Saying hello to a new cat (or two)

[SirFozzie]

So, with the disability award being finally official (I said elsewhere it didn't feel "really real" until the lawyer confirmed the judgement had been entered), I will be looking to expand my apartment with a couple of cats.

Normally, I would be looking at dogs (I've always had a dog, and took care of my brothers when I lived there), but due to my health status and location (city apartment), a dog would be.. inadvisable (since I can't take it out for walkies and to poop and stuff).

So, this is what I'm hoping to do.

A) Adopt a pair of kittens or cats (not just for my sake, but for theirs as well, someone to play with/nap with, especially on days where I'm not feeling great, but still can do the basics to feed them, take care of the litterbox, etcetera)

B) A bonded pair would be great, but if not an already bonded pair, it will have to be two cats who are used to other cats around them.

C) I'd prefer young adult cats, but they have to be indoor cats because as I said, I live in a city currently). The good thing is I have plenty of wide window sills perfect for napping in the sun

So. For those of us who have had cats in their household, any suggestions?

(and in Awww Kittehs mode while I'm at it, one of my Facebook friends who I worked with via Wikipedia, noticed that one of the mama feral cats in her neighborhood (San Diego) had a litter, and set about trying to humanely capture them. She's captured EIGHT kittens so far (she now thinks there's two or more separate litters), but since California is so effed up with COVID-19, none of the shelters out there are taking in ferals, even young kittens, so she's trying to teach 8 kittens how to be indoor cats and find them forever homes, as her three existing cats don't appreciate the competition for "momma time")

[thesloppy]

Good luck!

My only input is that I wanted a bonded pair of cats too and eventually decided that I'd get some littermate kittens, as the best way to ensure that they'd be bonded...and then I read somewhere that siamese cats can live up to 25% longer than other breeds & altogether I eventually convinced myself that I should get some premium siamese kittens from a sketchy Craigslist breeder, rather than rescue kittens that may or may not bond, since the cost difference was actually minimal (I was relatively shocked to find out that even feral kittens cost $100-200 from shelters around here).

Blah, blah, blah long story short: I ended up paying significant extra vet fees for shots and treatments by buying from a 'breeder' whereas a lot of those costs & treatments are already built in to adopting a rescue from a shelter. Don't forget to consider/check those costs if finances are a concern!

[Coffee Warlord]

In my experience (of which I've grown up with and had a LOT of cats), you'll have better odds of the cats being friendly with each other, or at least tolerating each other, with 2 male cats. Female cats tend to be crazy.

edit: Refresh my memory Fozzie, where you at?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Our experience is that most cases tend to be somewhat unique.

It's mostly a matter of the cat personalities as to how the dynamics evolve.

I've had adult males fall in love with female kittens.
I've had younger cats reject older ones.
I've seen strangers that sleep together by the third day, I've seen pairs that come together fight six times a day for years.

You hardly ever can predict it.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

In my experience (of which I've grown up with and had a LOT of cats), you'll have better odds of the cats being friendly with each other, or at least tolerating each other, with 2 male cats. Female cats tend to be crazy.

edit: Refresh my memory Fozzie, where you at?

Woonsocket, just over the RI border with MA

[Thomkal]

Foz,

I think you are being very smart to adopt two cats. As much as I love my cat, I kinda wish at times I had found two bonded cats instead. My brother just adopted two bonded cats (boy/girl), and they are very happy they did.

My advice here would to look to shelters/rescues//cat cafe's etc where staff have had a chance to socialize them and can find two that have bonded with each other. The Cat cafe here gets their cats from a local shelter and lets cafe customers spend some time playing/socializing with them so you can see who warms up to you.

Get them fixed if the shelter doesn't do it. Something out of the kitten stage would probably work best for you.

Whichever way you go be sure to post pictures here

[Drake]

I need you to swear that you're going to change your name to SirFuzzie as part of this deal.

[Drake]

Also, my kids adopted an un-spayed female cat for me in November. I'd never had an indoor female cat before.

Holy crap. I couldn't find a vet who could fit me in for 2 months. She went into heat twice in that span.

And I wanted to name her Roach, but the kids make me call her Pumpkin.

Nothing more manly than a guy standing on his porch at 10 PM shouting "Pumpkin! Pumpkin, come home!"

[stevew]

I have a cat named David S. Pumpkins

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Drake

Also, my kids adopted an un-spayed female cat for me in November. I'd never had an indoor female cat before.

Holy crap. I couldn't find a vet who could fit me in for 2 months. She went into heat twice in that span.

And I wanted to name her Roach, but the kids make me call her Pumpkin.

Nothing more manly than a guy standing on his porch at 10 PM shouting "Pumpkin! Pumpkin, come home!"

I got them spayed, but my two cats went into heat when lockdown started as well. They were so weird.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Drake

Nothing more manly than a guy standing on his porch at 10 PM shouting "Pumpkin! Pumpkin, come home!"

Well it took til nearly 10p eastern, but by golly , THERE is my laugh for the day.

