Thinking of getting a cat/kitten

[Riponian]

As the title suggests we are thinking about getting 2 kittens or cats and want to know more about having cats in OZ

 

We had 2 beautiful cats back in the UK but could not afford to bring them and they were getting on a bit so felt it best to rehome them. Wish we had brought them now!

 

 

I have heard rumors about your not allowed to let cats out at night? and to womder around people gardens etc?

What sort of things can you do to protect them against spiders etc? does a bite have the same effect on them?

 

Will probably rescue them if we get permission to have them in the house that is but want to research pros and cons before I ask etc.

 

Thanks you

Michelle

[Guest kangomik]

I dont know the inns and out's..... but they will eat spiders, not seen many cat's that don't

 

Get pet insurance if they do it over here, we have a guide dog puppy and it broke its leg, god only knows what the vets bill will be when he is right.

 

Spider make dogs ill, don't know if it's bites or ingestion, but cats will suffer the same i imagine.

 

As for roaming around, i thought thats whay you bought a cat, cos it never C:realmad:ps in your garden !

[Guest katsmajic]

Try the RSPCA for any cats/kittens, it makes sense as theyre all desexed/neutured, jabbed, microchipped and deflead.

We bought our cat over with us - and lost him on the road

We then got 2 more cats, (one kitten and the other a yr old) we've chosen to keep them indoors after losing Mr B but once we've moved to Aldinga we're having a pen built so they can go outside but be safe.

Mr B was bitten by a spider, spent the night in cat hospital and 2weeks on antibiotics - unfortunately cats go out looking for trouble...i found him trying to get down a drain once.

Down in Aldinga were concerned about the snakes rather than spiders etc - curiosity killing cats etc...hence the pen.

And sadly - as told by aussies - alot of aussie drivers would actually swerve to hit a cat than to miss.

Our 2 have a great life inside, they have toys etc and our kids and dog to keep them entertained...

 

As the title suggests we are thinking about getting 2 kittens or cats and want to know more about having cats in OZ

 

We had 2 beautiful cats back in the UK but could not afford to bring them and they were getting on a bit so felt it best to rehome them. Wish we had brought them now!

 

 

I have heard rumors about your not allowed to let cats out at night? and to womder around people gardens etc?

What sort of things can you do to protect them against spiders etc? does a bite have the same effect on them?

 

Will probably rescue them if we get permission to have them in the house that is but want to research pros and cons before I ask etc.

 

Thanks you

Michelle

[Diane]

We got our lovely clumsy waste-of-space cat Smudge from Wingfield Animal Welfare League. We bring her in at night purely because on the rare occasions we haven't she has been beaten up by another cat (I'm sure it raped her once - she was walking very oddly and had been bitten on the back of neck, poor baby!) During the day she hangs around outside under our shrubs, apart from when she comes out into the park with me and the dog for a walk. She frequently travels by drain (for instance to cross the road or to duck out of site of another dog). There are snakes around in the park, but she has been lucky so far (a friend's cat was bitten by one and cost a fortune in vets bills, so that's something to be aware of) but I haven't had a Huntsman spider in the house since we had her, and she catches and eats the daddy long leg type spiders for me (i'm not good at housework so she finds quite a few!)

 

Other thing to bear in mind is if you are the type of family who likes to head off camping for weekends, you'll obviously need to either pay someone to look in on the cat/clean its tray etc, put it in a cattery (not cheap) or have good friends/neighbours that will pop in for you.

 

Having said that though, she is a very rewarding pet - I'm far more of a cat person than a dog one, and it is still really funny when the birds in the park divebomb her, and she runs up a tree to escape them but forgets to get her claws out, then falls off halfway up! She's lovely, really......

[minkyme29]

We have a cat and live on a street where there are loads milling about most of the time. I always ensure that she is in at night and we're lucky that she stays fairly close to home during the day too.

 

Many Australians (according to the forum on Catworld) keep there cats either indoors or in an outside run...to stop them being trapped (by people who think they're a threat to local wildlife) and to stop them being taken or harmed by snakes or creepy crawlies.

To be honest, with regards to the threat on local wildlife, I reckon keeping your cat in at night will help as that's the time they're most active and likely to seek out prey.

 

The RSPCA has LOADS of kittens and cats at the moment - I think it must be breeding season for them as they're website appears to be overrun with cats of all shapes and sizes! And yes you get the added bonus of it having been desexed and vaccinated.

 

Good luck with your search for a cat.

[Riponian]

ooo starting to get excited now. We would probably keep them in a night anyway, I just hope we can have one/two

[Guest Messua]

We brought our cat over from England when he was 2 years old. He settled very quickly once he arrived and was very happy here until he passed away last August, aged 12. We were lucky because he hated spiders, so there was never any danger of him getting close enough to be bitten. We recently adopted a lovely kitten from a private home in Salisbury. He will also be vaccinated and micro-chipped asap and will not be allowed out at night because I heard that certain people catch them for food, but I have always kept my pets inside at night. They might be able to see in the dark but they are not easily seen and no-one but our family is going to care about their safety.

