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Sep. 8th, 2009 03:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seventheFirst of all, I want to send jennyclarinet a gigantic hug over the loss of her darling cat of almost 20 years. I am so sorry and I can't even write this post without thinking of you and Mushy.
This is a post for cat owners, especially those who own multiple cats.
I've always wanted more cats. To tell the truth, I want a dog too (we are both dog lovers) but until I (a) get a job that doesn't work 10-hour days and (b) a lifestyle that doesn't require me to be gone for 14-hour stretches at a time while (c) at least a 25-minute drive from my house which (d) doesn't have a lawn or yard worth speaking of and also (e) I travel a lot – it's nowhere near fair to any dog in the known universe for me to even think about adopting. The odds: they are against me. However, cats don't need as much attention, and I still have room in my life and love in my heart for as many animals as I can cram in there.
I finally convinced Jeff to at least consider getting another kitten. The problem: Jeff's mildly allergic, and sporadically, too. He's lived with Rydia for over two years now without any problems, but when we go visit our parents, he gets sniffly and stuffed up after a night or two. He isn't as bad as my brother's fiancée, who puffs up and explodes when in the vicinity of a cat, but he's still allergic, and from someone whose sinuses are allergic to pretty much all of nature, I can understand how irritating it is. So the first stipulation he asked for was that we'd have to find a cat or kitten like Rydia, one that wouldn't make him stuffy and sneezy. (No, he isn't willing to take allergy meds for the next 15-20 years of his life, and honestly, I can't blame him.) Yes, I am willing to clean, but cleaning can only do so much.
We discussed how in the world we'd be able to tell (I suggested the "Sniff Test," where he basically shoved his face into a kitten and breathed, which is really the best bet – and I think he thought I just wanted to see him rubbing kittens on his face), and in the end decided that we would only take a kitten if we had the opportunity to do a "trial run" with it – i.e. we could send it back and give it another chance at a good home if he ended up being intolerantly allergic to it. As most shelters I've heard of will do that, especially if you already have a pet and are facing the chance they won't get along.
Jeff and I have the opportunity to give some homeless kittens a home. Jeff's sister's boyfriend's sister and husband (seven steps to Kevin Bacon?) took in a stray who had kittens. There are four of them; two are spoken for, and two young boy kittens remain. We went to see them yesterday, thinking we'd just get one – but of course, now, I am thinking of getting both. Sorry, but I fall in love, hard.
I've read a lot of literature on adopting kittens, and the common advice is that getting two kittens together can actually be easier, especially if you already have an older cat in the household; they play with each other, rather than wearing out the older cat (and the humans!), which makes the transition easier on everyone. I have no problem getting them both; I'd love to have them.
The problem is, of course, that kittens grow up to be cats. So the first of my questions to multi-cat owners are about that: how messy are three cats? How much work are three cats? Comparing three to two vs two to one? Seriously, how much mess and hair am I facing? Am I going to be vacuuming all the time, because really, I am willing to do some cleaning but I don't have tons of time in my schedule for, like, a twice-a-day dusting. This is also of course related to Jeff's allergies: am I ruining it before I even begin by bringing in two new cats to make him doubly sneezy and me doubly overworked with cleaning? Would one be a better bet?
Second set of questions: I do know a fair bit about integrating cats, and New Cat vs Old Cat (I volunteered at a shelter when I lived in DE where we had to go through some training), but obviously if anyone has advice about adopting kittens (single or a pair) with an older established cat, I'm all ears, especially if it involves really cute stories. Are they really less work in pairs? Would it really be easier on Rydia? Should I go back to considering only one?
My third set of questions is rhetorical, because it involves what happens if this doesn't work out. I'm not convinced that it's even fair for me to take these kitties on a trial run, if there's a chance we'll have to give them back. But other than a trial run, I don't know how to find a cat Jeff isn't allergic to – I want to adopt, not buy (I know you can buy hypoallergenic breeds, but that defeats the purpose of adopting). If I take them and it doesn't work out, I'm willing to try to find good homes for them, but it still worries me – I'd hate to have to send them to a shelter; it would break my heart.
I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing for these cats – I know I'm giving them a chance at a good home, which seems right; but I can't guarantee it, which is where I start to feel bad.
Aughhhhhhhh I think too hard. I should just get the kittens, right? RIGHT???
jennyclarinet a gigantic hug over the loss of her darling cat of almost 20 years. I am so sorry and I can't even write this post without thinking of you and Mushy.This is a post for cat owners, especially those who own multiple cats.
I've always wanted more cats. To tell the truth, I want a dog too (we are both dog lovers) but until I (a) get a job that doesn't work 10-hour days and (b) a lifestyle that doesn't require me to be gone for 14-hour stretches at a time while (c) at least a 25-minute drive from my house which (d) doesn't have a lawn or yard worth speaking of and also (e) I travel a lot – it's nowhere near fair to any dog in the known universe for me to even think about adopting. The odds: they are against me. However, cats don't need as much attention, and I still have room in my life and love in my heart for as many animals as I can cram in there.
