Jarod gets a cat

[Jarodaka]

I'm going to get a cat. I gots the money in my pocket and everything.... well, except a copy of my lease. Local humane society probably wants to see that so I can prove pets are allowed. Anyway, any recommendations for places to get good deals (read: cheap) cat food and supplies? Any recommendations on litter type and what kind of cat food? Is pet insurance worth it? Any other advice or things I should be aware, feel free to throw out. Thanks.

oh yeah, I'm going to get a healthy as possible cat (that is, no 'special needs' pet, I'm not responsible enough) and a young one so I can mold him in my image and take over the world.

[Brenda Starrr]

I've got a REAL "healthy" cat. she weighs about 22 lbs, if that's the kind of "healthy" you're talking.

[Ginevra]

Fierce Critter made an execellent post with equally excellent recommendations about felines and their care. I will pitch in and say, before I post the link, first thing first. . . . .take the critter to the vet of your own choosing and get it checked out. And if you're not satisfied, take it to another. And pleasepleaseplease do not get your cat declawed if it's not already when you adopt.

FC's cat recommendations

[Brenda Starrr]

Declawing is beyond cruel. I would never do it. That's just the way I feel.

[Jarodaka]

My cat will not be declawed.

[Onyx]

Learn to trim kitty's claws and do it as soon as you get the little tiger. Kitty will be used to it if done regularly and will be less likely to tear off your face when you try later. (It's a bit tricky but well worth learning and will help keep the furniture less shredded).

http://www.cat-world.com.au/catclaws.htm

Cats are fabulous creatures!

[LuthienTheFallen]

i think it should be a black cat, prolly dont need insur, i think a special needs cat is right up ur alley lol

[Nienna]

Yay! You need a kitty in you life... (as in your own kitty) That said, I love the Fresh Step clumping cat litter. It's finer so it dosn't get tracked as much and it clumps hard and is very good for odor control.

Food is pretty much what you're willing to spend. I know alot of people say Iams is good. Racha eats Purina Indoor Formula and she is fiesty and shiny and the picture of health.

I have pet insurance but only because my work pays for it. ( Nice BTW) I wouldn't have it otherwise. Most well maintained indoor cats are pretty problem free health wise. It would have come in handy a few times over the years, but overall, not worth the expense.

Another piece of advice is to start bathing kitty now. With your cat allergies, if kitty gets a bath once a month it'll make a ton of difference. (Does for me) I started my cats off young by showering with them. I can still do this unscathed now without trimming the claws.

[gothicmom]

Buy the big bags of food, it's much cheaper. I buy Friskeys, they like it so much I find the bag opened up and food all around-yes there is food in the bowl too!

Make sure to get him/her spayed or neutered before they go in heat. They will spray or wet all over anything they want! and they will keeep you up at night!

[Fierce Critter]

Ginny linked to the info I was going to offer - thanks, Ginny.

Sounds like you're looking at getting a kitten. To "mold him/her" into YOUR personal kitty, look at one younger than 8 weeks. Studies show that by 8 weeks, they are what they're going to be, and it's damned hard to train them. Our Siamese, Asia, is a good example. Had her for a year now, and the person we got her from lied about her age, though I suspected she was already at least 8 weeks old. She was raised somewhat feral, and to this day, still flinches from an approaching hand. Doesn't matter how sweet, loving & gentle we've been to her, it's ingrained into her now that people are SCARY and are to be avoided for the most part.

As for pet insurance, I had insurance on our rabbit first, then our dog, then our first cat. When we started adding cats, I discussed insurance with my vet. We decided to keep it for the dog, as he was more likely to get injured or incur expensive vet bills due to illness, injury, etc. We dropped it on the rabbit, as the chance of a rabbit needing emergency vet care is slim to none, and they're prey animals, so they don't have it in them to "fight" if seriously injured or ill anyway. We dropped it for the cat as well, since ours are STRICTLY indoors and not prone to exposure to serious disease or injury. The vet recommended possibly getting a policy when the cat is up in age, as they're more prone to respiratory distress than anything else later in life.

A standard emergency policy covering emergency care (no maintenance like spays/neuters/shots/etc) for the rabbit was $14 a month. The addition of the dog dropped the rabbit policy to $11 a month, with the dog policy costing $17 a month. Adding the cat dropped the rabbit policy to $10 a month, the dog to $16 and the cat cost $14, just to give you an idea of what you'd pay.

Again, that's for an emergency policy, where you pay $50 for an emergency visit, and the rest is covered (up to a limit) by the insurance plan. You can pay extra for a maintenance policy, but you have to do the math to figure out whether it actually saves you any $$.

To give you an idea of yearly vet expenses, bringing a new kitten home usually means an initial vet visit costing approx. $80-$100, give or take. That covers tests for FIV/FL, worms, and possibly distemper, treatment for worms, fleas, and initial vaccines. They need 1 or 2 follow-up vaccines within about 1 month or 2. They need a rabies shot as well. The next vet expense will be the spay/neuter, around $80 for a neuter, $120 for a spay. Then, yearly, vaccine shots and bi-yearly rabies vaccines.

If a lone kitty, he/she'd be unlikely to have much in the way of illness. Possibly a cold, but not likely.

Good luck!

[damagedangel]

Just a little note on the having a copy of the lease handy..

I just recently (as in Friday) went to the Westland shelter and adopted a new kitty. They had a book of the apartment complexes around, and what their pet policies were. If the apartment complex had not been in there, they would have called the apartment office, not giving any names, just to see what the policy is.

My old apartment complex (I just recently moved also, a lot of 'I just recently') had the ridiculous policy that the cat had to be declawed. When I was living there and went to the shelter to adopt they had it listed in the policy book that the cat had to be declawed.

**and it probably would have helped to have clicked the link you provided to see that they do indeed require a copy of the lease... duh!