Getting started on owning a cat isn’t easy, especially if you’ve never had a pet before in your life. So someone on r/AskReddit took to asking people for their own personal advice to first-time cat owners.
Starting off with a tip by u/Head_Dull, who said that most kittens tend to act “wild” as that is their primal instinct. If new cat owners want a more calm cat, this user advises them to get an older cat. A reply to their comment added that until around the 5-week mark, their kitten tended to climb things and put things in their mouth. Small parts warnings aren’t just for human babies!
A slightly critical one is that sometimes cat movements and break-ins have interchangeable noise. A reply to this comment stated that they had a break-in once that they thought was just their cat. Oops!
A long comment by u/petrogradsky dealt more with the debate on declawing versus trimming, and advised people that trimming was the way to go, as it will not involve what is essentially amputation. A reply added to the comment with a quote, “If you can’t manage caring for an animal with claws then don’t get one to begin with.” Several users also shared their experiences with having adopted a pre-declawed cat. They all said that their cats always looked like they were in pain. One even tried not to hold a grudge against third’ previous owner.
This one advised new owners that keeping a litterbox clean is a top priority, as it will prevent the cat from peeing all over clothes and furniture. Cats never like a dirty litterbox people!
On the more playful end, new owners should have lots of room for photos! After all, cat photos are the new currency of the Internet. Way better than actual currency.
Another user, u/HicSuntStulti, told readers that one of the major things one should know before owning a cat is that they are reciprocation. That meant that they will do to you as you do to them. It will take work for a cat to love you, but it eventually will.
There are many more comments on the original post, many good advice and tips that will surely help someone’s cat-owning journey.
