Last summer we were introduced to a Burmese cat through a close relative. Michael held the cat and it was like he just melted into his arms. He felt heavy and his coat was so silky. He didn't push away or scratch and bite. He just laid there like a puppy. Up to that point we very much disliked cats. "We were dog people" I had met some mean cats before.
Finding your kitte - When we got home I began searching for all the information I could about this breed of cats. I looked for cat merchandise and red all I could find on cat behaviors and how to blend a cat with dogs. It was a European Burmese cat and from all I read, they are very "dog like"cats.I began searching for a good cattery and found one. To my great surprise, at some point my husband got it, how seriou I was as there was an E-Mail from a Cattery sending us information about kitten's available. Cattery names are registered with the Cat Fancier's Association (CFA) which is the equivalent of the American Kennel Club (AKC) for dogs. After watching the kittens grow over the internet we chose which one we waned, we were soo to be cat owners.
Pre Planning-Expenses - Consider all the expense that will come with a cat. Picking out a kitten or cat at the local animal shelter is a much less expensive and may be a more gratifying choice. They usually are spade or neutered with all their shots. Pedigree's have different medical issues depending on the breed. Understanding cat behavior would be new to us. Feeding Bowls, Food, Litter Box, Carrier, Collar, leash, bed, toys, first Vet visit so your own vet can check your kitten out, are all expenses to prepare for.
Floor Plan - You will need to plan where to put the food and water, litter box, bed, toys. The liter box should be in a private place and not to close to the food. The toys should be where you can play with your kitten and enjoy watching them play. They litter may bother some people, because they kick it up when they bury their business. It gets dusty and what they bury smells really bad. Picking up kitty You may be going to pick it up at the airport, going to the Cattery, meeting somewhere or they may bring it to you. Some Cattery's will want to come to your home to be sure the environment suits your new kitty. You will need your carrier, a blanket or some cat apparel, some snacks, a toy or two, maybe the cat collar and leash. I met my breeder and kitty half way at a vet, because he needed one more shot. That worked out well because he had a cold and was started on antibiotics which the breeder paid for.
Bringing Sid home - I brought Sid (Siddhartha Moses Michael) home in his carrier. We had never used a carrier for a pet but I am really glad we bought one for Sid. He loves his carrier and hangs out in there a lot. Seems like strange cat behavior to love being in a cage. He had a URI and was on antibiotics, had the sniffles and watery eyes, seeming or looking like cats cry.We learned through our vet that the weeping eyes was just part of his URI. We had his litter box set up and just showed it to him and that's all we needed to do. We bought one of those automatic ones and it is awesome. I swear he thinks it's a toy. It rakes when it senses he has been in there within 10 minutes. He has that figured out and jumps in what seems like every hour.
Introducing Sid to our two dogs was the next task. This was, we felt, our biggest challenge in introducing our cat to the two dogs and where we would be learning a lot about cat behavior problems. We have a Chinese Shapei named Missy and a long haired dachshund named Lady. To our great surprise, with slow introduction of the cat and dogs, all went very well. Sid, the cat, took to the two dogs very quickly and as stated above, was and still is very dog like in his behavior including how he gets along with the dogs. These two dogs owners feel we have successfully begun to master the art of owning a cat in a home that used to be the palace for two dogs.
Janet Michael
[http://www.sidcitykitty.com]
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