Cat owners

rita-rabbit

I have both. One was a teen-cat rescue Tom & the other a 6 week old kitten. I have two because despite No1 being almost adult when I got him & v glad to have a secure home he didn't appreciate me being away for periods & being a housecat, No2 was to keep him company. I enjoy them both. No1 isn't as cuddly & enjoys the ocassional hunt & No2 is more needy & enjoys playing alot more. No2 climbed the Xmas tree and various plants, got hair removing cream on her off one of my legs (seeking a cuddle & I didn't realise until I had to quickly wash her) scales wardrobes still & had a net curtain climbing habit oh, lastly she used to chew through electric cables.

I say adult unless you are prepared to thoroughly monitor & entertain a kitten.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Only thing I could think of against black and white cats (the nearest one here is actually grey/black tabby and white) is that you get:

Black hairs on your white clothes.
White hairs on your black clothes.


I have to deal with

Grey hairs
Black Hairs
White hairs
brown hairs
ginger hairs
ginger long hairs
black long hairs
white long hairs
white whiskers sticking up from the carpet
black whiskers sticking up from the carpet
black whiskers with white tips sticking up from the carpet
4 inch long white whiskers sticking up from the carpet
Black claw sheaths embedded in the carpet/other cats' neck fur
white claw sheaths embedded in the carpet/sofa

But then I also have to deal with

11 year old human's trail of destruction

Which probably outweighs the feline component of my life troubles!

Careful_with_that_Axe

I got Lita as a 2 year old unsocialised, semi-feral almost 7 years ago now. She was getting looked over because of her behavioural problems, but hated in the cattery as she detests other cats.
Although she seemed to trust me from the off, she still has her snappy moments but they are few and far between and tend to be from an over-active threat sense.
I have absolutely no regrets about getting an older "problem" cat; once they settle and trust you, they give back in buckets fulls.

A small part of me loves the fact that she detests other cats as it stops me from being a mad old lady whose house is over-run with moggies!

flower24

We got our cat when he was around a year old, from a girl I knew who was moving house and couldn't take him with her. He's lovely and puts up with a lot from my young children. Bonus is he goes out at night and when we are out so have never needed a litter tray. x

oldandhappy

Best to arrange a Visit with your local Cat rescue centre rather than just enquire and have a good look around, take your time then go with your instincts. Inspection of your home is normal with Cat Protection and maybe with others also.

missblonde

I got my cat (now just turned 4 years) at 6 weeks old, far too early I know and I'm still dealing with the problems that caused! He was a freebie and I refer to him as a rescue as the place I got him from was horrible, not just for cats but people too!

When I got him he had fleas, was very underweight, wasn't fully weaned and enjoyed eating cat litter. He is now huge, looks and acts like a tiger (He's a very pale almost sandy ginger Tom) and is possibly the grumpiest, most anti-social cat I have ever known. But when he snuggles up on my shoulder or head purring and drooling and pawing my hair, he is worth it

If I was to get another cat, it would be from a rescue home, I just need to convince my boyfriend that two cats would be fun! :rotfl:

LittleMissAspie

Our cat was 8 years old when we got her from the Blue Cross. She's 10 now. She's in very good health, I hope we have at least another five years with her.

behappysmile

We got 2 rescue cats, one 4yrs and one 7yrs, both are black and have completely different characters.
Black cats are overlooked, the rescu home had a lot of black ones people don't seem to like them.

Beckyy

We have two 'second hand' cats. 1st was just over a year when we got her, and 2nd was 2 years. We opted for older cats, who had beenw ith dogs before, because we have a Great Dane, and I felt it would be too danergous for a small kitten to be around such a big dog who could hurt it accidentally. They settled in wonderfully and I would probably prefer to get an older cat if I was to get another in the future. Have you tried local rescue centres? They usually have many in varying ages!

Josky

Our first cat was given to me by my neighbour when they moved house; he was around 10 years old, and the friendliest, most gentle cat I have ever known. He used to follow me everywhere, and learned how to do tricks. I really do think that he was the perfect cat. As an aside, he was a black and white moggie.

My parner and I's first cat, which we obtained some 6 years or so after the passing of my family's cat, was adopted from the RSPCA. He was around 5-6 years old, was found abandoned in a flat, and had only just been neutered shortly before we got him. He could be a complete nightmare, and we very nearly returned him several times as he would repeatedly attack me and suffered terrible digestive problems even though we kept him on the same diet that he had at the RSPCA. The rescue conveniently "lost" his paperwork just after we took him on, and so were no help with anything. To cut a long story short, he is still with us 2 years later; he is still a pain at times, as he is THE most grumpy animal I have ever met and will hiss/swipe at you (claws in), steal food from worktops, and bullies our other cats. He is a mostly-black kitty. I have to say that there were not that many cats of any particular colour in the rescue, and over the couple of months that we went in looking most were adopted out. I have heard though that all-black cats can be the hardest to home; I personally think they are gorgeous! There were none there when I visited.

We currently have 3 cats; the remaining two were purchased as kittens. I have never had kittens before; the first we inadvertently adopted at around 5 weeks old, which I didn't realise until some more cat-savvy people advised me that he was too young to have been taken from his mother. I had asked his age and been told 8 weeks, so I didn't really think any more of it. He was not fully litter trained or weaned. Even now, at around 20 months old, he will still consider toiletting inside on the very rare occasion, eg when it snowed recently. He is a much slower eater than the other cats, and is quite nervous. As a kitten he was very manic; luckily we had the older cat for him to play with! Our second kitten was the opposite; very laid-back, extremely well-behaved and all-in-all an absolute joy to own. I have to say that both of our kittens have grown up to be far more affectionate than our adopted cat; they are real "homey" cats, whereas the older adoptee spends most of his time outside. This definitely isnt true of all adopted cats, and there are plenty out there that are lovey and affectionate; but that is one of the risks that you run with an adopted older cat whose history is unknown.

Kittens can be tiresome; they have bursts of wild energy, and can be demanding and destructive. We definitely benefited from having the older cat to help wear the youngsters out. Having said that though I think we would probably choose to have kittens again in the future rather than a cat from rescue, just because I found it easier to work with the kittens while they were growing up rather than deal with the multitude of issues that our adopted cat had.