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Which kitten should we adopt?

tr0ubley — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 12:41:07 -0800

We are thinking of adding another cat to our household, and need help choosing the right one - shy or outgoing? We already have 2 wonderful cats, both about 1.5 year old neutered males, not littermates but best friends. They are playful, affectionate, generally outgoing, and are never mean. They get along well with each other and never fight. They spend most of the day grooming each other, napping together, and play-fighting. We have a big house and plenty of room for an additional cat.

Both of the new cats we are considering are females, age 4.5 months or 5.5 months. We visited both at a shelter. Kitten 1, the younger of the two, is very small. She is a little shy and skittish, but curled right up in my lap purring when I saw her at the shelter. She was in a room with 2 other kittens and didn’t really play with them, but didn’t actively avoid them either. She seems a little on the skinny side and the shelter worked said she was a picky eater. Kitten 1 seems like she would need a little extra TLC.

Kitten 2 is older and more filled out. She was very outgoing, similar to our cats, and really demanded our attention from the second we walked in by purring and asking to be held. She also initiated play with one of the other kittens. Though this kitten has been at the shelter for a while I doubt she’ll have any trouble finding a family to adopt her because she has such a wonderful personality.

I am torn as to which kitten to adopt. On one hand, I like the idea of adopting a kitten who may need a little extra love and care. I wonder if [after a slow introduction of course] our older cats may help Kitten 1 come out of her shell because they are so nurturing with each other. However, on the other hand I feel like Kitten 2 is a great match personality-wise for our current cats.

So my question is should we adopt Kitten 1, Kitten 2, or not risk rocking the boat and adopt neither? I'll update with pictures, I promise.

Need a cute killing machine.

digitalprimate — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:10:31 -0800

Help me find a new kitten. Difficulty: mice. I have always had cats, mostly strays or from shelters. I am looking to get two kittens (probably two sisters if I can manage it) in January. I am considering going to a breeder for Norwegian Forest Cats, but I am somewhat anti-breeder and pro-shelter. We have no pets now (we left our dear cat in good hands in New York when we left).

We live in the Netherlands now, and the important bit is: we just moved into our new house and already have mice problems. I need a mouser. Or two.

I'm looking for breed or kitten training suggestions to make All The Mice Die.

Little gray cat named Oscar

cartoonella — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:11:51 -0800

Cat problem in apartment - landlord won't take action We live in an older apartment complex with two buildings that face each other. A few nights ago we were surprised by a cute gray cat who looked just out of kittenhood, probably about a year old, who was leaning into the screen of our window and meowing loudly at us. We have a cat, so we couldn't take it in. I put some food and water outside our door for it.

For days this cat would be sitting in the causeway between the buildings, meowing loudly at whoever was around, and darting in and out of the building we live in when anybody opened the door. The whole building was wondering about it - everybody was like, WTF?

So I complained to my manager, who is pretty much addicted to inaction and minimizing anything that goes on in the building. Just figured I should try to get some info. At first he claimed to have no idea what was going on - a gray cat? Huh? He told me he'd "look into it."

The cat kept us up the next two nights, parked outside our door and yowling to get in. I fed it again - it didn't seem hungry, but it really wanted to dart into our apartment. I scooped it up and played with it on the steps - a very affectionate young cat who is obviously in distress at being separated from its owner. Emailed the do-nothing landlord again. He says he's found out that it belongs to our next-door neighbor, who's "been gone all summer." She's had a series of caretakers, but some have been less reliable than others apparently. And I'm wondering - who leaves a kitten alone for three months? Feeding it isn't going to be enough. Why not get a service where they'll play with it and spend some time? And why the f*ck are they continuing to let it out of the unit, and then leave it locked out?

I'm just furious at this point. The cat has become the responsibility of the whole building. I hear it whining all the time now. If caretaking a cat whose owner leaves and refuses to make proper arrangements for it is part of the rental contract, I didn't know about it - and I feel I deserve some sort of break on rent or acknowledgement of the pains we've taken over this poor creature. Hubby and I have been feeding it and we've played with it, and we also have to listen to it meowing for hours on end (we're never sure if it's outside or locked in, or where the heck it is.) The landlord ends his emails to me with, "Thanks for being a good neighbor." He TOTALLY doesn't get it. The cat is a major inconvenience. The meowing is keeping us up. Hubby has to get up at one in the morning, to be at work by 2 am. He can't sleep. It's really a quality of life thing now.

And I don't want anything bad to happen to the cat. It's friendly and trusting, and could easily be stolen. Heck, I've thought of taking it - at least it would have an owner again. I'm way unimpressed with how the cat's putative owner has dealt with this, and I'm thinking that the treatment it's received from its owner, combined with our landlord's massive apathy around this, might justify its being rescued or taken to a shelter or something.

Is this escalatable to the property management company? I don't want to offend our don't-worry-be-happy landlord, but he's really pissing me off. Any input appreciated!

Homeless kittens are the saddest kittens!

zoomorphic — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:13:45 -0800

We've just started fostering a kitten from a local shelter. It's not only our responsibility to socialize him, but to also try to get him adopted. Two-fold question: how do we best use our networks to spread the word without resorting to Craigslist? And since we're supposed to take pictures and videos, we need suggestions on how to make the kitten look extra cute and personable, and therefore more appealing to potential adopters who view his profile online. My boyfriend and I just started taking in kittens through a fostering network that alleviates overcrowded shelters. We socialize the kitten over the week and then other volunteers pick him up on the weekend and take him to an adoption fare for a few hours.

