Ds1 has asked for a cat for his birthday. If a cat crosses the boys path the poor thing had better run because they just LOVE them.

Problem is I know ZERO about cats. I only ever grew up with dogs. I told him I would consider it but I need to know what being a cat owner is like lol

We have an outside dog, the boys adore her but I wont have her inside because she is like a bull in a china shop. I thought maybe a cat would be a good compromise to the no dog inside thing. I dont doubt they would balk at looking after it.

So I guess I want to know:

Where did you get your cat from? Was it a kitty or an older cat?
What kind of cat do you have?
Do they shed really bad?
What about litter training (because cleaning up poo from a cat and kids would kill me!)?
Do your kids like your cat (if you have them)?
Do they go outside at all or are they stricly inside? (my pet peeve is random cats using my yard as a litter box so I would not want to have our cat wandering the city).

Ta!