Cat Care Questions

[Doggirl]

Hi,

I am really thinking about getting a cat somewhere down the road, only problem is I have no clue how to take care of them. I have some specific (sp?) questions,
but any advice at all would be apperciated.

1. Do you have to teach a cat to use the litter box, or will s/he do it atuomatically? If not then how hard is it to do? Also what kind of Litter do you recommened?

2. I have read some stuff on feeding and think that if I feed wet for Breakfast and Dinner and have Dry out all day then I should be good,
problem is I would almost definitly have a dog so the food bowls would have to be on a counter, I think, and wouldn't that teach cats that it's OK to jump onto tables and stuff so while the Family is eating the cat would be jumping around the Table?
I don't mind, but I think my Parents might. Also, any advice on what type of food to get would be very helpful.

3. I am definitly not going to have my cat Declawed, but the might come that way ( I will adopt a cat) but if they don't, will I have to teach them to use a sctraching post? If so how hard is it?

4. I know that cats can keep pretty clean so I don't think that I would need to bath them,
but what about brushin their teeth?

Again these are just some questions,
any advice it all would be really appreciated.

Thanks,
Mary-Louise

[catnapper]

Yeah, another cat convert! ;)

Well, kittens are very smart and learn to use the litter box very quickly and easily, the two foster kittens I have right now are only a few weeks old and know exactly where their box is and used it every time - no accidents! If you adopt an older kitten (at elast 10 weeks) they should already be litter trained.

A cat will tell YOU what it'll eat :D Some cats eat only dry, some only wet, some eat a bit of both. I put food out in the moring... on the kitchen table. Its a small table, so humans never eat there. If they eat it all in the morning, then they ate it all, if not, its there to free feed the rest oif the day. I give them treats at night.

You will have to teach them to use the scracthing post... but its fairly easy, especially when they are younger. If you see them starting to scratch, pick them up and show hem the post. A few times of showing them and they get the idea. Then you just make sure they use that and only that.

Most cats will not let you brush their teeth - not unless you cared to shed some blood. :D I tried Allen and he let me but wasn't very happy about it. the majority of vets will tell you its not neccessary until they are older. You will need to trim your cat's claws reguarly. Thats easy, Jen has a tutorial on that somewhere on here.

Cats are wonderful critters to have!

[sirrahbed]

Hi!
I am sure you will get plenty of answers from cat lovers here but I will give mine, too.

Kittens normally learn how to use the cat box from their mama, so unless you get a very tiny kitten too young, there is no need to litter train:) You just *show them* where the box is and that is that! They do the rest. I have never had to do anything else after a dozen or more kitties. Cat litter is a preference and so many are available today - I personally like the hard scooping type because it allows you to remove both pee biscuits and poops almost right away or at least once or twice a day so there is no need for any odors to build up and it will always stays clean.

Feeding - again a preference. I use only dry and because my cats are on different diets (two are overweight) - one cat eats on the counter or on top of the fridge. No big deal as there is no place my cats are not "allowed". Some say you can train a cat to not go certain places but I know good and well they go where they please when I am not looking so I let them run the house. Guess they have ME well trained :D

Normally a cat would never need a bath. Dry food is supposed to keep their teeth clean although many older cats will require a professional cleaning. I have never had to have this done - even for my 16 and 17 year olds. Perhaps I was fortunate but the vet always assured me that their teeth were healthy - possibly because none of them had eaten soft food - I am not sure. Some foods are formulated to avoid tartar.

My cats have previously been declawed but I will not have this done again. We are about to adopt two kittens and so I am learning about how to train to a scratching post and how to keep the claws trimmed. There are also "softpaws" to purchase which are like soft "Lee Press-On nails" that use something like super-glue for kitties if there is a problem kitty. I will be learning as I go!!

Enjoy and let us know if you DO get a kitty OK??
I cannot imagine my life without a kitty or two or five:D :D

[lizzielou742]

I agree with everything posted above. I do brush Tito and Sophie's teeth though :D I also trim their claws, to make sure they don't get too sharp, and brush their coats to avoid hairballs. Some cats are just more laid back than others, I guess, and mine are pretty darn laid back to let me brush their teeth, their fur, AND trim their claws!!

As for food, it always depends. You will need to feed kitten food for at least the first 4 or so months of a kitten's life - most people say a whole year, unless your kitten gets fat........like Tito!! He had to go off kitten food at 5 months (vet's recommendation) because he was packing on the pounds! Now Tito is on a restricted diet because he's still a little plush :) so he only gets 1/4 cup of diet food twice a day. I have to feed his sister Sophie in a separate room with the door shut, because otherwise her brother will eat all her food. :rolleyes: So it really just varies from situation to situation. As for brand of food, it's your own decision...maybe ask your vet to recommend a brand. Obviously, with cheaper food, you get what you pay for. Some foods upset certain kitty's stomachs, others some cats just turn their noses up at. You'll know what your kitten likes. :D

Teaching them to use the litterbox and scratching post is the simplest thing to do....they'll pretty much do it on their own, if you're lucky. Training somes in when you want to prevent bad behavior - going outside the box :eek: or scratching furniture. As for litter, we had a thread about it a while back, and I a lot of people like Fresh Step. Here's the link (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57203&highlight=what+food) to that thread. And upkeep is pretty easy - I scoop each box once a day, and completely change the litter and bleach out the box about once every 5-6 weeks.

Good Luck! I hope you get to get a kitty! When you do, we wanna see pictures! ;)

[catmandu]

Most Cats,being clean,do use the box! And please cosider An Older Cat,from the Shelter