House cats

Re: House cats

Victoria Nielsen RVN — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:27:22 GMT

I tried one of those with Lister, but she spent most of the time trying to sit in it!

Re: House cats

Victoria Nielsen RVN — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:26:00 GMT

Hi,

I have a cat whom I rescued when she was brought into my work as a kitten last August 2010 and she became a house cat, I live in a ground floor flat beside a busy road so through choice, I didn't want to let her out and although I've taken her outside on a harness, she prefers life indoors. She has a lot of toys and hiding places etc, and she is now a year and half old. Once I move into a house in a couple of years, she will have the opportunity to go outside but she is perfectly fine indoors, although she has gained weight, so she is on Hills Science Plan Indoor Cat which has reduced fat in etc, and her poo is not smelly at all. She has one tray in the bathroom and she goes to the toilet with us! She has catscan, which I clean out twice daily and full clean once a week. I did think about having another cat to keep her company but I'm wary as she is a Bengal Cross and she likes her own space, and it's her place. She spent weeks going out into the lobby rubbing herself everywhere after she saw a cat sitting outside, as if to say, this is my place and no one elses! The flat isn't big enough for two cats, but she seems very happy anyway and pretty much sleeps most of the day anyway! I wouldn't want to disrupt her life and upset her now having another cat that she has to share things with! That wouldn't go down very well with her I think!

Re: House cats

Sal the 1st — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:18:18 GMT

I bought mine a water fountain to encourage them to drink more- result is one wont go near it and the other would play in it all day if you let him. still developing my own solar/pec powered fountain which should be a lot quieter

Re: House cats

Vickipr — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:44:42 GMT

Hi, I have one male indoor cat. I would love to let him outside, but we also live next to an extremely busy road. I would love to get him a companion, but we live in quite a small flat, so I don't think there would be enough room for two to have their own areas. He has two litter trays with either catsan or sainsburys odour control litter, which works but he also likes to tread it around the flat. We did buy two of those little mats to go in front of the trays which are supposed to catch the litter on their feet as they come out. Didn't work! With regards to toys, he has lots, which we alternate so he doesn't get bored. I feed hima mix of wet and dry food, but the dry is fed exclusively from a food ball - we have the SlimCat brand - so he has to 'hunt' his food, he has a variety of food based toys (Zooplus.co.uk are good for these things) and he has 3 scratch posts around, including one of those gignatic ceiling high ones with resting places, also a couple of boxes to hide in. Oh and a water fountain to encourage drinking, what with him being male, neutered and indoors! I've just re-read this and realise I sound like a crazy cat lady...!

Re: House cats

Louise Dick — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:39:38 GMT

Would just like to point out that I did say in my original post that two cats were only a good idea if they KNEW eachother already! Sorry if this has been misunderstood, maybe I wasn't clear enough. Obviously introducing two adult stranger cats would be stressfull for them and you, so not recommended, but if there was an opportunity to house two siblings etc then I would certainly think about it, as I still feel that companionship can be rewarding for a house cat especially if you are out at work most of the day.

Louise

Re: House cats

rachel w — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:19:17 GMT

Ive got two house cats and bought a cat genie litter box last year the best thing i ever did i can be as lazy as i like push a button and it starts cleaning itself yes expensive for the inital pay out but only spent £60 in the last year for supplies, still have another litter tray for emergancies (cat genie in bathroom and if im in the shower they cant get in!) always used catsan gravel my cats dont like wood based litter, dont seem to smell tomuch and it is in a covered tray as my female likes to dig and flick a lot!!

Re: House cats

Fuzzyduck — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:18:27 GMT

With regards to your life expectancy of Felv cats question, it depends alot on cat to cat, there are 2 stages so the primary stage if their body can fend it off and prevent it spreading on to the secondary stage they can live longer but once they get the secondary stage they only live a matter of months usually but sometimes up to 2-3 years if its well managed.

