Speak to me of kitty-cats!

[susie_flo]

This is a plea to any seasoned cat people out there care who might care to offer advice  (including people on FB, if you happen to be reading). 

It's been 8 months since I lost my sweet, faithful, lil Jess.  And now that my holiday is over and Autumn is setting in, my mind has begun to lean in the direction of kittenz.  I can't deny that I've rather enjoyed the novelty of being pet-free for a while.  There's a lot to be said for the freedom to go away anytime and the lack of cat hair everywhere.  But when I mentioned this to sara_lou yesterday she said "Yes, but think about the purring bundle"...  and, frankly, that's about all it takes to knock this austere line of thinking on the head. ;-)

So... lets talk kittehs!

I have anxieties.  Like, what if I get the wrong ones?  Given that a cat is for life and all that... I could be pushing 60 before I get another go at it! 

This time around I am thinking of going for a pair - possibly siblings.  However some people have warned me that two cats are inclned to go off and do their own thing and are generally less interested in people than when you only have one... is this true?  Is there any real benefit in getting siblings, as opposed to non-related cats of a similar age?  And what think ye on the matter of girls v boys?  Who is less likely to wee in the house?  Is a brother-sister pair a good idea? 
 
Also, what if they don't love me?  Almost everyone I know who is a true, soppy cat lover seems to have ended up with trauma-cats who shun humankind...   or ones that are a bit stand-offish and non-cuddly.  It always seems to be people who are totally 'meh' about cats that end up with the purry love-muffins. 

So let it be said here and now: I WANT LOVE-MUFFINS!

I'd also rather like them to be pretty.  Admittedly this does not rule out many cats.  I've thought about pedigrees, however the pedigrees that I really love are total flopsy fluffballs like Ragdolls and Birmans, which would make G sneezy and probably give Mrs Norris (the Roomba) a meltdown.  So I think realistically we will have to go for shorties, or semi-shorties...   but probably not quite as short-haired as a siamese, as I usually do like a lil bit of fluff-factor.
 
In terms of colouring, I'm a sucker for (well, anything) but especially silver tabbies, anything seal-point or dark tortoiseshells (there is something heart-melting about bright eyes looking out of a dark brown, mottled face).   ...Oh, and blue eyed cats are THE BOMB!  

G, I think, would probably be most at risk of falling in love with a sleek, black short-hair, which would undoubtedly become "his" cat.  (A month ago I did actually see a pair of siblings advertised on gumtree, where one was black and the other a silver tabby - so a mix'n'match is not out of the bounds of possibility).
 
Final dither is about where to get them from?  What are the pros and cons of rescue centre V small ad V breeder?  Are cats from breeders more likely to be well-socialised?  My instinct has always been rescue, but I'm well aware that this comes with baggage.  On the other hand, they do often have cats whose personality is already formed and a lot of older cats are total love-muffins.  (I fear if I went to look, I might have trouble not coming home with some poor, needy trauma-cat though.)
 
Advice, cautionary tales, encouragement, gratuitous cat pics or minor squeeing = all very welcome.
 
Love from me.
xx

Comments

[nalsa.livejournal.com]

This is Bruin:



About three months after Perdu died this cat started turning up and sitting on our windowsill. She'd swipe at either of us and was a really bad tempered scruff of fur, but we'd put out food for her because she obviously didn't have an owner and was living on her wits. Eventually she moved in, we called her Bruin, and she is a lovely, purry muppet who sits on us, stops us from reading the paper, gets in the way of dinner, sleeps between us, clambers on our shoulders, pads on our tummies. She's utterly lovely but still quite bad-tempered and takes swipes at S a *lot* (but doesn't attack me at all), so S is always covered in little scratches and bruises.

Perdu was also a stray who decided she liked us - one evening she led us home, from the bottom of our road she walked in front of us, checking behind every now & then to make sure we were still there, and then turned up our path and sat outside the door waiting for us to get the keys out - and moved in gradually over a couple of days. She didn't like to sit on us, but was always happiest in the same room as one or both of us and would always seek our company. I still miss Perdu even though she died in 2007.

What I'm saying is, you get the cat you deserve. Don't worry about the small stuff, if you love a cat they'll love you back in their own way, around their own personalities.

And please, get a rescue cat.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Bruin sounds like an absolute dream girl!

Am not sure though, that people always do get the cat they deserve. I think a lot of dedicated, caring cat lovers somehow end up with cats that don't want to spend any time with them... which is sometimes a bit tragic.

