[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Alvin Mpower

Looking for advice. Single dude renting, trying to get a companion. How many of you leave your dogs alone at home when you work a 9-5. How has that worked for you? Thinking about a dog or a cat, or maybe both. Thanks.

Cats are good in the house alone and will be so happy to see you when you get home. They are very good companions. And yes, agree to go to your local shelter. Also agree to adopt an adult; kittens get adopted easily and adults sometimes get left behind. Most cats do fine in the house on their own so you should be okay. Most shelters neuter or spay and give the necessary shots before adoption as well.

[flybigjet]

When I was single and flying a lot, I'd be gone 4 days at a time. I had two cats.

They had an automatic self-scooping litter box, automatic feeders and water bubblers with a large reservoir.

When I left, I'd leave the stereo in the family room on low for them with the channel set to something with voices-- usually NPR.

The cats did fine. 3-4 days was (and continues to be, if my wife and I go out of town for a few days) a non-event and they were always happy to see me-- they'd both be by the entryway when they heard the garage door opening.

Of course, NPR might not have been the best choice as sometimes when I'd come home, they'd be marching around the room with little kitty signs over whatever the hot topic of the week was!

R.

[JJ 911SC]

My kind of pet...

[Alvin Mpower]

Hey guys, just got my first cat! Domestic medium hair, I named him Ahris! He is 2.

Thanks for the guys that helped me decide, I might still end up getting a dog later down the road!

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Alvin Mpower

Hey guys, just got my first cat! Domestic medium hair, I named him Ahris! He is 2.

Thanks for the guys that helped me decide, I might still end up getting a dog later down the road!

Cool cat, cool name. Congrats.

Get toys; they like to play.

PS - That's how old our current kitty was when we got her. She's going to be 12 this year.

[Alvin Mpower]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Cool cat, cool name. Congrats.

Get toys; they like to play.

PS - That's how old our current kitty was when we got her. She's going to be 12 this year.

Already bought a bunch from Petco haha!

[Maynard]

Conagatulations, beautiful cat. With that hair, you NEED one of these; our girls love them.

https://www.amazon.com/KONG-ZoomGroo...%2C158&sr=8-43

[Pauly Wauly]

Originally Posted by Alvin Mpower

Hey guys, just got my first cat! Domestic medium hair, I named him Ahris! He is 2.

Thanks for the guys that helped me decide, I might still end up getting a dog later down the road!

Congrats! Beautiful cat. Great choice, too.
Cats are a lot easier to take care of than dogs if you are not going to be home most of the day.
Like flybigjet, I also have an automatic feeder and an automatic scooping litter box for those occasions when we are not going to be home for a few days. They work great and when we get home after being away for a few days, she is so happy to see us that she goes nuts running around the house with excitement.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Alvin Mpower

Hey guys, just got my first cat! Domestic medium hair, I named him Ahris! He is 2.

Thanks for the guys that helped me decide, I might still end up getting a dog later down the road!

Glad we helped. Beautiful cat!

Here's a pic of our cat. Her name is Samantha. She's been with us for almost 10 years now. She’s sweet and we love her very much.

[R BMW]

If you want to have fun also, get some cat nip.
Everyone will love it.

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by alvin mpower

hey guys, just got my first cat! Domestic medium hair, i named him ahris! He is 2.

Thanks for the guys that helped me decide, i might still end up getting a dog later down the road!

give the kitty snuggles.

Right the frell now!

[Alvin Mpower]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

give the kitty snuggles.

Right the frell now!

Haha, he doesn’t snuggle much, but he loves to be petted. He also sleep all day everywhere around the apartment lol.

[UncleWede]

DEFINITELY needs some catnip

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Alvin Mpower

Haha, he doesn’t snuggle much, but he loves to be petted. He also sleep all day everywhere around the apartment lol.

He already looks settled in.

Cats are known to sleep between 12 to 18 hours a day. I think my old girl sleeps more than that.

