Hello all! Im new to the site here, and fairly new to having cats. Back in January we found a skinny stray cat at our apartments that took a liking to us, which was right when we were getting a lot of snow and cold weather, so we took him and haven't let him go since. He seems to be very happy with us, very lovable and cuddly at times, and has gained 5 pounds...so he is definitely eating better. At times I can tell he misses the outdoors, but growing up we had way too many cats come and go being outdoors so i never let him out. Then about 3 months ago we decided to get him a friend and adopted a 7 month old female balinese cat and we couldnt be happier.
Before we adopted, we took our male to get all the shots he needed and made sure he was healthy and good. Then the female came with all her shots updated already so now both cats are good and healthy. My question is, I'm seeing that everyone is recommending getting shots done every year, or every couple years...is this something that is absolutely necessary? Since we will be keeping them indoors and never let them outside do we really need to keep up with shots. When we took are male to get shots he did not like them at all, and he was pissed at us for almost a month. It changed him completely, he went from sleeping right next to my head every night and jumping in my lap multiple times a day, to where he completely avoided us for that whole month after. Almost like he didnt trust us anymore. So I would really hate to put him thru that again. Is there any good reason to get them every year or would we be ok without them, or maybe doing them every 3 to 5 years instead?
Also another side question. The younger one is extremely playful and has taken a liking to a certain toy, and has gone thru quite a few of them. Its a stuffed mouse with a ball attached by a string, she goes crazy over them. I brought a new one home yesterday and she was at my feet playing with it and I noticed she ripped the ball off already, then i heard her tear off the piece of string that was left over and swallowed it whole. It was probably a little over an inch long and took her two good swallows to get it down, but faster than i could get to it. Is it ok for her to be eating that kind of stuff? Also do i need to worry about her choking on that kind of stuff?
Before we adopted, we took our male to get all the shots he needed and made sure he was healthy and good. Then the female came with all her shots updated already so now both cats are good and healthy. My question is, I'm seeing that everyone is recommending getting shots done every year, or every couple years...is this something that is absolutely necessary? Since we will be keeping them indoors and never let them outside do we really need to keep up with shots. When we took are male to get shots he did not like them at all, and he was pissed at us for almost a month. It changed him completely, he went from sleeping right next to my head every night and jumping in my lap multiple times a day, to where he completely avoided us for that whole month after. Almost like he didnt trust us anymore. So I would really hate to put him thru that again. Is there any good reason to get them every year or would we be ok without them, or maybe doing them every 3 to 5 years instead?
Also another side question. The younger one is extremely playful and has taken a liking to a certain toy, and has gone thru quite a few of them. Its a stuffed mouse with a ball attached by a string, she goes crazy over them. I brought a new one home yesterday and she was at my feet playing with it and I noticed she ripped the ball off already, then i heard her tear off the piece of string that was left over and swallowed it whole. It was probably a little over an inch long and took her two good swallows to get it down, but faster than i could get to it. Is it ok for her to be eating that kind of stuff? Also do i need to worry about her choking on that kind of stuff?