My lil Jess was a 4-year old rescue cat. V. nervous and terrified of children, but a real little sweetie. She would have been an ideal old ladies' cat, because she loved nothing more than a quiet human with a friendly lap.

(edited because Bruin is in fact a pretty girl, rather than a handsome boy)

[ivory-goddess.livejournal.com]

We've gone for siblings twice now - works well for us, as we worry less that they'll be lonely when we're away. We've done girl-girl and boy-girl pairs, and there isn't supposed to be a lot of difference once all are neutered. That said, our boy-cat is a little bugger - he throws his weight around a bit, but that might be just him rather than boy-cats in general IYSWIM. And I've not noticed that they go off and do their own thing - I spend most evenings buried under all 3 of our current cats, tho' they do all sleep in a pile together if we're not around (or if I move them off my lap one too many times of an evening)

The advantage of buying from a (reputable) breeder is that they're unlikely to have 'baggage' and you can see the home environment up close. And, to a certain extent, breeds have temperament-types, so you can be reasonably certain that eg a cat of one breed will be aloof and one of another breed will be soppy as hell. But both my mum's cats and my sister's cat were all rescues and they were baggage-free.

If you want pedigree, then Burmese are affectionate, playful, and can come in seal-point colouration (tho' not blue eyes). They are loud, and can have a tendency towards unusual behaviours (fabric-chewing in all 4 of our cases), but I'd whole-heartedly recommend them. But then I'm biased :)

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reply, that's v, helpful. I am leaning slightly towards rescue cats, but I might look into pedigrees a bit more before I decide for sure.

[lazy-hoor.livejournal.com]

Oooh kittez!

I've only ever had moggies. Back in the day they came from a pet shop or an ad in the paper. I've had three cats as an adult - one we got when Mr Hoor's mam's cat had a kitten. Sadly he was killed a week shy of his first birthday.

We then got Bonnie (b&w) from the vet. I just rang up and asked if they had any kittens. They had one so off I went to get her. She had been rescused at about 3 weeks of age wandering around on her own. She was hand-reared so well socialised and very affectionate.

Clyde (tabby) we got by accident. (Laughing at reading that I thought he was "placid". He's a total alpha male now, and an awful whingey boy, but a real character and quite affectionate, in his own big tough boy way).

two cats are inclned to go off and do their own thing and are generally less interested in people than when you only have one... is this true?
Not in my experience. Bonnie is very, very affectionate. A bit too demanding for cuddlings sometimes. When I've had pairs before they've still been cuddly.


Final dither is about where to get them from?
Vets, animal shelters. I'd urge you to get a rescue cat because there are so many cats being abandoned because of the recession.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

What a lovely pair. The tabby is soooo pretty, even if he is a boy :-)

Thanks for the response - I am glad to hear that two cats is not necessarily a recipe for stand-offishness.

[lazy-hoor.livejournal.com]

Ha, no. They're both very attention-seeking. I've other friends with pairs of cats and they're not stand-offish either.

[sara-lou.livejournal.com]

I probably said this yesterday, but Germinator and Squeak were sisters and spent hours curled up with each other in a furry black and white love fest. On the other hand, we once had a brother and sister pair, Thunder and Lightning, and Thunder bullied Lightning so badly she ended up refusing to come into the house and then disappeared for good one week. :-(

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Gosh, it seems to be such a lottery as to whether siblings will get on... but I wonder if girl/girl is safer.

[green-badger.livejournal.com]

My two were rescue kittens that were just unwanted kittens, so didn't come with any baggage. They are girl-girl siblings. There is occasional scuffling and they mostly like to sit in different rooms from each other (one bedroom cat and one living room cat, and periodically they swap) - on the other hand sometimes they give each other catty kisses.

Purry love-muffins they definitely aren't, in fact they're pretty independent but this is because I'm out a lot, so is a good thing. Also, cats do need their own space, and I'm wondering if this is why your very cat-loving friends have ended up with cats who want to avoid them?

Gobbolino is for some reason scared of people standing up. And of cameras. She is currently bedroom cat, sleeps on my bed, pesters me if I'm on the computer, and walks all over me when I'm trying to sleep (hmmmm). Sootica (in icon) is much more sociable and is currently living room cat, sits on my knee when I'm watching TV, and licks my feet when I get out the shower.

