Normally they don't "hump" each other although I've had a neutered male that loved our daughter's teddy bear.Originally Posted by TigerLord
Thanks for your input !
In fact I'm originally from Montreal, I'm moving to Sherbrooke in an apartment. My whole family is still around Montreal, so I'll be 2 hours away by car. Better than 8 hours away by plane though
It was my intention to have both cats spayed as soon as possible. Why do you think a male and female would make better pairs? My fear was that even if the male would be neutered and the female spayed they'd still hump each other or something. Sometimes neutered dogs still hump everything they can ... quite annoying. Cats are much more ''classy'' and proud than dogs, which is why I also like cats a lot. Dogs can be very dumb sometimes...
You seem to be experienced and if you say a male and a female make for better pairing then that what I'll do ... for some reason I have always preferred female pets (I just find hanging testicles and a hanging penis under a dog to be very uncute, in fact it can cut the whole cute factor for me). Maybe because I'm a man too ... no idea why.
What do you suggest about food and claws? Unless very necessary I'd prefer not to have their claws removed, since when we do our clinical immersion we are sent in distant regions for 8-10 weeks, and are often in rural places and live 4 students in a house... so if I can I'd like to allow the cats to enjoy the great outdoors, but without their claws they would be defenseless...
Is there any danger to have them keep their claws ? Can they unwillingly hurt another kitten when playing ? The retracting of claws is probably very instinctive for them but who knows... as for my apartment, I have carpet and no furniture of any real values. Beside if they have a big cat tree they'll have something to work their claws on , right?
If you go to the Health and Nutrition forum you'll find a lot of information on food. Wet food is a better diet for them than the dry so we feed mostly wet with some dry for in between meals for them.
It really is safer to keep your cats indoors. They will be healthier and generally live longer. There are many dangers outside for cats and if you are going to pay all those $ for them, take good care of them and keep them safely inside. You may also be able to leash-train them. We trained Bijou and Mika to a harness and leash and would take them for walks around the block in the summer time.
As for claws, this site is very much anti-declawing. De-clawing is a cruel and barbaric act. Get your kittens used to having their paws touched and caressed when they are young and clip their claws about every week to 10 days. If they have adequate scratching posts/places they shouldnt' harm your furniture. We have no issues with ours scratching any furniture or each other. If they do start to scratch any furniture, simply re-direct them to their scratching post.
Before you get the cats, I would ensure that your other roommates are agreeable to responsibly caring for them while you are away. The other option is to take them with you if you are not going out of country. We've taken ours to a cottage for a week and they both love the car. We've taken them with us since they were babies even to just go to the library, store, etc. so they have no fear of going in a car. If you were to take them with you on one of your assignments, that would be an even better reason to make them indoor cats only since if they got out at your new location, it would be easy for them to get lost or hurt.
PS - my hubby is heading to Montreal tomorrow for a concert at the Jazz Festival.