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Getting a Cat In Your Lap

There are a number of important factors which should be considered before you bring a Cat Therapist into your family (or try to introduce one into another family!). As a prospective or experienced Cat Parent, you want to be able to facilitate a relationship with your cat that is mutually satisfying for both you, your families’ and the cats' health and wellbeing. This topic discusses factors to consider when bringing a Cat Therapist into your life so you can try to facilitate an optimal outcome.

 

Family, Lifestyle & Environment

  • Family Members

What is the composition of your family? Do you have children (young or old)? Younger children without appropriate supervision can become injured / cause injury to a cat when interacting with them.

 

What if any, other animals are in or around the home? How will they interact with a new cat? (e.g. the more cats you have in one home increases the likelihood of territorial behaviour like fighting and urine spraying). Patience and tolerance will be required to integrate your family, especially if there is some initial conflict between family members!

 

  • Family Commitment & Responsibility

Is everyone in the family committed to parenting a cat? Or is it for one family member? If so, is that family member capable of handling that responsibility independently?

 

Either way the commitment to caring, cleaning, feeding, completing Cat Parent Health Checks and Vet Checks (please see sister website catsmart.com.au and review the Cat Care section for more information on Cat Parent Health Checks) needs to be discussed prior to a cat coming into the home. Remember that your Cat Therapist could be in your home and family for around 10, 15 or even 20 years.  Can you and/or family make this comitment?

 

Prior to bringing a cat into the home it is important to consider whether parenting a cat is the right step for you, and / or your family and lifesytle. This step will hopefully prevent any regrets or having to rehome a cat, and reduce the risk of you later deciding that parenting a cat is not for you.

 

  • Lifestyle

Are you a ‘home body’ who likes to stay home and will be around to take care of the cat and interact with them lots and lots? Or are you an ‘out & abouter’, who is rarely home or goes away lots? Will you be able to responsibly care for a cat? Also who will look after your cat whilst / or if you go on holidays? If you cannot afford, or do not have access to, Pet sitters (whether it be family, friends or professional), then this may be a limitation for you if parenting a cat.

 

  • Financials

Parenting a cat, in fact any animal, can be expensive. Think of food, Vet Checks for Health Conditions, preventative health measures (e.g.. fleas, worms  and tick treatments), toys, litter, cleaning up messes (hopefully not too many of these!), grooming, and even Pet Insurance (Please see our sister website catsmart.com.au and review the article on Pet Insurance in the Cat Care section). The list can go on, so consider whether you can afford to responsibly take care of a cat before you bring one into your home.

 

  • Home Environment & Indoor / Outdoor:

Are you allowed to own a cat in the home you reside in (e.g. in a rental property)? Will your cat live outdoors or indoors? (If you would like further information, please see our sister website catsmart.com.au and review the article on Indoor vs Outdoor Cats under the Cat Care section). and what impact will this have on your home, or the safety of your cat if they are outdoors? Is your home a noisy environment that could scare certain cats, thereby decrease the amount of interaction that you each have and potentially increasing undesirable behaviour in them (e.g. missing their litter tray).

 

Here at JUSTSIAMESE.COM, Angel Hopel is our known Scaredy Cat, and does not like a noisy home (e.g. lots of children running around!) whereas Marie Henrietta literally cannot get enough of noisy children, as long as they pay attention to her of course.

PET THERAPY - CHOOSING YOUR CAT THERAPIST

 

Physical Characteristics

  • Kitten vs. Cat

When you bring a kitten into your life, as they are not fully grown. The full extent of their personality and any quirks they end up having may be different from their initial 'kitten' presentation. Consider this when deciding if you will go with parenting a kitten or an older cat.

 

Selecting an older cat over a kitten could provide you with an advantage in terms of knowing what their personality, likes and dislikes are, particularly if you are taking over parenting a cat from a loving owner, or a shelter, who know the cat well and can provide advice.

 

  • Hair Type

Cats come with short, medium or long hair. The shorter the hair, the less grooming required and vice versa!. Brushing their coat will need to be completed frequently with medium to longer haired cats. If you do not they will develop knots and 'matting ' of their coat. A cat with shorter hair usually does their own grooming, but brushing their coat too is beneficial; as in all cats,  brushing their coat will collect any loose hair hair.