I think as nalsa has said that whatever cat you get will love you in their way, and you will end up loving whatever cat you get. xxx

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Gobbolino :-) I loved that book as a kid. Yours do sound like nice, affectionate cats.

In the case of the cat-loving friends I referred to, I didn't mean to imply that they overdo the cat-bothering. It's more that I know a few soft-hearted cat-people who have a habit of rescuing the most traumatised cats in the shelter, and as a result they spend years dealing with very 'difficult' cats that hide away and shun all human contact. My previous rescue cat, Jess, was a little like this at first - very nervous and scampery, but she was at least a lap cat, which made it easier to bond with her.

I think the ideal for me would be cats that are self-sufficient enough to be happy on their own when I am out, but still affectionate enough to want some furry lap time in the evenings. (Of course, the minute I set eyes on any actual kittens, I fear all of my ideals will fly out of the window!)

[green-badger.livejournal.com]

My cats are indeed lovely. :)

I see what you mean - Gobbolino is nervous enough but I imagine a traumatised cat would be difficult. Poor cats, so sad.

I went to the rescue place planning on getting two kittens, but very nearly left with a big ginger boy who wouldn't stop purring. Good luck with getting a cuddly bundle of fur and I look forward to seeing the pictures! xxx

[chiller.livejournal.com]

I think if you get a cat or cats that you have had an immediate positive reaction to, you won't get the "wrong ones". Cats do have strong characters and some undoubtedly are loners. But their kittenhood and socialisation plays a large part in moulding their confidence and thereby their characters.

Siblings vs non-sibs: I would strongly recommend siblings, if you can. The reason is that if you get two together, they already know one another and will find the transition from mother to new home easier with each other's support, and importantly WITHOUT having to deal with the additional stress of getting to know a cat who was there before them. Cats are very hierarchical beasts and establishing the pecking order with two cats who do not already know one another is stressful for them and for you, and their sorting out their own differences will distract them from time spent bonding with you. Any pair of sibs is usually ok. I would go for males, as they are easier to neuter (a cheap, fairly risk-free op that can be done very early); and once neutered are calm and splodgy. Girls seem to be both livelier and more inclined to be nervous, though both sexes are equally devoted to their trusted owners, of course! There is the additional factor that girl cats require a relatively expensive and serious operation when they're neutered.

Both sexes may wee in the house if you don't neuter them. Do it early! Cats have a powerful sex drive and it starts young. If you're getting a mixed sex pair of sibs, beware!

A pedigree cat or a moggy cat that comes from a professional breeder has several advantages over a rescue kitten. While many adult rescue cats make great adoptees, rescue kittens present a specific set of probleme, first of which is that people STILL think it is reasonable to take a kitten from its mother at six weeks. This is insanely young and can cause socialisation / anxiety issues, resulting in a standoffish cat who hides when people approach. It isn't possible to have inoculated a kitten at that age, so the kitten will be far more liable to pick up diseases/already have diseases. Such a small kitten will also have practical concerns, such as getting cold very quickly, needing company, and missing its mother.

A professional breeder won't let their kittens leave home before they are fully inoculated - at about 15 weeks. At this age a kitten is still very much a baby, but is at the stage where they choose to venture forth away from their mother, and are naturally fully weaned from her milk. The kitten will therefore tend to be a confident and self-possessed animal, less likely to become a nervous cat, and less likely to have any health issues.

Good breeders go to a lot of trouble to socialise their kittens. They will be very used to being handled, very used to visitors, very used to the company of other cats, and a lot of breeders also socialise them with dogs. The result is that pedigree cats from a reputable breeder are usually bold animals and make laid-back, loving adults.

Rescue kittens have often not been handled much, if at all. They may be afraid. They will almost certainly have been removed from their mother too young. I know it is considered very uncool to say this, but a pedigree kitten needs a home just as badly as a rescue one - and is likely to make a more reliably pleasant pet.

[chiller.livejournal.com]

/ contd

WRT G's allergic reaction, shorthair and longhair cats have the same number of hairs, so the length of coat won't exacerbate his problem! My Orientals have very short coats - almost like velvet - with no undercoat, which means they physically have a lot less hair than most breeds - but one of them has a particular, slightly "woolly" coat texture that gets right up my nose, so short hair isn't necessarily less itchy. It depends on the coat texture of the individual.

Ragdolls come in longhair and semi-longhair forms, so perhaps that would suit you both? Maine Coons are also lovely big spodge-cakes, and semi longhair.

