[Closed] Why is it a bad idea to have a cat?

If you can't talk yourself out of it... you deserve one.

When you fall down the stairs, they'll wait till you stop twitching too much, then feast on your eyeballs.
That, and they shed a lot of hair.

They bring presents into the house! It turns out the mice are just for me as she (the cat) hasn't blessed us with any while I've been away for the last few days.

They're better then dogs, and dog owners know it, so they will resent you.

Cats are ace. There's no down side. From time to time they may even allow you to feel like you're the one in charge in the relationship. Maybe. Not often though 😀

and I'm allergic to them

Non that I can think of* - cats are ace! If my GF allowed it I would have 30 of the fluffy buggers and be a mad old cat lady (allowing for ageing & successful gender reassignment).

*Aside from them causing asthma @ age 33 🙁
Seems I've got it for life now, but I'm not too badly affected.
Allergies apparently most likely with male, dark haired ones - according to my interweb research.

stupid question regarding your allergic/not allergic other-half:

what colour is the cat?

You have to either pay for cattery or get a neighbour/friend to feed them when you go away at the weekend.

Oh and based on our experience, if they get excessively stressed by something (eg next door's cat or similar) they may start pissing or crapping in the house to mark their territory...

fleas and the occasional dead mouse left on your pillow as a thank you present, thats about it for me.

but,i get a belly laugh almost every night with the stuff my 2 (sid vicious and moggy) get up to.

You can't spontaneously go away for the weekend or longer. And your kitchen smells of stale catfood.

Cats rule. Literally.

Seriously - they bring warmth and companionship and are good fun. They get a bit quieter when they're older but don't we all?

Go for it.

Not sure there is a downside...oh and you don't [i]have[/i] a cat, a cat has you.
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Fleas and presents, otherwise they are THE pet to have. Oh, get a cat hatch please, nothing sadder than an imprisoned cat.

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What are the downsides of having a moggy?

It's not a bad idea, they'll get rid of flies and bugs for you.
On the down side they'll wake you up at annoying times of the night bringing in caught animals in various stages of consumption, the live animals are the worst as they make more noise.
Have they been spayed, if not how old are they, the earlier they are done the less they spray and smell.
They'll eat you out of house and home.

Cat Protection society

We still have our feline lodger. She sleeps under the car, or if it's sunny in a big flower pot in the garden.

Meows wildly for attention, purrs hypnotically and closes her eyes in ecstasy if you pick her up and cradle her.

Her real owners must WTF their cat has gone...

He's a 2-year old tom, recently spayed & full of beans despite the fact he had to have major abdominal surgery a couple of weeks ago after being hit by a car.

(can't get video to YouTube play in Firefox but it works on IE...weird)

Siberian cats are considered anti-allergic by many people - one of my sisters has two. Apparently the breed lacks a certain protein in their saliva which many people are allergic to. Contrary to the commonly held belief it's not the fur which causes the allergic reaction but the saliva on it.

Of course you would need to be happy owning a poncey looking pedigree breed :

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Personally I prefer British short haired mongrels.

Pussy is ALWAYS high maintainance

Awwww cute moggies
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Unfortunatly it's not true, murdering bastards the pair of em!

shit, decline in the number of garden birds, did I mention shit?

As a confirmed dog lover I was surprised how much I've enjoyed having a couple of cats (I rehomed them from a friend).
They're independent, pleased to to see (when you have food in your hand) and entertaining.
Downsides - the odd dead mouse, taking a dead squirrel away from them and the live baby bird he brought in as a present, that wasn't my idea of fun at 4am. De-fleaing and worming them is a bit of a pain but some chicken helps them get over the inconvenience of being wrapped in a towel.
Keep the cat is my advice

I love cats. I have 4. They are all girls. It costs £80 a go to get them spayed, we didn't get one done in time so we had 8 cats. (fortunately cute kittens are easy to rehome).

Costs a fortune in food, which they eat all the time.
they S**t everywhere, they also wee in my basement, which has a yellowish floor so i always step in it whilst wearing to socks to get my bike out and put my shoes on at 5am.
Last night there was a bad smell in our bedroom, it was a large dead rat.
There is a pigeon blood stain on my stairs.
Leather sofa= scratching post.
Fluff on all my clothes.
they sleep on my side of the bed and hiss if i try to move them
they still want more food, so if I eat anything they are trying to get heads on the bowl.
there is feathers all over the garden, but I can't find a body...

Ooooooooooh at last a thread I like.

Cats are ace, they're independent and not as 'needy' as dogs plus you don't have to walk them.

I've always had rescue cats apart from one big bu**er called Mr Darcy who is a Maine Coon who is as big as this one.....

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You can go away over night if they've enough food and water etc and they don't chew shoes

Ours has the tendency to favour her dad *Binners* and likes to sit on his Guardian and is generally the only person who can get a smile out of him when he's got a grump on.....

OMG Khani they are lovely!!!!

