Background… My daughter is single and works at the local library, so she doesn’t earn much money. She was living with her boyfriend and they broke up. Rent is very high, even for small one bedroom apartments and she couldn’t find an affordable place. To help her out, we bought a small cabin/tiny-home that my brother owned and moved it to the property behind our house. The bed was in a loft and we were concerned about her going up and down the ladder so I added a small bedroom for her. The cabin has unfinished hardwood floors, and the bedroom has luxury vinyl planking.
She wants a pet. Since she works and the space is small - it wouldn’t be fair to a dog, so she wants a cat. One of her coworkers has two sibling kittens that my daughter wants. They are bonded to each other, so they wouldn’t be lonely while she is at work.
She is still hurting from the relationship ending and the kittens/cats would provide her some comfort. I don’t expect that she’ll start dating anytime soon.
My concern is the pee and poop on the flooring while they are being house trained. We’ve never had inside cats (one outside cat years ago) so I don’t know what all is involved in the process. We intend to sell our house in the next 5 years and the cabin will need to go with it. I don’t want it the floors to have a smell of cat urine that can’t be removed.
Are my concerns justified? Any advice or suggestions?
I think what you are really asking is how to get cat smell out of the cabin. Because you are going to let her get the kittens.
I’ve only had one indoor cat and he showed up at my back door 11 years ago completely litter trained so I am no help there. But I have had dogs forever. They make really good enzymatic cleaners that get rid of the stain and the smell.
Your fears are justified, now text her to get the cats and go get her some cat supplies.
My experience with cats over the years has been they have trained very easily right from the get go. The one caveat can be if they develop a urinary tract infection, then they may go out of the box. My cats have always been indoor cats besides neuter/spay front declawing is the price for admission.
The normal time you would get a kitten is eight weeks after birth. The whole litter is bonded and don’t have a problem being split up bonding with whoever gets them. If they are older and have always been together it may be more of an issue. Plus your daughter would be #1. Unless your daughter’s friend insists they come as a package. Just food for thought.
Solve the cat pee problem if/when you’re faced with it. I think it’s too early to be worried about it.
Kittens and cats are fun & entertaining. They’re a commitment. They will restrict freedom— lots of good things restrict freedom, though. They live a long time, which I think is a pain in the ass. But cats can be rehomed if the need arises, & they are adaptable.
I like indoor/outdoor cats personally because they have fuller lives, live shorter lives, hunt & catch things, and just generally look great in a garden or yard. A happy outdoor cat is a happy sight.
We have had many cats. They litter train really fast and as long as litter box available only pee elsewhere if they are ill. Cats like all animals tend to have vet bills these days. If daughter is really attached to cats will she be able to pay a 2000 dollar vet bill for a bladder stone vs putting the cat down etc. She could buy pet insurance maybe not a bad idea.
Cats are easily trained, but things can go wrong. Especially when they are anxious or sick. We have two cats. One of our cats will pee on any towels left out and sometimes on furniture if she is feeling anxious. Never on the hardwood floors. But both cats will occasionally throw up.
We also occasionally feed out neighbors cat when they are out of town. The anxiety of them being out of town gives that cat diarrhea and she will do both that and pee in their carpet. So we cover the area she does that in newspaper.
We brought home our kitten at 13 weeks old. Completely litter trained already. Cats are smart about where they pee and shit. Unlike dogs, who sniff pee and eat shit, cats are fussy, fussy, fussy. They don’t mess where they live unless (as others have said) they are ill. And cat pee is difficult - but not impossible - to get out of stuff.
Cats are great. Hugely underestimated. My only regret with our one cat is that we don’t have four.
I’ve often read that taking two kittens is preferable to one. Some breeders pressure buyers to take two for this reason. Ours didn’t, and our kitten was f… expensive.Even so, in retrospect I really think I fell for the false economy of not buying two.
Two kittens/cats keep each other company. They are also twice as much fun to have around and to observe. In your particular circs, if the two kittens are bonded (which means they play nicely together, and sleep together), it would, I suspect, be a bit mean to separate them. Cats like stability - change their surroundings and they will get stressed (something that can cause them to be skittish, or pee in places they shouldn’t).
