Cats? Breed, Hunting, Bills, Care?
ByWell me and my family have been thinking about getting a cat as a pet and to hunt mice as we find lots of rats in our pool and we can’t get an exterminator cause of the dog. I have a few questions about cats, and i want to buy a kitten instead of adopting a cat from the RSPCA but i might at the same time. My questions are:
1) What is the best hunting breed for cats? only hunting mice,rats,insects but not birds.
2) Can you train a kitten and a cat how to hunt? and how?
3) Are cats very expensive pets to keep? tell me how many vaccinations a year and things like that.
4) I heard that if my dog scares my cat away that my cat will never return home is this true?
5) How do i get my cat and dog to get along?
6) How do you toilet train a cat?
Please tell me the most honest way possible and thankyou for answering!
2 Comments
March 9th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
1. Cats are very curious and will try to hunt anything. They are best at catching small rodents such as mice and rats because they are very agile and can chase them at high speeds. They will try to catch birds but wont be quick enough because the bird will probably fly away. Any cat is good at hunting unless it is taught not to which is very difficult.
2. You don’t need to train a cat how to hunt. It’s instinct, they know how to anyway because of their ancestors.
3. Kittens should have two sets of vaccinations when they are kittens, but this should be done by the time they are 12 weeks old. They are not very expensive to keep, but they will need an annual checkup to make sure they are healthy.
4. If the dog chases the cat away, the cat will come back. Cats always come home no matter what.
5. You have to introduce cats to dogs slowly. You have to be patient. Make sure that you always supervise the cat and dog when they are together.
6. You dont need to toilet train a cat. Its mother will teach it to either go outside or in a litter tray. Cats are very clean animals and wont want to make a mess anywhere it’s not supposed to.
I hope I could help you!
March 9th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Seriously if you want a cat that knows how to hunt (and you cannot train it to only hunt certain things) you need to locate a farmer in your area and get a kitten about 6-8 months old that has been taught by its mom to hunt outside.
It will be a mixed breed – not a pedigree. Most ethical breeders have contracts where you cannot have an outside cat – it should stay inside – so forget about looking for a specific breed.
The best hunters are mixed breed barn cats.
Cats are less expensive to keep – you need a initial series of 3 shots (8, 12, 16 weeks) and then shots every two yrs (used to be yearly but they found the vaccinations last longer). Your cat has to be neutered or spayed before its allowed outside.
The dog and cat have to be introduced slowly and you cannot have your dog chasing your cat under any circumstances. If your dog is a terrier type, that may be hard to do – depends on the dog and how well trained he is.
And if your cat is gonna be outside hunting a lot, then why would you want the cat to be toilet trained inside? Unless you are a talking about a litter box. The mother cats teach their babies to use the litter pan.