Getting new cats

World's Best Cat Litter... it's flushable!

And if you won't get wet cat food because it nauseates you.. then you're selfish and shouldn't be a pet owner.

[quote] And if you won't get wet cat food because it nauseates you.. then you're selfish and shouldn't be a pet owner.

What did I say about shaming?

You're Ignored.

Yes, because you're going to control what people say on DL, lol.

And you ARE selfish, Blanche... you are!

Flames and freaks for the troll.

Dry food is best but get a good brand. Wet food is a treat.

If you're not going to feed your cats non-dry food primarily--then it's not an upgrade in care. Dry food or kibble is the junk food of the cat world.

Get older cats, it’s always harder for them to find a home!!

It's best to also have wet food daily for a cat. They need a higher moisture content, it helps to keep their kidneys healthy.

Listen to R7 and R9, OP. Wet food is far superior. Cats lack the thirst response to compensate for the lack of water in dry food. In one study I read about, cats eating nothing but dry food drank about three times as much water as those eating all wet food. To provide equivalent water, though, they should have been drinking seven times as much. A chronic deficiency can lead to serious problems with the urinary tract and kidneys.

Regarding beds, I bought the one at the link for my elderly cat, who had a more wool-like bed before. I wasn't sure if he would take to it, but he loves it! He frequently spends most of his day there.

Can we please stop dumping on the OP and each other for asking questions? I haven't had a cat in many years, and have been considering adopting one again. Can't we see that we all care abouts cats (except for the vile Spaz Troll, who will soon show up)? Please don't be so black and white in your opinions: it really helps to hear pluses and minuses from people with experience. Thank you, and I really want to tell you all that I appreciate that you want to do the best thing for your cats, even if you don't agree on what that is.

Cat threads on Datalounge are the equivalent of the Mommy Wars on straight women forums about child-raising.

Cat-owning Dataloungers only want to start shaming cat owners who do things differently than they do.

Datalounge is the LAST place to ask for advice about PUSSIES!

How old are you OP? Will you be alive long enough to outlive the kittens? If not get an older cat.

I'm getting younger cats or kittens.

Also regarding dry food only, I have a male cat who loved his dry food (he received both wet and dry) and developed crystals in his urine. We treated him twice for that ($$$) and finally had to have the vet operate on him to remove his penis so that he could pee even if he developed the crystals again. We were told some male cats are just prone to getting this condition and dry food exacerbates this problem. Just saying!

If you don't want to be "shamed," asshole, don't do shameful things. Cats love and need and want wet food, too.

DON'T GET A CAT. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME.

If I were a cat, I'd just take your wet food from you and then slap you around until you understood I eat wet food.

Diluted apple cider vinegar through a dropper cures the bladder problems with dry food. Never failed for me.

I supplement with canned mackerel and tuna.

I feel you on wet food, but it really is better for them as cats don't have a strong thirst drive, and get most of their moisture from their food. When I got my cat from the shelter she turned up her nose at anything but the cheapest canned food. I bought it for her but very gradually shifted her over to Honest Kitchen. It is a dehydrated food that you add water to. It's very healthy, her poop is much less stinky, and it doesn't look disgusting like most canned foods.

For litter I use Hartz lightweight recycled paper clumping litter. It is light weight, low dust, and does a great job of controlling order. It is a light blueish white, and turns blue when the cat pees on it, so it is easy to find the clumps. It is a starchy slightly gelatinous clump, but the clumps are firm.

I don't recommend flushing any litter, even when it says it is flushable. For one thing most municipal water treatment plants aren't really able to process cat waste properly, and for another anything that is designed to bind together can bind in your pipes.

I have a cheap hard sided carrier for when the cat goes to the vet, that's the only time she is ever in it, and I don't have a cat bed for her because she isn't interested in things that are just for her, it is either my bed, or on top of a trunk that has a blanket on it that I put there for her.

Good luck on your pussy hunt!

Flames and freaks for r17, who is just trolling.

Dry food is terribly unhealthy for cats. Cats are obligate carnivores; they don't need corn, they need meat. The worst quality wet food is far superior to the best quality dry food.

My first cat lived to 17 and 1/2 years old. My current cat will be 12 in November. I fed them both the same thing: dry food in the morning, wet food at night. They loved it and thrived on it...just nothing really cheap. Beds are a waste of time...cats will sleep wherever they want. Don't waste money on expensive toys. What cats really like empty boxes, string, and laser lights.

