1500 to have him treated. So it is worth the extra buck or two spent on "urinary care" dry food.

 

[Scotteq]

I believe the OP left out '...jump in the bed at night and curl up like a hat on daddy's head so he wakes up at 3am drenched in sweat... "

 

[evident]

I use 3 of these liter boxes:

http://www.amazon.com/Omega-Paw-Self..._petsupplies_2

absotively love them! Also, male cats suck. My male cat (my first one ever) fucking pees on everything even though he's fixed. My female is fine and my previous 2 female cats were wonderful too.

honestly, i found these to be a much bigger mess than they're worth. just using a regular metal scoop and getting in there really good just makes the box so much more clean. when you turn the box around, you won't get all of the clumps and sometimes the clumps will break and make smaller litter bits that still linger around in the box.

 

[sixone]

I use 3 of these liter boxes:

http://www.amazon.com/Omega-Paw-Self..._petsupplies_2

absotively love them! Also, male cats suck. My male cat (my first one ever) fucking pees on everything even though he's fixed. My female is fine and my previous 2 female cats were wonderful too.

The motor scared my cat, so she wouldn't use one of those.

 

[KoolAidKid]

Kitties shit in a box by nature. Just let it know its there.

Not my cat. She prefers to shit on the floor right in front of the litter box. It's better that way.

 

[sixone]

Not my cat. She prefers to shit on the floor right in front of the litter box. It's better that way.

My cat poops at one end of the litter box, and pees at the other. Problem is, she doesn't go far enough in when she pees, so it ends up going over the sides.

Puppy pads have solved that problem. Just change them when it gets stinky.

 

[Drako]

Not my cat. She prefers to shit on the floor right in front of the litter box. It's better that way.

Ugh, we had a cat like that once too. At least she peed in the box, but 90% of the time she would poop just outside of it. We even got her a larger box, but that did not change her behavior.

 

[moonbogg]

Kitten = easy. Kitten + kids = let kitty die.

Before we got married, my wife and I had cats and loved them. When they were young, we made sure they stayed in the house and always closed the doors etc etc. Then, we begat offspring. Trying to go in and out of the house with strollers, diaper bags, loading the car all while keeping the kitten in the house = let kitty die.

 

[William Gaatjes]

The posts in this thread are hilarious. :biggrin:

Since i live in a small flat, i am thinking about buying a hamster.

 

[KoolAidKid]

Kitten = easy. Kitten + kids = let kitty die.

Before we got married, my wife and I had cats and loved them. When they were young, we made sure they stayed in the house and always closed the doors etc etc. Then, we begat offspring. Trying to go in and out of the house with strollers, diaper bags, loading the car all while keeping the kitten in the house = let kitty die.

I'm wondering how that's going to work out myself. First kiddo is due to be born in two days, and we have three very active 1-year old cats. Should be exciting if nothing else.

 

[dabuddha]

honestly, i found these to be a much bigger mess than they're worth. just using a regular metal scoop and getting in there really good just makes the box so much more clean. when you turn the box around, you won't get all of the clumps and sometimes the clumps will break and make smaller litter bits that still linger around in the box.

I dunno, I've been using them for years and I love them because emptying the liter box literally takes less than 30 seconds per box. I regularly change out my liter as well so it doesn't get nasty.

 

[dabuddha]

The motor scared my cat, so she wouldn't use one of those.

There's no motor in this one You have to rotate the box yourself onto it's "back" and the clumps fall into this scoop that you can then pull out and pour into a plastic bag (once you roll the box back onto it's "feet")

 

[JM Aggie08]

I use 3 of these liter boxes:

http://www.amazon.com/Omega-Paw-Self..._petsupplies_2

absotively love them! Also, male cats suck. My male cat (my first one ever) fucking pees on everything even though he's fixed. My female is fine and my previous 2 female cats were wonderful too.

This is the exact one we were thinking of getting No need to manually sift yourself!

 

[PlanetJosh]

Get two of them and you can look forward to a lifetime (cat lifetime) of setting up things like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoqizNCtFLE

 

[Agent11]

This is the exact one we were thinking of getting No need to manually sift yourself!

I would get the litter robot if you want to get a auto cleaning cat box, it doesn't have a rake, the inside rotates and sifts.

 

[Tormac]

I have three cats, a mom cat and two kittens.

I agree with some who suggest two cats, the kids chase each other around and help tire each other out.

I’ve never had a litter box issue, just change the litter regularly and the cat will naturally use it.

Any good brand of cat food should be ok. I recommend science diet.

I have a leather couch and two cloth couches. They scratch the cloth couches, but can’t get a foothold on the leather one, and have given up scratching it.

My experience with setting up a bed for a cat, or going out of my way to buy some toy for them, is they will do what they want, and ignore the store bought items.

My cats are great. The mom was a stray that I adopted, and is a great mouser and as affectionate as can be. The little tom-cat will play fetch with his toy mouse (when he feels like it). My little female is the cutest snuggle buddy that you could ask for.

Good luck with your cat. Kittens will need extra attention; they will want to play a lot. The more effort you put in when they are small, the stronger the cat will be attached to you latter on.

 

[Phanuel]

Also since you are looking to get a male, you should consider putting them on a diet low in ash and magnesium. Male cats have a tendency to develop urinary blockages. Those blockages result from uric acid crystallizing in the urethra when the pH of the cats urine is too high. Magnesium and ash contribute to high urine pH, and thus are a major cause of urinary blockages in male cats. It happened once to my male cat and it cost ~$1500 to have him treated. So it is worth the extra buck or two spent on "urinary care" dry food.

My friends have a male cat they originally named Mal. He had something like this and the resulting surgery. Now we call him Malory...

 

[JM Aggie08]

Our 10 week old tabby has been home for 18 hours, and has managed to escape into a small gap in the corner of the kitchen cabinets. We tried to encourage her out last night, but no dice.

Over night, she managed to eat some of her food, use the shit box 3 or so times, and drug a handful of toys to her 'hole'. As of this morning , she's nowhere to be found. We live in a one bedroom apartment, with all of her stuff in the office area (separate room), and have closed all of the bedroom and bathroom doors, as to contain her.

So....here's to waiting I guess? We're just going to continue on as usual, refilling her food/water, leaving out treats in areas, and cleaning the shitbox...provided she's not in the fucking wall.

 

[Scotteq]

Don't worry about it - She'll come out when she gets used to the new environment. Just be calm and nice to her.

 

[Drako]

Don't worry about it - She'll come out when she gets used to the new environment. Just be calm and nice to her.

This - she will be fine.

 

[JM Aggie08]

We microwaved some tuna and put it in the hole. Within and hour it was gone, and the plate covered with dust.

We laced a cardboard scratcher with catnip and placed it in her room. Her food and water are filled away from the shitbox, and I assume she will visit them again tonight.

 

[Engineer]

Nothing wrong with you gf giving you a little pussy. :awe:

 

[Drako]

Sounds like she's OK.

I would get a sleeping bag out and rest/sleep near the hidey hole. She may come out at night to investigate you. Just a thought.

 

[ThinClient]

Just remember that declawing a cat is cruel.

 

[Drako]

Just remember that declawing a cat is cruel.

You always have useless if not snarky comments to add. For some reason I like you even though I know you are touched. :biggrin: