Comments | arobynne: First pet?

arobynne

First pet?

Dec 22, 2004 23:26

We have a little friend scurrying around the house again. Since the traps we put out in the spring didn't catch it and we now have a little boy who spends his day crawling and exploring the house's nooks, we're thinking about another approach--we might get a cat ( Read more... )

Comments 13

tonapah December 23 2004, 08:49:17 UTC

I'd suggest you get a rabbit instead, but it would do nothing for your mouse problem, sadly. Though, given that rabbits also use litterboxes, I can at least answer one of your questions. In our experience it can take anywhere from a few days (Tonapah and Mindy) to a few weeks (Hapanot) to get the litterbox usage of an animal stabilized. Before it is, I hope you enjoy cleaning pee out of your carpets and vacuuming up poop. At least rabbit poop doesn't smell, unlike the cat variety. ;) If you do get a cat, I suggest a girl, as males of various species seem to be harder to litter train.

If I were you, I'd wait until Peter was potty-trained to bring in a pet. I can't imagine both scooping litterboxes and changing diapers. Ugh. As the designated scooper around here, it is enough of a task on its own!

arobynne December 24 2004, 07:18:33 UTC

Ahh, see, if we do go ahead with this, I plan to make use of the fact that it was Dan's idea and make sure he becomes the litterbox man. Someday I will probably be pregnant again, and preggos can't change litterboxes, so he might as well just start right away. As for training, getting a grown cat might hurry the learning process, so that's a possibility.

davedash December 24 2004, 14:05:37 UTC

Don't get one of those nearly "self-cleaning" litter boxes... they aren't that easy, we hear.

ketiya December 25 2004, 07:03:52 UTC

I've actually never had trouble with a cat learning to use the litter box. I had always heard that it's instinctual because they look for something in which they can bury it. Obviously you don't wanna leave plants, piles of newspapers, etc lying around 'cause it won't be their instinct to differentiate.

(The comment has been removed)

arobynne December 24 2004, 07:14:43 UTC

The problem with traps is that there are limited options when one has a crawling baby in the house. We have ones now that don't hurt humans, but apparently they don't catch mice either.

davedash December 23 2004, 18:52:12 UTC

A single mouse is not a good enough reason to get a cat, if this were my decision. I'd get a mouse trap.

If you want a nice pet, a cat is definitely a good option. Cats are highly adaptive and highly trainable. If you show a cat where the litter box is, they should be able to continue to use it indefinitely so long as they can find it and you keep it clean (every few days, or even once a week).

As far as trouble. A squirt gun or spray bottle is sufficient. They usually "get it." There's more obnoxious things you can do to the cat to train them.

Buster and Panther hardly need any maintenance, for example, the only problems I've had is their puking, but that's really not that big of a deal, and it's not so often.

I'd recommend a shelter like feline rescue or underdogs to get yoru cat from, they seem to take good care of their animals, and are pretty against declawing (don't declaw, you'll regret it, and there are alternatives).

-d

arobynne December 24 2004, 07:09:37 UTC

Very useful, thanks. Dan seems determined to get a cat immediately, but I want some time to see if I really want a furry creature sharing my house for the next 15 years.

What are alternatives to declawing? I don't like the idea of removing the claws (ouch), but I like my furniture, too.

davedash December 24 2004, 14:03:02 UTC

You could foster a cat for a while ( ... )

rcantilles December 25 2004, 05:12:22 UTC

It took very little effort to convince Sophie not to claw on specific items of furniture. We let her go at the computer chairs, but mostly because they are pieces of crap and her claws couldn't possibly make them worse. Scratching posts and keeping claws trimmed does wonders. We have a cardboard scratcher with catnip inside of it that she concentrates most of her efforts on. Someday when Robin and I graduate from grad student furniture and have more money to throw around, I may try out softpaws. (By then, we may have moved on to a new cat... Sophie's starting to get up there in years ( ... )

Thread 5

ketiya December 24 2004, 06:57:43 UTC

I know of three adoptible kitties

arobynne December 24 2004, 07:00:06 UTC

Finding cats doesn't seem to be the problem :)

ketiya December 25 2004, 18:14:19 UTC

From what I've heard, if you actually want a cat that may do something about your mouse problem you have to get one that was raised by it's mommy. If kitties are taken away too early and raised by humans they will never learn how to hunt. They may play with the mice 'cause it's fun, but not to actually kill them (although, playing with them tends to kills them, but if they're not quick the mouse will just get away ( ... )