Right now we have Gus, a super-sweet 6 month-old kitten. People at the adoption fare pass over him each week because he acts skittish, but he's just freaked out by the dogs and the noise. The fostering network has his profile on Petfinder.com, and we're supposed to post pictures and videos of him over the week. Right now he's just doing kitten things (sleeping, yawning, purring, hiding under the bed), but I'm looking for tips on video-taping him to counteract his scaredy-cat image.

We've also been posting pictures of Gus to Facebook and sending mass emails, but I'm not going to open the door to Craigslist strangers and the like. I'd love to hear advice from other people who found themselves with temporary animals: how did you spread the word?

Thanks very much for any advice.

Purebred vs. Pound Purries?

Metroid Baby — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:04:20 -0800

Is there a compelling argument in favor of getting a purebred cat instead of adopting a shelter kitty? I've always been something of a crazy cat lady. I do not currently live with any pets and I have no immediate plans to get any, but I've been giving serious consideration to getting a cat within the next few years.

There are quite a few cat breeds I'm smitten with, and if I find a reputable breeder nearby specializing in one of those breeds, I'd absolutely consider getting a cat from there. However, I know I'd also be happy with a moggy from a shelter. I've owned and cared for both mixed breeds and purebreds, and my free-to-good-home tabby was just as awesome as my pedigreed grand-champion-lineage Turkish Van. And although there are some differences from breed to breed in size and personality, it's generally not as dramatic a difference as with dogs, e.g. a Great Dane vs. a Chihuahua, so apart from some basic considerations (minimal grooming, non-extreme personality), it's not necessary that I own a specific type of cat. I have no preference regarding gender of the cat I eventually get, either, or whether it's a kitten or an adult.

Given that I'd be happy with nearly any feline companion, I can think of countless reasons in favor of adopting a shelter cat over getting a purebred: it's cheaper, there are more shelters near me than CFA-registered catteries, I'll have more of a selection, I could save a kitty from euthanasia, breeding cats for certain features can have negative effects – the list goes on.

On the other hand, I can't think of much that tips the scale in favor of a purebred. I have no intention of breeding or showing cats - this would be a neutered indoor pet. Supporting a breeder who does what he loves, maybe? Promoting awareness of the cat fancy and such-and-such rare and beautiful breed? That seems a little weak.

Aside from "but I really want an Abyssinian," are there any good reasons to get a purebred?

Or is adopting from a shelter the obvious choice that it seems to be?

There are a couple compromises I've considered: adopting through a purebred rescue organization is an option, but they generally have few cats available; fewer still that aren't Persians (one of the few breeds I don't care for). I've thought of getting both a purebred and a shelter cat, but I'd rather have only one cat. And I know that there are breeders out there who rehome their older cats, but I'm not sure what that entails or if it's a good idea.

Any input is appreciated, though I'm currently not looking for advice choosing a breed, and I've already got plenty of reasons to favor adopting from a shelter so I'm not so much looking for that. Thanks!

Should we adopt two adult littermates or two kittens?

Braeog — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:53:38 -0800

We are adopting two cats, but can't decide whether to adopt a pair of kittens or a pair of adult littermates. Could you help us weigh which pair will be helped more if we adopt them? We have decided to adopt two cats. As we are impartial to cats or kittens, we want to make the adoption choice that will most help the cats we adopt--the most ethical choice. We are looking at two pairs from two different rescue groups: one pair are five-and-a-half year old sisters who have been together all their lives and were dumped by their owners. The other pair are two kittens between the ages of two and three months from the SPCA--and one of the kittens has only one eye (the other was surgically removed for medical reasons of some sort). All four cats are sweet, adorable, and playful. The adults have lived in a home and are well-treated in the shelter, so we're not worried about them being neurotic. The kittens are kittens and haven't had enough time to develop any bad habits. We want to adopt the pair that seems to most need it, but we aren't sure which ones. All of the cats have had their vaccinations and have been spayed/neutered. So please--could you go through this list and offer your input?

Adult Cats
- Adult cats are harder to adopt and the shelter has stipulated the sisters MUST be adopted together, which will make it even less likely others will adopt them. They've been up for adoption since March.
- The shelter, however, is no-kill, so they are ensured a safe place to stay until they are adopted. The shelter also has foster homes where potential adoptees can stay until their adoption
- Each cat will be $85 each

Kittens
- Kittens are easily adopted. However, one of the kittens has only one eye. This may make it more difficult.
- Despite the best efforts of the volunteers, the nursery of this particular SPCA has been ravaged by colds recently. It's possible the longer the kittens are in there the more likely they are to die of disease.
- SPCA is NOT no-kill, so if these kittens aren't adopted for whatever reason they'll be put down.
- We can get both kittens for $75 total since the SPCA is having a "cat sale" because they're getting so many in this year
- The kittens will have identification tattoos and possibly microchips included in the fee, which is not the case for the adult cats.

Of course, the ideal situation would be adopting two adult cats from the SPCA, but we're worried they could not get along or may have individual personality issues. The cats at the no kill shelter are allowed out of their cages to run around the tiny shelter room (it's in a Pet Smart), interact with other cats, and are placed two to a cage if they get along with the other cat and the cage is a big one. So we know that the two adult sisters get along from watching them, where it's hard to tell at the SPCA, since they're not allowed to interact much, in a cage or otherwise.

Anyway, the point is, we're choosing between two adults that are less likely to be adopted but are in a slightly better shelter situation, and two kittens that may be more likely to adopted (not sure about the one-eyed one), but are in a more dangerous shelter situation. Money is an issue, but not a big enough one to dictate our decision. Who should we pick?