[Alvin Mpower]

Questions about bringing cats on long car rides. I tried to search this on Google but mostly just some general stuff. I definitely going to put him in the carriage and suspend the carriage between back seat and front seat so it doesn't move. I do long drives from Central VA to Rhode Island couple times a year, its 9.5 hours non stop but I probably will stop to chill with my friend in Jersey so it's probably gonna take 13-14 hours. I'm curious on how my cat going to handle the speed of my M4. I drive pretty chill 90% of the time, but sometimes I get bored I will do some pulls especially another M car pull next to me and want to do some runs. Would fast acceleration scare the cat? How sensitive are them to acceleration? When I brought him home from Humane Society it was only a 3 minutes drive, and I was driving like a grandma. I might try bring him in my car this weekend to see how he handle 10-20 minutes of car ride, also gonna have to bring him to vet next weekend so he's gonna have to deal with that too. I will try put him in the carriage for about 5 minutes a day and give him treats while he is in it to feed him positive feelings. Hope he don't pee himself in my car. He peed himself last night while I was trying to vacuum, bro is terrified by that thing.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Alvin Mpower

Questions about bringing cats on long car rides...

I've had cats all my life and none of them ever enjoyed a car ride but I wish you luck with that. And yeah, they don't like vacuum cleaners either. lol

A Roomba or similar vacuum I've seen on the web they had fun with. No experience myself.

[Maynard]

It is a very individual thing - most of ours HATE car trips, but our first just loved it. I've never been comfortable sedating them, but that is an option. Gradually conditioning them to like the carrier is a good move. Do avoid the hard pulls and high-g's as that really throws them around inside the cage and likely will freak them out. And also be really careful that they don't get loose at a stop - I wouldn't let them loose inside the car or they can hide under the seat and can make a break for it as you open the door.

For our cross country trips we got these really big carriers (they are hinged and fold flat, but at least 2 feet on the long edge). They fit a small 8x10 litter box and bed inside. No way on a 9 hr trip you won't get some pee, so put down tarp, bring extra towels. If you want I can try to find the make/model.

And if you aren't going to be gone for very long he'd probably prefer to just stay in your place by himself, or if you got him from a rescue they may be willing to board him for you for a bit. Ours are cool with 2 or 3 days if we just leave a pile of food, and they make autofeeders for this (but good to have s/b to look in just in case). We once had to turn around for something and got back to the house after about 45 minutes to find that our little terror had almost totally gobbled 3 days of food in that time.

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by Alvin Mpower

Questions about bringing cats on long car rides. I tried to search this on Google but mostly just some general stuff. I definitely going to put him in the carriage and suspend the carriage between back seat and front seat so it doesn't move. I do long drives from Central VA to Rhode Island couple times a year, its 9.5 hours non stop but I probably will stop to chill with my friend in Jersey so it's probably gonna take 13-14 hours. I'm curious on how my cat going to handle the speed of my M4. I drive pretty chill 90% of the time, but sometimes I get bored I will do some pulls especially another M car pull next to me and want to do some runs. Would fast acceleration scare the cat? How sensitive are them to acceleration? When I brought him home from Humane Society it was only a 3 minutes drive, and I was driving like a grandma. I might try bring him in my car this weekend to see how he handle 10-20 minutes of car ride, also gonna have to bring him to vet next weekend so he's gonna have to deal with that too. I will try put him in the carriage for about 5 minutes a day and give him treats while he is in it to feed him positive feelings. Hope he don't pee himself in my car. He peed himself last night while I was trying to vacuum, bro is terrified by that thing.

Talk to your vet.

From Google since they said what I would've said:

"In cats, gabapentin is commonly used as a pain medication. Clinical research also shows it is very useful in cats to reduce fear and anxiety with stressful situations. This may include: Car or plane travel."

We've used it many times with our cats. Work good, last long time.

R.

[Alvin Mpower]

I was able to get him in the carrier and fed him a bunch of treats after. I got scratched for the first time, bro's leg got me when I picked him up. He got pretty calm after treats and I sat it down in his hidden place for like a minute for him to get use to. Then I took him to my car just to see where I can fit this thing. Unfortunately it was too big for the gap between passenger seat and back seat, couldn't set it down. Could not fit in the passenger seat gap too, the door won't close. The only way to put it in either on passenger seat which leaves some wiggle room or back seat and put the seatbelt on it, pull it all the way so it tightens up, that's the only secure way. Not gonna let him run free in my M4, I don't want any leather to be scratched. He already got my gaming chair which I don't care, not my M4 seats though. I searched up cats can hold pee and poop for 24-48hours, so I'm no worrying about him littering. Only worrying about him get scared and pee or poop himself.

[MassWholeBimmer]

My good boy.. Riplie

[Track/S]

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Track/S

Nice comfy looking spot for a good looking cat.