OP you might not like it but R2 was absolutely right.

You asked for advice and what would be an "upgrade." You got the answer.

And if you can't handle it then you shouldn't be asking questions on DL, tbh.

And out of curiosity, if you won't get wet food even though it has been pointed out to you repeatedly that it is healthier for them... why not? Is your repulsion to wet food more important than the health of your cats?

Or maybe you're just trolling.

Apologies but I disagree about the cat beds. I have two cats and they have beds that stay on our bed. They've slept in those beds every night since they were kittens and they LOVE them. They mostly sleep in just one curled up together. I LOVE LOVE LOVE waking up in the middle of the night, reaching over to stroke their fur and hearing their sleepy puuuurrrrrrrrrrr of contentment when I do. There is just nothing more peaceful and satisfying.

Dry food is awful for cats. I would never feed our cats Atticus and Calpurnia dry food. In fact, they are both raw fed using a recipe from my holistic vet.

If you get your young cats from a shelter OP, they will tell you that wet food is best. There was a time that dry food was recommended for dental issues but the evidence is in that wet food is best for all the reasons already stated and that a few crunchy treats a day will do as much as dry food for their dental health. (very little)

That said I do as R23. 1 measured scoop of dry food in the daytime and wet food around 8 pm. My cat eats wet food far too quickly and the wet food only diet was not keeping her satisfied. So you have to find a balance, but the balance must include wet food. All most all house cats die of kidney disease in one form on another. They need moisture and protein. Make sure they get in their food. Besides they really like it.

Cat beds, anything is fine. My cat is allowed to sleep on the couch or the bed or any of the chairs. She spends more time sleeping on a box, my keyboard or the windowsill. Don't stress about a cat bed. Hard sided carriers are best. Kittens don't stay 5 lbs forever :)

OP, check out NomNom Now for food - they deliver it to you weekly, it’s wet, meat (they have different choices) and natural. They started with dogs and added “NomNomMeow” a few months.

Thanks for giving me actual advice about the questions I asked, r27 and r28. it's helpful.

An all dry-food diet is very bad for male cats in particular.

Food type and moisture content are as important in the prevention of dehydration as fluid intake. An MD of my acquaintance tells me that patients he's seen suffering from dehydration usually have sufficient fluid intake, but aren't eating enough solid food.

I am preparing to get a pup soon, I am determined to stay as raw food with the animal as I can. With kitties and small dogs it's easy and relatively economical to prepare small batches of food at home. Maybe supplement with grain-free kibble. Our last doggie was bananas for Taste Of The Wild-all the flavors.

Anyway, good luck!

NEVER use clay litter! It builds up in their intestinal system and will kill a cat. I almost lost Mine a couple of years ago from it. It had collected in her system and caused major constipation. Now I only use natural litter made out of wheat or silica. They do not attract bugs.

Wheat litter does attract bugs. I've had that happen to me before, and so had a friend of mine.

When I moved in to my condo I was told the names of the cats who would be living on my patio and semi-enclosed porch. All of the kitties that live in our huge condo complex are chipped, fixed, vaccinated. They were left behind by previous owners. The conscientious current residents agreed to collectively care for the kitties.

Since they're only outdoor cats and semi-wild, my only alternative is to leave water and cat food on the semi-enclosed porch. I can't figure out exactly what time of night they eat. I believe various cats eat dry food at a series of homes in the complex.

So leaving out wet food for several hours until the kitties show up to consume it doesn't make much sense to me. Therefore I need to know what brand of dry food to put out every night.

I use Fresh Step crystals for my cat's litter. There's no smell. Every other type of litter I've tried can't kill the smell of cat pee.

Also, my 14 year old kitty only eats dry food. She ate wet food regularly for a few years then just stopped eating it, so I switched her back to the dry stuff and she's happy as a furry clam.

Another vote for a good mix of both dry and wet cat food. I used to feed my cats wet food in the morning and evening and dry food as a mid-day snack, then alternate every few days with dry morning/evening and wet mid-day. I did cut back on their cat food when I indulge them a bit too much with the human food they loved, e.g., buttered toast, raw mince, cheese, ice cream.