Henrijk and Anton, asleep in my lap:

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Oh bless them!

Thanks for that long reply - it's really helpful.
I will read it again tonight, and must do some more research before jumping.

[chiller.livejournal.com]

Sorry it was so long!

When I got my boys I went to a rescue place first as the principle of it appealed. They had about four litters in, all of which were pathetically young, three of which were fighting off cat 'flu, and the one healthy litter had been born in someone's house and had never been touched. Imagine that! Six new kittens in your very own house, and you never touch them! Mad! They were 100% wild, and fierce and scared.

I went home quite sad, because, like you, I just wanted a pet I could take home and love, and not have it be terrified of me, or possibly die a week later.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

That is v. sad :-(

I would have to be tied up and locked in a vault in order to have six new kittens and never touch them!

And argh!! Someone at work just sent me pics of some seal-point ragdoll kittens that will be available in October...

[chiller.livejournal.com]

Hahaha! I think it sounds as if the ragdoll is the cat for you. Might as well surrender to your big, floppy destiny. ;)

[r0ck3tsci3ntist.livejournal.com]

I like a calico cat. Lots of color.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

That's a beautiful cat. I love them, too - we tend to call them tortoiseshell over here.
The deep brown ones with lots of mottled colours in the fur are really gorgeous.

[ms-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I would go for rescue cats - they may have baggage and they may be hard work but when you do gain their trust and they become a snuggly little creature - it is one of the best things in the world ever. Am typing this whilst Mapp (who spent her first three months with us mostly hiding behind the plant pot) is snuggled up against me being purry and gorgeous.

My advice would be to speak to the rescue place people and explain you want a purry lap muffin and meet the cats in their care and see which one either comes towards you or melts your heart. Melting your heart will of course absolve them of all minor misdemeanors and quite major ones too :-)

We have siblings and they have very different personalities Lucia is the more outgoing and outgoing and Mapp is the more quietly determined one but they do keep one another entertained as well as do their own thing, if you do get two I'd feed them from different bowls and have two litter trays - we had weeing in the corner when we only had the one tray but a second tray upstairs (which was only used once and has never been used since) seemed to sort that out - thankfully.

It seems to have settled into Lucia being Mr Pops cat - she tolerates me fussing her but she LOVES Mr Pops fussing her and Mapp is more mine - she has a squeak which means come and let me sit on your lap, I want a fuss which she does more to me than to him but she likes getting a fuss off both of us at night when she sits between us.

No advice re length of hair and allergy though I have read it's not the hair it's the cat spit attached to the hair that actually causes the allergy.

Good luck whatever you decide :-)

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

I love the fact that you have turned Mapp into a lap-muffin! Jess became more of a sweet sop-monster the longer I had her, so I agree it is rewarding.

This time I might try to see if I can find kittens, rather than an adult cat. But as for litter trays... I am a little bit worried as we don't have room for two of them in our tiny flat. (I think we are going to have to train them to go outside asap.)

[kissmeforlonger.livejournal.com]

I would love a siamese, they're so beautiful. I would actually get a rescue cat - they really need a loving home with someone to be crazy cat woman. Plus Vienna was not a rescue cat but brought up by people who chose not to socialise their cats (they thought they would get too attached). So it's no guarantee. He's very affectionate and loving in his own way, but it'll be a while for him to be a lap cat if he ever is. I finally accepted that after six months of him hiding under my bed.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Not socialising cats seems to be a regular problem. (People have warned me that a lot of pet shops get it wrong and sell unsocialised cats).

I do hope that one day Vienna becomes a lap cat. It sounds as though he is sneaking closer to it these days. I remember your days with beautiful, soft Brynne.

[gylfinir.livejournal.com]

I have two 3-year old Siamese; siblings (brothers) and I've owned them since they were 10 weeks old. They're beautiful, intelligent, companionable (they're both lying, sprawled, on my lap as I type this) and very sociable. I love them to bits, they love me to bits: that's how it works. I wouldn't be without them for anything; I'd sell my house, my books, my yarn, *everything* before letting them go - and even then I couldn't be without them.

[the-meanest-cat.livejournal.com]

Awww :-)

I think Siamese are addictive. Everyone I know who has had one says they would never go back to a different breed. THere is a cute little one with very slanty eyes that I sometimes stroke down our road, but apart from that I've never been around them.