What you need to know
Breed gives you a rough idea, not a guarantee. These 21 sections apply to any cat that comes through your door, pedigree or moggy, and each one covers what you really need to know before you decide and for the rest of its life.
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Section 1
A cat is a 15 to 20 year commitment
A well cared for indoor cat now lives 14 to 18 years, and plenty make it past twenty. Think about your life fifteen years from now, not next week.
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Section 2
What a cat really costs
Food, litter, vaccines, parasite treatment, neutering and the odd surprise. In Spain, a healthy adult indoor cat costs somewhere between €600 and €1,200 a year; prices elsewhere vary, but the items are the same.
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Section 3
Where your cat comes from matters
A shelter, a street colony, a private home or a registered breeder. Each option has its warning signs, and in Spain selling cats in pet shops is now banned.
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Section 4
Kitten or adult cat?
A kitten is adorable and exhausting; an adult arrives with its personality already formed. For many people, especially first-time owners, an adult is the better choice.
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Section 5
The first days at home
A quiet room, the same food it was eating and no rushing. The first few days decide how long it takes to feel at home.
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Section 6
The litter tray: where, how many and how
Peeing outside the tray is the most common problem cats and owners run into, and it almost always comes down to the tray or to health. Setting it up properly from the start prevents it.
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Section 7
Scratching, marking and territory
Scratching is not a bad habit or revenge: it is how a cat marks, looks after its claws and stretches. What you choose is where it scratches, not whether it does.
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Section 8
Play and an interesting home
An indoor cat is a hunter with nothing to hunt. Ten or fifteen minutes of good play, several times a day, prevents a good share of problems.
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Section 9
Indoors, outdoors, balconies and windows
In a city, an indoor cat lives longer and better if its home is set up for it. Balconies and windows are the big danger almost nobody plans for.
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Section 10
With children, dogs and other cats
A cat can live very happily with children, dogs and other cats, but almost never straight away. Slow introductions and an escape route make all the difference.
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Section 11
What a cat eats and how much
The cat is an obligate carnivore: it needs animal protein and nutrients it cannot make itself. A good complete food, in the right amount, is half of its health.
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Section 12
Water: a cat drinks less than it needs
The cat descends from a desert animal and barely feels thirst. Getting it to drink enough protects its kidneys and bladder, which are its weak spots.
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Section 13
How a kitten grows
In a year it goes from about 100 g (3.5 oz) to almost its adult weight, and large breeds keep growing until three or four. Each stage needs something different.
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Section 14
Weight: the most common problem and the least noticed
A large share of indoor cats are overweight, and most of their owners do not notice. A few hundred grams too many already matter in a 4 kg (9 lb) animal.
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Section 15
The medicine you do before anything happens
Vaccines, parasite treatment, neutering and a yearly check-up. It is the cheapest part of your cat’s health and the one that saves the most heartache, because a cat hides illness until the very end.
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Section 16
Choosing a vet and making visits less of an ordeal
A stressed cat at the vet hides symptoms and is harder to examine. A clinic that knows how to handle cats and a carrier it is used to change the whole visit.
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Section 17
Persians, flat faces and breeds built on mutations
Extreme-type Persians, Exotics and Himalayans, Scottish Folds or Munchkins. They are lovely cats with health problems that come from the way they have been bred.
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Section 18
Cats and the law: the example of Spain
In Spain, Law 7/2023 on animal welfare, in force since 29 September 2023, requires cats to be microchipped and neutered and regulates feral colonies, with regions and town councils adding their own rules. Elsewhere the rules differ, so check your own country’s.
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Section 19
Travelling with a cat, or not
Most cats do not enjoy travelling: their home is their territory. When it has to happen, a good carrier and a bit of preparation make it bearable.
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Section 20
When your cat gets older
From ten years old a cat is a senior, and old age can last another eight or ten years. Catching changes early is what gives it the best quality of life.
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Section 21
Saying goodbye
The day comes when treatment is no longer enough. Recognising it and planning it with your vet makes the end peaceful for your cat and a little easier for you.