Back into the Cat World

Hi all,

I am about to adopt my fourth cat, having been cat-less for the past 20 years.  She looks to be a Siamese cross, with the markings of a Siamese, with a mother a beautiful uniform grey and the father unknown.  She was found with her mother and siblings in an abandoned house and brought to a shelter.

This time I am adopting a kitten, so I'll be in for a rough ride.  Things have changed in the last 20 years, so I have to re-educate myself as a responsible owner.

I may be adopting one of her siblings as well, but I have to carefully think about this over the next few days.

I'm sure you'll hear this from others... take the siblings!  Litter-mates will learn to socialize much better, as they will test their limits with each other (biting, fighting, etc.,.) instead of with you.

Best thing we did when we had kittens in the house was to clear out and set up a "romper room" just for them:  litterbox, climbing tree/scratching post, toys, kennels (left open for them to become accustomed to), and feeding area.  We put plastic runner (from Home Depot, cut to length) under the litterbox and feeding areas to make cleanup easier. 

We never left the kittens run around unsupervised.  If we were out, they stayed in their romper room. 

If you can't clear out a room completely, do your best to kitty proof one... think as if you were going to have a 2-year old around (one that likes to climb).  Child locks are a good idea for your cabinets & drawers, I like the magnetic ones.

I think kittens are happier when they have a playmate and owners a little less overwhelmed. Congrats on embarking on another journey in the cat world! We'll all be wanting pictures when you bring your new family member(s) home!

Hi there welcome along to TCS

Thanks all for the welcome!

Here's my story on whether I should get two.  I am leaning toward having two, but torn.

20 years ago, I adopted two cats from the Humane Society at six months of age.  Those two cats never did get along, and would fight and ambush each other.  One was incredibly stupid and the other incredibly smart.  The stupid one chased light.  The smart one played fetch.  Neither was interested in the other's activity.  They did not play with each other, and would not hang out close to each other.  I suppose that they kept each other company by being in the same apartment so they were not alone, but not sure if there was that much benefit to the relationship.

kcoutts said:

Thanks all for the welcome!

Here's my story on whether I should get two.  I am leaning toward having two, but torn.

20 years ago, I adopted two cats from the Humane Society at six months of age.  Those two cats never did get along, and would fight and ambush each other.  One was incredibly stupid and the other incredibly smart.  The stupid one chased light.  The smart one played fetch.  Neither was interested in the other's activity.  They did not play with each other, and would not hang out close to each other.  I suppose that they kept each other company by being in the same apartment so they were not alone, but not sure if there was that much benefit to the relationship.

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Here's a question for you:  when one passed away, did the other grieve?

Many years ago, I used to clean houses.  Most of my clients were retired military.  One couple seemed to be such complete opposites, I couldn't understand how their marriage survived.  She was a grumpy, irascible nag, and he was Mr. Mellow.  She would grumble and gripe at him for silly small things, and he would nod, smile, give her a "yes dear", then go out to the garden, completely ignoring her complaints.  They were the quintessential odd couple.

One day, I came in to clean the house, and found out that the man had cancer.  It was quite advanced and he passed away within a month.  The family's grief was heavy (I also cleaned the daughter's house).  The woman, the high strung, irascible nag, seemed to become a completely different person.  She became quiet and depressed.  It was quiet evident that her grief ran very deep.

My point is, you can't always judge the value of a relationship from the outside; whether with people or animals.  Even a seemingly adversarial (not abusive) relationship has a unique value.

Also, you can't expect that all relationships are going to fall into the same pattern.  Just as different human couples have their own ways of dealing with each other, so do different animals.

We're in the middle of intros right now with two adult females. Fun fun.

Squeak- who hisses at Gracie whenever she comes too close to the door or tries to play pawsies- is certainly keeping her very interested, curious, and even entertained. Whatever sort of truce they end up working out, I think both will have a richer life in a two cat household. But then, bf and I also work a lot and they are very social cats.

We decided to get two cats, sisters.  They are cowering in the cat carrier at the moment, with the door open.  They were shaking nervously all the way in the car.  I am glad that we got two to make it a little less traumatic.

We are definitely taking a bigger financial hit... already spent $700 buying supplies and paying adoption fees.  Canned food is expensive--the good stuff.  I also took the plunge and bought a meat grinder!

Thanks for the advice.  I hope these cats will eventually be social.  They were kept in a closet without windows and I don't think they are very socialized.  And... found out that they've been eating dog food, because the foster thinks it's the same, just less expensive.

Well, turns out the dog food really is the same as the cat food, ingredient for ingredient, and in the exact same proportions.  I checked the labels...

kcoutts said:

Well, turns out the dog food really is the same as the cat food, ingredient for ingredient, and in the exact same proportions.  I checked the labels...

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The biggest difference may be the cat food is typically enrichened with taurine, as cats, esp kittens do need it.  Did they mention taurine somewhere? 

Now, taurine is an aminoacid being naturally in meat.  So my suspicion is,  enrichment with taurine is necessary because most cat / dog foods arent really high on meat / animal contents. Much additives, esp cereals and such.

I suppose in a high end cat / dog food, with a real high content of meat / animal products, adding of taurine isnt necessary.   And thus, a high end dog food is fully OK for cats.

kcoutts said:

mother a beautiful uniform grey

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Do you have pics of the mom?

I suppose the siblings are NOT points?

In none is point, the parents were both carriers, themselves not points, thus about 1/4 of them kittens gets pointed..

If half of the siblings are points, the father was a point.

We know the mom is "just" a carrier.

Both the dog and cat versions had taurine added.  I suppose that is unusual?  Well, I will finish the "dog food" can.  Funny, if they hadn't pointed it out to me, I never would have known that a dog food could be a cat food, given that dogs need more of a mix of foods.

Stefan Z, fascinating post!  There are five in the litter, one point, the rest black with random white hairs.  So both the mom and dad were point carriers.  Very interesting!

kcoutts said:

Both the dog and cat versions had taurine added.  I suppose that is unusual?  Well, I will finish the "dog food" can.  Funny, if they hadn't pointed it out to me, I never would have known that a dog food could be a cat food, given that dogs need more of a mix of foods.

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So they are identical! And the dog label sold cheaper!  It would be worth mentioning somewhere, perhaps in the Nutrition Subforum, as quite many forumites do seeks tips on cheap, but OK brands.

Please, do it!

The labels (and prices) different but the food identical is a little surprising for me. I think it is the first time I had met it full out.  Although I had seen dog foods where the marketing told could also be eaten by cats.

Now, in the world the phenomene as such is fairly common, and more and more common.

Cars made in the same factory on the same line,  like the Toyota Aygo, Citroen C1 and Peugout 107, who even looks different, but are essentially exactly the same car.

All the computers who looks practically the same, and contains exactly the same, just have different name.  Food products, with well known brands and "no name-serie" cheap products often apparently essentially the same, sold in the same Supermarket.  There are surely lotsa of other examples.

It began  btw with cameras, with their "pirate brands" of optics, back in the 60-70ties.