scrubbedexpat091

Never declaw, its inhumane and should be illegal, its basically legalized animal abuse, and vets with morals and ethics will not perform it.

Cat's are best kept inside, they are a threat to birds and you'd be surprised how many native birds are threatened by domestic cats, along with indoor cats living longer lives as they don't tend to become prey for wild life.

Insurance really isn't worth it, better to put the premiums into savings for a rainy day, and like all insurance they have slews of things they won't cover so you end up paying premiums + still paying for various things that won't be covered.

If you can save over time, you should always have enough for a vet bill.

If you get a kitten, expect to fork out 500-700 ish (depends on what vets charge in your area) depending on if its male of female, females cost more at the vet due to spaying costing more vs cutting male bits off.

After that routine annual exam and shot likely under 200 a year.

A quality food will cost you 20-25 for 5 pounds or so, but will last longer then cheap foods as the cat will eat less of it, and the higher quality the food, the less poop generated as well.

pdarwin

If your home is big enough, get two cats, especially if you're out at work all day. Also two cats are entertaining to watch and play with.

Buy good quality litterboxes, scoops, food bowls - so you won't be buying them again next year.

Ask your vet about food. Ask him to tell you about the things he sees with his patients who are fed on dry food only, because wet food is just too much trouble for the owners.

Please don't declaw your cats. Most vets won't do it. Perhaps they have a reason.

Cats kept indoors can live up to 20 years (ours do). Outdoor cats live about 3 years on average in the UK, so probably less in Canada.

Greenhill

Get a dog. Dogs are better than cats.

Also, with a dog, you wouldn't have to worry about insulating your flaps.

scrubbedexpat091

I would do research on food yourself and not listen too much to the vet, vets typically are very biased towards whatever they happen to sell in the office, and don't always have the best advice on food.

All you have to do is look at the labels on the food in vet offices, lots of fillers like corn, and stuff cats do no need, better then grocery store brands, but not as good as premium brands, middle ground.

A fountain for water instead of a bowl is also best, moving water gets the cats to drink more, sitting water cats tend to ignore, fountains are good for small dogs as well.

Like this (there are cheaper brands and models, this one is higher end one, but fountains can be found for as low as 25 dollars at pet stores.)

http://www.costco.ca/Drinkwell%C2%AE....10348733.html

dbd33

We used to take a cat to the Yard on a leash and tie it to the taps, people would throw it shrimps from their dinner. Later I had cats in Leslieville and the Beach and fed the neighbours' one; they were cradles so they'd go to the cottage for the summer and leave it. That might have been the root of my dislike for cradles; that and their inbreeding.

When I had cats in the city, and with the cats now, the window is open for them in the summer. In the winter they're shut in. Inbetween seasons the window is open in the day but closed at night; they have no trouble knowing to come in.

A good vet is the one on the north side of Queen just west of Vic Park, Beach something; it's a group practise but in years of taking dogs and cats there I never felt misled and they don't mutilate.

tee1

I have to disagree, vet cost's can be astronomical, a broken leg could easily cost you $3000 or more. Could you afford that if it happened tomorrow?
I had to take my pup to an emergency out of hours vet in Vancouver when I thought she had bloat, a check up and 1 x ray cost me over $500.
Whilst I was there some lady rushed a rabbit in who was choking on his kale. Her bill was over $1800 for the vet to sick a tube down the rabbit's throat.
Of course like any insurance read the fine print and online reviews. Some are not worth buying, others are.

To me it's cruel to keep a cat indoors, they are wild and free and should be out hunting and such. I find the indoor cat thing a very North American way of thinking in my experience, mostly from the shelters who often only allow cats to be adopted as indoor pets and compare them to Rabbits
Same with dogs I don't understand why North America as a whole is so uptight about dogs, god forbid you let your pup off leash pretty much anywhere. Screaming children I keep seeing in Walmart, now they should be leashed

scrubbedexpat091

Domesticated cats wild more wild then some pets, they are still domesticated and easy prey to predators, and also kill native birds and other small animals and are for all intents an invasive species.

There is zero benefit to a cat being outdoors but there are a slew of negatives, outdoor cats live shorter lives, more likely to be hurt or killed by cars, predators and so on.

It would be nice if city's treated cats like dogs and didn't permit them to have free run, required licenses and so on.

I don't have 3,000 either way with or without insurance, since the insurance is a reimbursement still need the money for the vet upfront.

Pizzawheel

2 cats isn't a bad idea.

I had 3 cats in London and all went well beyond 3 years, I think 10 years was the mean; one was run over and two got ill (one cat leukemia)

Would love a dog but wouldn't work with my hours- would be totally unfair on the dog. Plus having to come home first instead of going straight out to evening events would just add meaningless commute time and stress.

Sounds good. I can take the bug mesh off one of the side windows I'm sure & thanks for the vet tip.

Realistically if the big bills come in it's "sorry, the cat got run over last night" to the kids. Also costs for everything here are directly related to whether you're insured or not. Ten quid says announcing you don't have insurance and where can I buy a bin liner round here starts changing those numbers tout suite.

The downside as I see it is the Robin won't be a regular visitor anymore let alone the annual drop in by the blue jay.

I'm starting to regret having told the mini wheels that they can have a cat when things get sorted out...

BristolUK

Forget the danger of attack from other creatures, what about when it's 20 below or worse for 3 months (-10 for three) and the snow is a few feet deep 6 feet from your back door to all corners of your yard?

Pizzawheel

If the cats dumb enough to want to spend a night out in -20 all you can do is put a stick up it's arris so in the morning your cat popsicle is ready to go.

BristolUK

You have to take dogs for walks.

The only advantage of a dog over a cat is for picking up women/men

caretaker

Then there was the dyslexic Yorkshireman who wore a cat flap....

Novocastrian

Excellent.