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    21 Things to Consider Before You Get a Cat
    21 Things to Consider Before You Get a Cat
    21 Things to Consider Before You Get a Cat
    Ebook59 pages36 minutes

    21 Things to Consider Before You Get a Cat

    By Tom Howard

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    About this ebook

    Are you considering getting a cat as the new family pet?  If so, there are quite a few things to consider first; 21 to be exact!  In this book, Tom Howard will help you consider whether or not a cat is right for you.  He covers such issues as vaccinations, declawing, nutrition, spaying/neutering, cats with kids, litter boxes, play time and much more!  He discusses everything you need to know to become a responsible and loving cat owner.  So before you take on the responsibilities of cat ownership, let Tom give you 21 important things to consider!  You'll be so glad you did!!

    LanguageEnglish
    Publisher21 Book Series
    Release dateNov 26, 2013
    ISBN9781497752108
    21 Things to Consider Before You Get a Cat

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      Book preview

      21 Things to Consider Before You Get a Cat - Tom Howard

      Introduction

      Kittens, like puppies, are almost irresistibly cute.  They are cuddly and defenseless and unlike puppies, they purr!  They are goofy, fun, and adorable.  They will provide you with many hours of enjoyment; however, they aren't kittens for long.  By their third or fourth month, they will look more like small cats instead of kittens and their development into adult cats will be well on its way.

      Raising a cat involves rather obvious responsibilities in terms of maintaining their health and happiness. You'll be changing litter, making sure they have fresh water, and much like raising a child, taking them to the doctor from time to time for shots, the occasional illness, and perhaps even an emergency or two.  All of this can get very expensive.

      Your responsibilities don't end there.  Cats get bored.  They need interaction and excitement on a daily basis.  Some of the excitement they will provide on their own.  Cats are more inventive than dogs when it comes to finding things to play with (and not necessarily always with things you'd want them to play with).  You'll need to make your house cat proof just like a parent has to make their home childproof.  This is difficult because as the saying goes, Curiosity killed the cat.  At the same time, this curiosity can be fun.

      I always tell people that Having a cat is the next best thing to having a monkey.  It's true.  In this regard, they are different from, and better than, dogs. Today, keeping a dog or cat can be about as costly as raising a child. All that said, your cat will certainly be a major source of enrichment to your life.

      This book is a very personal one for me.  No, I'm not a veterinarian; I'm a researcher. This book is a mix of research and my own personal experience, along with that of other cat owners.  I don't climb way out on any limbs here.  I'm neither a nutty purist on one side, nor someone who buys into every cockamamie theory on the other.  I'm practical and you can trust all the advice I give you here to be practical as well.

      I present the information you need to know in the order I think you need to know it.  Of course, I think you should read it all before getting your cat.  You may discover you really want a dog, a parakeet, or a tank of tropical fish.  However, I do hope you get a cat.  Even better, I hope you rescue one!

      1 – Do Not Declaw

      I make this the very first chapter because declawing is something new cat owners might do even before they take their cat home. They do it to spare their furnishings, but it's something that should never be done to any cat. It is mutilation pure and simple.

      Some people delude themselves that declawing is just like clipping fingernails. No, in fact it's even worse than removing fingernails, which makes my flesh creep to even think about. It's more like chopping the first knuckle of all of your fingers in half, though on a cat, they are toes, not fingers. Unlike humans and dogs that walk on the flats of their feet, cats walk on their toes like a horse. Would you de-hoof a horse? It's really cruel.

      Declawing doesn't just cripple your cat and make it harder to escape from predators if he's being chased, it also can have profound behavioral and psychological effects. About a third of declawed cats suffer behavior problems. They are more likely to bite you and your family, to have litter box avoidance issues, and suffer a number of other problems. It certainly doesn't make for a happier cat.

      If you want to preserve your furniture, and if that is more important than the welfare of the animal, perhaps you should think twice about keeping a cat as a pet. Get a dog, or even better, a bird or a fish tank, since some dogs are rough on furnishings

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