My boyfriend and I are acquiring a kitty from the vet that our friends work at. They will help us out with shots and stuff for free! I'm so excited. My boyfriend is worried that I will spoil the hell out of the cat... and chances are I will! We are now patiently waiting for the litters to start coming in to the vet (Spring time... babies... yay!). What are some great eco and animal friendly cat things i should have? I've debated the whole "should i raise my pet vegan" thing but i think that's wrong and my boyfriend is against it.

It would help if you adopt a kitten from your local shelter because if they don't find homes they will be euthanized.

I don't think the kittens from the vet will be killed if they don't find a home quickly.

Congratulations on becoming a cat mum! I have three indoor/outdoor cats and love them to bits.



Will you cat be indoor only? If that's the case, the most valuable thing I think you can get it will be another kitten to play with! Cats which go outdoors can socialise with others of their species, which I think is very important, but if they're indoor only then they really need a friend (in my view).

kittys





I agree with jessica!, two cats are better than one, and basically the same amount of work. it saves you the stress of trying to introduce another cat later, and a single cat can get lonely at times, especially if you spoil it as a kitten. it'll never leave you alone.



I use the recycled newspaper litter, and i don't buy any toys, because Mitzi won't play with them. She prefers homemade foil balls, paper bags, flim canisters with seeds in them,crumpled up plastic bags attached to strings and of course, shoelaces. when she was a kitten she also liked to spin the roll of toilet paper. a little double sided tape for places not to scratch.



cats like high places and are curious so make sure Kitten has a place for climbing and looking out the window.



Post A pic!!!

when people drop unwanted animals off at the vet where do you think they go to? when a cat has kittens and the owners can't find homes for all of them where do they go?



the shelter.



cherry's just skipping a step.

please post pics of your new baby or babies when you get them!

I wholeheartedly support this! Two cats are no more work or expense than one (other than vet bills).



I grew up with single cats, and for the past 20 years, I've had a multiple-cat household (I currently have 6...5 of them are rescues). Your new kitty will appreciate a companion who speaks the same language and with whom he/she can play, cuddle/sleep with, and just hang out with.



As far as your cat being vegan goes, there are debates about that. My cats are not vegan, and while I know that there are vegan cat foods on the market, I've read enough regarding the demise of some cats' health as a result of being fed vegan food that it's not worth it to me to compromise my babies' health and well-being.



Congrats on your new little one(s)! *I'm not-so-subliminally trying to talk you into getting two.

Ditto. I'm a huge proponant of rescue animals, the vet's is merely a stepping stone. It's not like the OP is buying the kitten for a pet shop or something. 2 of my 3 rescue cats came to me not via a shelter.

yup. both my friend's dogs were originally brought in by good samaritans into the vet office she worked at... one was hit by a car and the other was abused and uhh,"ran away"



My cat came to me because my friend adopted a pregnant stray and had 6weeks to find homes for the kittens or else her landlord would have thrown her out. I remind Mitzi everyday that she would be living in a shelter if it wasn't for me but she's still a spoiled brat.

I would strongly urge considering a shelter pet too. Taking the unwanted kittens off of irresponsible peoples hands merely encourages them to continue status quo and not fix their animals. Wherever you live I'm sure there are TONS of unwanted cats sitting in shelters awaiting a home or...worse.



My cats don't eat vegetarian though. Cats are carnivores (as are dogs). I feed them a good quality commercial cat food. We do use kitty litter, we have four so it's the least expensive.

Mary

I've actually never known a vet to take unwanted animals.

Do they take them or just allow ways for the people to contact prospective owners?

I would probably only be comfortable with it if the vet made a provision to help only if they fixed their animal.

JMO of course. My first cat was purchased as a wedding present from a pet store 6 years ago but all the rest of our animals are shelter animals. I love Houdini but, if I'd had my way, we wouldn't have any pets from stores. I'm sure he was an unwanted litter dropped off by some irresponsible owner and the more that's allowed, the more it happens.

I wasn't attacking anyone for doing different though, I just wanted to say that.

Mary

The only vets I've known that do it do it on the same basis as shelters. They take one or two kittens at a time, the rest go on to the shelter. Same deal, they come neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, you have to pay for all that, just like you would at a shelter. Maybe the OPs vet is different, I don't know, but all the vets I know that "provide" kittens - really, for them it is just a way stop on the way to the shelter.

hey kiz, did your cat find a home? I see under your avatar it's changed from needs a home to has a home. I'm happy for you!

Kittens, kittens, oh egad, how I love kittens! They're so adorable and so much fun! But so much work!



You need this book: Think Like a Cat: How to Raise a Well-Adjusted Cat.. Not a Sourpuss by Pam Johnson-Bennett. You need it BEFORE you bring kitty home.



You need to think about and plan how you're going to introduce her to your home-- I recommend starting small, with a single room, and gradually introducing her to more of the house over a few weeks.



You need to think about discipline, and have your game plan in place from day 1.



You need to think about kitten-proofing your house. Toxic substances, toxics houseplants, things she can tear up, knock over, swallow, etc. need to be removed or put out of reach.



Other than that, there's nothing to it!



