So I Just Got a Cat...

NorthernStar

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Oct 24, 2011
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Colour-Scientist said:
anthony87 said:
Well it turns out that my cat had some sort of heart defect that none of us was aware of. This caused him to have a reaction to the anesthetic. Aside from the heart attack, the apparent defect never caused him any trouble in day to day life.
That's so sad.
Maybe I should reconsider...
It's your own choice but please keep in mind that when your cat (if he is male) reaches sexual maturity, he will start spraying a urine-like, foul smelling fluid around the house. This cannot be stopped, unless you neuter your cat.
Every procedure has its complications, but I was always under the impression that neutering your cat is a very standard procedure, especially with the males.

@Anthony87: I'm sorry to hear about that, dude :( Sad story.
 

Colour Scientist

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NorthernStar said:
It's your own choice but please keep in mind that when your cat (if he is male) reaches sexual maturity, he will start spraying a urine-like, foul smelling fluid around the house. This cannot be stopped, unless you neuter your cat.
Every procedure has its complications, but I was always under the impression that neutering your cat is a very standard procedure, especially with the males.
Yeah, I know all that. I'm just wary of the surgical risks involved.


Christ... when did I turn into a crazy cat person?
 

poleboy

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Colour-Scientist said:
anthony87 said:
Well it turns out that my cat had some sort of heart defect that none of us was aware of. This caused him to have a reaction to the anesthetic. Aside from the heart attack, the apparent defect never caused him any trouble in day to day life.
That's so sad.
Maybe I should reconsider...
Don't, it's very irresponsible. If you're taking a cat into your home, you are taking responsibility for that cat. If it's a female cat that has kittens, you might have to get rid of them if you don't want them/can't pay for them. If you don't neuter your male cat, you're being an asshole towards people who have female cats (which they really ought to have neutered).

Also your house will smell like cat piss most of the time.
 

anthony87

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Aug 13, 2009
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Colour-Scientist said:
anthony87 said:
Well it turns out that my cat had some sort of heart defect that none of us was aware of. This caused him to have a reaction to the anesthetic. Aside from the heart attack, the apparent defect never caused him any trouble in day to day life.
That's so sad.
Maybe I should reconsider...
Well I'm against nutering animals anyway. Only reason he was taken to the surgery against my will is because all the neighbours started complaining about all the kittens that were popping up. Apparently the majority of cats around where I live are female whereas mine was male...
 

Beliyal

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Jun 7, 2010
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In my experience, the hiding period was very short. My current cat hid for about few hours before loosening up and demanding to be put in my bed (he was around three months old too, but we got him from a breeder so he was already adjusted to people). All in all, the cat should loosen up quickly, but be patient with her. Be good to her and take small steps, especially if she's overly frightened.

Scratching the collar is normal; my cat still hates collars, after almost 9 nine years. If we put it on him, he refuses to move and then proceeds to scratch it and attempts to remove it from his neck (with various degrees of success). Sometimes he just accepts his fate, though.

About leaving her; well, yes, I'd say it's okay. Cats are solitary creatures and sleep most time of the day. While you're out, maybe she gets the courage to get out of hiding and explore her surroundings. We always left my previous and my current cat alone for at least 8 hours every day (school/work) and they were fine. We even leave my current cat alone for two days; we fill his bowls with enough food and water, clean and fill his litter and he's fine. Cats are perfectly fine with being alone; I'd say they may actually prefer it most of the time (of course, kittens always demand more attention for playing, but they too need a few hours a day of rest without us, puny humans, wondering around and making noise).

EDIT:
AndyFromMonday said:
Is there any way to get her to stop climbing on beds and such or is this just another little quirk I'll have to live with?
In my experience, no, but I know that some people manage to "train" their cats successfully. My cat is very stubborn and slightly naughty so he does it on purpose especially when we forbid it (and he knows what is forbidden for him to do, he just does it because he's a cat and thinks he can get away with it). However, it is possible to teach the cat that she can't do that. Of course, it'll take shitloads of your time and nerves.
 

renegade7

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Just leave the kitteh be for a couple weeks, she'll get used to you. It's an instinctual thing, if you make too much of an effort to be around it you'll send predatory signals and you'll scare the cat off. Just leave the litter box in a place where you can be certain it'll go, I find that near the food (not like right next to it but within maybe 20 feet) works at first, and once she learns what the box smells like you can move it somewhere else. And yes you can leave her alone for several hours a day, cats spend most of their time asleep.
 