I wouldn't bother with a cat bed because the cat will end up sleeping where it wants, usually with you. The bed will simply be an unused expense.

R33 wet food can be left out for hours.

Thank you for some of the information on here. I adopted my little asshole ♡ last year as a juvenile.

I have had dogs primarily since I was a kid. I seriously didn't know about some of the stuff recommended.

I give my cats "Taste of the Wild" dry food. It's high in protein and was recommended by my vet. I've never had a vet tell me that wet food is necessary and I've owned cats for 25 years. Getting a good quality dry food is important though.

Consider getting a pet water fountain. My cats love drinking from theirs.

Don't use clumping litter with kittens. If they eat it, it will clump inside of their intestines. They will either die or you will spend an arm and a leg saving them. You can switch to clumping once they are 6 months or so.

Also, good for you for getting 2 cats. Two are always happier than one. Cats love to have a feline buddy.

[quote] I've never had a vet tell me that wet food is necessary and I've owned cats for 25 years.

Not to sound like a jerk but if your vet has never told you this then you have a VERY bad vet. I would look for a cat-only holistic vet.

[quote] Two are always happier than one. Cats love to have a feline buddy.

Agreed

[quote]Diluted apple cider vinegar through a dropper cures the bladder problems with dry food. Never failed for me.

Thanks, r19, I hadn't heard of that but will keep it in mind since I have 2 other boys who, thankfully, haven't had the same problem. I drastically reduced the amount of dry food they all get because I wasn't willing to put my old boy through a special uti canned food diet which he wouldn't eat anyway. It costs more for a mostly canned food diet but the peace of mind is worth it.

Years ago I was speaking to a shelter employee about a soon to be adopted cat and she complained about the person adopting the cat. She referenced the part of the form where it asked what food you intended to feed the cat. It was marked "dry only" and I asked why it bothered her. She said "well, how would you like to be fed potato chips, all day, everyday?" I never forgot that. G'head and block me, OP. Dgaf

OP, I can understand being grossed out by wet cat food, because it smells and looks disgusting. But it's important for a cat's health, so good owners will put up with it.

Isn't your cat's health and happiness more important than the twenty seconds of grossness it takes you to give her a glop of wet food? You can even use disposable plastic spoons to scoop the food out, and dump it on a disposable paper or styrofoam plate, so that you never have to wash anything that's touched the wet food.

My Cleo has dry kibble in her bowl at all times, and then I give her half of a small can of wet food at bedtime. (I'm talking the really small cans that cost like $0.40 each, not the tuna-sized ones.)

[quote]Isn't your cat's health and happiness more important than the twenty seconds of grossness it takes you to give her a glop of wet food?

Apparently not. It's too bad an alarm doesn't go off when he enters an animal shelter.

Some of that cat food smell so good it makes my mouth water.

I confess, I've occasionally helped myself to a nibble or six when the opportunity presented itself.

Silica can also be hazardous to your kitty, especially kittens.

Feline pine turns to sawdust with urine and helps dry their waste to dispose. There is a system out now that uses non toxic pellets, safe for kittens, but I don't remember the brand offhand. I saw it in a youtube video when I was researching for my own cats.

Why are you asking about brands of cat beds, you ridiculously silly OP!

YOUR bed IS the CAT'S BED ....... he/she will agree to share it with you.

After sixteen years with your former kitty, didn't you learn anything?

OP- After spending a ton of money on urinary infections on my 2 cats, The vet told me to get expensive royal canin prescription food.. I leave the dry food for them to pig out and it also has some “calm” ingredient. same kind of wet food but kitties like the dry food. It can be had from chewy.com with a prescription. Ask your vet about the wet food. I heard dry was better.

The royal canin does not smell so bad. Cover your nose with a clip if you have to and leave the food on the balcony. I use the cheap-o-est kitty litter. Sometimes the sticky one gets stuck to their pee-pees. I blamed it for the bout of urinary syndrome. They’re cats, they’re tough and will be fine. Just get the ok from the vet. Uh yeah, your bed is their bed. So don’t try to fight that.

My cat loved wet food practically from the moment he was born, but after being neutered @ 6 months, he stopped eating the wet food, only lapped up the broth or gravy. I feed him good quality dry food, and fortunately he loves water, but it has to have an ice cube in the dish.

