Are cats generally clean animals or can they carry lots of diseases?

[Junglemum]

I've never had a cat. I don't particularly like cats. But we have rats. We bait them, we trap them and we can not get rid of them. The people across the road have kittens and have offered me one. My girls, particularly DD2 loves cats. So i was thinking we might get one. Maybe i'd warm to it.

I was a little concerned about toxoplasmosis, but it seems if i don't touch the faeces i'm not at risk? Is that right?

The cat wont be able to get it's shots, unless i can get them from a vet in Aus and give them to the cat. There are no vets here. I think i can access pill type necessities, worming tablets etc...

Am i playing with fire? Is a cat likely to carry diseases, particularly in a country where there are a lot of diseases?

Also, no commercial cat food available. What do i feed it? Tinned fish? Chicken? rice?
Do cats drink Milk or is that just on the cartoons?

All advice welcome.

Your sincerely, Clueless.

[Janie]

Good questions hun! I can't answer for you, haven't owned a cat as an adult, sorry. But you know, I think after owning one for awhile you would probably enjoy it, and really come to like having one. They are pretty nice to have around. I'm more of a dog person, but cats are good too

Oh, and I don't think cats should have milk, from memory. Our dog doesn't have any commercial dog food, her skin conditions mean she needs 'proper' food. I'm sure you could do the same for a cat Hopefully someone with more knowledge will pop in!

[Arimeh]

Hi I'm not an expert, but I've owned a lot of cats, so I'll see how I go.

I was a little concerned about toxoplasmosis, but it seems if i don't touch the faeces i'm not at risk? Is that right? Yup pretty much. You'd have to eat it basically for you to get it.

The cat wont be able to get it's shots, unless i can get them from a vet in Aus and give them to the cat. There are no vets here. I think i can access pill type necessities, worming tablets etc... I would think that you can get them online and shipped to you pretty easily unless customs there has a problem with it?

Am i playing with fire? Is a cat likely to carry diseases, particularly in a country where there are a lot of diseases? Dunno - you might not be susceptible to them anyway cos you live there and building up immunity.

Also, no commercial cat food available. What do i feed it? Tinned fish? Chicken? rice? We feed our cats mince, not kangaroo cos the male one vomits it straight up, but its a mince we get from the supermarket, so not sure what is in it, but its not 100% kangaroo.
Do cats drink Milk or is that just on the cartoons? Cats are lactose intolerant so shouldn't have milk.

Hope that helps!

[christy]

Hey Ange...

Cats are probably a risk factor, but not by much. Basically for toxoplasmosis you would have to get their faeces into your mouth. So as long as you wash your hands after handling the cat and cleaning the litter you should be fine.

Cats need the protein Taurine to survive. Without it they could die. There are a lot of recipes out there for raw food diets, but in order to have a healthy kitten/adult cat here are some pointers:

Kittens need increased calcium to help strengthen bones. So.... sardines with bones, chicken wings, chicken necks are all good.

In the wild cats are mainly carnivores, but they often munch on grass and plants as well as dig up roots to chew on. So I would think a diet heavy on the protein, especially taurine (found only in seafood) and a bit of veges and rice or pasta or potato is good. Keep the variety up in the veges as they all have different qualities.

If I were doing a diet for a kitten I would be doing: tin of sardines in springwater, potato, brocolli all mushed together with a fork. That would be enough for 1-2 days. The next time I made food might be: 1 tin tuna, rice, flaxseeds, carrots and pumpkin. Again all mushed up together. I would also give a chicken wing/neck every night. Its gross so you may want to lock them up.... when they get big enough to catch the rats you may not have too Toxoplasmosis is carried by rats as well, so mainly if the rat has toxo and the cat eats the rat including the rats colon, than the cat has the chance of getting toxo.

Raw meat carries toxoplasmosis as well.

NO ONIONS or MILK unless you want to have to clean up cat diarrhoea....

I would attempt to get all your vet needs online, worming and vaccinations. Alternatively, some homeopaths do alternative vaccinations and worming. I've no experience with that so have no idea how effective it is.

ETA: sesame seeds are high in calcium as well, but they would need to be ground up a bit in order to be able to be digested properly...

Good luck!

[AnyDream]

I've lived with a kitty-cat in Darwin, so I imagine the sort of diseases etc are fairly similar, given the similarities in climate etc.

Provided you are able to keep up the vacc schedule, the other main things you will need to manage is fleas (using a spot-on treatment on the back of their neck) and a worming schedule - which involves popping a pill down their throat once a month. The worming is really important because there are intestinal parasites in the small creatures (like lizards etc) that they eat. But I imagine the risk from a vaccinated, treated cat is much less than from having rodents running all over the place. It might be worth ringing a vet somewhere like townsville or darwin, as they will have a better idea of what you would need to do than one in the southern states.

[Ginger]

cats are the best. they are so calming to have around you already know i love them though

what about desexing her though? you don't want to end up with a million babies!

[Junglemum]

Lactose intolerant. Who would have thunk it?! Ok, no milk.

Christy- as always a comprehensive answer, thanks so much. If we get kitty i will follow your diet!

I think flea and worm treatment is readily available MD.

Ginger- YOU are the sole reason i'm even contemplating it. I figure you're alright and you love cats.

