How to take care of cat? ERE style~ (Also: is owning pets "ethical"?)

[TopHatFox]

As I've mentioned before, I don't like owning pets. But...my roommate has this adorable matte brown and black spotted kitty that keeps sneaking in my room and purring when I pet it, so...now I want to know how to take proper care of the kitty. It's curled up on my lap atm.

Anyway, I don't know much about them besides the standard way of care: litter box with the really strong smelling mix, handfuls of "food" shapes, water bowl, maybe a walk here and there, and the occasional petting. This is probably not a very good way to care for a cat; I've seen many obese cats, dogs, and other pets now that I think about it...

Maybe this is better: Non-toxic litter box, whole, balanced, and proportioned nutrition (veggies, chicken, tuna, etc.), large water bowl, free cat (or at least moderate-intensity walks), lots of petting (purrr), check-up at the vet, and other cat interaction. Maybe kitty/pet insurance? $$

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What are your thoughts and experiences on how to best care for a cat in a frugal and healthy way? ( I imagine dog is similar)

Oo, even more fun: should humans even own and care for other animals as pets? Is a pampered being in a nice cage free? Does it matter if they're sentient or not? An animal ethics class would be really interesting to me : )

[daylen]

Grain-free food, and create simple puzzles that make them work for snacks. For example, put some snacks in a container that needs to be rolled or rattled for the snacks to fall out.

[vexed87]

Vaccinate, spay/castrate them, and clean up after them too keep them healthy and away fromt the vet with sicknesses. I imagine cats groom themselves, unlike dogs. Worm them regularly too. If they have toys and they are stimulated they are less likely to destroy your stuff which is important if keeping your expenses down!

[Scott 2]

Pet insurance, especially for a cat, is a waste of money. When your start to get over a few thousand dollars for medical procedures, typically it is to lengthen their life at the expense of quality, for the human's benefit. If you're buying insurance for expenses in that range, you're probably over insuring.

Quality food is worth the money, to prevent medical problems, but cooking for the cat is generally not a great idea. Their nutritional requirements are hard to meet, and if you don't, they will die.

If they go more than a couple days without food, their liver starts breaking down.

The biggest financial conflict comes from medical care. You can get a fixed cat for a hundred bucks. So how much do you spend to keep them going? In my case, the answer is whatever it takes, in the best interest of the pet. Certainly not the cheapest.

I budget about $1000 total per cat per year. The healthy years are significantly cheaper. We get pro plan dry food and tidy cat scoopable litter. Chewy.com is awesome for this. Cheaper than the pet store, no hauling.

I've got mixed feelings on the ethicality of caging the cats in my house. Practically speaking, in my area, their other alternative is death, so I'll continue to enjoy having them.

Oh - declawing a cat is basically cutting off all their fingers. Pretty barbaric, IMO. Nail trims, mental stimulation, and a spray bottle can help protect your stuff. To some extent, however, pet ownership precludes having nice things. They'll puke on the couch, leave fur behind, scratch stuff, etc. It's part of the deal.

[daylen]

Also get something for them to scratch on and sprinkle it with catnip. Otherwise they will tear up everything else.

@scott I have lived with cats all my life, and they have never puked on the couch. Did this happen to you?

[Scott 2]

Yeah, we had an older cat that was a puker. On the couch, in my shoe, down a duct. He found some great spots.

[Gilberto de Piento]

If you get a cat that needs temporary rehabilitation from an animal rescue place they will pay for everything. You will have to get it back to health or take it from semi tame (feral) to domesticated. The cat will be a little more trouble or a lot more trouble than a normal pet cat but it can be rewarding. Search for a local feral cat rescue organization and they will give you details. Not for everyone.

[Dragline]

Get a dog instead.

[JamesR]

It's probably ethical. I think that if aliens kept humans as pets or zoo animals, we'd be pretty okay with it.

[daylen]

@JamesR humans would make terrible pets! We would always be trying to escape!

[jacob]

@daylen - Really?! I'd say give humans a salary, good benefits, the occasional sportsball entertainment, and an optimistic outlook, and you can keep 99% of them in the cage/cave for decades/until the die. As long as you keep them fed and entertained, most of them won't bite ...

[Scott 2]

The point on fostering animals for a shelter (especially no-kill) is a great one. Often they will have older pets, or pets with medical conditions, that are essentially un-adoptable. Since it is against policy to kill it, they are eager to get it out of the cage, and at home with a care taker. They will pay the bills if you care for the animal. When you need to go on vacation, they'll even watch it for you. Downside is dealing with animals approaching end of life. These won't be as cute as young playful kittens, but they might still play, and could be affectionate.

The medical conditions require varying amounts of work. A cat with diabetes might need insulin every day. One with FIV might simply be required to stay indoors and away from non-FIV cats. There are a lot of people that drop a 5+ year old cat off though, simply because they get tired of it. People don't adopt adult cats very often, but a 5 year old could live for 10-15 more years.

They also may have animals that simply need cage rest. You take it home, let it hang out, maybe bring it to adoption days where they show animals. Getting food / litter for these cats might be a little harder. The shelter would still pay medical care.

I'm not sure where the line is between these being volunteer work vs. using the shelter for free pet ownership. I think some volunteers end up paying food/litter, but still using the shelter for medical. That's probably where I'd land.

[halfmoon]

I'd say give humans a salary, good benefits, the occasional sportsball entertainment, and an optimistic outlook, and you can keep 99% of them in the cage/cave for decades/until the die. As long as you keep them fed and entertained, most of them won't bite ...

Humans also probably won't kill all of the local small wildlife when you let them outside, then leave the half-chewed carcasses on your doorstep. Or maybe they will? I don't have reliable data on this.

[jennypenny]

Isn't there a thread somewhere with a post about cat urine hypnotizing humans or some such?? I'm pretty sure Ego posted it.

[halfmoon]

@jp:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3844&start=25

[cmonkey]

Whatever you do, don't get more than 1 cat and make sure you have an area that is designated "for the cat" (i.e. non-breakables, non-shredables). I wouldn't recommend 'whole house for kitty unsupervised'.

Also, don't assume that a cat is 100% hand off. One of our cats cannot be left alone for more than 1 day because she will make the 1 gallon waterer spill everywhere (she loves to make bubbles) and the other one requires special treatment of his food to avoid urine crystals. We also discovered he now needs bathing weekly due to 'cat acne' on his chin.

[daylen]

@jacob All you need is one percent to start an uprising. No matter how good they treat us, it will become normal, and the grass is always green'er on....

[Dragline]

@jacob All you need is one percent to start an uprising. No matter how good they treat us, it will become normal, and the grass is always green'er on....

That's why our overlords invented the Matrix. I am also reminded of a classic Twilight Zone episode: "To Serve Man". See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-8BO7aGFdY

Hoo-hoo-hah-hah-haah!