Greetings,
My wife and I are recently married, and we're having to temporarily live with my parents in their apartment until we can find a place of our own. As my wife is an American citizen (I'm Canadian), we've had to leave her/our kitty behind with family in the U.S. pending my wife her receiving residency here.
Having had one or more cats for all her life, my wife misses owning one intensely. This is only compounded by her not having many human friends in Toronto as of yet. She keeps begging me to let us get one, and I wish I could--but I just don't see our situation as being ideal for owning a kitty. Yet, for the sake of her happiness, I want to at least consider it.
The problem is that we're more or less in the position of renting one room from my parents, and that would be our potential cat's primary habitat. My understanding is that cats need quite a bit of space to explore and play, especially as kittens. Not to mention that it doesn't seem like a good idea to have a litter box in such close proximity to both the cat's regular living space, and our own. (Though I suppose the box could be cleaned several times daily.)
This cat would receive all the love and attention a toddler does, possibly more--so that much isn't a problem. But is such a small environment healthy for a kitty, even if it's only for a temporary period? It could certainly be augmented with supervised exploration of the apartment at large (though it's just not a safe enough environment for a young cat to roam on its own), and even regular walks/playtime on a leash in safe outdoor areas (should the cat be willing to comply).
But I'm still not convinced that it would be right. The cat would be very well taken care of, to be sure. And we'll be moving to a larger place of our own as soon as possible (though likely not for a number of months--probably six at least). But I don't want to raise an unhappy or unhealthy kitty in the interim.
So, what do you think? Is there any way that this can work, or would such a living environment spell depression and disaster for a young cat? I'm also curious as to whether there's a particular breed that would best lend itself to small-environment living, but a too-small space is a too-small space.
Thank you for your advice.
My wife and I are recently married, and we're having to temporarily live with my parents in their apartment until we can find a place of our own. As my wife is an American citizen (I'm Canadian), we've had to leave her/our kitty behind with family in the U.S. pending my wife her receiving residency here.
Having had one or more cats for all her life, my wife misses owning one intensely. This is only compounded by her not having many human friends in Toronto as of yet. She keeps begging me to let us get one, and I wish I could--but I just don't see our situation as being ideal for owning a kitty. Yet, for the sake of her happiness, I want to at least consider it.
The problem is that we're more or less in the position of renting one room from my parents, and that would be our potential cat's primary habitat. My understanding is that cats need quite a bit of space to explore and play, especially as kittens. Not to mention that it doesn't seem like a good idea to have a litter box in such close proximity to both the cat's regular living space, and our own. (Though I suppose the box could be cleaned several times daily.)
This cat would receive all the love and attention a toddler does, possibly more--so that much isn't a problem. But is such a small environment healthy for a kitty, even if it's only for a temporary period? It could certainly be augmented with supervised exploration of the apartment at large (though it's just not a safe enough environment for a young cat to roam on its own), and even regular walks/playtime on a leash in safe outdoor areas (should the cat be willing to comply).
But I'm still not convinced that it would be right. The cat would be very well taken care of, to be sure. And we'll be moving to a larger place of our own as soon as possible (though likely not for a number of months--probably six at least). But I don't want to raise an unhappy or unhealthy kitty in the interim.
So, what do you think? Is there any way that this can work, or would such a living environment spell depression and disaster for a young cat? I'm also curious as to whether there's a particular breed that would best lend itself to small-environment living, but a too-small space is a too-small space.
Thank you for your advice.