Cute.
As a long time cat owner let me give you some advise:
- Beware the wires. Kittens love to chew on them.
- Cats ARE trainable - especially if you get them as kittens. Takes more work than a dog. Talk sweetly and coo when you want to reward good behavior. Speak loud and sternly when they misbehave. Trust me they understand. BE CONSISTENT. Buy some cat treats to reward good behavior. I like to buy the soft Pounce treats. Give them a treat after trimming their claws, or anything else they don't like. All my cats pretty much lay there and purr now when I trim their claws (3 are de-clawed, but still have their rear claws).
Just remember they will test you. All my indoor cats have been trained to have no desire to go outside. I can leave the doors wide open and they'll stop at the threshhold as if there's a force field there. Occasionally one may bolt if he/she sees a small bird or lizard (instinct) but they usually immediately slink back tail between their legs ESPECIALLY if I yell at them.
The one exception is a tom cat who loved to escape just to tease us. He goads you into going outside to chase him because he loves to be chased. I finally broke him of that habit by scaring the crap out of him. I went outside and yelled like Zeus on Mount Olympus throwing thunderbolts while bashing the side of the shed he was hiding under with a metal trash can lid. Cats don't like loud noises. He ran back inside and hid for an hour and has been an angel ever since.
All my cats are also trained not to beg for table scraps (if you never give them any, they never develop a taste for it). I often have people remark on how we can be eating dinner with 5 cats walking around us and none of them are begging for food or even looking at our food. REMEMBER human food is NOT healthy for Cats (or dogs). Our food has way too much sodium in it and a few other chemicals that they have no mechanism to remove. It will shorten their lives.
My cats are also trained to stay off desks and tables. Chairs and beds are okay in my home. Buy them a scratching post or two (the ones with hemp rope are the best) and discipline them if they try to scratch anything except the scratching posts.
My cats are also NOT aloof. If I'm going to feed that animal, clean it's litter, and spend a fortune on the vet over it's life, I want some affection in return. All our cats are very affectionate - you can train them to be if you want a cuddly cat. While they're young, hold them a lot. Make them sit in your lap (just remember they'll be restless as kittens), if you don't mind them in the bed have them sleep on the bed with you. Not unusal for us to sleep wit 3 of our 5 cats in bed with us. If I sit in the living room recliner, my Calico will always come to curl up in my lap as soon as she hears the recliner mechanism from anywhere in the house.
- Be aware that cats are nocturnal. Over time they will adapt to your schedule and sleep a good portion of the night but their normal instinct is to sleep during the day and play or hunt at night. Kittens will get VERY frisky starting around dusk. Cold makes cats even friskier. On a cold early morning don't be surprised if you get woken up by cats playing.
- Even though they love to play in the cold (cats playing in snow is just too fun to watch) they also love to sleep in warmth. Cat fur is unique in that it's a very good insulator: keeps them warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Cats can stand it a lot warmer than we can. I saw a documentary once about a modern blacksmith who had a cat that loved to sleep by the forge. He would sleep so close that he would sometimes singe his fur. You do have to train cats not to sleep under the bed covers unless you like sleeping in cat hair.
- HAIR (and it looks like you have a couple of long hairs). Unless company is coming over we keep separate cat sheets on the couch, recliners and bed covers. We just buy plain cheap sheets, or use old worn sheets. They go on top of things to keep the hair off the bed covers and upholstery. Keep enough spares so you can wash one set while using another set.
- Any vet will tell you that the healthiest thing you can feed a cat is DRY food. They live longer, their teeth will stay healthier. You can either use a continuous feeder (which is what we do for the indoor cats - outdoor gets fed once a day) or feed them yourselves. Read the directions on the bag but usually for adults a half cup a day is recommended. A little more for kittens until they're grown.
Some people tell me their cats won't eat dry food but this is BS. They may walk away the first day but trust me they WILL eat and enjoy the dry food if it's the only game in town. My cats are so used to dry food that when one of them had some teeth pulled he wouldn't eat the canned food the vet recommended for a few days.
I buy the generic Publix store brand cat food. Cats DO NOT CARE what color the food is, or what shape it is. The main reason I buy store brand is because it has NO FOOD COLORING. Cats cough up hairballs (oh lets not be polite - they VOMIT). If you don't want your carpet and furniture to get stained orange by food dye, stick with non-colored food.
- Keep their water CLEAN. #1 health hazard for cats. They like to play with their water and they will contaminate it (after burying their poop in the litter they'll walk over to the water feeder and dip their paws in there). Don't let slime grow in the water. A smooth continuous water feeder (no cracks and crevasses to capture germs and mildew) or better yet, a ceramic bowl is best. Keep it clean.
- It costs a LOT but at least once, and maybe twice in their lives (more often if you feed them canned food) you need to bring them to the vet to get their teeth cleaned. Ask your vet if there's a month that he gives discounts on teeth cleanings - ours does (some vets may charge up to $300 for a cleaning but this includes pulling any teeth that require it, and they have to be anesthetized). I would recommend doing it around their 7th year and 14th year. There will always be a couple of teeth that need to be pulled.
Your cat WILL NOT show pain if he has an abscessed tooth. They hide it, but it will cause them severe pain and also affect their health as the infection spreads.
Enjoy! Cats are fun. Especially while they're kittens.
