Need advice - adopting a cat

[Anonymous]

I am thinking about adopting a cat. DD loves cats that are affectionate to people. We have a four year old female Labrador who is a very good girl and calm and patient toward human but I have never had a cat in the house before, so I don’t know how the dog will get along with a cat. Do you have any advice? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

A lab should be okay with a kitten. Unfortunately it's hard to determine a kitten's temperament. Most are snuggly when little. Some grow out of it, some don't.
A rescue that works with fosters might be able to give you a better sense.

[Anonymous]

If the cat’s temperament is important, you may want to consider getting a young adult or adult cat. We adopted a pair of two-year-old cats from a cat shelter, and the shelter’s descriptions of their personalities were 100% spot on. They’re super playful, social, and affectionate, and their personalities seem largely set at this point.

[Anonymous]

Reach out to the SPCA of Northern Virginia. We told them the type of personality we were looking for (social, interactive, not scared by visitors or a busy house) and they carefully matched us with two older kittens who were being fostered in a household with three active kids and a dog. These cats walked into our house and didn't miss a beat -- they greet people at the door like a pair of golden retrievers.

If you communicate with a good rescue organization (especially if the cat(s) is being fostered and you can chat with that person), you can make a great match. Enjoy! Cats are the best!

[Anonymous]

I think it's always better to get kittens or young cats in pairs. They are much happier, and it forestalls a lot of behavior problems.

If you are looking to adopt an adult, you should be able to find one who has lived or been fostered with a dog before.

[Anonymous]

Get a kitten if you want to play with it. Get an old cat if you want a lap cat. Spay or neuter as soon as possible. Train it well. And play with it for an hour before you take it home. Don’t just pick the cute one they all have different personalities.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your input. We’ll try to get a young adult cat that can get along with our dog. Were browsing online, frankly all cats are cute so we’ll focus on personality and health.

[Anonymous]

Don't if you like to sleep. Cats are nocturnal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for your input. We’ll try to get a young adult cat that can get along with our dog. Were browsing online, frankly all cats are cute so we’ll focus on personality and health.

The younger they are the easier they are to train and easier it will be to acclimate to your house, children, and other pets. I wouldn’t go over 4-6 months personally, but 6-12 weeks would be best imo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for your input. We’ll try to get a young adult cat that can get along with our dog. Were browsing online, frankly all cats are cute so we’ll focus on personality and health.

Agree that all cats are cute
Crazy Cat Lady here and I would agree to look for a young adult cat, preferably one that was spayed or neutered early. Once a tom learns to lift his leg, he is more likely to spray. You will know if a boy cat squats like a female to pee, he was likely neutered early. Cats are litter trained by their momma cat and the kitten will replicate her moves until he grow up and his hormones start telling him to mark his space. In my experience, boys are a little cuddlier, but it really depends very much on the cat. While I think cats are amazing, I would not own any other species of pet, they are not dogs. Cats are more inclined to coexist in parallel with you and see you as a big, largely incompetent, cat. Mine have never bothered me at night, and some breeds tend to be very, very quiet and others more vocal. Any of the Siamese or their hybrids will be noisy and will often sing the song of their people.

Make sure you have a cat tree in front of a window. Bonus points if you put a bird feeder outside of the window. The cat will need/want a space of their own that is not shared with the dog. The dog will likely be far more interested in the cat that the cat is in the dog. The cat will recoil in horror for the first few weeks. Do a gradual introduction. Limit the cat to a smallish room with food, water (running fountain type is best - you can get USB powered ones that you can put anywhere or electric ones), and a litterbox. Not a bedroom or the cat will just sit under the bed for days. Preferably the room where you plan to keep the litterbox. I use the laundry room for cat acclimation. Visit and offer to play frequently. The cat will likely ignore you for a couple of days, these days to get them to eat and use the litterbox. Once they start to get a little more used to you and feel safe enough to allow you to pet it, they are using their box, eating their food, then you can expand their world a bit at a time. The dog intro comes after the cat has learned to use the facilities and trust you. It should be frequent for short periods and supervised. Your dog sounds gentle, but he will be super curious, and the cat will not be pleased for the first several encounters. Facilitate mutual sniffing if you can. There's lot of info online from people smarter than me. My daughter's 2 cats lived with her roommate's dog for 2 years. 1 cat liked the dog and would pal around with it. The dog was very interested in the other cat who just ignored the dog. The cat may swat the dog a time or two - this is normal and will allow the two of them to establish their boundaries, it will be fine.

Letting them have run of the house too early will overwhelm the cat and lead to poor acclimation and socialization. Invest a couple of weeks of slow acclimation and the cat will do great. I have said it on here before, but if you want a food recommendation, I use Smalls which is shipped directly to my house. It is high quality, and my cats do really well on it. For litter I like Dr. Elsey's brand. Either Kitten Attract or Cat Attract. The Kitten Attract is very fine so it's easy on the paws. My cats prefer the kitten attract as my boy is very sensitive about what touches his little toe beans!

[Anonymous]

Lost dog and cat rescue foundation offers a two week trial period so you can see if the cat gets along with your dog. Additionally, some of the cats are in foster homes with dogs, so you’d have some knowledge already.

[Anonymous]

We adopted a cat today! It’s a super friendly and confident Maine Coon mix. I’m going to take him to see my vet for a first visit as required by the contract. But he carries a certificate says he’s healthy, was tested negative for several tests, and has all shots including rabies up to date. Why do I need to take him to see a vet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We adopted a cat today! It’s a super friendly and confident Maine Coon mix. I’m going to take him to see my vet for a first visit as required by the contract. But he carries a certificate says he’s healthy, was tested negative for several tests, and has all shots including rabies up to date. Why do I need to take him to see a vet?

Congratulations! I assume he is already neutered? The idea of going to see a vet is to have a meet and greet and establish a timetable for future visits- probably just annual shots.

[Anonymous]

You want the cat to be an established patient somewhere. That way if you have an emergency later, he is already in their system. Plus his shot records will be transferred, so you'll get a reminder when he's due for his vaccines.

[Anonymous]

Agree with all the posters suggesting young adult. We adopted a young cat that tolerated/tolerates two dogs, two young boys (now young adults), and a busy household. When I went to visit her at the foster's after the rescue suggested her - she was hanging out while the foster's daughter did cartwheels, and never moved or seemed bothered. Kittens are terribly adorable but it can be risky to determine temperment.