You'll need a nice cat box and some cat litter -perhaps this can become a duty for your daughter, part of the responsibility of keeping a pet. Cats are toilet-trained by their mothers, so getting them to use the box usually isn't an issue. We keep ours back in the service porch where it's well out of the way. The cats certainly know where it is.

I'm going to vote against declawing because what it really means is surgically removing the first section of each toe. Seems cruel to me. How would you like it?

What we do is get scratch boxes from Trader Joe's. They love those things. We also have a scratching post our two felines like to work out on, and also a cat condo that they'll fool around with. That said, they'll still stretch using the furniture, but they don't shred it. We sprinkle a little dried catnip on the boxes and posts - fun to watch the results.

We have hardwood floors - have noticed no damage.

Finally - you might want to consider keeping the cat strictly indoors. We're here in the northern reaches of L.A. and coyotes are rampant. It's not a matter of if they'll get your cat. It's a matter of when. We've learned our lesson about this the hard way, believe me. Our two cats do just fine as indoor animals and after several years of this, they're so used to it that they exhibit very little curiosity about going outside - though they do sit in the windows and watch the birds with great interest. We are very careful to not leave any doors open or windows uncovered.

All this said, some folks are dog people, some are cat people. We're the latter. Life without a couple of felines around to amuse us and keep us company seems hard to imagine.

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don't declaw your cat-

Lifetime cat owner here:

Wet food will make the litter box much worse, and it is bad for their teeth (ask me how I know.) Our cats are spoiled rotten and get by just fine on dry food (we use Science diet)

Highly recommend the two cat program, if nothing else they will get more exercise chasing each other around the house…

I have gone to using "sweet scoop" cat litter, expensive but absorbs the oder like you wouldn't believe! (we still scoop the box every day).

Scratching, get one or more scratching posts (cats are particular, some like cardboard, some like carpeted, some like rope scratching posts) and they sell a clear sticky plastic you can put on soft furniture, we have had good luck with aluminum foil, looks bad but seems to work. They also sell plastic claw covers you super glue onto their claws... cats don't seem to dig it and they only stay on for a week to a month depending on how determined the cat is to chew them off but they do work.
Use catnip on the scratching post to draw the kittens to it.
I have a friend that is a cat lady and always has kittens to give away... she has some calico kittens right now... PM me if you are interested.

My little girl, my wife adopted her but she is daddy little girl...

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Another reason to get a pair.

Just because you get one for your daughter does not guarantee it will bond with her more than another member of the family.

I am also the preferred human in my house for 2 out of the 3 we currently have.

It has been my experience that a cat will get weird if raised alone... my theory is they start to think they are people and stop acting 'cat like'.

Also if left alone in the house they can keep each other company.

Our other cat.. they wife's princess :rolleyes:

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if you're gonna declaw, dont get the cat. you could probably adopt a cat that has already been declawed.

causes all sorts of problems besides the initial hell of getting your fingers cut off at the first knuckles. they have back problems, and weird joint issues. they cant do that claw and stretch move. you give them something better to scratch than your couch and you are golden. cat nip sprinkled scratching post works at our house. and we have leather couches.

i talked to my vet. he mentioned you will have a difficult time finding a person still willing to declaw in my hood.

having said that..i have two cats. nicknamed: "last cat" and "second to last cat" never again.

Declawing is anything but humane, and messes up the cat beyond the physical. Most civilized countries in the world have outlawed declawing. Research this if you're in any way considering it. I'd recommend going to ban cat declawing | animal welfare | The Paw Project to start. I wouldn't trust any vet that would still declaw a cat.

The day we got him.
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27 pounds today.
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Hey, you are in luck... my friend just picked up this kitty... he is available for adoption...

Isn't he cute!

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Our next cat will be orange... is that a purebred or pound kitty?

We got him from a friend. From his appearance, size, and the hissing, we think he is part Maine Coon.

I love cats!!!! I just can't eat a whole one..........

If you look at the size of the feet on the above "Princess" we think she has some Maine coon too... she went through a hissing phase also... seems to have outgrown it.

She has all the markings of a Maine Coon. How old is she and what does she weigh?
Ours is 4 and will hiss if he feels cornered.

That cat is virtually the twin of a part Maine Coon we had. Daughter rescued him from kill pound (had been abandoned when owner moved). We had him for over 12 years before he died and was by far the best cat we had ever had. We named him "Sasquatch" because his feet were so big....

His name is Cooter. The wife still doesn't get it.:D
Actually, he's named after Crazy Cooter from The Dukes of Hazzard.
He's a tank. For scale, the tiles behind him are 12" square.

Follow up. It has been just over 1 year with our now 2 year old gray domestic shorthair. We adopted her from the SPCA in Pasadena.

Very shy and likes to hide behind the appliances, but ventures out in the evenings when the kids go to bed.

It's been much fun and joy to have our cat this past year --- the kids love her. We don't know the breed, but has all the traits of a Russian Blue.

in my experience cats sort of just happen. neighbor had a litter, and the girls grabbed one. swore i'd never have a cat. now i have one sleeping on my pillow. what happened to my life?

first week was pretty tense as the heelers wanted to eat him. this is week three and they only want to play with him to the point of destruction.



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have noticed that he prefers my lap to that of the girls. suspect it's because i'm not the one trying to mother/smother him with cuddles all the time.

There are sprays that scent your couch and make it unappealing for cats. The scent is not discernible to us humans, assuming you don't lay down on the floor and sniff the couch's legs. Normally you won't need to use them, if you have a cat scratching post. But if kitty is unclear on the concept at first, spray away.

Cat are great pets and far less work than dogs.

I've never had an indoor-only cat, but plenty of friends do and they seem happy (humans and cats).

I've never had a declawed cat and wouldn't consider ever declawing a cat.

Litterboxes don't smell if you clean them frequently. It isn't hard and should be part of her chores - scoop out the box, check the water, check the food.

You might consider adopting two kittens who are littermates. They will play and keep each other company. Introducing a second cat into the household of an adult cat is way more problematic.

Have her and you spend enough time cuddling cats at the shelter to see if either of you have allergies.

Most cats at the shelter will be mixes so there won't be any specific breed-personality issues. If you do look at purebred cats, then is may be worth doing some reading. For what it is worth, I've always found tabbies to be pretty smart, and black cats are said to usually be part Siamese which often means vocal ("talks" a lot). Most shelters will not make feral cats available for adoption but some may offer feral kittens, they may be harder to socialize and may ultimately be comfortable with your family but hide when strangers are around - hard to say.

You need to get a second one ;)

Some pound rescues take years to get comfortable, and other factors influence how they behave. Some cats are great with kids and will put up with a lot. Others will hide. I had one pound rescue that would let Calvin do most anything with it. And another one that avoided him at all cost.