I have a cat now

[Gloves | 11,794]

Important update here: 

 

 

Honestly I've been super paranoid that he's gonna fall and break a leg or die while I sleep, someone please talk me down from the ledge on this. He's an adorable little sir and I want him to be happy and have freedom but I'm just so used to having a pet rabbit where a glance in her direction might kill her. How sturdy are cats, really?

Some stuff that kinda concerns me, some of which are easily fixed, others not so:

• We have slippery floors
• I have very sharp knives on display on the kitchen counter
• Stovetops get hot
• We have stairs which are themselves pretty slippery; he can run up them fine but running down them he ends up slip sliding around at the bottom, though he seems to walk that off
• I have shelves full of games that could potentially be hopped up onto, maybe those shelves could then fall?

Am I paranoid? Obviously I can put the knives away if I'm SO paranoid about that, but like... little dude likes to climb and jump and run and stuff and I dunno man it's making me all worried about his safety. 

Anyway he's named Larry, here he is:

[Hammerfestus | 3,860]

He’ll be fine.  I’ve seen some things.

 “Cats are natures most perfect predators” ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Tabonga | 2,324]

Despite their reputation as being graceful, cats are really clumsy.  That is offset by their innate ability to land upright all the time - and walk away looking like that itwas all part of a plan.  The truth is they don't weigh very much so it is hard for them to hurt themselves when they fall.

Invest in some toys - they are innately curious and love playing with things.  One of Loki's favorites is a flat plastic tray with a ring in it that has a plastic ball locked in the ring so he can bat the ball around endlessly.

 

You might want to buy a couple of catnip mice - about 1/2 of cats are affected by it and if they are they have a good time.

 if you spend time with them most cats are really affectionate - nothing more relaxing than a purring cat curled on your lap.

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by Tabonga

[Estil | 1,265]

4 minutes ago, Hammerfestus said:

He’ll be fine.  I’ve seen some things.

 “Cats are natures most perfect predators” ~ Abraham Lincoln

This is my favorite celeb cat lover quote by far:

[Gloves | 11,794]

21 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

One of Loki's favorites is a flat plastic tray with a ring in it that has a plastic ball locked in the ring so he can bat the ball around endlessly.

Memory unlocked, lol. I had one of those for my cat growing up, her name was Sheba. Loved that cat so much.

[Estil | 1,265]

1 hour ago, Gloves said:

Memory unlocked, lol. I had one of those for my cat growing up, her name was Sheba. Loved that cat so much.

I don't suppose that was also her favorite cat food brand?  

[Gloves | 11,794]

22 minutes ago, Estil said:

I don't suppose that was also her favorite cat food brand?  

Lol honestly I don't recall.

[DarkTone | 986]

Congrats on the fur baby. 

[Link | 2,714]

Slippery floors are fun and funny. 

Slippery stairs are not to worry about. As you say he's fine going up; he will learn to be careful enough going down. In the meantime, laugh at the pratfalls. Get video if you can. 

How are your kitchen knives displayed? I wouldn't worry about them on a magnet strip on the wall, or in a block. idk any other way to display them, aside from just scattered on the counter which is obviously not what you do. tldr: the knives will not cause a problem 

Hopefully a hot stove will not be a lesson he learns the hard way, but if it is, he should only need it once. Has he been on the stove specifically at all, or are you just worried because he seems to be on everything? I've had many cats in my life and never had this problem.

Climbing shelves is also not a problem I've run into. Scratching (the spines of my parents record album sleeves on the bottom shelf, or a very rough, string-textured wallpaper) is. So be wary of that maybe. But cats don't climb up vertical steps like that, it's practically an acute angle with the need to reach back over and around. When they do go straight up, like a tree (way less common than old cartoons would lead us to believe) it's with a surface, like bark, that their claws can hook into. 

I don't know anything about pet rabbit fragility. But kittens bounce around, much like baby goats, in play which actually serves a biological function not only to metabolize energy from food, but also develop their bodies. Falling and flipping is part of the growth process, and it's usually even fun. Much like human kids do on the playground. Play is so important to youth development. Anyway, search for 'cat fall' or something like that on youtube and get ready to laugh your ass off. 

tl;dr2: Cats are very sturdy. He's not gonna break himself. 

