Cats

My wife dropped the bombshell we are getting a cat soon and the children are now hugely excited. Didn’t mention it to me prior but knows I’m not really keen on cats lol. I like watching other people videos of them but I’m more of a dog person. I guess i’ll have to get used to the idea but won’t be feeding it out of protest [emoji2957]
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
My wife dropped the bombshell we are getting a cat soon and the children are now hugely excited. Didn’t mention it to me prior but knows I’m not really keen on cats lol. I like watching other people videos of them but I’m more of a dog person. I guess i’ll have to get used to the idea but won’t be feeding it out of protest [emoji2957]
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Just remember, people don’t choose cats, cats choose people. So there’s a good chance it could choose you. You won’t have to feed it.

We have 3. The oldest is my husband’s cat (according to my husband). He dotes on the cat. The cat can do no wrong, even when he breaks expensive collectibles or knocks things off the work table. He loves that cat. And yet, every day, that same cat will get in the chair with me and sit as long as I’ll let him. Husband complains that he won’t sit that way with him. Cats do their own thing.
 
Alli said:
Just remember, people don’t choose cats, cats choose people. So there’s a good chance it could choose you. You won’t have to feed it.

We have 3. The oldest is my husband’s cat (according to my husband). He dotes on the cat. The cat can do no wrong, even when he breaks expensive collectibles or knocks things off the work table. He loves that cat. And yet, every day, that same cat will get in the chair with me and sit as long as I’ll let him. Husband complains that he won’t sit that way with him. Cats do their own thing.
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Your first comment is one of the reasons I’m not keen on them. This process where the cat thinks you’re lucky to be living with them where it’s actually the other way around lol. I love that dogs just love you and love your attention. If I had my way though I wouldn’t own either as we go away a lot normally and it’s a bit unfair leaving a cat for a couple of weeks I think. We’ll see, still hoping we won’t go through with it lol.

I don’t hate other peoples cats though [emoji6]
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
Your first comment is one of the reasons I’m not keen on them. This process where the cat thinks you’re lucky to be living with them where it’s actually the other way around lol. I love that dogs just love you and love your attention. If I had my way though I wouldn’t own either as we go away a lot normally and it’s a bit unfair leaving a cat for a couple of weeks I think. We’ll see, still hoping we won’t go through with it lol.

I don’t hate other peoples cats though [emoji6]
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If you are away a lot, do yourself a favor and get a female. They typically need less attention than males and can tolerate you being gone. Males are more prone act out if they don't get enough attention. Trust me on this, I have had both. On the flip side, male cats tend to be more affectionate.

Also, regardless of which you get, do not close doors in your house. Let your cat sleep with you as well if they want. Do these two things and your life with a cat will be much easier and actually very pleasant. :)
 
leekohler2 said:
If you are away a lot, do yourself a favor and get a female. They typically need less attention than males and can tolerate you being gone. Males are more prone act out if they don't get enough attention. Trust me on this, I have had both. On the flip side, male cats tend to be more affectionate.

Also, regardless of which you get, do not close doors in your house. Let your cat sleep with you as well if they want. Do these two things and your life with a cat will be much easier and actually very pleasant. :)
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That’s interesting, thanks for the advice :)
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
That’s interesting, thanks for the advice :)
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All good advice here. I would add that if you have young kids, consider getting a kitten. First, kittens are a lot less inclined to "choose" you. They will be much more likely to assimilate into a new family without major issues. Two, they will be much more tolerant of the kids wanting to play with them all the time. They still need lots of sleep, so boundaries are important. They are easy to train. Yes, train. We haven't been training our kitten, but our older cat knows how to sit, come when called, and play fetch. Kittens come without bad habits/behavior issues you'll have to work to correct, so you can teach them where to scratch safely, etc.

They come with factory-original nine lives. Super important, especially with young kids around. :ROFLMAO:

The downside is that you'll get a child-like mind, except this one will become possessed by the devil himself about every six hours, until she matures. They don't have bad habits you need to work to correct but they also haven't learned positive behaviors either. They will do cat things. She will get into trouble and climb into places you didn't think were even possible. She'll chew on things just like a puppy. She'll go from dead asleep to running in random directions knocking things over. She will discover and tirelessly test the concept of gravity. Whatever is most precious to you will become the most desirable test subject. She will assume your feet under the covers are a pray she must hunt. At night. When you sleep. Preferably south of the two o'clock in the morning timeframe. You will have to pay more attention and you will have to take the time to teach her proper manners, assuming she lets you.

The best thing you can do, with either a kitten or an older cat, is to find a "bush dweller." Trust me. They will be far less likely to climb that Christmas tree and will mostly prefer to scratch horizontal surfaces, like carpet, instead of vertical ones like your favorite chair... or your leg. Google it. You'll thank me. Whatever you do, remember... in time, she will be a full fledged member of your household with all the privileges a feline is entitled to... you'll just pay the mortgage and offer premium food. It's totally worth it.
 
My best story is when two young'uns adopted us. My roommate, leaving for work, told me "I don't want them in my room while I’m gone." So I went in there on my hands and knees to talk to them about this issue. They looked at me, figured out what the deal was, and jumped on my back. So I ambled out of the room with two adolescent cats sitting on my back, closing the door on my way out.
 
My best story is one about a friend who was in law school at Columbia and lived not too far from me. He was away up home in New England for Christmas though and during that time his roommate in NYC phoned me to say he had let a cat into their ground floor flat because it had been in their courtyard crying in the snow.

So I said aw that is sweet of you and I'm sure Peter won't mind. The guy said well ok see the problem is the cat just had babies on the shirts in Peter's bedroom, and I'm not sure what to do now. Heh. Yeah.

I eventually ended up with one of the kittens, natch. He looked sorta like he was wearing a tux (or possibly the remains of a dress shirt?) so we named him Thorndyke.

The Law Student's Cat.jpg

​
 
leekohler2 said:
If you are away a lot, do yourself a favor and get a female. They typically need less attention than males and can tolerate you being gone. Males are more prone act out if they don't get enough attention. Trust me on this, I have had both. On the flip side, male cats tend to be more affectionate.

Also, regardless of which you get, do not close doors in your house. Let your cat sleep with you as well if they want. Do these two things and your life with a cat will be much easier and actually very pleasant. :)
Click to expand...

Many, many years ago friends of ours were going through a medical crisis where the husband was diagnosed with a serious, inevitably terminal illness. They realized that they were going to need to part ways with their beloved Siamese cat, who was about 12 years old at that time. I had quick conversation with my husband and we agreed that we would take Chula to live with us, and one day shortly thereafter my husband and I came from the friends' house with Chula in a carrier, a box or two of his various toys and accessories, and introduced him to his new home. My husband, who hadn't spent as much time with the cat as I had, was not as enthused about this whole idea, but of course didn't want our friends or Chula to have to deal with ahem, other options. He stroked Chula and admired him, and we both spent a lot of time that first day watching the cat exploring this new household but my husband clearly wasn't 100% into this sudden adoption of a new family member.

That evening when it was bedtime, as we were going upstairs to our bedroom my husband informed me, "we're going to have to shut the bedroom door so that cat doesn't come in here!" I murmured, "but he'll be lonely and scared his first night in a strange house." My husband was adamant. "That cat is NOT going to be sleeping with us!" He firmly closed the bedroom door.

The next night when we went upstairs the bedroom door remained open..... As we were lying in bed in the darkness, a warm, furry presence quietly arrived in the room and joined us. Yep, in just one day Chula had already wrapped my husband around his paws and the two of them were inseparable after that..... :)
 

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