Thinking about getting a kitten..

[Howard]

I have no idea why I thought this thread was titled "Thinking about getting a knife.."

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Gooberlx2
Get two cats (preferably from the same litter). Two are no harder to care for than one, minimally more expensive, and they'll have each other to keep company while you're away during the day.

Personally, I use wood stove pellets from Home Depot for litter. Exact same stuff as feline pine in pet stores, except way way cheaper. I love that there's no tracking of it throughout the house.

Everyone I know who's tried an automatic box hated it because it was a mess to clean, the cat wouldn't use it or it would break.

I have two of these litter boxes for my four cats. This is the scoop. Definitely get a metal scoop. Plastic scoops all break eventually.

feline pine is deoiled though. Pine oil can be toxic. I am going to look into the wood stove pellets, I'd imagine they'd be also.

EDIT: Apparently not all are deoiled: http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=149219

pine oil is very dangerous even if you are successful with your own cats.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Gooberlx2
Get two cats (preferably from the same litter). Two are no harder to care for than one, minimally more expensive, and they'll have each other to keep company while you're away during the day.

Personally, I use wood stove pellets from Home Depot for litter. Exact same stuff as feline pine in pet stores, except way way cheaper. I love that there's no tracking of it throughout the house.

Everyone I know who's tried an automatic box hated it because it was a mess to clean, the cat wouldn't use it or it would break.

I have two of these litter boxes for my four cats. This is the scoop. Definitely get a metal scoop. Plastic scoops all break eventually.

feline pine is deoiled though. Pine oil can be toxic. I am going to look into the wood stove pellets, I'd imagine they'd be also.

EDIT: Apparently not all are deoiled: http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=149219

pine oil is very dangerous even if you are successful with your own cats.

I'm pretty sure I remember reading that the de-oiling is inherent, due to the heat and compression to make the pellets in the first place. However, as far accelerants, etc...it's certainly worth the effort to read the bag. The bags I got from Home Depot, for example, specifically state to the effect of "all natural/organic", "no additives or accelerants", blah, blah.

Alternatives to Home Depot would be local farm/horse suppliers. Pine pellets are often used as bedding for other animals. You can be fairly sure that the pellets from those sources are safe. This is also good to know since the hardware stores don't really carry the stove pellets during warm seasons anyway.

There's also a plethora of online sources...but I imagine shipping costs would be killer.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Gooberlx2

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Gooberlx2
Get two cats (preferably from the same litter). Two are no harder to care for than one, minimally more expensive, and they'll have each other to keep company while you're away during the day.

Personally, I use wood stove pellets from Home Depot for litter. Exact same stuff as feline pine in pet stores, except way way cheaper. I love that there's no tracking of it throughout the house.

Everyone I know who's tried an automatic box hated it because it was a mess to clean, the cat wouldn't use it or it would break.

I have two of these litter boxes for my four cats. This is the scoop. Definitely get a metal scoop. Plastic scoops all break eventually.

feline pine is deoiled though. Pine oil can be toxic. I am going to look into the wood stove pellets, I'd imagine they'd be also.

EDIT: Apparently not all are deoiled: http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=149219

pine oil is very dangerous even if you are successful with your own cats.

I'm pretty sure I remember reading that the de-oiling is inherent, due to the heat and compression to make the pellets in the first place. However, as far accelerants, etc...it's certainly worth the effort to read the bag. The bags I got from Home Depot, for example, specifically state to the effect of "all natural/organic", "no additives or accelerants", blah, blah.

Alternatives to Home Depot would be local farm/horse suppliers. Pine pellets are often used as bedding for other animals. You can be fairly sure that the pellets from those sources are safe. This is also good to know since the hardware stores don't really carry the stove pellets during warm seasons anyway.

There's also a plethora of online sources...but I imagine shipping costs would be killer.

de-oiling is not inherent to pine pellets which is why it's critical. The clause one needs to see is animal-safe or preferablly safe for bedding.

All natural / no additives doesn't mean safe.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Gooberlx2

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Gooberlx2
Get two cats (preferably from the same litter). Two are no harder to care for than one, minimally more expensive, and they'll have each other to keep company while you're away during the day.

