Mr Jazzington Plink III - my cat and what's it like to own him! (Owning a Cat in General)

Member Name: MrsLim

Product:	Owning a Cat in General
Date:	03/06/09 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: They love you if you love them!

Disadvantages: None whatsoever!

I want to write a comprehensive review which hopefully will give you an idea of what it is like to own a cat before you actually go out and get one.

Background:

Firstly, let me introduce to you my background.

I have never owned a cat before. The only pets I had were fishes and those stupid sea monkeys and they were all rubbish! I use to revise for my exams at my best friends house and her cat would come a sit on my lap. After that, I was hooked but I couldn't get one because me and my mum lived in a flat and the management rules said no pets.

My husband grew up with two cats and so is very experienced in terms of how to look after one.

Our Jazzington Plink III (aka Jazz):

Christmas came and we decided to pop down to our local RSPCA cat shelter to pick a cat. We got there and was taken to the room where the cats were kept. As we were going round, we looked into a particular cage and a little 5 month old black and white kitten came running up to the window and meowing. He was so tiny! My husband told me he shouldn't be so small for his age and we later found out that he had been abandoned in a cardboard box.

He, along with his brothers and sister had been left in the car park of PC World. The RSPCA rescued them, but then he became really poorly and had to be separated from his siblings and hand fed (hence the reason for his stunted growth). When he got better, all his siblings had been adopted and he was left alone. He had been at the shelter for over 2 months, which incidentally is a really long time, especially for a kitten.
So we took him home and named him Jazz. It was my husband who gave him the ridiculously long name. My husband has a really short name (3 letters) and it's always bugged him, so he didn't want to inflict that on our cat(!)

Jazz is now nearly 2 years and is extremely active and healthy.

Cat Psychology:

A dog is not just for Christmas, same goes for a cat.
Please consider before you choose to have a cat that it is a living animal A cat needs love, to be nurtured and to be provided with the survival basics of food, water and shelter. In addition, a cat needs to be mentally stimulated, just like a person and because of this, time must be invested in looking after a cat.

I've always said that, if you look at it at a purely time and financial perspective, a cat is a hindrance - it will never be able to provide for you in your old age and it is completely dependent on you. However, the satisfaction of when the cat recognises your love and loves you back is the most amazing feeling in the world.

Adoption, Pet Shops and Gifts!

Personally, I would never take a cat as a gift or worse, purchase a cat from a pet shop. There are so many cats which have been abandoned because they didn't make the grade of a pedigree or owners who are just too lazy to have their cats neutured and therefore, churn out litter after litter each year, either to sell or abandon.

I've had so many cat owners tell me stories about where they found their abandoned cat - Jazz was in a cardboard box in a car park and Puffy (my neighbour's cat) was found meowing in a dustbin, with the dustbin lid on top.

The RSPCA along with the other animal charities do a fantastic job at looking after abandoned and unwanted animals. All they want is the best for the animals - a good owner, a good home.

The adoption process at the RSPCA is very simple:

1. Go to a registered RSPCA cat sanctuary and find the kitten/cat for you. Bear in mind that the RSPCA's general rule is that a kitten under the age of 6 months cannot be left on its own for more than 6 hours a day, so if you work during the day, you will need to choose a cat of 6 months+. However, I have known this rule to be waived.

2. The sanctuary will then arrange a RSPCA officer to come and scout your home, to ensure that it is adequate for the cat. We were told that this usually takes up to 5 working days but because a RSPCA officer was immediately available, the officer was able to follow us home and to do the check then and there. The examination on takes a max of 30 mins.

3. Go back to the sanctuary and do the necessary paperwork and pay the adoption fee. Two years ago the fee was £60 and this came with a range of benefits. You will need a pet carrier to take the cat in but you can buy a cardboard carrier from the RSPCA for £3, along with the other cat essentials (litter tray, food bowl, toy and food).