I used to make one of my cats omelettes on Saturdays, using 9 Lives Chicken & Cheese. I don't think it would have been the same if I'd used Meow Mix.

Add baking soda to the litter box to kill the unwanted aroma .

I have strays hanging out in my back yard, and I leave food and water for them daily. I feed them dry food and frequently add beef or chicken broth to their food, and they can't eat it fast enough. Occasionally I will buy wet food and mix it with the dry food, and that, too, it a hit with them.

How diluted R19? Are we talking a couple drops here

LOL--this thread is unintentionally hilarious. r17 is foaming so much at the mouth at the chance to shame the OP that she scream in all-caps--she might as well be swinging the septa's bell from "Game of Thrones." (Asking people to please not shame you on Datalounge becomes always understood as "please shame me"--witness the first 15 or so posts on this thread!)

Also: telling someone he is somehow morally obligated to adopt elderly vats instead of kittens is ridiculous. Why not then insist that they also have to adopt elderly cats who are also diabetic with missing eyes and legs? Or, analogously, you should insist that people who want to adopt babies are morally obligated to adopt much older kids with special needs.

R45 Have you ever slipped it into the meatload you served to your neighbors, Florida and James Evans? Oh wait, I think that was canned dog food. :)

Loaf! Sorry Freudian slip.

John Amos was a meatload. You got it right.

R52 25-50% Apple cider vinegar with the mother. Give them good big eye dropper full and then an hour later.

That usually does it. Then give them more diluted maintenance doses once a week for a month. Then once a month after that.

I read an article about how shallow bowls are better than deep ones, because cats use their whiskers to monitor their surroundings and don't like to have them compressed. I replaced my bowls (I use stainless steel ones for both food and water, and have extras so a clean set is always available) and my cat in fact immediately took to them and stopped scattering food outside the bowl.

Much to my surprise my vet recommends Purina Pro Plan. According to her, vets rolls their eyes at Blue Buffalo and think it's crap. Her practice only sells prescription brands so she had no financial reason to say that anyway.

Another vet told me canned food is easier on cats' kidneys but you wouldn't have to worry about that yet.

I've been feeding my cat Purina dry cat food since I got her 12 years ago. Plus I have water fountain next to the food. Based upon how much she drinks and peas i find it hard to believe she is dehydrated. Plus I've never had to take her to the vet, besides an annual check-up which has always come back clean. I have to do the annual check-up to qualify for emergency service with my vet. Same food, plenty of water, never goes outside and I play with her twice daily to make sure she gets exercise.

I bought this scratchier and lounge from Amazon. It's big enough for my cat to stretch out on it and sleep, which she does. She loves scratching on the corrugated cardboard. I had originally purchased it to replace another corrugated cardboard scratching post that had worn out. No idea the cat would like to sleep on it.

I had never purchased a cat bed before. I had folded some old t-shirts into a square and put them on a chair, bottom of my bed and a throw pillow right by the window. For whatever reason the cat loves them. Keeps the cat fur under control.

I use Tidy Cat litter. The litter box sits on pad that is large and designed so it captures whatever litter is left on the cat's paws. Next to the box I have a Litter Champ. Which is great for cleaning out the litter box.

OP, I recommend this site highly for cat food reviews. I feed my cat Acana and sometimes Earthborn Holistic. Read through and see why they chose what they chose, and why they knocked some major boutique brands out of the running.

The litter I use is Blue Naturally Fresh walnut-based litter. It's scent-free but has a smell kind of like wood and walnuts, because it's made of ground shells.

“I have strays hanging out in my back yard, and I leave food and water for them daily”

Thank you for doing that!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

You will learn from that site that Blue Buffalo has had more recalls than many.

What are you going to do with your old cats?

My cat and I share a yogurt every morning.

His flavors of choice are vanilla, peach and strawberry.

The people saying dry food is best for cats are just dumb as fuck. And if your vet says that, then your vet is dumb as fuck too.

R2 agree. Like letting OP live on Chex Mix or matzoh.

OP is sickening & selfish. Hopefully sterile as well

OP can move in with me. But he gets Grape Nuts. That's it. Grape Nuts.