There is a visiting vet that comes to look after the guard dogs for a security company in Lae. They come once or twice a year apparently, so i was hoping i could get it desexed through them. although i have no idea if that is possible.

What's the go with those kitty litter trays? Do you have to have one? We have a HUGE yard and i'd be happy if it just went a poo'd at the back of the garden somewhere. Is it possible to train a cat to do that? What's the advantage of a tray?

[AnyDream]

The advantage of a tray is to give them somewhere to go when they are inside the house (esp if you have a cat which is kept in at night when they are active), but also handy if they are litter-tray trained for those few occasions when you might need to keep them in.

[Arimeh]

We have a litter tray cos our cats are inside cats and we don't want them pooping in the shower - they already drink the water there after we've had one.....

[Ginger]

We have a litter tray inside for kitkat but I have noticed that she hasn't used it for about a month. She would much rather go to the toilet outside. I'm actually considering getting rid of the tray altogether but am scared of accidents!
Will you be able to bring the cat back to melb with u when you return permanently?

[melbel]

You only really need a litter tray if they are going to be kept indoors....unlike dogs you don't need to train a cat, they will instinctively find somewhere to dig and cover their business where possible...the only time they make messes is if they are locked in somewhere and can't get to a patch of dirt. They are instinctively very clean animals...another plus...can you tell I love cats!

[NaeNae]

we had a litter tray for our moggy when he is locked in over night. We use to use that recycled paper litter? anyway he stoped using the tray as a poo/pee place and started sleeping in it. I washed it throughly now he uses it as a bed LOL ....

they are dual purpose after a while? (just another reason to get one )

[1MOREPLZ]

Hi I'm not an expert, but I've owned a lot of cats, so I'll see how I go.

I was a little concerned about toxoplasmosis, but it seems if i don't touch the faeces i'm not at risk? Is that right? Yup pretty much. You'd have to eat it basically for you to get it. hmmmm that's not right....you can contract toxoplasmosis via touching faeces..... then ingesting it

The cat wont be able to get it's shots, unless i can get them from a vet in Aus and give them to the cat. There are no vets here. I think i can access pill type necessities, worming tablets etc... I would think that you can get them online and shipped to you pretty easily unless customs there has a problem with it?

Am i playing with fire? Is a cat likely to carry diseases, particularly in a country where there are a lot of diseases? Dunno - you might not be susceptible to them anyway cos you live there and building up immunity.

Also, no commercial cat food available. What do i feed it? Tinned fish? Chicken? rice? We feed our cats mince, not kangaroo cos the male one vomits it straight up, but its a mince we get from the supermarket, so not sure what is in it, but its not 100% kangaroo.
Do cats drink Milk or is that just on the cartoons? Cats are lactose intolerant so shouldn't have milk.

Hope that helps!

[Artechim]

JM, I have always had cats and never have a litter tray inside. You need one at the start when they are toilet training, but when they get the hang of going in there just shift it closer to the door over a few days, then out the door for a couple and they will get the idea. You don't need to use proper litter, line it with newspaper and put some dirt in it and it will be fine. Then if you go away overnight you just bring back the litter tray and they will happily use it again.

My cat gets shut inside for 8+ hours during the day or overnight and she just goes to sleep and goes out to the loo when we get home, no worries. She is 7 years old and has never had an accident. They will let you know if they want to go outside - they just sit and stare at the door until their Jedi mind powers open it. Or you can get a cat flap or leave open an accessible window (recommend having a safety stay if you do that).

If desexing might be a problem, go with a male cat. Then even if the vet isn't set up for ops he can still neuter him - it is just a sedative and a quick slice and dice for the boys.

[Cassius2]

I'd get as much info in advance from the visiting vet and see if they can bring shots etc for you. FWIW we had a cat (cassius ) in Fiji and he was not immunised and rarely wormed. He was awesome, and no, didnt spread disease to us. BUT and this is a big BUT...many many cats in these kinda conditions (ie developing tropical islands etc) do carry disease of some sort. these are not transmissable to humans and for the most part you wouldnt notice. but things like cat HIV and Influenza and Luekemia (which is a viral contagion in cats) is rampant. this does not pose any risk to you, but obviously can be bad for kitty OR mean that kitty if it has the disease wont be able to come home with you to Oz.

If you do get a kitten i would HIGHLY recommend trying to keep it indoors for as long as possible to get it strong as possible so that if it does come into contact with the other cats it has a better immunity to cope. also i dont know if it is like that in PNG, but we had alot of wild dogs and they unfortnatley LOVE a chase...i dont think i need to illustrate further, but you would want your cat to be fast and therefore a bit bigger and more savvy IYKWIM.

However, i would love to add that having Cassius was one of the BEST things that happened in our lives. he was just the most gorgeous precious little soul and really made the time we lived in Fiji. the times where it would get hard, lonely, frustrating it was a godsend when he would trot into the house and demand a cuddle.

and we did bring him back to Oz!

No milk!

they can eat all the meat that you guys get. just no dairy or onions. i would recommend cooking the meat as this will help with worms and/or poor meat handling issues (ie Fiji had alot of poor refrigeration due to generator failures etc). we also did some cooked rice etc for fibre. but again once they are outside they do tend to keep themselves quite well on that front. also whenever we went back to Oz we stocked up on cat biscuits, flea collars and worming tablets and flea treatments. we found that fleas were not a problem...too wet lol!