Advantages of Adopting with RSPCA

1. All cats are microchipped. A small, rice-size chip is inserted under the skin at the back of the neck. The chip has a long number which is registered with PetLog, the national pet logging database, along with the owners contact details. So when a chipped cat gets lost and is found, it can be scanned and all the information on how to find the owner is brought up.

2. Neutured. Again, a major bonus. Someone will have to correct me on this but I don't think you can have this operation done for free if you buy or receive a unneutured cat.

3. Fully vaccinated. If you receive a cat as a gift, the cat may not be fully vaccinated. First year vaccinations can cost any where between £100-200.

4. Full health checkup completed.

Wrecking the Home and Disipline

If you are interested in a kitten, you will need to bear in mind that it is a young cat and has not learnt all the skills it needs to be as nimble and well-balanced as an adult cat. Expect knocked vases, scratches on the arms of the sofa (this occurs when the kitten misjudges the height of the sofa, misses and clings on to dear life as it tries to claw its way up to the top - a very funny sight!), torn toilet roll everywhere, getting stuck up trees because it didn't realise that trees are really high up and the use of its claws (to play with you and to use you as a climbing frame). You have to be very patient with a kitten when it is doing this but you can use the time to also disipline the kitten.

I've been told that lightly tapping the end of the nose of the cat will shock the cat enough to know it was a bad thing that he did. However, that doesn't work on our Jazz. Instead he responds to the simple and short "no" and a loud hand clap. We started disiplining him around the 6 month mark, when he was allowed to go outside into the garden.

It's up to what you allow your cat to do and not do. We don't let him do the following:

1. Jump on the kitchen counter (hygiene)

2. Jump on the coffee and dining table (hygiene)

3. Jump out of windows (it's ridiculous - he's got a cat flap and he still chooses to take the harder and more dangerous route!)

4. Sleep on the bed (cat hair!)

5. Using his claws and biting (absolute "no, no"!)

Jazz at the age of 2 has mastered all the above and only has gone one step further. He recognises that all the above are absolutely prohibited but when we're at work during the day, he can get away with ALL the above!

Because of that, you will need to make sure you haven't left any food out, otherwise you'll be playing hunt the chicken bones around the house when you come back from work.

Fun, Drugs and Belly Rubs!

As a cat ages, it will become less interested in playing games with you and so take the opportunity of doing this with your cat when you can. It is true, cat's absolutely go NUTS for string!! I've no idea what it is, maybe it's the way it moves when it is dangled in front of them but they will chase a piece of string around all day! However, please be careful with string and don't leave the cat to play with it unattended as they to like chewing and eating it, which can tend lead to complications and surgery.

Catnip, cat drugs - not all cats react to this but Jazz loves the stuff! We will roll around purring like a kitten, licking his toy and rubbing it all over himself.

A little trick I've learnt, if you do get your cat quite young, try to encourage it to roll over and expose it's tummy for a belly rub. If you get him use to this, he will let you do this when you see him. From what my husband has told me, cat's don't tend to like having their abdomen's touched so get them use to it at a young age. I'll never have a dog but Jazz rolling over for a belly rub is as close to him doing dog stuff as I will get!

Independence and Dependence

A cat will look after itself most of the time. Jazz has got into the habit of not using his litter tray and running out into the garden, even if it's raining, to do his pees and poos. He also spends a lot of time outside which he seems to love so I would say a garden is essential. He's got lost once, at 9 months - came home a wreck, must have been so scared! But they are clever enough to find their way back most of the time.

The RSPCA was feeding Jazz dry Iams and that is what we have stuck with. Although, he does prefer wet food! Dry food, however, is better for their teeth, so consider giving your cat a mixture of both.

Overall:

I can't wait to go home every day because I know Jazz is always there to greet me with excessive purring and head rubbing. It really is one of most satisfying things owning a cat but of course, that satisfaction comes from putting effort into looking after it. If you have any questions about cat owning, please feel free to message me and I will try my best to answer your questions.

Summary: They will love you forever if you love them back!