Jake Sully
#0

There is a surprising amount to consider, but none of it is difficult or prohibitive.

You've already made the first consideration that many people seem to overlook: it's a long term commitment, perhaps (hopefully!) twenty years or more.

The next question is: Moggie or pedigree?

IMHO, nothing wrong with either. I'm not sure about the genetics of ginger tabbies...they have a reputation for being male (the good old 'ginger tom'), but someone who knows the genetics can answer that.

If you are thinking about a moggie, you may have to look around quite a bit to get exactly what you want.

Even if you go for a moggie, I would suggest you go for a decent breeder, or good rescue centre. If you are offered a cat of less than 8 weeks of age, beware. The kitten will not be ready to leave its mother so young, and this can cause problems in later life.

Ideally, look for a kitten that has been brought up in a family environment. The better the kitten is socialised in its early weeks, the more joy you will have throughout its lifetime.

Consider indoor vs outdoor.

Many people think that keeping cats indoor only is cruel. But there is a counter argument that letting them roam free is cruel. The average lifetime of cats allowed to roam free is a little over two years! For indoor cats, it's somewhere around 15 years...

Consider vets fees. The kitten should come to you having had at least one round of vaccinations, two rounds if pedigree. The first are usually given at seven weeks, the second at twelve weeks. If you get the kitten at 8 or 9 weeks, you will have to do the second round of injections. Ideally, you should then have boosters yearly or as directed by your vet. Either way, an annual check-up is a good idea.

You should also have your vet give your new kitten a once-over a few days after you get it. Then, as time goes by, there is the risk of disease and injury. Pet insurance is well worth considering.

Next, question is: one or two?

If your cat will be indoors all day with nobody around, it's generally considered better to get two, rather than one. Litter mates are ideal! If you want just one, and it will be alone for more than a couple of hours a day, the bit about toys later on is even more important.

Cat flap. Do you want one? If so, then consider a collar or microchip operated one. These stop other cats coming into your house, which can be a very stressful experience for your cat, leading to undesirable behaviour (typically inappropriate toileting, or uncharacteristic aggression).

Food and litter. Ask whoever you get your kitten from what food and litter is being used. Keeping things the same at first makes the upheaval of moving your cat that little bit less stressful, and avoids little accidents and upset tummies.

You should have 1 litter tray per "social group", plus one extra. A social group is a set of cats who consider themselves 'friends and family'. If you have one cat, you have one social group. If you have two cats, you have one or two social groups. If they groom each other, sleep together and generally get on well, you probably have one social group. So that means two trays, in different places.

Always have water available.

Keep the litter tray(s) away from food. Cats are fastidious, and don't like to eat where they poop! They also don't really like to have their water right next to their food. If you can have it in different place, that's better.

Play with your kitten every day (most people who want a kitten don't need to be told to do that!). Play with toys, not your hands. Don't condition your cat to believe your hands and feet are targets! Buy plenty of toys, they are only cheap, and circulate which ones you use. Keeps it interesting for kitty.

High places and hidey-holes.

Hidey holes are good...except for gaps round the washing machine, fridge etc. Have a look around your home, especially the kitchen, and make sure there's nowhere that tiny paws can get themselves into tricky situations. Also consider the wires around your home. Tiny teeth are very sharp. you can get cable guard to avoid kitty getting a nasty shock!

Cats, however, do like dark corners, and they like high places. You can provide safe dark corners by having 'igloo' type beds, or even cardboard boxes (which they seem to love). See if you can provide a few high places for kitty to sit and survey his kingdom. A couple of gaps on bookshelves, for example. "Cat trees" are great for this, and cheap on ebay.

Holidays.

What are you going to do when you go on holiday? Worth thinking about now: do you have someone you can depend on to come in and feed? Would you rather employ a professional pet-sitter, or use a cattery? Consider the possible costs now, rather than be taken by surprise later.

Do you have other pets? If so, the new kitten will have to be introduced in a controlled and gradual manner (details available in other threads or in a good book) in order to have the best chance of a friendly relationship. Same with children, actually! Your new kitten will want to sleep as much as 18 hours a day, so children should be encouraged to play at play time, and leave kitty alone when she's sleeping.

Wow.

Didn't expect to go on so much! That's a lot of information, and if you bothered to read all my waffle, then I guess you are REALLY serious about it :D

I'm sure you'll agree, though, that like I said at the start, whilst there's a lot to consider, nothing is really difficult to do.

The final, and most important things to consider are: Can you stand the excitement, and what will you call her :D

EDIT
+++
Oops. Forgot one important bit.

Coat length. Longhaired coats need regular, ideally daily grooming. Not many moggies have coats as long and as fine as a Persian, which simply MUST be groomed daily, but some longhair and semi-longhair moggies have coats that still require grooming at regular intervals. At least weekly.

Get your kitten used to grooming as soon as possible. Keep it gentle and light, though don't encourage playing with the grooming brush! Bribery is fine. A couple of scraps of ham can make the whole thing more pleasant for everyone!

Whilst I'm at it, a couple more bits. Get your kitten used to being placed on a towel and examined. You don't have to do it a lot, but every couple of weeks whilst she's young, and every couple of months after that, place her on a towel, and when she's settled, look into her mouth, inspect her paws, under her tail, feel her legs and look in her ears etc. This makes visits to the vets a lot more familiar to her. If you want, you can even give her teeth the odd clean. Or even get a weekly routine of tooth cleaning going if you like. I believe some people clean their cats teeth daily! I suspect the same people dress them up and call them 'princess' though :D

Also, if you have (and ideally you should) a cat carrier for vet visits, bring this out now and ten, and leave it around for kitty to explore for a day or two, then put it away again. Then, when the carrier appears, kitty is much less likely to do a vanishing act.

OK. That's a big enough edit!

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