Choosing a Cat

Posted by Jeanne on February 3, 2009

There are many ways of acquiring a cat, and most of them happen to most people long before they ever think of going out and getting a cat in the proper manner.

The cat is a prolific creature, no question about it, and people who have cats to begin with soon have extra cats. Few things in life are free, but kittens are one of them. A cat owner may even insist on paying you a fee to take a kitten off his hands!

This turn of events does not qualify, however, as choosing a cat for you. Nor does adopting a stray that comes to the door or returning from the country vacation with one of the farmer’s cats or helplessly accepting the bedraggled kitten found and brought home by one of your children.

Picking a cat assumes you have none and intend to keep it that way until you find the cat for you.

This means decisions: Breed? Male or female? And, perhaps, how many?

Essentially, a cat does not ask for much, certainly not more than adult humans can provide. If you are prepared to feed, water, and house it, and let it live normally enough to stay fit (and take it to a good vet when it’s ailing), you rate having a cat – a Domestic Shorthair, anyway.