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Between cats and dogs, the two most popular pets in America, cats are the more low maintenance. They can ostensibly be left on their own for longer periods of time, and they don’t require quite the same levels of attention as dogs. Because of that, however, sometimes people think they can just adopt a cat and let it be, when there are still several things to consider when determining if a cat is suitable for your lifestyle.
First things first, you’ll have to consider your cat’s vaccinations. Depending on how young of a cat you adopt, and from where you got it, you’ll need to make sure your cat gets all of its shots (sometimes shelters have already done this for their cats, depending on their age). Those shots are the distempers, FCV, rabies, and feline herpes virus.
If you’re planning on letting your cat outdoors, ask your vet if there are any additional shots he/she recommends for your pet. The vet will likely also give your cat the immunization against feline leukemia virus, which cats that go outside with large numbers of other cats, or who live with cats for which the vaccination status is unknown, are recommended to need. Because the first vaccination round for FeLV is at 9 weeks old, you’ll want to get this for any outdoor-bound kittens.
Be sure to take your cat to the vet for yearly checkups, even if there isn’t anything wrong with your cat. People commonly take their dogs to the vet every year, but for some reason they often forget to do the same for their cats and cats’ health needs to be monitored just as much.
Initial cat training is relatively simple. They naturally go to both their food and their litter boxes. Feed your cat the recommended amount of food on the bag; be sure to follow the bag, because the recommended amount changes depending on the type of food. If you want your pet to lose weight, feed it a quarter less food than the recommendation. If you have a kitten, start it on the recommended amount of kitten food, being sure to constantly check the suggested times for a food increase as the cat ages.
Most other cat training is optional. For example, if you want your cat to exhibit good behavior when being brushed or getting its nails clipped, reward it. Praise your cat and give it a treat when it behaves after a brushing or clipping.
Those adopting kittens be warned: they are high-energy. I have a friend who recently adopted a kitten, and then a month later she adopted another one. She did so because her first kitten had more energy than she had time to deal with, so she knew her cat needed a friend. Even with each other to play with, the two kittens constantly zip all over the house, climb up on the dining room table by digging their claws into the tablecloth and heaving, and try to clamber over everything in sight.
If you’re going to get a kitten, then, be warned that just like a puppy it will get into everything. Kittens might not make as big messes and eat as many things as puppies, but since felines are better at climbing your kittens will probably be able to access even more areas than a puppy. You might want to buy a squirt bottle to help discourage your kittens from off-limits areas.
This means kittens also need tons of play-time interaction from you, to help burn up all of their youthful energy. Once kittens grow, however, that doesn’t mean they’ll stop being hyperactive at times. If you notice that your cat frequently wakes you up at night crying or running around it probably wants to play, and that means you’re not spending enough time playing with your cat. Either play more with the cat, or adopt it another friend with which it can occupy itself.
Cats still do require less care than dogs, but that doesn’t mean there still aren’t a number of things to consider when getting ready to adopt one.
Related Articles:
What to Consider When Getting a Dog
The Curious Case of the Cat in the Shower
Cats and Dogs Really Can Get Along
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