Goddammit this thread pisses me the fuck off. I have four cats--don't call me a cat hoarder; I have a 5,000 sq ft home--and I'd beat the shit out of anyone who ever tried to hurt them. You're a selfish fuck, OP. Wet food, especially RAW FOOD, is best for cats. However, don't go the raw route unless you're going to spend some time researching and understanding the "slurry" that goes with it.

Did the OP ever get cats? Pics if you're still here please.

R72, you sound not like a cat hoarder, but rather a cat mensch. But four is plenty.

R72, if OP is too delicate to handle canned cat food, there's no way he'll even consider feeding raw!

If you don't feed your cats wet cat food they will come down with diabetes.

Does OP scoop litter boxes? If you can deal with litter boxes, you can deal with can food.

Boy, that didn't happen at all with my last cat, r76. She lived to be 16 without diabetes.

There is wet food that comes in foil packets, if you feel you can't handle cans. It really doesn't smell and you just pour some out, and it's nice ingredients and grain free. My cat loves the kind called Accents ( in duck!) It's made to pour over dry food to make it more interesting, but my cat sometimes eats it alone as a treat.

Thank you for responding R58!

DON'T give you cat apple cider vinegar without speaking to your vet.

How much does it cost per month/year for two cats? Thinking of finally getting 2.

the vet told me dry food causes serious problems with the kidney function of cats, she said the perfect food for a cat is a mouse . the food we offer the pets should be the equivalent of a mouse

I take my girls to the Cornell University Vet School-renowned for its feline work. They told me wet is best and, as many of you have said, cats can get most of their water from the moisture. They didn't tel me NOT to give them dry food, but they said it wasn't necessary. One of them seems to prefer the dry, but we leave it mainly when we are of town for a few days. We have one of those circulating water fountains--they don't seem to drink that much from it.

Of course, you first want to declaw the little furballs.

Kittens can be really hard. As adorable as they are...they are about that much trouble.

If you are going to keep them in the house, don't bother getting them distemper and other shots. Those shots only cause the animal to die early.

R85 I'm sure you must be joking. Declawing cats is one of the cruelest things you can have done to cats--like cutting off the tips of human fingers. Better not to get a cat if that's your requirement. I have friend who adopted a shelter cat that was already declawed--that seems to me the only excusable reason to get a dclawed cat, as the damage had been done.

Do not declaw a cat but find away to cut those nails...they really hurt me with my wild cat. He does not mean to hurt me but it really does. The cut nails are fine .

R89. It can be worthwhile to pay a vet or groomer to do it, finances permit.

I just stick their paws in my pencil sharpener. They freak out, but if I stick them between my thighs on the ground and pushed down they have nowhere to run.

Just read this recently and thought it was interesting: "Cats should work for their food. In the wild, they would need to catch around 10 small mammals a day to get the energy they need. Feeding cats from a bowl undermines basic cat-hunting instincts, reducing problem-solving behavior and physical exercise. Try a puzzle feeder - a device that the cat must manipulate in some way to get the food. It stimulates the cat mentally while encouraging it to eat small amounts frequently as it would in a hunting existence in the wild."

This helps explain why so many cats get overweight.

r72, you need an evaluation and treatment!

[quote]Cat food? I just won't get canned wet food--it absolutely nauseates me.

2 parts crude protein (fish or chicken breast or other lean meat) to 1 part crude carbohydrate (rice)

olive oil can be added to encourage them to eat it. Cats enjoy olive oil. Vegetable oil is bad--don't give them that. It's not monounsaturated like the olive oil (extra virgin cold pressed)

A small amount of oil.

The wet food that comes in pouches sounds like the best solution- it sounds like it's not completely wet, just moist enough to provide water content.

Also, I learned this from owning a cat - don't let them play with spools of thread. The thread unwinds and it can get stuck in their throat. I did that once and my poor cat came running to me to pull the thread out. I was afraid that if I hadn't been home, she might have choked on it.

Is it okay to feed cats something like a stew? Some beef, potatoes and carrots mashed up?

My cats eat Blue Buffalo, as my vet recommends. It's a dry food.

Don't like it? Well, too bad for you!

Swheat Scoop doesn't attract bugs. It's good.

Sleepypod carrier

Kirkland cat food from Costco

AmazonBasics round pet bed

Older cats are easier.

Healthy Paws insurance. It's great.

