I'm buying a kitten. Which is best?
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Hello everyone. I'm buying a kitten within the next two weeks.
I moved into a flat with my boyfriend nearly a year ago. I thought it would be great to give a kitten a home, as I really want one! I've never owned a pet (besides a few fish) and was wondering from your personal experiences.. are there different attributes to female/male cats? Which are easier to manage?
It's just going to be a house cat btw, so it wont be going out much.
Looking forward to read some answers, thanks alot!
Rudolph. x
If you really want to give a cat a home, get an adult shelter cat. Adults by far have much less chance of being adopted, and that's so sad.
All of my cats (I have four) are mixed breeds, and I've got two of each sex. They completely differ in personality. One of the boys is totally bold, the other is skittish and only likes me. Both of the girls are a little skittish, but one is incredibly lovey dovey and the other is a total bitch lol.
If you're reluctant to adopt an adult cat, just think of it this way. Because they're already fully grown, the shelter workers will be able to tell you what their personality is like. They'll be able to tell you who is an attention whore, who just wants to be on your lap, who is more independent. And some cats like one gender over the other. My bold boy for some reason seems to prefer men over women (like me, the brat).
Plus, most adult cats in shelters are already fixed. Saves you the money. ALWAYS HAVE YOUR PETS FIXED.
The shelter kind. There are millions of cats and kittens in shelters. I know of one non-killer shelter in my area that has over 200 cats up for adoption. And most shelters will either have them fixed for you or will help you with getting them fixed.
From my personal experiences alone, my male cat was more laid back and less likely to lash out than his sister that lived with our neighbours. Also more aggressive/territorial with other male cats in our area. He was more content to come home, be lazy and just want to be stroked, whereas his sister would be more hyperactive and could get temperamental, but was very affectionate. Both seemed to have an equally strong hunting instinct.
A lot of that could be down to differences other than sex, but they were related at least.
Each cat have each their personality, just like humans. As the others are saying, you should get a cat from a shelter, as there's a lot of them there in need of good home, both kittens and adult cats. Tomcats can tend to be more calm, but cats need exercise even if they're indoor cats and no matter age, and you need to make sure you have time to play with them and give them your time every day. some breeds are more active than others, which you should research carefully if you're not choosing a mix, and also make sure that you're prepared to have the little furball in your life for the next 10-14 years. :) But cats are awesome tho, great family members.
I volunteer at the SPCA and in my experience the nicest cats are the adult male black/black and white cats. They are also the cats that are more likely to be looked over and as a result euthanized. I adopted an adult cat and she's the best thing ever. No behavioral problems at all. I also adopted an older (6ish month) mostly black kitten and she is also amazing. The "free" cat that I raised from a 4 week old kitten is a monster. She's totally bi-polar and hates everything except her wet food.
So I definitely second adopting an adult cat, or at least an older kitten so that you can kind of get an idea of what type of personality the cat has, and if you are compatible with it.
Thanks a lot for all the advice/help. I adopted a kittten who I named Toby from a woman who was taking them to rescue. I got my little bundle of joy last night. He loves playing and sitting on my lap getting stroked. He's gonna be one spoilt little boy.
SO CUTE <3
he looks super cute <3 congrats on the little one
Since he's young leash and harness train him. I keep my cat mainly inside too but boy does he love his walks and knows where we are going when the leash comes out. He had a favorite grass/moss patch at my dad's house. At my current place though there's dogs as we live in apartments and idk if they are friendly or "oh boy chase" types. So my kitty has been sad about only being on the balcony and not the grass.
FINALLY GOT THE 15K WARDROBE DONE!!!!! Next up gutting and selling it.
I've got two rescue cats, one is 7 years old and her owners didn't want her anymore so they were going to have her put to sleep at the animal clinic I work at about two months ago. She was so sweet and healthy, I couldn't let them kill her so I brought her home. She is a doll. Her name is Sophie, and I think she gave me a cat addiction because... a few weeks after I brought Sophie home, I rescued another little female kitten that my neighbors were going to toss out on the highway because the kitten "ate a loaf of their bread" and they were mad about it. She is a white and cream Manx with blue eyes. She had a horrible upper respiratory infection and she was starving. She also had tons of fleas and was full of intestinal worms. She is all healthy now and she is like a dog. She is a perfect little kitty.
Male cats are great, they just have a chance of becoming blocked in their urinary tract. When that happens, they have to be unblocked soon (expensive, requires sedation) or it will kill them. We see that at the clinic I work at probably once a month or so. It is common, but doesn't happen to every male cat. It is a risk that's worth taking. Male cats are sweet. Also, their neuters are cheaper than a female cat spay!
Good luck with your choice! Keep us updated.
EDIT: I didn't see your post!! He is SO cute! Congrats!
Congrats on your little bundle of joy and I'm glad you adopted. We adopted a cat almost 2 years ago, or I should say he adopted us. We went to the shelter and were looking at all the cats in the room an he jumped onto my husband's shoulders and basically said "you're mine so take me home".