 

Here at JUSTSIAMESE.COM, Joe Daniel, Angel Hope and Marie Henrietta love to be brushed (Joe Daniel and Marie Henrietta are short haired, and Angel medium). They all come running when they see either of us holding a brush! If you want a cat with long hair, and cannot undertake the grooming required to prevent their hair matting, then you need to be able to take them to a cat groomer, or otherwise consider getting a cat which has shorter hair. If you live in a colder environment, a cat with longer hair may be better, and vice versa.

 

Most breeds are similar in temperament, however some breeds are considered to have more of a certain characteristics than others (e.g. the Siamse breed is thought to be more affectionate than others cat breeds). It is important to do your research on the ‘characteristics’ (including any tendancies to develop certain diseases) on the breed of cat you select to try and ensure they are a great match with their Cat Parents' characteristics.

 

Breeders and vets can provide this information as can cat clubs etc (Please see the catsmart Directory for listings for breeders, vets etc). Do not forget that domestic cats (i.e. cats of no particular breed) can also be a great Cat Therapists, and we here at JUSTSIAMESE.COM encourage prospective and experienced Cat Parents to consider contacting Animal Shelters when considering what type of cat to parent; as you may just save a life by doing this, literally.

 

  • Physical Appearance

Before you select and take your cat home, you should consider completing a Cat Parent Health Check to see if the cat has any signs of a health issue and ask for evidence of vaccinations (most vets give a booklet with the date it was undertaken, and when the next one is due).  If you identify a suspected health issue, this does not mean you will not accept this cat into your home, it may just mean a Vet Check needs to be undertaken, and considering whether you are prepared to treat any conditions / illnesses which may be identified. Some Cat Parents decide to adopt a cat which has a known disability (i.e. blind, amputated leg etc). Either way, a Cat Parent needs to consider whether they can properly care for any additional needs a cat may have this scenario and make their decision accordingly.

 

  • Desexed or not?

It is important to know before you adopt your cat whether they are desexed or not. If they are not desexied and you are not a breeder yourself (or interested in responsibly looking after potentially many kittens or finding them loving homes), then you need to arrange for this to be completed. Also research whether having your cat desexed is a local government requirement for registering your cat.

Personality Characteristics

No two cats are the same even if they are from the same Breed or Litter. However certain breeds are believed to have certain personality characteristics, and this is a good guide to attempt to find the right Cat Therapist.

 

However in life, there are never any guarantees and sometimes it can take patience and tolerance for some cats to warm to their parents and demonstrate desired qualities (e.g. letting you pat them). From personal experience it took not even a day to be able to pet, brush and cuddle Marie Henrietta, almost a week for Joe Daniel, and well, about 8 months for Angel Hope (Yes, it was worth the effort!)

 

Some characteristics you may want to consider before adopting your cat are listed below (when you are considering these, you should also relate it back to those points discussed in the earlier section Family, Lifestyle and Environment), so do you want a cat who is:

  • Independent / Dependent (Leaning on Dependent = Siamese)

  • Talkative / Quiet (Talkative = Siamese)

  • Active / Sedentary (50-50 = Siamese)

  • Affectionate / Distant (Affectionate = Siamese)

Then you need to look into which breed tends to have the characteristics you have selected.  

 

Where From

Where you adopt your cat from is a personal choice. It could be from a breeder, pet store, shelter or from a friend / family member who can no longer look after their cat. If you can meet the cat before you adopt it to see if you connect (or with time, there is potential you could), and learn from someone who knows the cat what they are like, then you could find that really beneficial.

 

Now in regards to buying a cat as a gift for someone else...all we can say here is that buying a Cat Therapist for another person without their knowledge has the potential for great disaster, and here at JUSTSIAMESE.COM we personally would not do this, as whilst you may consider you know someone and they would be a perfect Cat Parent, you just may not have considered every factor relevant to their needs when it comes to Cat Parenting, particularly the persons capacity to look after a cat, even if they love it. Just consider that if you do proceed with gifting a cat, you may be left with another Cat Therapist in your life.

 

We hope you get a cat in your lap and experience the Cat Connection.

Getting a Cat in Your Lap

Family, LIfestyle & Environment

Physical Characteristics

Personality Characteristics

 Where From?

Getting a Cat in Your Lap
Family Lifestyle & Environment
Physical Characteristics
Personality Characteristics
Where From
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