Frequently Asked Questions

Owning any pet is a big responsibility and you have to remember that kittens grow up and become cats who will be with you for many, many years. If you understand that you and your child are in this thing for the long haul and you can't just get rid of the cat if you tire of it, then it will work out well.

Cats make wonderful companions. Keep in mind a few things, though. You want to get an older cat, one that is mellow and well-trained, not a young and playful kitten or a skittish one. Secondly, make sure you have a back-up plan for the cat if your mother ever reaches the point where she can no longer care for the cat. Who will take it in and give it a home? You can't just boot it out the door.

That really depends on the cat. Many cats do very well by themselves, but animals get lonely just like people. If you have a single cat, you need to make sure you give that cat the love and TLC that it needs to thrive. Some cats at the shelter have already formed a bond with each other, especially if they are young siblings. These cats are often much happier if they are adopted together. If you will be away all day at work, two cats can give each other the companionship that they need while you are gone.

It is probably best to bring your new cat home when there aren't a lot of people around to create noise and excitement, and don't let it loose to wander in the whole house when it first arrives. Think about how huge and overwhelming a new house must seem to a small animal - full of strange objects and smells. Decide ahead of time on one room where your cat will stay until it adjusts to its new surroundings. Make sure the litterbox, food and water are easily accessible in that room. After a few days, if your cat seems settled, gradually introduce it to the rest of the house.

Don't change your cat's diet suddenly or you might upset its digestive system. Always ask the current owner or the people at the shelter what kind and brand of food the cat is accustomed to. Use that kind for the first little while and if you want to change the food later on, do it gradually. Mix the two foods together at first, decreasing the old kind and increasing the new kind a little bit each day until the cat is totally weaned from it and eating the new food. (See more information below under Everyday Cat Care.)

Cats are very fastidious animals and love to be clean. That characteristic, plus the fact that mother cats are really good at house-breaking their kittens, means that you should not have too much trouble. You really should keep your new cat in one room or a small area of the house to begin with and gradually let it find its way around more and more of the house. So put the litterbox in the room with the cat (preferably where you plan on keeping the box in the future) and as soon as you bring your new cat or kitten home, just put it in the box once to show it where it is, and the cat will be able to find it whenever it needs to.

Like any other adjustment that a pet needs to make, you must introduce the current pets to the new cat gradually. If you don't, the current pets will feel that their territory is being threatened, and they will not take too kindly to the new cat. Also, the new cat will have twice as much to deal with - a totally new, perhaps frightening, home and other animals that are strange to it. If you carefully help the animals adjust, usually they will learn to accept each other, and even become the best of friends (even if one of them is a dog). Remember, though, that the younger an animal is, the more easily it will learn to live in harmony with other animals. If your other pets are mature animals, and have been with you for some time you might want to consider adopting a kitten, instead of a grown cat.

Proper nutrition is important for healthy, long living cats. Not all catfood is the same. When you go to buy your cat food, make sure you read the label and try to avoid artificial additives and meat by-products (which could be just about anything and not always that edible). It is better to buy good quality cat food rather than trying to save a few dollars by buying the cheapest brand you can find. Keep a bowl of fresh water out for your cat at all times, and don't feed it milk. No matter how much your cat loves cow's milk, it is not compatible with your cat's digestive system, and could cause upsets.

Cats can be perfectly happy indoors, and they will be much healthier and safer if you don't let them go outside. There are many dangers outside - from disease to other wild animals who could harm or even kill your pet to cars on the roads that your cat does not understand how to avoid. Cats who live outdoors, or are allowed to spend time outdoors have a much shorter life expectancy in general. So many people have tragically lost their pet because they thought they were doing them a favour by letting them roam around outside. Do your cat a favour and keep it indoors - and you will have a very long and happy relationship with it.

Cats instinctively want to scratch to keep their claws healthy. But whatever you do, don't take your cat to the vet to have it declawed. That is not the solution and it is quite inhumane. When a cat is declawed, it not only loses itsr claws, but part of its toes, and the procedure and recovery is quite painful. If you keep its claws carefully trimmed using the proper equipment, and give the cat its own scratching posts or toys you will be able to prevent it from scratching your furniture. Of course, at first you need to train the cat to choose its scratching posts and not the furniture. But if you are consistent in your expectations and gentle in your reproof when it makes a mistake, both your cat and your furniture will be able to coexist in harmony.

There are many different kinds of kitty litter in the stores, and most of them are quite good. Clumping litter is the easiest to maintain, because you can scoop all the wet and soiled litter from the box, without having to worry about it breaking up and being left behind to cause odours. If you have adopted a young kitten you may want to avoid using clay litter until it is older and bigger because litter may get caught in its paws and it will ingest the clay if it licks its paws. This clay does not easily pass through the kitten's digestive system and may cause serious health problems. For them, there is natural organic litter available.

The key to avoiding kitty litter odour is to scoop out the wet or soiled litter regularly - preferably twice a day. It will only take a few minutes and you can put it out with the kitchen recycling. Periodically you should completely empty the litter pan and clean it thoroughly with a disinfectant. If you keep your cat's litter box clean and dry, you will find that the cat will always want use its litterbox and you will not have 'house-training' issues.

Wrong. You cannot guarantee that you will not inadvertantly let your cat outside and if your cat is not protected against communicable disease, it will be especially vulnerable to whatever is lurking out there. Also remember that there are laws regarding vaccinations for rabies, whether the animal is kept indoors or not. When you adopt a cat or kitten from us, we make sure that the animal is completely up to date with its shots.

You should really consult your local veterinarian about this, but if your new cat has been fully innoculated, many of the vaccines, such as rabies, do not need to be done annually. They are given every three years.

Besides the obvious answer that if your cat is female, and it gets outside by mistake there is a good chance that it will come back pregnant, there are all sorts of other reasons why it is imperative that your cat be spayed or neutered. A female cat goes into heat regularly and when she is in heat she tends to 'call' day and night for a few days, which can become quite annoying. She is also at a higher risk for health issues such as uterine cancer. An unneutered male will spray to mark its territory, and its urine has a very strong, unpleasant smell. Both un-neutered males and un-spayed females have a stronger tendency to wander. They may get out of your house and come to harm. Many female cats that we rescue were outside because their owners did not have them spayed and they got out and became pregnant. The owners did not know what to do and did not want to deal with a litter of kittens, so they just abandonned their cat.