I finally convinced Jeff to at least consider getting another kitten. The problem: Jeff's mildly allergic, and sporadically, too. He's lived with Rydia for over two years now without any problems, but when we go visit our parents, he gets sniffly and stuffed up after a night or two. He isn't as bad as my brother's fiancée, who puffs up and explodes when in the vicinity of a cat, but he's still allergic, and from someone whose sinuses are allergic to pretty much all of nature, I can understand how irritating it is. So the first stipulation he asked for was that we'd have to find a cat or kitten like Rydia, one that wouldn't make him stuffy and sneezy. (No, he isn't willing to take allergy meds for the next 15-20 years of his life, and honestly, I can't blame him.) Yes, I am willing to clean, but cleaning can only do so much.
We discussed how in the world we'd be able to tell (I suggested the "Sniff Test," where he basically shoved his face into a kitten and breathed, which is really the best bet – and I think he thought I just wanted to see him rubbing kittens on his face), and in the end decided that we would only take a kitten if we had the opportunity to do a "trial run" with it – i.e. we could send it back and give it another chance at a good home if he ended up being intolerantly allergic to it. As most shelters I've heard of will do that, especially if you already have a pet and are facing the chance they won't get along.
Jeff and I have the opportunity to give some homeless kittens a home. Jeff's sister's boyfriend's sister and husband (seven steps to Kevin Bacon?) took in a stray who had kittens. There are four of them; two are spoken for, and two young boy kittens remain. We went to see them yesterday, thinking we'd just get one – but of course, now, I am thinking of getting both. Sorry, but I fall in love, hard.
I've read a lot of literature on adopting kittens, and the common advice is that getting two kittens together can actually be easier, especially if you already have an older cat in the household; they play with each other, rather than wearing out the older cat (and the humans!), which makes the transition easier on everyone. I have no problem getting them both; I'd love to have them.
The problem is, of course, that kittens grow up to be cats. So the first of my questions to multi-cat owners are about that: how messy are three cats? How much work are three cats? Comparing three to two vs two to one? Seriously, how much mess and hair am I facing? Am I going to be vacuuming all the time, because really, I am willing to do some cleaning but I don't have tons of time in my schedule for, like, a twice-a-day dusting. This is also of course related to Jeff's allergies: am I ruining it before I even begin by bringing in two new cats to make him doubly sneezy and me doubly overworked with cleaning? Would one be a better bet?
Second set of questions: I do know a fair bit about integrating cats, and New Cat vs Old Cat (I volunteered at a shelter when I lived in DE where we had to go through some training), but obviously if anyone has advice about adopting kittens (single or a pair) with an older established cat, I'm all ears, especially if it involves really cute stories. Are they really less work in pairs? Would it really be easier on Rydia? Should I go back to considering only one?
My third set of questions is rhetorical, because it involves what happens if this doesn't work out. I'm not convinced that it's even fair for me to take these kitties on a trial run, if there's a chance we'll have to give them back. But other than a trial run, I don't know how to find a cat Jeff isn't allergic to – I want to adopt, not buy (I know you can buy hypoallergenic breeds, but that defeats the purpose of adopting). If I take them and it doesn't work out, I'm willing to try to find good homes for them, but it still worries me – I'd hate to have to send them to a shelter; it would break my heart.
I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing for these cats – I know I'm giving them a chance at a good home, which seems right; but I can't guarantee it, which is where I start to feel bad.
Aughhhhhhhh I think too hard. I should just get the kittens, right? RIGHT???
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-08 11:08 pm (UTC)You'll also have to consider feeding; Rydia might respond to multiple servings of cat food as a bonus treat for her and scarf them all up, leaving the kittens nothing. On the other hand, she might share. Put food in different dishes just to be on the safe side for a while (mine eat off the same plate, but they pretty much grew up with each other, so they know to share. Sort of. Simba's kind of a pig.)
There are a lot of cat-scent removal sprays that you can buy to mist your furniture with, so at least Jeff won't be dying every time he sits on the couch or something. There's also Cat Attract litter, which I HIGHLY recommend, as for some reason, Simba required litter box retraining after there was bathroom construction in the basement, and he's fourteen. That litter works, and there's also a Kitten Attract, I believe.
Rydia's probably going to get defensive and jealous of the kittens at first, so gradually introduce them to one another (bring one kitten over at a time; you'll also definitely have to keep them separated for a while, so the kittens can acclimate). If more than one cat is in the room, someone should be in there at all times to watch them while they're getting to know each other-- the separation thing is probably going to be necessary when you guys are at work. Putting the new cats in the bathroom or something while you're away will do for a while.
It's totally worth the work for multiple cats, because then you know that once they get along with each other, they're never left by themselves. Just my, like, fifty cents, haha. I've done both the single cat thing and the multi-cat thing, so if you have questions, fire away.
JUST GET THE KITTENS OMG AND POST PICTURES.