Sleepypod

AmazonBasics round pet bed

sWhear Scoop litter

Kirkland food.

Healthy Paws insurance.

I wonder if the selfish OP ever got those cats.

My cat will only eat tuna. I buy it at Trader Joe's and it smells like crap.

[quote] I wonder if the selfish OP ever got those cats.

Why would he ever in a million years tell anyone here, since he was attacked when he first posted?

[quote]Is it okay to feed cats something like a stew? Some beef, potatoes and carrots mashed up?

Lean meat, low fat.

Potato is a crude carbohydrate. Not recommended, No carrot.

Rice (WHITE) and LEAN meat or fish. 1:2

You could feed them congee but it would have to be really meaty--congee is better for a dog though.

1 cup cooked white rice and 2 cups lean meat.

Deck Hand cat food from Whole Foods is pure tuna. Line-caught, sustainable. It's the red/dark meat of the tuna. Any person can eat it, actually.

Chop it finely or pulse. I don't think cats like a puree. They have to have some bite in their food.

Does Deck Hand smell as bad as the Trader Joe's tuna?

R114, I've bought Trader Joe's tuna for cats before (white and blue label), and I remember that the smell caused me to go back to Deck Hand ($0.89 per can). My cat didn't like it either.

Deck Hand smells like tuna, but not rotten tuna. They look the same, however — that really dark/red part of a tuna fillet. It's tuna from American Samoa, Marine Stewardship Council certified, but other varieties add salmon or shrimp, neither of which are MSC-certified. Just the tuna is sustainably line caught. My cat loves just the tuna. He doesn't like the variety with shrimp, and the one with a little salmon added on top, I think he's less thrilled with that compared to the tuna-only variety.

My cat didn't like it (*Trader Joe's tuna for cats) either.

To be clear, Deck Hand tuna is caught in American Samoa but processed and came in Thailand. A lot of fish-containing canned cat food is processed and canned in Thailand. Weruva and its cheaper BFF brand, for example. Hula Cat (I think that's what it's called) too.

Tiki Cat, not Hula Cat.

but processed and *canned in Thailand

My cat will mostly only eat dry food. If I give him wet food, he will lick at it for a minute but not really eat much of it. He won't take bites of it.....he just sits there and licks at it. Maybe I should try some different kinds?

The vet recommended Hills Science Diet C/D, which has lower magnesium content, which can help prevent crystals in the urinary tract.

He LOVES water and likes to play around with his water bowl, put toys in it, and of course drink it. It's like a game....he has a bowl of water but also likes to go around the house "hunting" for any drops of water that may be left in the sink or tub. (Don't worry, I keep things clean and he has done this for years).

I gave my cats mostly wet food and some dry food to supplement and enough water . Sometimes special cat milk and sometimes a can of tuna with olive oil or mackerel .

[quote]I just won't get canned wet food

You should instead "just won't get" new cats.

How long does a 25 pound of food last for one cat at $29/bag?

A 25 pound bag would last me over 6 months.

My cat loves the broths. Once he tried the Purina broth, he stopped eating his Fancy Feast pates. A couple months back, I tried a new envelope package broth - Hartz Lickable treats, and he became obsessed, suddenly refusing the Purina broths.

He also always has dry kibble available to him at all times Purina Gravy Swirlers. (This stuff smells like KFC.)

He is inflexible when it comes to his food. He wants the exact same thing every day (at the same time). If I try a different brand (same flavor), he will flat out refuse to eat at all.

And he is unimpressed with any of the beds I've bought him. But he loves an empty amazon.com box that arrived a few months back. He spends 10 hours a day in that box.

I’m R121. The tuna and mackerel cans where from Imperial because I ate them too .mostly with olive oil or water . Either way they couldn’t eat them fast enough or some leftover meat from the table . That was like the food of Gods . After a second it was gone .