Welcome (back) to cat-having. They live long lives, even longer than dogs and twice as long as rabbits. My last cats made 16, (probably) 21, and 20 years old. And cats can be quite acrobatic, (and also clumsy af as @Tabonga mentioned. All of what he said, in fact.) This is free entertainment. Mine all pulled off impressive leaps at times, and they were all relatively small. Durable indeed. 

Look at this baby fall and still try to keep playing just fine.

 

[Tabonga | 2,324]

Invest in one of these - hopefully it will keep the kitty claws busy.

https://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-cat-trees-and-kitty-condos.html

[Estil | 1,265]

3 hours ago, DarkTone said:

Congrats on the fur baby. 

He's not a baby!  He's a man!  Mine just turned 11 (or 60 in cat years) last July 14!

[fcgamer | 4,729]

Congrats, this is so awesome. You'll have tons of fun with your new addition.

Things to worry about would be toxicity - be careful what plants you have around, make sure he isn't sneaking sips of your coffee or beer,  or pasta sauce with onions and garlic chunks, etc. 

Also, this shouldn't be a problem at his age but with male cats you really do need to keep an eye on their bodies, crystals frequently can form blocking them so that they cannot urinate. Just something to be cognizant of, make sure you pay attention to their bathroom situation.

[Richardhead | 2,813]

Congratulations! He’s super cute.

Don’t cheap out on his food and litter. Blue Buffalo is all Mr. Pickles will eat.

[Gloves | 11,794]

5 hours ago, Link said:

Slippery floors are fun and funny. 

Slippery stairs are not to worry about. As you say he's fine going up; he will learn to be careful enough going down. In the meantime, laugh at the pratfalls. Get video if you can. 

How are your kitchen knives displayed? I wouldn't worry about them on a magnet strip on the wall, or in a block. idk any other way to display them, aside from just scattered on the counter which is obviously not what you do. tldr: the knives will not cause a problem 

Hopefully a hot stove will not be a lesson he learns the hard way, but if it is, he should only need it once. Has he been on the stove specifically at all, or are you just worried because he seems to be on everything? I've had many cats in my life and never had this problem.

Climbing shelves is also not a problem I've run into. Scratching (the spines of my parents record album sleeves on the bottom shelf, or a very rough, string-textured wallpaper) is. So be wary of that maybe. But cats don't climb up vertical steps like that, it's practically an acute angle with the need to reach back over and around. When they do go straight up, like a tree (way less common than old cartoons would lead us to believe) it's with a surface, like bark, that their claws can hook into. 

I don't know anything about pet rabbit fragility. But kittens bounce around, much like baby goats, in play which actually serves a biological function not only to metabolize energy from food, but also develop their bodies. Falling and flipping is part of the growth process, and it's usually even fun. Much like human kids do on the playground. Play is so important to youth development. Anyway, search for 'cat fall' or something like that on youtube and get ready to laugh your ass off. 

tl;dr2: Cats are very sturdy. He's not gonna break himself. 

Welcome (back) to cat-having. They live long lives, even longer than dogs and twice as long as rabbits. My last cats made 16, (probably) 21, and 20 years old. And cats can be quite acrobatic, (and also clumsy af as @Tabonga mentioned. All of what he said, in fact.) This is free entertainment. Mine all pulled off impressive leaps at times, and they were all relatively small. Durable indeed. 

Look at this baby fall and still try to keep playing just fine.

 

This is the knife display:

My worry is that he might be like "ooh lemme rub my face on that". 

And this is the stovetop, as you can see it's flush with the rest of the counter, he's jumped up and walked across it a few times. 

[fcgamer | 4,729]

For what it's worth, my cat used to have the bad habit of sleeping on top of the toaster oven, as it's up high. I don't think he's ever gone up there when it was on though, aside from maybe once and I grabbed him and took him down immediately. If it's on / hot, I'd presume someone would be there using it, so just as you might a toddler, just keep an eye on him and I think it'd be fine.

I'd personally be more concerned about the knives, though mine are in a cube, something I purposely did for the peace of mind.