Once a cat has spent a bit of tie with its humans and mapped out its territory, it can become territorial and that can make it difficult to introduce a second cat.
Cats are relatively low maintenance: ours has needed the vet only due to getting an infected wound, and a massive furball (he is long haired) that blocked his digestion. He is now 14, and the excess (deductible) we have had to pay for vets (as we have insurance) over that period is pretty limited.
For food, yes, two cats will mean double. But a cheap chicken, butchered and poached, should keep two kittens fed for long enough that you’d have to freeze some of it. Cheap white fish fillets are also a good option, as are leftover scraps of lamb, beef, duck, pork, turkey - basically any cooked meat or fish as long as you trim the fat. I don’t think we have ever fed ours tinned wet cat food.
I’ve had cats my whole life, in singles or in combos.
No to the cats.
Don’t get any pet, ever, if in an emotional state. Bad choice. Never give a pet as a gift, either.
Cats need a cat box +1 for proper hygiene. So, 2 cats = 3 cat boxes. Can your tiny home support 3x cat boxes in different locations? Each cat will want its own plus a spare. Also, has your daughter shown the capability to stay on the maintenance of boxes on a regular (daily) schedule?Bonded pairs stay bonded to each other and less so to humans. This availability of these cats seems convenient, not well-thought out.Who pays for all the cats? Tagging, intake vet checkout, long-term vet bills, food (hard and soft food).Indoor only or outdoor cats? Small houses = cats that will want to go outside, too.
Not a great plan IMO.
When we were a cat curious family we started by fostering with a plan to adopt. We started out with an adorable little kitten. After the kitten was spayed, she turned into a psychopath. My youngest daughter was in constant fear and my wife took to carrying around one of those horse heads on a stick to bat the kitten away when she pounced. We tried all sorts of approaches, but it turns out the kitten just needed more cats. We gave up on that foster and got a pair of bonded older cats. They have different personalities each with pros and cons and we are happy to have both of them. And when one of them goes a little psycho, they take it out on the other cat.
I tell my wife that the trick with vet bills is to remember that there are a lot of cats out there that need homes. Like boyfriends, one should be prepared to move on when they require too much maintenance.
Although I agree with the sentiment that getting something while emotional maybe not the best idea… but still - go for it!
We have 3 cats. Only 2 boxes. I clean the litter once/twice a day. If indoor/outdoor you won’t even have that. (But I’d keep a litter box until they are old enough to go out.) If you have 2 cats, one big box is okay so long as cleaned often.
That said, our cats are only indoor. Indoor means less chance of needing vet visits outside the basic shots. And no fleas/ticks or medicine for it.
They learn the litter box easy, it’s not even an issue. They learn it easy and crazy young. Only time they have gone outside the litter box is when accidentally locked in a room too long, or when I got the 3rd, one of the others was anxious for a bit. When you first get them you just keep the cats in the bathroom with the box to make sure they understand, which they will, and then you can move it where the least amount of smell - just show them where it is. I also did buy an air filter because I’m paranoid about car odor.
They are great, and although they possibly keep each other company as adult cats now, I don’t think they would care too much if they were solo. And we can go away for a few days at a time without anything checking in on them. Easy. (Just gross litter box on return but they still use it.)
I would highly recommend scratching posts. Our first two took to that easy as well - the third has ruined our leather couch by scratching it. Plants can be an issue, we can’t keep plants or one of them is always eating at it, and then puking. So there’s another downside.
My vote is yes. (despite my ruined couch, which needs to be replaced anyway.)
litter training: as soon as she brings them home, put them in the litter box first thing. That should be the first thing their feet touch in the new place.
One kitten will do plenty of play on its own. Two will play together cutely. But one is an adequate companion. THat’s what I’d do to save some $
Don’t get any pet, ever, if in an emotional state. Bad choice. Never give a pet as a gift, either.
I understand the rationale. But with my dad, a lifelong stated dog-hater, we took the risk of gifting him a golden retriever puppy after he’d been diagnosed with a disease that wasn’t going to ever get better (COPD/emphysema) and became severely depressed.
Best decision ever. They took about 2 seconds to become the closest friends ever, and the dog unambiguously made the last years of his life far better than they’d have been otherwise.
