Sharing your home with a feline friend can have its disadvantages as well as advantages. Many people enjoy the companionship that a pet brings to their life, but when you own a cat the idea of companionship brings on a whole new meaning. Today I’m going to share the pros and cons of owning a cat to help you decide if owning a cat is the right decision for your household.
The Pros of Owning a Cat
Easy to Raise
Cats really don’t require much maintenance from you. As long as you keep their litter box clean and provide them with access to water and food they’ll pretty much tend to themselves. This is a huge plus to not have to be constantly rushing back to the house to let your cat out to go to the bathroom. You can even travel for a weekend getaway and come home to a well-maintained cat.
But note that some breeds more than others are very attached to their humans. I get a stern yelling at from my boys when I abandon them for an extra long work day. Which also means I will get lots of cuddles from my buddies later. This is why they tell you to get kittens in pairs. It lets your furry friend have a pal to hang out with when you are off working.
Entertaining
If you haven’t seen funny cat videos online, then you’re missing out. Cats are rather entertaining and can give you some much-needed laughter after a hard day at work. Even if your cat is just lying around, the positions cats lay in can be entertaining alone.
It’s a common misconception that cats have no personality and that is what makes dogs better pets. While dogs are great companions as well, cats are packed with their own unique personalities just like us! In fact we joke that one of our cats is like a dog. He plays fetch and follows my husband around the house. He has been labeled officially has my husband’s sidekick.
Looking to step up your cat’s toy game. I highly recommend reading our list of toys that our cats actually play with.
Not a Large Space Requirement
You will hear with dogs that people want to wait until they have a bigger house or a backyard. Cats don’t need anything fancy. Giving them some high perch spots, toys and a warm place to sleep and you will find you cat is content.
Rodent Free Home
While your cat will want to play with rodents before they actually kill them, you can rest easy knowing that your home will be a rodent free home. Cats are generally speaking good hunters who can capture any rodents or similar pests that gain access to your home.
Thankfully, my indoor only cats haven’t had any rodent battles but we have had some bug showdowns. Here in Florida there is an abundance of bugs. Nothing entertains my crew more than watching a fly in the house. It’s pretty funny to watch a cat attempt scaling a wall. However, it’s handy to know when a fly, wasp, or some other flying insect is trapped inside the house. I think the highlight for the cats so far is the one time a tiny lizard managed to make it in. Normally, they just get to chatter at the windows to the lizards outside.
Best Bud for Life
When you adopt a cat they become your companion. Never again will you come home to empty house your new furry faced friend will be there waiting for you.
Especially with our cats we have had since they were young kittens we have notice that strong attachment. One even runs to the door to say high every time I get home. But you don’t have to just get them young. When you become their care taker and food source that bond can even be built with older cats.
The Cons of Owning a Cat
Litter Box
One of the biggest cons of owning a cat is that you have to clean a litter box. This was quickly solved in our house by making the switch to an automatic litter box called Litter Robot. If you are not looking for that big of an investment you can always start with a top entry cat box.
A cat’s litter box can smell even when you keep it clean until you find a litter that works well to eliminate those nasty odors.
Not to fear too much we have some helpful tips on how to get the cat smell out of your house .
Fur and Shedding
In addition to the litter box, cats shed a lot so you’ll have cat hair everywhere. I gave it and well their is hair everywhere in my house. We do our best to stay on top of vacuuming and have added some air purifiers to the house as well. If we were better about brushing our cats once a week this problem would be a whole lot less of a problem.
Cat Allergy Friends
For some reason, there is a large number of people who are allergic to cats. This can make owning a cat rather difficult when it comes to entertaining guests, having a partner in life or even having kids. Some people can tolerate being in a cat owner’s home, as long as the cat doesn’t go near them though.
Scratching Furniture
Cats are not only natural born hunters, but they like to and seem to need to scratch on things. This means that your favorite furniture may end up the victim to your cat’s scratching habits. Not only can cats scratch furniture on purpose, but they may scratch it on accident simply because they have claws.
The best solution to this issue is providing your cat with its own furniture to scratch. Make sure to have scratching posts or cat trees station throughout the house for your furry pal.
Getting Scratched
Cat claws that are not maintained can really hurt! First you should learn your cats boundaries. Some cats just simply don’t like have their bellies touched for example.
We find out best defense is keeping our cats nails nicely trimmed. The second we notice it hurt when the knead our laps that’s when we know it’s trim to give their nails a groom. As well there is also a nail cap on the market. It’s a silicone cap that goes right over a cat’s claw. We haven’t used these but other people have with success.
High Cost of Veterinary Care
When any animal gets sick the cost to take to the vet can be quite costly. When we had one of our cats diagnosed with Kidney disease we were shocked at the bills that came in ($1,000s of dollars for hospitalization) as well frequent trips with his chronic condition added up.
Of course, not all cats will end up with a chronic illness and typically cats only need to go in once a year for an annual checkup. It’s an important thing to consider before taking on a cat.
Conclusion on Cat Ownership
There you have it, a list of the major pros and cons of owning a cat. Having a cat in your home can be a wonderful experience. There’s the entertaining side of it, as well as the ability to have a home free of rodents. Sure your cat may scratch your furniture or their litter box may smell, but you can work with your cat to try to ensure they have scratching posts and that you find an odor eliminating litter to put in the litter box. If you love cats, some of the cons of owning a cat may not even bother you.
Sheila Black
Wednesday 18th of January 2023
The following is a section in your article...."When any animal gets sick the cost to take to the vet can be quite costly. When we had one of our cats diagnosed with Kidney disease we were shocked at the bills that came in ($1,000s of dollars for hospitalization) as well frequent trips with his chronic condition added up.
Of course, not all cats will end up with a chronic illness and typically cats only need to go in once a year for an annual checkup. It’s an important thing to consider before taking on a cat."...............Kidney disease is often caused by a lifetime of not enough moisture in a cat"s diet, by being fed kibble. They are going to be candidates for kidney disease; due to chronic dehydration in a long term diet of kibble.Kibble contains, at most 10% water. Wet food contains at least 70% water. A cat cannot possibly drink enough water to make up for that huge amount of moisture loss. It is fair to say that the pet food companies who sell kibble as a healthy diet for our cats ( and dogs) should be ashamed for telling awful lies about the benefits of kibble for our pets. For putting profit over all.