Thanks

[Kodos]

I’ve had great experiences with Russian Blues. Dexter, our current cat, is great. Very outgoing and friendly. He’s like a dog without all of the hassles.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Woonsocket, just over the RI border with MA

I got a buddy in Monroe, CT who fosters kittens. He used to be my boss, then he decided to herd kittens full time.

YouTube

Apparently he's got a lot of people in the MA/RI area who do adopt from him (technically from the shelter that he gets the mom cat / kittens from). But yeah, if you watch his channel, you can see the kitties in action, and he lets people know when the brood is ready to adopt. Good person to ask questions of as well - he knows the right temperament of cats fitting for people.

[Comey]

My girlfriend and I talked about getting kittens last year. My anxiety and, more importantly to this, depression can get really bad at times. And it was thought that getting a cat or two could help with that.

Then the pandemic hit, and everyone thought the same thing. In April, I started to research a little bit, and found that all the shelters were empty (which is great in the short run, but the obvious worry is when we get back to some sort of regular life, those animals will be screwed. But, I digress.

I joined a few FB groups to broaden my search, and put out an ad. One group serviced NY, CT, MA and RI. We live on the MA/RI line...so we'd have to travel a bit. But, I figured I wouldn't hear much anyway, so I put up a post talking about what I was looking for (a gray/white kitten or gray, preferably two, but not picky), and that I'm an elementary teacher who was hoping for a buddy to spend time with me while I teach, take naps, play with, etc.

Maybe I'd get lucky.

About two hours after I posted it, someone asked me to PM them. They were vetting posts to see if someone was worthy of their kittens, which they had at 7.5 weeks and about ready to go to a home. They had four, but after reading my post, this person said she had what she thought would be the perfect one for me...a gray/white kitten who was hell on wheels, and his sister, who bonded to him wonderfully. She didn't know where I lived, but she lived in Rhode Island, on the MA line.

She lived five minutes away.

The next weekend, we picked them up. That was two months ago tomorrow.

This was the day we picked them up:
Ello and Chidi: Come Home Day

This was earlier this week: Two Months In

We have Ello and Chidi. (Ello is the one with the black and white bowtie.) We thought we had Ella and Chidi, but we found out we had two boys. So, Ello and Chidi it is.

[Thomkal]

wow Comey, amazing how that worked out for you. And grey cats for the win! My Cloud is a grey tabby.

[Comey]

It was rather serendipitous, yes. They are two of the most social, happiest, easygoing kitties I've ever come across. Chidi is also the most photogenic cat I've ever come across.

They are currently playing all over the condo with each other, running around and getting some exercise.

So, Fozzie, get two. I can get you the FB group I belong(ed) to, if you want, though they are easy to find for this area (I forgot you are in Woonsocket; I officially live in Pawtucket now).

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Comey

(I forgot you are in Woonsocket; I officially live in Pawtucket now).

I find these names humorous.

[Drake]

I don't care how hard you guys try, dammit. I am NOT getting another cat.

So you can fuck right off with all of those adorable cat pictures.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Drake

I don't care how hard you guys try, dammit. I am NOT getting another cat.

So you can fuck right off with all of those adorable cat pictures.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

I find these names humorous.

A lot of RI and eastern CT have Native American origins for their town name. Both Woonsocket and Pawtucket are Native American words.

Here are more of my boys.

Here's one...

And another.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Drake

I don't care how hard you guys try, dammit. I am NOT getting another cat.

So you can fuck right off with all of those adorable cat pictures.

So make sure you post pictures of your next family member :P

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

These remind me of our Siamese cats from my childhood, Thai and Mia.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

I got a buddy in Monroe, CT who fosters kittens. He used to be my boss, then he decided to herd kittens full time.

YouTube

Apparently he's got a lot of people in the MA/RI area who do adopt from him (technically from the shelter that he gets the mom cat / kittens from). But yeah, if you watch his channel, you can see the kitties in action, and he lets people know when the brood is ready to adopt. Good person to ask questions of as well - he knows the right temperament of cats fitting for people.

Oh! I already had that in my Youtube list. I've wanted cats for a while, and it was fun watching the various kitten antics.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Oh! I already had that in my Youtube list. I've wanted cats for a while, and it was fun watching the various kitten antics.

Yyyep. He's a big deal now. Nice guy, I still keep in touch with him.

But yeah, if it's not a huge hike for you, that's an option you should definitely consider.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Drake

I need you to swear that you're going to change your name to SirFuzzie as part of this deal.

dying

[SirFozzie]

(does Dana Carvey as Bush impersonation)

Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent. At. This. Juncture.

[thesloppy]

When my cats got spayed last month they had to wear cones, but this one was too crafty for the cone and had to be put into a baby onesie.

[SirFozzie]

It'll be a couple weeks, my brother's going to come over and finish some construction work, but I've already started looking

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

It'll be a couple weeks, my brother's going to come over and finish some construction work, but I've already started looking

Awesome. Make sure you get some kind of cat tree or shelves on the wall for them, and of course, plenty of cat toys