- Your Budget
- Your Schedule
- Your Lifestyle
- Your Personality
Keeping a cat can cost you as little as $10 a month. As for Andy and I, we spend $100-$200 a month on our three cats, which is about $50 a cat a month. There are owners out there of course who spend a lot more, buying better food than ours, providing their cats lots of beds, furniture and accessories.
If you are on a low budget, get a cat that is very easy to care for - shorthaired, adult cat. Longhairs need a lot more grooming. Pedigrees need better food, and may be prone to genetic problems, which means higher vet costs. Kittens need a lot more food.
Schedule
A kitten needs almost round-the-clock attention: feeding, playing, cleaning, clearing the poo. You cannot leave him alone throughout the day by himself. If you have to, you will need to get him a pen to keep him safe, with food and litter tray close by. This means extra cost; refer to 'Budget' above.
An Oriental or Siamese cat will be lonely when you are out at work and she is at home by herself. She will need company, so it will have to be two cats, or lots of toys, or a 24-hour radio to keep her from being lonely.
Or you will need to get an independent type of cat, who doesn't mind being alone at home in the day by herself.
Lifestyle
If your hobbies are activities like staying at home and reading, watching telly, pottering around the house, cats are definitely more for you. However you can definitely rope your cat in to your outdoor social activities by getting a kitten - especially Siamese and Orientals - and bringing him around with you with a harness or leash. If you prefer a lot of alone-time when you are at home, you will need cats that are less active and attention-seeking, or else get them plenty of independent type of toys.
Personality
Do you like physical affection? If you like hugging and making cats purr, you will do well with cats that have that kind of affectionate personality. That should be a deciding factor when you choose your cat, not whether she has pretty fur. If you simply enjoy looking at your cat snooze next to you while you read, cats with Persian genes will do very well for you. If you enjoy making your cats pretty, then you will enjoy buying her accessories like pretty collars, cute cat beds and the like. If you like grooming your cat to make her look and smell great, you will do well with breeds like Persians which benefit the most from daily grooming. If you enjoy dinnertime with your cat, watching him eat greedily, you need to choose a greedy cat!
For to-be cat-owners, hope this helps you decide on what kind of cat personality you are, and what personality your prospective new cat should be.
