So we may finally be getting a cat (which we thought we were doing about 3 years ago! Some Help Need

[furryfriend2013]

So, I was on here about 3 years ago when we almost adopted. Well, my daughter is older now, 7, and we may possibly be adopting a 5 yr old declawed orange tabby. I have researched alot over the yrs about cat care, so I kind of feel well informed, but a little overwhelmed as we have not had a pet (except a guinea pig), the 11 years of marriage. 

I called the vet with some questions, because I'm thinking maybe its best to have the cat looked at again before we bring him home to settle . 

Questions : I have are :

How many of you do parasite preventatives for your indoor cat?

Do you deworm yearly or just bring a stool sample yearly?

I am thinking I want want to do the most possible since I do not want the cat to get worms or a risk for my daughter. 

The office did say its best to wash hands after handling cat.

How many of you wash your hands every time you touch your cat?? i was thinking more along the lines of washing my hands after handling the litter of course, and always washing before eating

I am slightly a germaphobe, but Im thinking once my cat is dewormed or checked for worms the risk would be really low if he is an indoor cat, and we have zero pets, plus doing a preventative monthly?? I would be a new cat owner  Only had one growing up and dont remember much. I just dont want to be scared about my daughter or us catching anything from our pet! 

I am planning on Brushing my cat daily. 

The Litterbox will be set up in a spare bedroom/daughters hang out room. She doesnt go in there much anyway.  Planning on trying the natures miracle disposable litter box in a cat bench or the millers carpeted litter box enclosure from amazon. Got rave reviews!

Planning on Feeding wet food like Wellness, Evo, or natures variety.

Any help would  be great. i guess I will be swiffering my floors more often, but I hope it will be manageable as I do like a neat house  

What will my monthly costs be ?? i was thinking about $75.00 - $100 on average with preventatives, etc. 

Any answers, pointers, tips, or anything to ease my mind woudl be great!  Having a pet is almost like deciding on another child ..LOL 

THANK YOU!!!

 

[louann jude]

I am pretty much a newbie myself and all my kittens are under a year old. I will share what I know. 

You need to find out from the previous owner the food and litter your cat used before. Cats can be finicky about food and switching suddenly can cause stomach upset. So you need to do a gradual switch 75% old with 25% new. If that goes well after a few day do 50/50. keep doing that until completely switched. The same with litter. I know from reading other threads that a declawed cat can be really sensitive when it comes to litter. 

Have a safe place for the Cat to be able to hide. Some cats take a while to adjust to new places. Others come in like they always owned the place and are playful from day one. Dont be disappointed if it wants to run and hide. If so make sure the litter box is where they can find it and food and water. Allow her to set the pace. 

The major thing is give it time. When I first got Lil Bit I expected a cute cuddly kitten I could love and play with. She hid and cried for weeks. Thankfully I had Callie to go running to her every time she cried she became little Momma. A month later still no better I set and cried to my bf and said I dont like her. Six months later she is my girl. She comes to me talking wanting loves. I cant imagine not having her now. 

 

[cinqchats]

I don't use any parasite preventatives on my cats. Just  yearly fecal inspection.

Haha, no I don't wash my hands after petting my cats. I also kiss them and pretend to chew on Mr. Squiggles' ears. I do wash after scooping the litter boxes though! 

I'd say I spend about $130-$150/month for my 5 cats. I feed them Wellness kibbles, BFF canned food, and then Smoochie's CKD prescription foods. This is not including medical bills. 

Best approach is to put the cat in a single room with food, water, litterbox, and let the cat decide when he wants to come out and is comfortable. Some cats will be ready in 5 min, some can take weeks. They'll let you know. 

 

[furryfriend2013]

Thank you!!

 Okay, so for one cat the price will not be too bad, unless of course there is a major medical problem.

 We visited the cat todayand she is soooo friendly. Definitely a lap cat. We would would put him in our spare bedroom, which is kind of my daughters play room. So I would have to hide away some of her plushies and toys in case they are not safe. 