FIV cats on the other hand can live years with it without problems and often it only cuts maybe a year or so off their lives so can often live normal lives well in to their teens. Obviously tho it is dependant on the cat.

If i were to pick a cat with one or the other though i would definately get an FIV cat rather than Felv, having dealt with both conditions many times FIV is much more managable with a much longer happier outcome in my experience.

Re: House cats

Rachael_24 — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:06:22 GMT

[quote user="Sal the 1st"]We use woodbase cat litter which mine seem to like but I do find it tends to tread a bit around the bungalow[/quote]

I know what you mean Sal! I seem to be constantly vacuuming but there's still litter everywhere!

I agree with what Steph and Sal have said with regards to introducing older cats - it very often doesn't work! I originally had two brothers bt sadly lost one 8 months ago. The remaining cat seemed very lonely which is why I decided to take on another. I purposely chose a young kitten hoping that this would minimise the risk of problems. All went very smoothly! The kitten adores him and he worships the ground she walks on.

Re: House cats

Sal the 1st — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:50:18 GMT

I have 2 cats - both initially were flat cats but since we moved one now goes out when he gets chance. We have 2 liiter trays in the bathroom 1 covered and one open and they do tend to have a wet and a dry tray (the covered one is the dry tray. We use woodbase cat litter which mine seem to like but I do find it tends to tread a bit around the bungalow (never let anybody convince you chocolate brown carpets are good if you have pets). We have 2 big scratchposts and a corner scratch post attached to a wall in the hallway. I do have food balls (great believer in these and the food mazes) etc and plenty of toys and I would reckon the pair of them are quite active.

In agreement with Steph introducing two cats that are strangers can be a night mare, some cats just like to be on their ownsome - although both of mine do now get on it was a good 6months before they stopped wanting to kill each other and even now they both have areas of the bungalow they can retreat to and will not share with each other.

Re: House cats

Steph Worsley — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:01:12 GMT

Hmmmm Sorry I have to butt in again with regards the cats need company idea, I think if they are a sibling pair or a pair that are used to livng together then thats fine but introducing 2 separate adult cats can be a nightmare as cats are in all essence still solitary animals (yes yes I know it's a bit hypocritical with me having 4 cats) I'm not saying it cannot work but I would not recommend trying it unless you have plenty of space to have separate resources (especially with them being house cats)

with my 4 they all get along 90% of the time there are a few times when my older female and my younger boy have spats but they tend to stay away from each other and they each have separate times when they get my contact which suits them. My older boy gets on and mutually grooms all of them and will often be seen curled up asleep in a pile of cats with the kittens.

When I was looking at getting the kittens I could not contemplate an older cat as I knew Nutmeg would be too stressed and it would not have been fair on anyone

Re: House cats

Rachael_24 — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:01:54 GMT

Hi,

I'm very sorry to hear about your dog! I have two house cats - 1 male, 1 female. I've had them both since kittens.

I also use one of those covered litter trays with a flap to access. I use a natural wood clumping litter that I get from pets at home (can't remember the name of it sorry). I find that there is minimal waste with a clumping litter but unlike others, the wood one seems to be very good at preventing odours.

Like Louise I believe that it is best to have more than one cat, especially if it is to be left alone for long periods of time. My cats have a 'toy box' which is basically a shallow storage box full to the brim with toys. They help themselves to their toys but I make sure that I take a couple out of the box before leaving for work. I tend to alternate the toys as they tend to get bored if you keep using the same ones.

Good luck with finding your next pet x x

Re: House cats

Phrin Vernon RVN — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:25:50 GMT

So sorry to hear about your pooch

I've just moved house, so my 2 are currently indoor kitties for a few weeks - mother and son, both neutered. I have 3 uncovered trays,and use the wood based litter, and so far so good with respect to smalls! I clean the trays out daily.

They seem to be doing ok at keeping themselves amused - they have catnip toys, and play with the dog, enjoy sitting on the windowsill etc. If they were going to be long term indoor cats I would probably get an activity tree, and maybe some kitty grass too.

