I want a kitten

Skel · #1 08-07-2008, 08:36 PM

I want a new kitten. I currently have a cat that I love, who is about 8 or 9. We always get our pets (well almost always) at the Humane Society or Dumb Friends League.

I know that now, you can't have a cat declawed. We used to have the front claws removed, and now I've learned that it's very cruel to do this. This is what I was told anyway.

Just wondering. If you spay or neuter the cat at the right time, can you get away from having the cat spraying, and is this spraying specific to a gender?

Last, any thoughts as to what gender is "better" and why?

Can't wait to surprise everybody with a new kitten!

Thanks

Trevorus · #2 08-07-2008, 08:39 PM

This one is mine. Awesome little cat.

Thunderscreech · #3 08-07-2008, 08:46 PM

Honk'n_down-low · #4 08-07-2008, 08:46 PM

I prefer a Pussy

Skel · #5 08-07-2008, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trevorus

This one is mine. Awesome little cat.

Awww. So cute.

Lorenzini · #6 08-07-2008, 08:49 PM

My cat when it was a kitty

ryco · #7 08-07-2008, 08:59 PM

y'know kittens grow up to be CATS!

Down to two. Black feral that is the last of our Seattle animals. 16 yr old Siamese.
Got him from a friend's no kill shelter when he was small.

And a female Calico who is our first Oregon coast animal. 12.
She found us after a Community concert the first year we moved here. Pouring rain and she came running up to me. I put her up on a femce and said "Sorry, we already have 4 kitties." Then she ran over to my wife - DOH! That was that. She's a nice cat -- for a cat!

I believe if you get them neutered within the first year then the males won't spray.

Croox · #8 08-07-2008, 09:05 PM

get one of these

>>>>>>> cats

nortonrider · #9 08-07-2008, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorenzini

My cat when it was a kitty

Dude, That's one creepy looking cat.

Lorenzini · #10 08-07-2008, 09:21 PM

LOL. Great picture huh?
But yeah, he's pretty much a normal cat.

bassaficionado6 · #11 08-07-2008, 09:32 PM

Usually (IME) only the males spray, and if you get them neutered they're much less likely to, but they still might, which is why we only get females from now on.

Also, Dumb Friends League? Never heard of it.

cheesemonkey · #12 08-07-2008, 09:57 PM

I don't remember exactly but i believe there is something you can get for your cats claws. Like little clear plasitic things that go around them and keep them from scratching up things and they don't harm the cat....

Lorenzini · #13 08-07-2008, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassaficionado6

Usually (IME) only the males spray, and if you get them neutered they're much less likely to, but they still might, which is why we only get females from now on.

Also, Dumb Friends League? Never heard of it.

I had a female cat that did this weird odor thing. It was really terrible

AlphaMale · #14 08-07-2008, 10:04 PM

My cat is going to have kittens we need to give them away.

boys are better cause they don't go i n heat and don't get pregnant.

Declawing makes animals defenseless and more aggressive because of this.

Marcury · #15 08-07-2008, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaMale

My cat is going to have kittens we need to give them away.

boys are better cause they don't go i n heat and don't get pregnant.

Declawing makes animals defenseless and more aggressive because of this.

FYI if you neuter them they don't go into heat and they can't get pregnant.

And if you don't neuter males they spray everywhere to mark territory.

Agreed though declawing is just bad.

SelenaBassGirl · #16 08-08-2008, 12:31 AM

female cats "mark territory" too. I learned this. I thought it was only males (b/c in the past my female cats never did, but I also had a male cat around...) b/c my male cat I had (RIP) used to spray.
But when I got Gracie, and she came in heat, she not only peed everywhere, she also meowed and screeched and sounded like she was in agony. So I took her to get "fixed". We need to take our new kitten to get fixed too. It's a boy! Don't want him spraying..and the moment he shakes his tail on my gear..he is DEAD!!!

declawing..
I had to get Gracie declawed b/c she kept tearing my daughter up! My daughter was only 3 at the time and would get scratched so bad...hated to do it, but I didn't want the social services on my rear for letting that cat (kitten then) scratch her up!

MoD_Scotty · #17 08-08-2008, 12:50 AM

I inherited a cat form a friend that was moving overseas, and thank geebus it's declawed. It doesn't go outside, so it doesn't need it's claws to hunt or to defend itself. Even without claws, I catch the cat "pawing" at my furniture all the time. If it had claws, my whole living room would be clawed to crap. You know what look and feel exactly like scratching posts to a cat? Carpeted bass cabs.

Cats are lame though. Dogs are a lot more fun to be around, and they are WAY more loyal than cats. You ever heard of a cat driving away an intruder? No...they either run away and hide, or try to get lovin' from the new human.

Dogs>cats.

SelenaBassGirl · #18 08-08-2008, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorenzini

My cat when it was a kitty

um, when it was a kitty?? what is it now? A dog??

j/k couldn't help myself!

Deacon_Blues · #19 08-08-2008, 01:44 AM

I think it's not a big difference between males and females regarding "spraying" (you mean P-ing right?)

I have a cat (female) since two years that have been peeing around in my apartment, the last year very infrequently though. It has marked my sofa (thank god it's leather!), my bed (much worse), and various other places. Once I put on trousers and a shirt that was laying in my bedroom on a chair when I was in a hurry to work. At work I noticed something smelled like cat pee and I had to go back home to change... For some time I did consider bringing the cat to the doctor for its final car trip, but luckily I didn't. After I had it castrated (yes technically that is what you do) it started to behave slightly better. It might be an age thing as well though.

At my parent's place, we had similar problems with one of our cats there, a female as well. It has even pee'ed once in my mother's mushrooms that was put to dry in the kitchen. We have a male too that have never done anything bad, except being the dictator among the cats in the neighborhood... Both are btw castrated. It didn't really change the peeing behavior, but it has gradually become better-behaving over the years.

EagleMoon · #20 08-08-2008, 01:56 AM

I've raised cats for a long time. Both male and female cats will spray if they're not neutered/spayed. It's just an old wives tale that only males spray. But usually the male's urine smell is more potent. If you get either sex fixed young the likelihood of them spraying is cut drastically (pun intended

). And in a multi-cat home, it's best to stick to one sex cat. If you have a female, get another female..etc. People who have cats who pee around the house are usually ones who have different sex households. Cats, fixed or not, still have their territorial pecking order. If you stick to all the same sexes, then you cut that kind of situation way down.