 

[misty8723]

For myself, I don't do the parasite control for my two cats.  I don't favor the idea of putting pesticides on them, or in them.

I definitely don't deworm, but do take in a stool sample so they can be checked with their regular checkup.

I personally wouldn't use a Swiffer on the floors.  I'm adverse to chemicals in general. and especially with the cats. I would recommend whatever you use to clean with, make sure the floor is completely dry before you let the cat back on the floor.  I clean mostly with white vinegar, dawn detergent, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda...

I do not wash my hands every time I touch the cats. If I did that, I would be washing constantly,

  I do, of course, wash after cleaning the litter.  I've always heard that you should have one litter box per cat, and one extra. I don't know if that applies if there is only one cat.  We have 2 cats and 5 litter boxes. Yes, that's extreme, but the extra boxes we got when our Rainbow kitty Cindy was sick. She couldn't always make it to the box, so we put more around, and Swanie got used to them too.  Now we have Cricket and they use all 5 of them.

Wet food is good, but sometimes what we want and what kitty wants are two separate things. My current cat Cricket will not eat wet food - except those Fancy Feast treat pouches. No matter what I try, she'll just walk away.  You might want to transition slowly from what she's eating now (dry?) to the better foods, so she doesn't get tummy issues.  I agree with the poster above to find out what he is eating at his current foster home and provide that for awhile until you can transition.

How much per month can vary.  As long as kitty is healthy, and once you get everything set up initially, it's really just food, litter, and the occasional toy. 

Good luck! What is kittie's name?

 

[tobilei]

 

[furryfriend2013]

Thank you!!!

 

[tobilei]

No problem. Be sure to give us pics when you get your baby

 

[grrr cat]

How many of you do parasite preventatives for your indoor cat?

I worm my cat monthly to prevent heartworms, other wise my vet advice to worm every 3 months. As she is an indoor cat I don't use any flea treatments.

How many of you wash your hands every time you touch your cat??

I wash my hands after cleaning the litterboxes and before food preparation.

I brush her twice a day when she is shedding her winter coat and they can be twice a day. Other times i brush her twice a week. Keeping sticky rollers in the car or at work. Also invest in on of these things because it great at removing  fur when run over a couch or other surfaces.

OAB40030_oates_oates_soft_grip_window_squeege_blue

• grrr cat
• Nov 21, 2015

What will my monthly costs be ?

I try to buy most of the cat food while it on sale. She costs between $20-30 in wet food a week (cat food is more expensive here), litter is $30 dollars a month as she will not enter a dirty box.  She has pet insurance which is $24 a month.  I will also buy her the odd toy for her to play with.

 

[LTS3]

I personally wouldn't use a Swiffer on the floors.  I'm adverse to chemicals in general. and especially with the cats. I would recommend whatever you use to clean with, make sure the floor is completely dry before you let the cat back on the floor.  I clean mostly with white vinegar, dawn detergent, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda...

OP might have meant a dry Swiffer dusting cloth, not the wet ones.

I do parasite preventative for my indoor only cats. If you live in an area with ticks, fleas, etc then a preventative is a good idea to give. Some preventatives take care of certain worms. I've never had a cat who  needed to be dewormed yearly. Kittens are typically dewormed at the first few vet visits but not adults unless they have worms or was previously stray / feral with an unknown medical history.

Washing your hands after cleaning the litter box is a must, IMO. You do not need to wash your hands after petting your cat.

My monthly cost is $0 most months

I buy food every few months for around $200 (don't panic! I feed raw food and stock up when coupons are available). I buy a huge bucket of litter every 2 months or so for about $12 at a warehouse club store. My cats don't play with toys so I don't buy any. They prefer the freebie sturdy cardboard boxes I get from the warehouse club store. I take my cats to the vet once a year for their check up and vaccinations and pick up more parasite preventative while I'm there.