[Mega Tank | 966]

11 hours ago, Gloves said:

Some stuff that kinda concerns me, some of which are easily fixed, others not so:

• We have slippery floors
• I have very sharp knives on display on the kitchen counter
• Stovetops get hot
• We have stairs which are themselves pretty slippery; he can run up them fine but running down them he ends up slip sliding around at the bottom, though he seems to walk that off
• I have shelves full of games that could potentially be hopped up onto, maybe those shelves could then fall?

Congrats on the new addition. Like anything else, you need to adjust if you are this concerned. The slippery floors can be helped by adding carpets. We bought a Ruggable and it's been great. Every now and then one of ours has a little tinkle accident and it's awesome to just throw the whole rug into the washer. Stairs are a little trickier. but there are carpets as well. Eventually, slips like that with an older animal can be of great concern. Our dogs have adjusted to the stairs easily, but I fear in a few years we might have to limit them to being downstairs due to their age.

Personally, I wouldn't have knives exposed like that. Our cats would roam the kitchen, but we had our knives in blocks. Our cats never went near the stovetops when they were hot, but there are covers for this.

As for the shelves, cats find their way onto most surfaces. It all depends on the personality of your cat, some are less adventurous than others. I don't think there is a way prevent cats from trying to jump onto things, but bookcases with doors would be my way to go. I didn't start with shelving until my cat was much older, so I wouldn't know.

[Gloves | 11,794]

 

 

[Tabonga | 2,324]

These  are generally a big hit - and you get to participate too!

[fcgamer | 4,729]

Well I hope Gloves doesn't mind if I hijack this thread and ask another question (which also might be relevant to his situation anyways), but I have a leather sofa arriving at my place on August 8th. Thoughts on how I can prevent this from getting couchified due to the cat?

[Tabonga | 2,324]

2 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

Well I hope Gloves doesn't mind if I hijack this thread and ask another question (which also might be relevant to his situation anyways), but I have a leather sofa arriving at my place on August 8th. Thoughts on how I can prevent this from getting couchified due to the cat?

They used to make sprays that you could apply that would deter the little furballs - don't know how well they worked though.  

[Code Monkey | 2,011]

I got my first cat 4 years ago, still learning.

• I'd put those knives away, he'll end up rubbing against them without knowing they're sharp.
• I wouldn't worry about the stove, he'll feel the heat in his whiskers way before he steps onto it.
• Get a few scratching posts as he will get discomfort in long nails.
• Trim his nails often. You can do it yourself but need to really know what you're doing. Mistakes can be easy.
• Brush him often and he won't puke hair balls.
• Don't give him catnip, it's a hyperactive drug. I don't know why people feed this to their cats, it'd be like giving a child caffeine. Give him honeysuckle toys instead, it provides some of the same benefits without putting drugs into his system.
• I have the Ikea Billy shelves all around my house and I secure them to the wall with the little brackets that come with them. The cat can jump on any shelf and it won't topple.
• The cat doesn't jump on any of the Billy shelves for reasons I don't know. I have Wata graded games that can easily be knocked off and he hasn't bothered with them.

[The Count | 528]

 

[Gloves | 11,794]

FYI I've put the knives in a cupboard for the time being. I want to train him not to hop on the kitchen counter, but barring that and in the meantime, I'll keep them off the counter for safety. It's just a bit of a shame cuz my wife got me this nice magnetic display for my birthday a while back and I know it wasn't cheap (and I like it a lot).

[fcgamer | 4,729]

11 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

Don't give him catnip, it's a hyperactive drug. I don't know why people feed this to their cats, it'd be like giving a child caffeine. Give him honeysuckle toys instead, it provides some of the same benefits without putting drugs into his system.

Yesterday it was avocados, next week it's catnip. I'm looking into buying a few catnip plants to grow indoors to add green to the apartment, something my cat will also enjoy.

 

[fcgamer | 4,729]

2 minutes ago, Gloves said:

FYI I've put the knives in a cupboard for the time being. I want to train him not to hop on the kitchen counter, but barring that and in the meantime, I'll keep them off the counter for safety. It's just a bit of a shame cuz my wife got me this nice magnetic display for my birthday a while back and I know it wasn't cheap (and I like it a lot).

Yeah I think the display looks really nice, aside from the different knife handles. That being said, I think you've made the right decision at least to start, cats are robust but you also need to baby proof the place for a spell.