Vomiting at the foot of the bed at 2am.
Hair EVERYWHERE.
Unsociable.
Suspicious aroma from the corner by the door in the hall...

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killing all the local birds and beasts.

killing all the local birds and beasts.

The OP wasn't asking about the downside of keeping an upper-class toff.

Our little Button

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He chases silver foil balls and brings them back over and over just like a dog. And if I bat the ball with my slipper, he places the ball back in the slipper!

OK, the "persuading me otherwise" is not going so well. On top of insurance (c. 7 quid a month) what do I need to pay for?
Food - he's on Purina at the moment and I'd like to keep him on dried stuff (less stinky). Is the fancy Hills/Purina and better than Pets@Home own brand biscuits?
Vet bills - no idea what annual costs/check ups he'll need.
Anything else? Lots of websites say start up costs of >200 quid for a bed, toys etc but he seems happy with a cardboard box, an old towel and some string.

I'd like to keep him on dried stuff (less stinky)

I don't think it is. I am mistrustful of that artificial stuff. And never buy Iams, it's like smack for cats, they go mental demanding tons of it from you and you have no choice but to give it to them, and then they get fat.

We left a bowl of Purina out for ours all the time, he just grazed through the day. Tried Iams and he wolfed the lot as soon as we put it down.

Don't buy beds and toys. The cat will ignore whatever you spend money on, usually 🙂

There are two ways to stop them killing local beasties - one is keep them inside at night, the other is to never let them out hungry. Although this doesn't work with some bloodthirsty cats, it works with most.

And poo isn't a problem - your own cat should bury its own and it'll keep other cats away too.

OMG Khani they are lovely!!!!

It's just cost me £55 for her annual jabs.
Other than that, the Frontline (well [url= http://www.petmeds.co.uk/p-6976-effipro-spot-on-flea-treatment-for-cats-4.aspx ]a copy[/url]) Flea prevention stuff is about a tenner for 4 doses (1 dose a month).

The worst cost is the cattery when you're away...

Ours eats Iams mostly with the odd bit of meaty stuff from time to time.

Don't buy beds and toys. The cat will ignore whatever you spend money on, usually

Oh... one of the vilest thinks known to man, is having a moggy wake you up by nuzzling your face then, as you come round, releasing the full on catfood-stench-yawn in your face

BARF!!!

ernie_lynch - Member

"killing all the local birds and beasts."

The OP wasn't asking about the downside of keeping an upper-class toff.

Sorry - easy mistake to make

Oh... one of the vilest thinks known to man, is having a moggy wake you up by nuzzling your face then, as you come round, releasing the full on catfood-stench-yawn in your face

BARF!!!

Or waking up in the morning on lying on your back only to immediately look straight into a cats a$$ as it's stood on your chest facing the other way.

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Our Jessica Rabbit Madonna Edwards or Jess as she's more commonly known

Don't buy beds and toys. The cat will ignore whatever you spend money on, usually

+1

Our cats enjoy a cardboard box, elastic band (one of them actually eats them), their own tails, and a brush or comb.

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Yep toys ignored or scared of, but dressing gown cords, cotton hanging off clothes, flies and imaginary bits of fluff all good to go

Downside? Screaming bunnies being devoured under your bed at 2am.. scream, scream, crunch, scream etc. etc.

Other than that, it's all good.. weekends away are no problem - just put down plenty of dry food.

clubber - Member
You have to either pay for cattery or get a neighbour/friend to feed them when you go away at the weekend.

Oh and based on our experience, if they get excessively stressed by something (eg next door's cat or similar) they may start pissing or crapping in the house to mark their territory..

These are the main problems as I see it.
We got our cat from a rescue home and she was fine for a while, but then started marking her territory all over the house. We tried loads to stop it, but never really did.
Moved house recently & touch wood - she has completely stopped. Like a different cat though.

She was ill a while ago that cost Petplan >£3k.

This was a pic of her once we got her home....
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and some pics once she recovered:

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just put down plenty of dry food.

We could never do that as we had a dog too...he'd just eat it.

The cat could also open the fridge, have a nibble of a bit of cheese and leave it open for the dog...who'd eat everything.

Had to get one of those child locks on it.

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And poo isn't a problem - your own cat should bury its own

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Sorry. As you were.

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Our last cat ,Jack RIP.

Coming home to find that days' contributions to the household piled up on the dining room floor - 2 birds, 1 mouse, a nests' worth of mouse pups and a toad.
Bringing me a live (very) lizard at 8.30 on a Saturday evening just as I'd cracked open a beer.
Playing volleyball in the lounge with mouse pups and shrews.
Shredding leather sofas.

But beyond that, it's not a bad idea at all.

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awwwwwwwwwwww Stumpy look at her now bless x

They'll make short work of any wicker-based furniture too

you know this forum used to be a place you could come and ask questions about bikes, routes and technique. nowadays its just internet idiots posting weird pictures of cats with bad spelling on them.