A lot of truth in this thread. You are definitely doing something that will mean the world to the cats if you get them a companion cat, litter-mates are best, but it doesn't have to be that way. Don't let your cats wander free outside your yard, even part of the time. If you have an enclosed space like your backyard that they can't get out of, that's fine, or if you want to keep them on a harness and leash. They just need to be limited to your yard one way or another. Regarding toys, you truly do not need to spend money on that. They LOVE boxes, little wadded up pieces of paper and twisty ties that come off anything. The only things that I will by them are bizzy balls with a bell inside or a little nurf soccer ball, and catnip stuffed canvas rats. They like those things. Regarding the beds, you can if you want, but like the other posters said, all of the furniture in your house will be their's. Why do they need a special bed when they have yours? Regarding the wet food, everything they said about how beneficial and important it is to your cats health is true. If you want to feed them both kinds, then do it, that's what I do, but you need to give them wet food. If you are talking about the Friskies or Nine Lives from the grocery store, then yeah that stinks, but times have changed and there is a ton of quality wet food in the pet stores that doesn't smell at all. Bottom line is they need that moisture that's in the wet food, all of the things that they would eat in the wild would have a high moisture content. For all of you that feed the abandoned cats outside, I can only say bless you, I always do it too. People are awful for moving and leaving their cats. I try to make them feel like someone cares for them again.

I have a male who's one and a half. He belonged to a feral cat colony and got lost from the others at about one month old when I adopted him. (This was the vet's estimate of his age.) I'd like to get him a friend. My mother has a lot of feral cats where she lives, and a recent litter of kittens (about five months old now) has become very tame. I took my cat over to her house and introduced him to the kittens. He didn't get physical but he hissed a lot.

I realize that the proper introduction process takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months, with the new cat being quarantined in a separate room, introducing their scents to each other through blankets, etc. For the most part, my cat is pretty laid back, but he does get a rough when he plays. (He loves to wrestle, but he quickly forgets he's playing a game, and he then really tries to attack.)

If I were to get him a companion, would he be better off with a male or female?

I buy Ever Clean cat litter. It's good, with solid clumps, not a lot of dust either. It's kinda expensive, but it lasts long. I only have one cat but 10 liter lasts me a month. I should add I'm European, but hopefully they sell it in America too. I prefer the non-scented litter as the cat sometimes gets some litter stuck to her paws and drags it around the house and the smell (although good) is strong and gets everywhere. A good alternative to Ever Clean is Tidy Cats, especially if you have two. I would again go for the non-scened one, but that's just me. Tidy Cats is very good, strong clumps and very little dust.

I would recommend against buying a cat bed. I bought two for my cat but she never used them. She likes to sleep high up, as most cats do. Cat beds are expensive and useless. Chance is the cat will just end up sleeping on your bed or couch anyway.

As for food, Purina, Hill's and Royal Canin are all good brands. Expensive, but good. I'd recommend both wet and dry food. There's important nutrition in both. I let the dry food be available at all times, then she gets wet food 1-2 times a day.

Ending this I just want to point out how important scratching posts are, and if it's an indoor only cat you need to cut its claws regularly, unless you want your house ruined.

Good luck OP.

A good tall cat tree will save your furniture, they get exercise, and they will sleep on it. I got a 3-level cat tree at Costco for about 80.00 dollars which is pretty cheap - pet stores will be over 100.00 usually. I have two cats and they fought over it though (everybody wants the top bunk), so I bought another one.

If you can’t handle wet food, don’t get males. Talk to your vet about which type of food is more appropriate for which feline gender and why. Males are more prone to kidney cysts which leads to kidney failure. Wet food can be more helpful.

It can be a matter of experience, but over almost 60 years, I’ve found females to be more affectionate than males. Males are a lot of fun - they like to play a lot of games. They invent games, create their own rules: think “hockey”, “golf”. You better play exactly by the rules, too. How much they play depends on how much you interact with them, otherwise they just tune you out.

Our females were very affectionate, always sitting our our laps, shoulders and needy as hell. They insisted on sleeping with us, which sucked as I’m allergic.

A difference between the two was how they hunt. When females kill mice, they line them neatly. Males just ... disassemble them with great enthusiasm.

Females have better litter box discipline. Males treat rugs and carpets as toilet paper. Litter boxes are suggestions and not necessarily mandatory. They’re like target practice and a missed target is no big deal.

R128 I would go with male. I've had about an even number of male and female cats, and the boys and girls never like each other. The males do get along with the other males and the females get along great with each other. The only time that I've seen it be different is the one time that a roommate and I adopted a brother and sister siamese pair. Those two liked each other. That's why I say getting litter-mates is a good idea.

Bless all of you who are saving cats (and keeping them indoors so they don't get run over or kill birds etc.).