They are MUCH more demanding in terms of fuss and attention than when they could go outdoors

Re: House cats

Louise Dick — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:08:18 GMT

Hello.

I have two house cats, both male, and they have two covered litter trays (igloo style) with flappy doors and a carbon filter in the top to absord any smells.

The rule as far as I understand it is one tray per cat then and extra tray per PAIR of cats (ie if you had 4 cats you would need 4 trays plus and extra 2, so 6 trays) - I know, it sounds a whole load of trays!

I use Catsan cat litter which is expensive but after trying nearly every litter on the market it is the only one that I feel controls the smell from male cat urine. (I have a mega sensitive sense of smell so for me it is the best). Also, I clean both trays out twice per day and once a week they get completely emptids and scrubbed and fresh litter put in from scratch. Don't use bleach or other strong cleaners to scrub the trays as it may put off the cat from using them, but you can use bicarbonate of soda to scrub them and neutralise any bad lingering smells.

For what it's worth I always feel that animals benefit from and deserve to have the comapanionship of their own species so if you can, I would get two cats so that they can keep eachother company especially if they are going to be indoor cats (obviously cats that are comfortable and know eachother already). It makes them less bored and they can play with eachother.

Louise

Re: House cats

Alison Daff — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:40:25 GMT

sorry about your dog :( i lost my beautiful cat Fudge in June so i know how you feel. She was a house cat through choice and i used the litter Steph suggested as it really didnt smell and i found that she liked to nibble grass so i had a little grass tray in the house. She was prone to getting fat because she wasnt really an active cat so i fed her on Royal Canin Neutered Young Female ( contains less calories and hairball control and no stinky poo). Ive gone the other way and got a little dog now instead of a cat!

Re: House cats

Steph Worsley — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:41:38 GMT

Hey, I have 4 house cats, 2 are 9 and 2 are 18months. and none of them have gone out (except when I lived in a house and the older ones came into the garden supervised!)

I have 5 trays, none of them are covered as I found they didn't ue them as they were getting ambushed when they were coming or going.

I use OkoPlus Cat's best it is quite pricey but I find it works really well, a 15kg bag will last me 4-6 weeks with the 4 cats, as apposed to a wood based one that the same size would last me 2 weeks max (and I hate lugging it up my stairs!!)

They ve 3 different scratching posts around the place and a huge toy box, they often go digging rond in the toy box and drag out new ones

I also have a couple of high places that I allow them access to, (on top of cabinets) as the kittens love sleeping up high.

Any questions just ask!

Re: House cats

FINNIGAN — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:19:17 GMT

My cat is now 5 she has always been a house cat as have a nasty road behind my house, she has an igloo type litter tray which has a little flap, i use the woodbased litter and is cleaned reg, so no smells, i also have 2 dogs, so she has company, many toys etc and she does seem very happy and contented,

Re: House cats

GremlinNurse — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:08:14 GMT

Sorry about you wee dog

Ideally you need one litter tray per cat plus an extra, as house cats have a restricted environment they do not want to be competing for resources(esp if you decide to get more tha one cat) Also I find my cats(indoor) like to pee in one tray and poo in another so this may be a consideration.

I've tried every cat litter going in a bid to find one they love(ie one they dig around for ages in and kick everywhere!!!) and am currently using Wilkos absorbable litter. They have covered trays and I clean them twice a day and no nasty smells. They get Hills Vet Essentials and their poos are small, firm and not at all smelly...bonus!

Any other questions about indoor cats, ask way

Re: House cats

NJ_VN — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:06:31 GMT

Aw, im sorry to hear about your dog In regard to the housecats, i dont, but i stay with a friend who has 3. She has a covered litter tray (one of those with a little cat flap to go in) so theres no smells or anything from it,and they have the run of the house complete with kitty obstacle courses,scratch posts,radiator beds etc to amuse themselves in while shes out. They seem quite happy with that!