PS: I agree, two kittens are twice the fun, keep each company, and aren't significantly more work to take care of. I have three, and I NEVER lack for kitty love-- sometimes I have more than I can handle!

ya uhm for the vet here, it's just another place to go besides a shelter. i know when i was a little girl my mom and i found stray kittens that were abandoned by their mom and we took them to the vet (we already had way too many pets). i mean basically that's why my bf and i are waiting, because we kinda have to wait till someone rescues kitties or there's a litter they cannot handle. it is the same as a shelter and i feel that some people feel a little better bringing them to the vet b/c 1) they get a little more proper treatment (esp if they are stray kittens, they can be given a clean bill of health) and 2) it's not bringing them to a SHELTER, just the word makes a difference.



i am not poor, not really struggling financially but i can't be spending LOTS of money which is why if we get our kitty from the vet, our friends that work there will hook us up and give us all our shots and visits for a huge discount or free.



i gotta discuss this 2 kitty thing with my boyfriend. i am not one to say no, i am a sucker and will ALWAYS say yes yes yes. but my boyfriend has a bit more self control and will look at the situation reasonably because he knows i'll come home with 10 cats if i could. hehe.

Try and point out to him that getting two cats is just as much an advantage to you as it will be for the cats. It is much easier to leave two cats during the day, or for an evening out or a weekend, without feelings of guilt. They'll play with each other, sleep together and keep each other entertained, which means much less work for you!

^^^^



I wish i had gotten two when I adopted my cat. I plan on introducing a kitten in a month or two. When I tried to introduce a grown cat things didn't turn out so well. (the other cat ended up at my Mom's, so no worries )

cats are awesome!

If I would of known how COOL they were 20 years ago, I would probably be one of those people in the paper that has too many! (although I woul dtake care of them...well....my wife would sine I am lazy about it )



Here's a funny about this thread.......every time I see 'I'm Getting a Kitty', it at first looks like, "I'm getting Kinky!". LOL

Just thought I would throw that in there in case anyone else sees the same or if I am the only wacko!:

ya he seems okay about getting two - and i mean it is MY house so i make the main decision. he mentioned maybe starting out with 1 and then bringing another in once we get used to taking care of the cat. ack, i gotta think. i figured we have to wait for the kitty anyway , so when the time comes to make that decision, i'll let my heart go with whatever.

I adopted my two girls at the same time (they're littermates), so I gave them the opportunity to get used to their new home and new human at the same time. If you get first one kitten, and then wait til the kitten gets settled and get another kitten later, they may not get along, since kitten #1 will want to assert its dominance over the "intruder". Like the others, I strongly recommend that you should consider getting two at the same time, preferably related to each other, so they'd already be used to each other, and there's less stress in getting settled for each of them.

*stares squinty-eyed at Cherryblossom speaks in spooky voice* must get two kittys! must get two kittys!must get two kittys!









that's the way I spell kitties, BTW. I know it's wrong.

yay good news!! just got the call from our friend - he's taken home 3 kittens that they received at the vet. VERY young, eyes aren't opened yet, currently he's bottle feeding them and when i get home in like 2 weeks from vacation, we are going to see if it's alright if we can go over and pick out our kitty. i know we have to wait but that's fine, i'm SO excited!!!!!

No offense but this is not a good thing. In rescue its reffered to as "kitten season" and its a time when many many cats and kittens are euthanized in local shelters and animal rescues.



Im happy you are getting a kitten but for many cats and kittens springtime is not a happy lovey time.

uhhh, not really taken in offense but jeez... can someone tell my WHY there is nothing but negative feedback from the people of this forum? i'm a vegetarian, loving and caring for animals and our earth... but i don't walk around telling people all the horrible things that are happening and whats wrong with EVERYTHING anyone does and what's going wrong in this world etc... springtime is beautiful, it's creating life, be it flowers, trees, animals, etc... so treat it as that... SPRING IS A BEAUTIFUL TIME. we know all these horrible things happen, which is the reason I'm getting a kitten, because i'd rather get one that NEEDS a home than one that was born priviledged. but seriously... this forum has so much negativity - i've seen it all over - someone does something GOOD (even if it's not the EXTREME) and everyone here is like "ya that's great... but you know all these horrible things are happening because you're not doing MORE!"



negativity kills and is cruel too... but on a karmatic level.

IMO this is not the place to discuss this. we all Know that there are huge issues regarding cat population control.



Cherry is taking in a Kitty(hopefully 2 kittys) that may otherwise be euthanised, so start another thread if you want to discuss cat overpopulation and leave her alone.

thank you purrpelle... it's like - i'm not stupid - i'm aware of the overpopulation situations. argh i just hate negativity. sorry.



ya you say two... but i found out our friend took in 3 kittens from the litter... so uhm... argh... it might be THREE. hahaha. KILLING ME!!!!! hehehe.

OOOOO haha Purrpelle... i just read your signature - i'm a HUGE tori fan, infact i'm putting her live RAINN concert on my iPod right now. *sigh*

I heart Tori- there is noone quite like her. there will be a new Tori siggy every two days: check in!



I do hope you get more than one kitty. it's no more work than one and they will be happier in the long run. I wish i did from the beginning, and plan on adopting a kitten from our shelter this year as I want another cat and my cat doesn't get along with other adult cats. I am working more hours and I think she gets a little lonely. I am hoping a Kitten will work.

yay - i'm sure it'll work out for you!! ya work sucks doesn't it? argh... my job allows you to bring your dog to work but haha, a cat is a different story (esp when we have about 20 dogs just randomly walking around the offices).



my tenant downstairs has a cat, i want to talk to her and see if maybe she can kitty-sit - just so i know i have backup if i ever go away.

re: "2 cats are better than one"



The more cats the better!



Sorry, couldn't control myself. I'm going to be a crazy cat lady when I grow up. And seriously, obviously don't buy more than you can look after - but I'm sure your cat would like a friend (don't worry if they don't interact how you would expect 'friends' to, my cats spend most of their time competing for affection and having dominance displays, but the eldest is so much happier in general since they've been together, so we know it improved her life).



I'm so happy for you! Kitties are the best!