How to find the right cat- Adding a beautiful cat to our family was one of the best decisions we ever made. She has brought us so much love and companionship and she is such a treasured member of our family. We just love her so much! She is such a funny little thing. She loves to cozy up to us and is so friendly to anyone who visits. She can even high-five. How clever is that? Here are just a few things I found helpful when it came to finding the right cat. I hope you’ll find them helpful too.
This is our girl “Sushi”. My oldest son Luke named her that because he decided she was all black and reminded him of a Sushi Roll. Isn’t she cute?
How To Find The Right Cat
Kitten Or Cat?
Nine years ago we all had our hearts set on finding a cat to join our family. The first decision we had to make was “Should we get a kitten or a cat?”. I think that was a good place to start.
We had to take into account that kittens require a lot of time and care while adult cats can provide love and companionship but with much less work.
We decided on a kitten because let’s face it, they are unbelievably cute! and I had my heart set on a girl as I was the only girl in the family
We were coming up to the end of the school year and into the summer holidays, this meant that because I work at a preschool I too would be home on holidays with my boys for about eight glorious weeks. This gave us a nice amount of time to focus on looking after our new kitten and litter training her.
Look how small they both were. Sam is now 16
Finding The Right Breed
My goodness! This was interesting. I had no idea there were so many breeds. I think I did some sort of “What Cat Breed Should I Get” test on the internet and in the end, after my head was spinning I decided on keeping things simple and go for a short-breed domestic Cat. In other words a Moggy. Moggy cats are low-maintenance, friendly, and generally pretty healthy. Plus I also read online that there were ethical considerations with some breeds as well as health issues to consider.
Indoor Or Outdoor Cat
This decision was easy to make. As I said before we live in a villa and part of the strata rules is that if we keep a cat it should not be allowed to roam around on the common property. (Except for my neighbours, they let their cats roam around).
But anyway I like that our cat is an indoor cat as I don’t need to worry about her well-being. While some believe that letting cats outside gives them a better quality of life, keeping cats indoors is definitely a healthier choice. I also read that indoor cats live much longer than outdoor cats. So there’s that. Our girl gets the best of both worlds as she can spend time lying in the sun safe in our enclosed courtyard.
She just loves to roll around in the sun
Choose A Cat With A Personality You Like
I know this might sound really ignorant of me but I hadn’t really considered that like humans cats have unique and interesting personalities. While doing some research this became something that we really needed to think about. We all wanted a cuddly cat. I wanted a calm cat. After being at preschool all day the last thing I wanted was a hyperactive cat! When it came time to choose our cat, I spent time watching how the kittens all interacted with each other. Honestly, it wasn’t that different from being in the classroom at work! There was the “Can’t keep their hands to themselves” kind of cat. There was the “Don’t touch/look at me/come near me” cat and there was the “Impulsive watch me jump” cat. Then thankfully there was the ” Calm well behaved” cat. Yep, I went for calm.
Cat on a Hat
She always tries to pack herself into the nearest available backpack
Bringing Our Kitten Home
Before we brought our kitten home we made sure we set up a special space for her. We got a litter box, a scratching post, a comfy bed, a feeding station, and some toys. I was a little nervous. No, I lied, I was a lot nervous. She was just so tiny! I was afraid we’d step on her. Well, we didn’t but we sure were careful and very very gentle. We had to keep in mind that she was coming into a totally unfamiliar place so we made sure that the space we made up for her would help her get comfortable and feel secure and familiar. Phew, I was relieved when she got bigger. Like I said before she really was tiny.
Haha, always likes to be in the middle of everything!
Well, that was fun going down memory lane, and while by no means does this post cover everything about how to find the right cat. I think I’ve been able to look at some of the things that stood out in my mind that were important when it came to finding the right cat to join our family. if you do a Google search you’ll get an incredible amount of helpful information. Just remember that having a cat will bring unconditional love to your life, companionship, and fun!
Thank you for sharing your story and tips on finding the right cat! Your thoughtful approach to choosing Sushi and the love you’ve put into the process shines through your words. This will surely help others looking to welcome a new feline friend. Appreciate the effort in putting this together!
One fine morning my neighbor’s little girl came with 2 rescued kittens barely 15days old. She asked me to look after them and I immediately fell in love with their tiny nose n beautiful eyes.
Then from youtube I found out one was male n the other female. I was always a dog mom and for the 1st time became cat mom. All thanks to many youtube videos on litter sand, right food, veterinary visit for vaccine n finally neutering n spaying both the kittens after 5 months age.
Their surgery went well n I nursed them n stayed with them continuously for a week making them wear a collar for their safety. It was little tough but they adjusted pretty well. My Raja n Rani r playing now.