DP and i discussed before we moved the option of getting a cat, something to grow with the girls and to be outside with them in the warmer months along with the dogs to keep watch for snakes.
So what can you tell me, there is an ad in our local paper kittens free to good home, shorthaired but no other major information.
Would it be better to get a male or a female
We have 2 dogs who i THINK would be ok with a cat once we slowly introduce it as a new part of the family.
Are cats as vigilant around snakes as we've heard?
and should they be ok on a property, we have a fenced in are for the kids i don't think the kitten would get out as our dogs don't but as it's older would there be any issues ???
not sure about the snakes but in my experience males have been better pets, especially with my kids.
the dogs will be fine with it and the kitten will be fine with the dogs once theyre used to each other. and no the fence wont keep the cat in, they like to explore.
our council law is that cats must be kept on its owners property 24/7, but our bo goes and says hi to his other human pals
I've heard they actually can stalk snakes which leads to some being bitten. The other thing is as it gets older, it will climb, so unless you have a totally contained area, it will climb over fences. Some councils have laws stating that cats cannot be out at night, so might be worth looking into that too.
Males are more susceptible to urinary problems as they age.
I've heard the theory that males make better pets but my girl is awesome - she's so sweet and loving and she comes when you call her name.
I was told by my MIL when I was looking for my kittens, that males are a lot calmer and they are easier to desex. She's had around 10-15 cats since she was a little girl, so I trust her judgement.
My boys are now 14 months old and are outside whenever we are home although I am looking to put in a cat door so they go outside when I'm at work.
Are yard is fenced, but they go under and over it to visit the neighbors as they please. I've seen them probably a metre up a tree next door. They climb up and down the 1.8m cement retaining wall next to our driveway.
We live in a really leafy suburb of Bris, and there's quite a few snakes in the area. We had a tree python in the neighbours tree last week and the cats freaked out and hid inside...
I have a male and a female cat - both are awesome with the kids, so I would say that its a personality thing, rather than a gender based thing that makes them good with kids.
My male cat will let the kids do anything to him, and just lie there and take it. My female cat isn't quite as tolerant however she absolutely adores DS and I quite often find her cuddled up to him on the couch. She was sitting on his chest this morning with her butt on his face. He thought it was funny.
Thanks ladies... i might look at getting a boy and atleast then i wont ever have to worry about kittens right.
We are on 4 acres and the nearest house is a bit away so i don't think we will have to worry too much about him annoying anyone else, more just watching him on the road.. DP wants him to be an 'outside cat' but i said he will have to sleep inside or we will have to find a way to keep him contained at night.. maybe build him a nice little house
If you do get a boy and he's not de-sexed, he may spray to mark his territory. A few friends had problems with this, it stank! He also got bigger than he would have if he was de-sexed, and roamed looking for females
i live on huge property and i have a male kitten, at the moment he hangs around the house but as he gets older he will wander, cats are curious and will always explore, snake wise well i havent had any snakes this yr so far *touch wood* but if your on huge property the main reason snakes hang around are they go for mice and so do cats so yes cats do keep snakes away but also so do dogs, and your dogs if not pups just might not accept the cat as well as you would like
male cats do wander to find females if they arnt desexed and they can wander for quite some distance and be away for many days
as for sex wise, i dont think male or female make a difference, thats really up to you
Goodluck and HTH
Last edited by mummy of 3 boys; January 13th, 2011 at 05:53 AM.
We have one male cat and two inherited cats of each sex.
All of them are super sweet but can be vicious if provoked and DD can be super rough with the animals sometimes.
We have had cats all our life and I have to say persoanlly I prefer males to females though our inherited female has brought me round a little bit.
Sadly cats do not do much to deter snakes, infact neither do dogs or other animals. If a slithery is going to be there it will be there regardless. Last year we have a meter long tiger snake go right past our border collie have a big long drink from her bowl then go right past her again to a hole in the shed.
The summer before that we had a 30cm tiger snake in our lounge room and the cat just sat there watching it.
While cats can keep mice down, really there is little other than that they can do for snakes. If you worried about slitheries on your property pm outback girl and ask her about the boundary thing she has to keep snakes out of her yard.
If you get a male you will be wise to neuter him. aside from the territory marking which they don't really do until they get a bit older (ours was desexed at 9 months and no marking within that time) male cats will wonder to find a female in season.
Our boy was inside until he was roughly 10 months old. He knew his food was inside and I think he has been less inclined to wonder too far from the house compared to other cats I have had. We also have a cat door too so our boy can come and go as he pleases through the day now and we lock him in at night. The other cats are farm cats and while we feed them I still view them as MIL's animals so we don't do any extra care for them, none are chipped or vaxed except our fella.
On the health issue, I have had a lot of cats over my life time and really its been down to good and bad breeding. we have had females with health issues and males with none until they are really really old boys and vice versa. The surgery for desexing is easier for boys. they slit a little hole in the sack, pop the nuts out, removed them then stitch the hole back up. For girls they open them right up and, I believe, remove the whole lot.
A good cat or a bad cat comes down to personality. I have always gone with the animal that has shown an interest in me. When I have locked eyes, if it has come over then its mine I wait to be selected so to speak LOL.
We have 3 now...how did that happen? We just adopted a new dumped baby. My female cat was much calmer as a kitten my boy was nuts, but again I think its a personality. We live on acres too and my kids never leave our property. They will stalk snakes and we have seen a black get killed - hairy scary let me tell you! My girl is much better with kids but again its a personality thing
You will love having a cat they are less work than a dog and make you 'work' for their love rather than the other way round for a dog ha ha ha
If you get a boy make sure you get him desexed or he will roam. When I was little I had a boy cat & because he wasn't desexed he'd disappear for days and eventually one day he never came home
Mum's on 18 acres, and the neighbours cats frequent their house often - one even killing a rabbit and leaving it on their doorstep, so even though you may be a fair distance from your neighbours, don't be surprised if the cat does wander.
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Kitten - dogs, snakes & property???
I wait to be selected so to speak LOL.
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