[Guest nishman]

Had ours over here for nearly 4yrs with no miss-haps so far. They don't tend to roam far during the day (lazing under bushes) and one doesn't go out on a night (she's 21). The other tends to come to life about 5pm, so usually has a mooch about outside in the evening. He's never liked being cooped up on an evening (as the MIL's vinyl floor will tell you!) so has been known to stay out all night (not if it's wet or windy - he doesn't like his fur getting messed up).

There are plenty of cats abroad after dark - I don't think it's not as rare as it's made out to be over here.

[moggies2]

Had ours over here for nearly 4yrs with no miss-haps so far. They don't tend to roam far during the day (lazing under bushes) and one doesn't go out on a night (she's 21). The other tends to come to life about 5pm, so usually has a mooch about outside in the evening. He's never liked being cooped up on an evening (as the MIL's vinyl floor will tell you!) so has been known to stay out all night (not if it's wet or windy - he doesn't like his fur getting messed up).

There are plenty of cats abroad after dark - I don't think it's not as rare as it's made out to be over here.

 

So did you ship out your oldest cat or did you just get an old Aussie one? I'm so relieved to read your message as I have been worrying about bringing ours over - you hear so many bad cat stories. We moved ours over from the UK to NZ just over 3 years ago. They are now 18 and we are bringing them over to Adelaide at the end of March. We have never let them out at night - as you say just let them have a mooch at sunset . They both have a few health 'issues' but we wouldnt leave them behind, especially having dragged them to the other side of the world already. I made contact with the vets in Glenelg but if anyone can recommend another one at all it would be great. The male cat has fluids weekly for kidney probs so we need to find a good vet.

[Guest Guest5035]

As the title suggests we are thinking about getting 2 kittens or cats and want to know more about having cats in OZ

 

We had 2 beautiful cats back in the UK but could not afford to bring them and they were getting on a bit so felt it best to rehome them. Wish we had brought them now!

 

 

I have heard rumors about your not allowed to let cats out at night? and to womder around people gardens etc?

What sort of things can you do to protect them against spiders etc? does a bite have the same effect on them?

 

Will probably rescue them if we get permission to have them in the house that is but want to research pros and cons before I ask etc.

 

Thanks you

Michelle

 

 

Just don't buy them from a pet shop, use the RSPCA or the Animal Welfare League.

 

Stevo

[Guest nishman]

moggies2 - Yes, we brought the old cat over with us and she'd had both her thyroids out in the 6 months before we came. At the end of the day, as long as the vet (UK) says they're fit to fly, and you they're up to it, they can go

[Guest katsmajic]

I know its common to see cats out at night - as common as it is to see dead ones on the road side

weve picked up 3 on our road alone before our Mr B died (hence us keeping him in as much as poss only for him to get run over at 8.15am as we left the house for school)

[Guest rachinadelaide]

We brought our 2 cats over 5 years ago and they have been fine. We keep them confined to the garden (we have a lip of chicken wire all around the fence and perspex wrapped around a portion of the trees so they can't climb them - we are truly mean!!).

 

I believe there are some councils that have a curfew for animals to stop them being out after dark but I don't know which ones.

 

Rach

[Guest mimasawrus]

We are building in Aldinga Beach exciting isn't it

 

Laurax

[MacLeods]

I have a beautiful cat called Ginger Lady and what a lady she is...., she only pops out to do her Private Business and then its straight back in to watch TV, she would not entertain the idea of staying out all night as she is not that kind of girl…..

She has had some unwelcome attention from a neighbouring Male but he seems to have got the message now... she is nearly a year old and we wouldn't be without her....x[ATTACH=CONFIG]5344[/ATTACH]

[arleneloveskapunda]

There's a 'no-kill' cat shelter at Ingle Farm. It's called 'Help Save The Furry Ones'. Check them out on Facebook or google.

 

We have three cats, one likes to bring snakes back into the house with her. So far she's only been bitten once. Anti-venom and 2 nights at the vet cost $485! I think that was a bargain but that's country living for you.

 

Check with your local council what the by-laws are, I think everywhere is different. Out here in Kapunda you're allowed to keep 4 per house.

 

ADOPT don't SHOP

[Guest lindagarrattley]

Hi Michelle

When you are ready, Jackie from Lucky Lodge in Reynella East (she is on here sometimes) will help you out, as she has a cat rescue/cattery.

[Riponian]

Hi Michelle

When you are ready, Jackie from Lucky Lodge in Reynella East (she is on here sometimes) will help you out, as she has a cat rescue/cattery.

 

Thanks but this is an old post :-)

We rescued two little male cats from the RSPCA at Lonsdale over two years now, Rolf and Harris.