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Binners - not a problem round our way. We have a 24hr wicker store!

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This is what you can expect.

hahaha I LOVE Simon's Cat I like the one with the fly when it trashes the room whilst he's asleep in the chair

Ignore the you can't leave them for a weekend. Get an auto feeder, two pockets with timer release. You can get really expensive 5 pocket ones too! Although much cheaper and less disruptive than a cattery.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=automatic+cat+feeders&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=9037073821&ref=pd_sl_99dul80vef_b

I've left mine for four days over christmas and they were fine. They don't always travel well but I have had them over at the folks at Christmas before and they were fine!

Barring wicker stuff, is it easy to discourage furniture scrattling? The wee bagger had managed to pull up some carpet overnight as I guess he wanted out of the cat room into the rest of the house, where the good stuff happens.

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Sheeet. I have descended into the world of lolcats. There is no hope.

I should add that our cat was fine for two days with just food left out. However we wanted to be gone during the week as well (work) which meant that for the 18 months of that assignment we hardly ever went away at the weekends, because two nights int he week then anotehr two at the weekend wasn't fair on him. We had no catflap.

We go away for a week at a time with no worries, just put down a ginormous bowl of iams, an even bigger bowl of water and leave a window open. The food never runs out cos they prefer wildlife, preferably endangered.
I dont think the ungrateful brutes even notice we're gone.

They'll scratch anything! My Maine Coon even scratched a really rough leather suite from running across it with his claws out my wicker CD rack is wrecked down one side and she also has a go at the wood floors where its uneven (proper old floor rather than laminate)

You could try the water-pistol trick worked for my friend quick squirt if he went to scratch the sofa thing was he just waited till she was out of the room......

When we go away we give the neighbours a key and they pop round in the morning and evening to let em in or out and for feeding times, apparently if they don't come round on time the cats go round theirs to [i]Remind[/i] them
They ignore us for a day when we come back as well

bagpuss72 - Member
awwwwwwwwwwww Stumpy look at her now bless x

Looks can be deceiving - she can be a right pain in the butt....!
Cute though.

I should also add that our cat never scratched a thing in the house except to get our attention, and even then he only pricked the sofa a bit never causing damage. He scratched the crap out of the shed and fence posts though 🙂

It's a bad idea to have a cat in case you feel compelled to purchase a tank of helium.. and then inflate your cat like a balloon for tying to your wrist when you have to go into town to pick up your dry-cleaning and grab a few bits and bobs from the Co-op..

Old saying is. 'cats have servants, dogs have masters'
Tis true..

I don't think it is. I am mistrustful of that artificial stuff. And never buy Iams, it's like smack for cats, they go mental demanding tons of it from you and you have no choice but to give it to them, and then they get fat.

I guess it depends on the cat. With the one that's adopted me, I just fill up a hopper of iams every few weeks and it helps itself a bit if it's passing it. Though this time of year it seems to live mostly on baby rabbits and birds so takes even less than normal.

Cats are great - never regretting getting mine.

Best to have them from kittens though, and don't let them leave their mother too soon as she teaches them about litter trays and hunting.

Going away is a hassle, mine likes company so 1 night is about the most I will do, I have somebody coming over to feed her for any longer.

We took our cat to a cattery and the lady said that every Iams cat she had in was overweight, and every Purina cat was not...

don't let them leave their mother too soon as she teaches them about litter trays and hunting.

And how to clean themselves. One of our cats, Binky (short for Bianchi)'s nickname is stinky binky because he was a rescue cat, saved from a bag and a nearby river at a very young age.

Fleas, sick, dead animals, sick, garden now devoid of all birds that used to be there, feathers, sick, fights in the middle of the night....Pain in the ass

If you are going to feed it Dried food, I can thoroughly recommend leaving it plenty of water, we lost our old cat to kidney disease, it lived on dried food we thought it got enough water, but it might not of had enough.

This is mine.

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Called Archie,really nice with you for two minutes then randomly attacks you!
Oh,and dead birds around the garden are VERY commonplace.

Cats are ace. There's no down side. From time to time they may even allow you to feel like you're the one in charge in the relationship. Maybe. Not often though

Think you're confusing cats with women there...

he or she will break your heart when die 🙁

Great a cat thread, cats are the best pets by far, here's ours... (crap pics)

Vega

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Yeti

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Chilli

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Cats are the best pet. I have six of them in my life (not all stay with me!)

Yes they have a killed a bird each in the past but (mainly as they were magpies and they were ill afterwards) they don't bother with birds at all (i'm sat here typing this as a blackbird is hopping around the garden right near where one of the cats is lying)

The only downsides i've come across are the odd occasion when they get stuck in a tree and when they walk across your keyboard!

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These 2 are abut 3 months old now and getting big!
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Two of the above also play fetch with a ball of paper or foil, they run to fetch it, run back and drop it in my open hand 😀