Any Cat Owners Here?

[stephenvegas]

Today my girl talked me into saving the life of this 1 year old cat who was apparently about to be destroyed and who she really liked at the Las Vegas animal shelter. Earlier this week she had been at the shelter with her sister because her sister's lost dog had been found there and that's how she first saw this cat. She took me to the shelter today to meet the cat and it seemed really cool so I agreed to save it.

But I have a couple of questions that I am hoping any cat owners on this board can answer:

1) How much food do you feed a 1 year old cat? I want to make sure my cat gets enough to eat but I don't want my cat to get fat.

2) They told me at the shelter that I need to make sure my home is "cat proof." What the hell does that mean?

I have lived with cats (one of whom just died last month at 13 1/2 from a stroke) in the past when I lived with my parents in Seattle however I've never had my own pet before. But this is making my girlfriend very happy with me and that's always a good thing.

Now I just need to figure out a name for my cat. I paid for it today but I don't pick it up until tomorrow because it has to first get altered, get a microchip, get some shots, and get tested for kitty leukemia and kitty AIDS.

[Werner Mueck]

Only had outside cats so I can't help you much but I found this link.

www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/cat_care/

I'd imagine "cat-proofing" would be like "child proofing". Don't leave food out for it to get into, don't give it any reason to get on the counters, don't leave things around that would be easily knocked off if it did get onto the counters, clean up if it has an accident or it'll keep having accidents, keep the cat box clean, watch for frayed electrical cords, and lock up your knick knacks, collectors plates, and star wars action figures.

[stephenvegas]

That's a pretty good link. I looked at it for just a few minutes and I already learned a few things.

Thanks Werner.

[mikefortune]

I have a 19 year old cat that I have had since birth and she is evil, only myself and my wife can touch her and she hisses and claws at people that do so. The I have another cat who is 4 and is very friendly. Both cats will nibble at the food and not gorge themselves. And clean the litter box out a few times a week.

[Swarm]

Chris Ingersoll can help you big time with this one.

[Trent Lawless]

Dogz rool! Cats ... well, they don't drool, but I just don't like 'em as much.

[Knapik]

I have cats, and I think they're great.

[Matt]

I've got 2 cats, they're cool because they can essentially take care of themselves. I used to be a huge dog person (still am I guess) but I'm either too busy or too lazy to take care of a dog. Don't overfeed, don't leave their toys on the floor when you go to sleep (or you'll hear the damn things all night), and clean the litter box pretty much every day.

[GalactiKing]

Understand that there is no way you can really stop cats from getting just aobut anywhere in your place. They'll learn to open doors and our cats can jump from the floor to the top of the fridge or the top of a bookcase. And their claws are sharp enough to claw through books. (As I have unfortunately learned)

[Knapik]

troy said:

Understand that there is no way you can really stop cats from getting just aobut anywhere in your place. They'll learn to open doors and our cats can jump from the floor to the top of the fridge or the top of a bookcase. And their claws are sharp enough to claw through books. (As I have unfortunately learned)

These super cats will be the end of us!

[Matt]

troy said:

Understand that there is no way you can really stop cats from getting just aobut anywhere in your place. They'll learn to open doors and our cats can jump from the floor to the top of the fridge or the top of a bookcase. And their claws are sharp enough to claw through books. (As I have unfortunately learned)

I subjected my cats to a front de-clawing, more to avoid me getting scratched all to hell everytime I need to collect them for a trip to the vet or groomers....

[spiderbite]

matt said:

troy said:

Understand that there is no way you can really stop cats from getting just aobut anywhere in your place. They'll learn to open doors and our cats can jump from the floor to the top of the fridge or the top of a bookcase. And their claws are sharp enough to claw through books. (As I have unfortunately learned)

I subjected my cats to a front de-clawing, more to avoid me getting scratched all to hell everytime I need to collect them for a trip to the vet or groomers....

There is also a fingernail-like polish you can apply to their claws. I guess it seals them in a mold or something. My girlfriend and I just adopted this Christmas and the shelter worker was telling us about it. We haven't had to use it so I don't know how good it is.



The worker also suggested using a spray bottle of water. When they do something you don't want them to, playing too rough, jumping on your computer desk, etc., then you can spray them with the water. I've been using this method and it has worked really well. Now I only need show them the bottle if they act up and they immediately quit. I've only been doing this a month which , to me, seems like a fast amount of time for them to learn. Hopefully much longer and I want have to use the spray bottle at all.

[darkrider]

front de-clawing also help's with your curtains not getting mangled.

[stephenvegas]

spiderbite said:

The worker also suggested using a spray bottle of water. When they do something you don't want them to, playing too rough, jumping on your computer desk, etc., then you can spray them with the water. I've been using this method and it has worked really well. Now I only need show them the bottle if they act up and they immediately quit. I've only been doing this a month which , to me, seems like a fast amount of time for them to learn. Hopefully much longer and I want have to use the spray bottle at all.

Yeah, I heard that the spray bottle idea usually works really well because cats hate to get wet and if they associate scratching the furniture with being hit with a light spray of water then they usually learn quickly not to scratch those things.

I have a new black leather couch that I don't weant my cat scratching-so I am definitely going to use the spray bottle idea if necessary to make sure the cat just scratches its scratching post that I bought it.

[Havoc]

Cats fucking suck. Just kidding. My dad was a dog catcher when I was growing up so I like most animals. I wish I weren't allergic because they are so much easier to care for than my two pain in the ass dogs.

[stephenvegas]

I brought my new cat home for the first time a few hours ago. One of the very first things she actually did when I let her out of her carrier was start inspecting and playing with the dice I left out on my card table from playing COTG a couple of days ago- it appears I have the right cat. She later even went back to bat the dice with her paw so I decided to call her Candice (spelled the same wau as the WWE's Candice Michelle) because dice makes up the last 4 letters in that name.

[Bazzy]

CATS ! We have been at war with our next door neighbour with her cats for 18 months or so . They would rather be with us than her . So she has blamed us for cat napping . (Its all true I have posted threads about it before)

No serious Mr Vegas - Good luck with the cat . Have you named the cat yet ?

[stephenvegas]

bazzy said:

No serious Mr Vegas - Good luck with the cat . Have you named the cat yet ?

Yeah, I named her Candice (spelled the same way as Candice Michelle- one of my personal favorite WWE divas) because my new cat likes to play with dice and the only female name I know of that has dice in it is canDICE.

[darkrider]

cool name mr. v and it suits the cat as well.