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The Responsibility of Owning a Cat

There are few things more appealing than a cute, wide-eyed fluffy kitten. Sadly, every year thousands of unwanted kittens, many of them diseased and neglected, are put to sleep, or worse, simply dumped or destroyed in inhumane ways.

Cats make marvellous pets. Particularly for busy people, older people and in houses or flats with not much space, as they are fairly easy to care for and generally do not require the space and attention of a dog. They are affectionate, clean and rather independent. However, before taking that cute little bundle of fluff home, consider the responsibilities involved.

You must be prepared to be committed to the cat's care for its lifetime, which may be 15 years, occasionally longer. Too often cats are dumped when they grow out of the fluffy kitten stage and lose their novelty.

Cats are very prolific breeders; thousands of kittens result from one female cat and her offspring in her lifetime. Some councils now have laws enforcing the compulsory desexing of cats, this benefits the community and the lives of the individual cats. Desexed cats live longer, are healthier and don't contribute to the feral cat population. Even if you find homes for the kittens your cat has, you are reducing the chances the chances of cats and kittens in shelters being rehomed - resulting in higher than necessary euthanasia rates amongst animal shelters.

Although cats are easy to care for, they do require feeding, annual vaccination, worming, de-fleaing, de-sexing and occasionally boarding. All of these needs can be expensive. There are specific considerations too; longhaired cats need daily grooming, some cats require special diets and some breeds are predisposed to medical conditions.

Once you have thought these things through, talked it over with the family and are prepared for these responsibilities:

• arrange a warm comfortable sleeping place, such as a basket with a regularly changed blanket.
• provide kitty litter in an accessible place if your cat is to spend much time inside.
• feed a balanced, healthy diet at regular times each day.
• have male and female cats desexed before or at 6 months of age.
• cats must be registered in all Australian councils and many councils require your cat to be confined or adhere to a curfew.

Always transport your cat in a secure box or basket as they tend to panic and can easily escape from your arms, this is especially important when bring your cat into hospital for an annual check-up or procedure.

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