Personally, I use wood stove pellets from Home Depot for litter. Exact same stuff as feline pine in pet stores, except way way cheaper. I love that there's no tracking of it throughout the house.

Everyone I know who's tried an automatic box hated it because it was a mess to clean, the cat wouldn't use it or it would break.

I have two of these litter boxes for my four cats. This is the scoop. Definitely get a metal scoop. Plastic scoops all break eventually.

feline pine is deoiled though. Pine oil can be toxic. I am going to look into the wood stove pellets, I'd imagine they'd be also.

EDIT: Apparently not all are deoiled: http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=149219

pine oil is very dangerous even if you are successful with your own cats.

I'm pretty sure I remember reading that the de-oiling is inherent, due to the heat and compression to make the pellets in the first place. However, as far accelerants, etc...it's certainly worth the effort to read the bag. The bags I got from Home Depot, for example, specifically state to the effect of "all natural/organic", "no additives or accelerants", blah, blah.

Alternatives to Home Depot would be local farm/horse suppliers. Pine pellets are often used as bedding for other animals. You can be fairly sure that the pellets from those sources are safe. This is also good to know since the hardware stores don't really carry the stove pellets during warm seasons anyway.

There's also a plethora of online sources...but I imagine shipping costs would be killer.

de-oiling is not inherent to pine pellets which is why it's critical. The clause one needs to see is animal-safe or preferablly safe for bedding.

All natural / no additives doesn't mean safe.

I put in a call to my bengal's breeder, on whose recommendation I switched from clumping clay to these pellets, and asked her about the oils. She said she called the company and specifically asked if it was safe for bedding. She was told yes, and has been using it for years.

So yeah, a bit of due diligence is a good thing. I remember coming across all those threads/yahoo answers when I was researching it out...so I was probably fed some misinformation. Unfortunately, "How It's Made" hasn't run an episode with wood pellets.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Gooberlx2
I put in a call to my bengal's breeder, on whose recommendation I switched from clumping clay to these pellets, and asked her about the oils. She said she called the company and specifically asked if it was safe for bedding. She was told yes, and has been using it for years.

So yeah, a bit of due diligence is a good thing. I remember coming across all those threads/yahoo answers when I was researching it out...so I was probably fed some misinformation. Unfortunately, "How It's Made" hasn't run an episode with wood pellets.

to other's up north this is a good way to save (40lbs for $4 vs about $1 a pound for Feline Pine), however; it's also been a bad way as if you read up on it those that bought the non-deoiled stuff ended up eating up the savings in vet bills (not to mention poor quality of life for the pet).

I have read that you want to look for Approved or Safe for bedding...if that's not on there, it's not safe.

 

[TwiceOver]

Avoid a "Litter Maid" electric litterbox. Absolute garbage. Get a litter box with tall walls and put a rug under it to catch the litter on their paws. Clean daily.

My cats' favorite toy was a "Cat Pole Tree" which had a spring rod center so that it could expand from floor to ceiling (kinda like a shower rod). Had three floors and a hideaway. THey loved that thing. Other than something like that, don't waste your money on toys. Every cat I have ever had would rather play with random things around the house (milk lid rings, caps, paper bags).

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Gooberlx2
Mine go crazy for bread-bag twist ties, and milk bottle rings.

I do advise getting a cat tree though. My cats love 'em. The ones at Costco are pretty awesome and cheap compared to what you'd pay at Petsmart.

Be careful with twist ties though; one of my cats would eat anything like that she could find. Small pieces of string, twist ties, and rubber bands - none of them could be left out in the open where she might find them.


For litter pans, my parents would use cement mixing pans from a hardware store. They're nice and large, and probably not much more expensive than the expensive little litter pans.


Maybe look into training them to use the toilet instead. I guess there's also something about the idea that cats walk in their usual "toilet" that's just.....well, try not to think about it.

 

[mrCide]

updated ;D

edit; yes, we're k-on! dorks.

 

[spidey07]

About 3 months old? Rub your face on her chin all the time, she'll think your mom and it will be like that the rest of her life.