Eekaida

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Like others have said, keep the litter box in one place (and expect litter to get EVERYWHERE, if its anything like my cat), but DON'T put its food/water bowl next to it, or it won't eat it. Kittens can actually be born with worms, so its important to have a worming treatment ASAP. They might not sell ones fro a cat that age in stores, but a vet is sure to have some, and they don't cost very much (my cats cost less than £3)
The shy faze won't last long - mine lasted about two weeks before it tarted demanding my constant attention - just make sure you don't have any gaps in the house it can get into, or it won't come out eg, space under the kitchen cuboards, airing cuboards etc.
 

poleboy

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AndyFromMonday said:
poleboy said:
Most stuff apart from pointless physical abuse just slides right off.
Is there any way to get her to stop climbing on beds and such or is this just another little quirk I'll have to live with?
Just shouting "NO" or "STOP" (or any word really) usually works, make sure the cat sees you and understands that you're talking to it. Some people use water pistols with great success. Most cats really hate to get wet, but it doesn't really hurt anything but their pride (and that's going to happen a lot anyway).
You can also combine this with stomping your feet or simply grabbing the cat and tossing if off wherever it's not supposed to be. A three month old kitten is more than capable of landing perfectly on its feet from a greather height than you're even able to throw it, using your full strength. Don't hurt the cat, obviously, but don't be overly gentle either. Don't carry it down in your hands and correct it without raising your voice. The cat doesn't get it, and it won't work.

Also, and I cannot stress this enough, make sure you react quickly. Once you spot the cat being somewhere or doing something it's not supposed to, do one more of these things at once, so the cat has a chance of understanding exactly what it's being scolded for. Otherwise you risk the cat associating punishment with things it's actually allowed, or even expected to do.

With that said, most cats love to climb and scratch things, as well as squeeze into tiny spaces (because of their skeletal structure, cats can fit their entire body through a hole that fits their head). If you have the room, get one of those cat-towers that has both some high platforms, a little hole they can hide in, and a scratching post. Those things cover most of the basic cat entertainment needs.
 

Kizi

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anthony87 said:
Then he had a heart attack while being nutered against my will.

Shame that was.
That sucks, man.

OT: My cat was a bit reluctant at first. I got her during winter and the day after we got her she went outside and got lost. We spent a few hours looking for her until we finally found her out in the cold. After that, it took a few weeks for her to adjust but now she's like a queen in the house.
Don't worry about it too much, she'll learn to love you.
 

imnot

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Apr 23, 2010
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PICS OR IT DIDNT HAPPEN!

I love cats, not very good at looking after them though, so no advice here!

Seriously I want pics!
 

AndyFromMonday

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imnotparanoid said:
PICS OR IT DIDNT HAPPEN!

I love cats, not very good at looking after them though, so no advice here!

Seriously I want pics!
Can't get her to stay still for more than a few seconds so I doubt I could take a decent picture. Anyways, she's white with very light black smudges on her coat. Her tail is also black up until near her back when it sort of blends into the white. She also has blue eyes.
 

standokan

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When we got or tiny cat it took about a week before she acted like she acts now. She didn't hide the whole week, she just gradually got more casual.
 

ShindoL Shill

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Jul 11, 2011
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basically, you just want to give her as much of a free reign in the house and stay away until she's comfortable (worked with my kitty).
and the collar will end up on the floor a few times before you say fuck it. they're amazing at that...
 

thiosk

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When I introduce a cat to the home, it stays in a small room (bathroom) for at LEAST 24 hours, essentially left to her own devices, with delicious wet food, ample water, and an accessible litter box. After a day or two, she's probably become more comfortable with that space, but will often be nervous of YOU. So avoid the tendency to scream KITTIE and reach for her, which will be construed as quite threatening by an animal that is instinctively terrified of predation by larger animals.

