Types of low maintenance kittens?

Question

My name is Alyssa. I am a sophomore in high school and have one dog, a chocolate lab. My friend Renee has recently gotten me interested kittens. She has three cats and they act as great comfort and company for the days when she's feeling down, and they're so d**n cute! <3 I just wanted to know what type of kitten would be ok with my school schedule because I won't be home for a lot of the day. Does anyone know of any? Or are they all basically high maintenance?

Answer 1

- Toilet Training

- Regular feeding

- De-fleaing/worming

- Vaccinations

- Vet Bills

...can you deal with all of that?

If so, then get a kitten, but be prepared to spend lots of time and money on it (thats right, your money...not your parents!) All kittens need lots of attention and looking after and if your going to get one, there&#039;s going to have to be someone at home to watch him/her while your at school. If that can&#039;t be arranged, then don&#039;t get a kitten - maybe get an older cat. Also, does your dog like cats? If not, then DON&#039;T get one unless you want a dead cat (or parts of dead cat) around the house. Be prepared to have this cat for many years - they&#039;re not a novelty item that you can just get sick of and throw away.

Now that you&#039;ve read this, if your still wanting to get a cat or kitten, then make sure you get one from a shelter...there are so many who want and need good homes!

I suggest something short haired like a tabby or a black cat. I&#039;ve got both at home and they&#039;re great.

http://cats.about.com/od/newtocats/New_t...

Answer 2

I&#039;m sorry to tell you but, kittens need a lot of attention when they are young. They would get lonely and get into things around the house.  

Answer 3

ALL kittens are high maintenance

Answer 4

I have had cats all my life growing up.  I got the cat I have now, Fuji, while I was still working full-time, and they do just fine by themselves.  Cats are typically very independent creatures.  When they are really little you just want to make sure that anything &quot;dangerous&quot; is out-of-the way, and that doors you don&#039;t want them in at first are shut, etc.

My one personal recommendation for the type of cat is to get a male tabby.  I have had two of them in my lifetime  -- Fuji is a tabby ... here&#039;s a link to a photo of him as a kitten so you can see what he looks like:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2280/2331...

They tend to be very loving and gentle, cost less (because they are not pure-bred) and easy to take care of.

Whatever you end up getting, have fun with it!

Answer 5

I&#039;m with divineoomba - get an adult cat!  With kittens you really never know what they&#039;ll be like as ADULTS while with adults it&#039;s what you see is what you get - the personality is right there before you.  Shelters often have cats that have already been in prior owner or foster homes with dogs so they&#039;ll quickly get used to your dog.  Labs are one the sweetest breeds - I&#039;m sure your dog and a new cat would get along fine.  Just be sure to keep introductions supervised till you know they do.

As for &quot;maintenance&quot; all cats need quality (meaning not from the grocery store or WalMart) food, litter, toys and regular vet care.  They also need interaction time with you every day.  This not only gives your cat exercise and entertains him or her but it&#039;ll bond the cat to you.  There&#039;s lots of great feather/tinsel wands and toys with string and a &quot;lure&quot; on the end that you can wave and the cat can chase.  A shorthaired cat will require less grooming - you can brush them once a week and keep them free of mats.  Longhaired cats, however, need to be fully combed at LEAST every other day to prevent mats.

Cats are fine left alone all day if their owners are at school or work.  Most likely your cat will be snoozing the day away.  You can also put  bird feeders outside your window so he can watch &quot;bird TV&quot; during the day.  A kitten, though, like others already mentioned, needs MUCH, MUCH more of your time.  I&#039;ve adopted three adult cats over the last few years and they&#039;re all the sweetest, nicest, most loveable and playful cats I&#039;ve ever owned.  If it&#039;s OK with your parents and they agree to pay for it&#039;s food, supplies and vet care then go find yours!  http://www.petfinder.org

Answer 6

They are pretty high maintenance, but the older cat is a lot easier to care for. Don&#039;t get a kitten if you don&#039;t have the time

Cats are a dime a dozen (which means each and every cat has a different temperament)

Answer 7

I recently got 2 kittens, a little girl and her brother.  I work full-time so they are home alone a lot and they do just fine.  I think if I only had one that it would get lonely, but kittens really do occupy themselves.  Just make sure that you give them a lot of attention when you are around, they will ask for it by biting or scratching!  The only way that I would say they are high-maintenance is because of their kitten shots and going to the vet.  I have had to take both of my kittens to the vet for injuries and sicknesses in the month that I have had them and it can get expensive.  But I definitely think that kittens are much less maintenance than puppies.

Answer 8

Kittens are crazy, pounce on anything, have two modes, hyper or sleeping.  There is no such thing as a low maintenance kitten.  If you are going to get a kitten, and leave it alone all day, you will want to get two.  One kitten gets to be very lonely, and then destructive.

But, as a first time cat owner, I would advise getting an adult cat.  That way, its past the kitten crazies, and you can actually choose a cuddly cat that will act as a great comfort to you when you are down.  You don&#039;t know what the kittens will grow up to be, many cats are aloof and only want human contact on their terms.  

Go check out the cats at your local human society - that way you get to meet all the cats, and check out if their personalities will work for you.  Just go to http://www.petfinder.com,  type in your zipcode, and you will get a list of shelters near you.