After a demonstrated ability to use the litter box, and a full day and several meals, I'll begin cracking the door to enable exploration. Keep the bedroom locked-- its hard to get a cat out from under a queen sized bed, especially if there is a tear in the box spring fabric. Mine would sleep inside the box spring.

Return her to the room for evenings.

After a week, she'll probably be confident enough to enable full scale exploration.

AndyFromMonday said:
Can't get her to stay still for more than a few seconds so I doubt I could take a decent picture. Anyways, she's white with very light black smudges on her coat. Her tail is also black up until near her back when it sort of blends into the white. She also has blue eyes.
wtf you stole my cat, put her in photoshop, and hit "invert"
 

StarsintheBlood

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If you want to move the litter box, keep and eye on the cat. Once they start sniffing around and acting like their looking for a spot, carry them to the litter box ASAP. Show them where it is and what it's for- that's how I taught my kitten. She imprinted on me, so she only took two days to get used to the house, and another day to learn to fetch (ask me how smart an idea that was, now that she won't stop pestering me with paper balls).
Kittens are impressionable and learn fast. You'll be fine.
 

Jodah

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Aug 2, 2008
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Every cat is different. The hiding phase can last a day or years. I have one cat that hides most of the day but doesn't run from me. She gets picked on by the other cats which is the main cause of her hiding. I have another cat that will hide under my bed if anyone comes over besides myself or my dad.

The collar just takes time and its normal. My new twins are allowed outside during the day so we put some tracking collars on them in case they are out late. It took them a week to get used to it, ended up on the floor a few times. Now they act weird when I take it off to change the batteries. Cats, in general, just don't like change.
 

chaos order

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AndyFromMonday said:
NorthernStar said:
I got her at an animal shelter. The thing with the litter box is that I put it in the hall way, near where she hid. I don't think I can keep it there for a few months.

Tesral said:
I could be gone anywhere from two to six hours.

Tesral said:
toxoplasmosis
It's a parasite that infects a lot of animals but seems to have a thing for cats. Usually outdoor and stray cats get it since they eat raw meat. The excrements of infected cats often contain the little buggers.
you got rats in your house? cause if you dont then there's no real threat from the toxoplasmosis fungus. you see the fungus infects the rats brain to make them less afraid of cats. the cats eats the "infested" rat and it becomes infected. the fungus needs to get into the cats intestines so it can reproduce and that can make the cat sick.

fun fact 50% of the human population has toxoplasmosi spores or fungi in their brains. :)
 

sky14kemea

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Give her a week or two to get used to the new environment. I recently got two kittens and they hid for the first few days as well.

As for moving the litter and food. You can do that once they've settled in, but remember to show them where you've moved it, so they know where to go. They might still poop somewhere else occasionally though. :l

Have fun with that!
 

EmperorSubcutaneous

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Dec 22, 2010
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I can't tell if the cat is scared of you or just the new place, but this should help to some extent regardless.

When you see the cat, don't make eye contact with it. Just be calm and chill and don't make any sudden movements. It's best to let it come to you rather than the other way around, but if you feel it's time to approach the cat, do so slowly and indirectly while continuing to avoid staring at it. The cat may also be more comfortable when you're sitting down rather than standing up, because it makes you look less intimidating.

If you want to touch it, let it smell you first (I prefer to extend my closed hand for it to sniff at). Then you can pet it, but only if it allows you to.

Cats and humans can communicate very well with body language if they learn how.
 

imnot

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Apr 23, 2010
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AndyFromMonday said:
imnotparanoid said:
PICS OR IT DIDNT HAPPEN!

I love cats, not very good at looking after them though, so no advice here!

Seriously I want pics!
Can't get her to stay still for more than a few seconds so I doubt I could take a decent picture. Anyways, she's white with very light black smudges on her coat. Her tail is also black up until near her back when it sort of blends into the white. She also has blue eyes.
I drew a picture of your cat on the popular application MS paint.
I ant you to frame it and treasure it always.