Adopting a Cat: A Guide to Finding Your Furry Friend

Heartfelt Assistance

Offering Help to a Stray Cat

City streets,小区 lawns, and university lake edges are often frequented by stray cats. They might have been abandoned or are the offspring of feral cats.

Perhaps you stumbled upon them by chance, or they may have approached you for food. You feel the urge to help.

Do you have something special in mind to feed them? Share your bubble tea or chocolate cake with them. But be cautious, as your actions could potentially harm these animals.

Maybe one of them catches your eye, and you feel a pang of sympathy, wanting to take it home as a companion.

Before making that decision, it's important to be aware of some basic cat care knowledge and the costs involved in pet ownership.

Can your financial situation and living environment support a potentially sick cat, and are you prepared to endure the joys and sorrows it brings, ensuring you won't abandon it again?

Stray cats often have shorter lifespans and may have health issues that led to their abandonment.

For your health and safety, it's best to have a stray cat examined by a veterinarian and dewormed before bringing it home.

It's not cheap to care for a stray cat.

Of course, while others may not be overly demanding morally, you should treat the cat well, at least better than when it was on the streets.

When you can no longer care for the cat, it's best to find a good adopter or release it back into the wild.

Joining a city pet adoption group might be helpful. By joining some city adoption groups or organizations, you can regularly find abandoned cats, some for a fee and others for free.

But generally, there are adoption agreements like the following.

Adoption Agreement 1

Adoption Conditions:

1. Window sealing must be done before adoption! A video confirmation is required.

2. Lifetime responsibility, no rehoming.

3. Feed healthy and reliable food, be financially independent.

4. Family approval, stable residence.

5. Sign an adoption agreement, accept followups.

Willing to provide identity information as a guarantee to ensure the cat's health and safety in the future.

(For example, upload a photo with the words "Only for Adoption" on your ID card or directly sign the agreement)

Adoption Agreement 2

Adoption Conditions: Deposit of 250 yuan, refundable after three months if no issues with the cat.

Of course, there are also less stringent adoption agreements and more openminded abandoners. Like the first adoption agreement, it's almost like a indentured servitude.

Not only do you have to guarantee the cat's future health with your identity information, but you also have to endure regular followups, and you must be responsible for the cat's care for life, not finding another adopter, and following the abductor's way of caring for the cat.

The second set of adoption conditions is relatively less stringent, but requires a 250 yuan deposit. You don't know if the cat has any issues or if it can survive to three months, and whether you can find the abductor after three months.

Abandoners' Common Logic

Because I can't give it a stable life, I want to find it a stable life; because I abandoned it, I can't let it be abandoned again, so the adopter must be responsible for it for life.

Adoptable Breeds:

Free adoptions usually only include abandoned Chinese Lihua cats.

Abandoners or intermediaries are usually people who can no longer care for cats, cat food or pet product sellers, pet hospitals, or some animal adoption organizations.

Chinese Lihua cats can be bought for a few dozen yuan each, which is not as expensive as a bag of cat food or a single health check.

Purebred cats are generally not available for free, and if they are, they are very scarce, and you are unlikely to have a chance.

Free is the most expensive.

If you want to help a abandoned cat out of love, and if you just want to save money, consider buying a healthy Chinese Lihua cat for 100 yuan.

This money is not enough to cover the medical examination, deworming, and treatment costs for the adopted cat.

Purchasing a Lihua cat is likely to reduce the number of stray cats, as it is likely to become a stray if released outdoors.

Adopting a stray cat and purchasing a Lihua cat both contribute to reducing the number of stray cats, and you have made a contribution and shown your love.

Cat food is more expensive than the cat itself.

Because I Like It

For no particular reason, I just like it, and I want to get it at the lowest cost. The lowest cost is actually to buy it directly.

Buy a Cat You Like

Selecting a Cat Breed

Some common pet cat breeds: American Shorthair, British Shorthair, Siamese, Persian, Norwegian Forest Cat, Ragdoll, Maine Coon, and Devon Rex.

When keeping a cat as a pet, there is no need to pursue high prices or bloodlines, such as Ragdolls, which were also hybrids before becoming a breed.

Choose a petgrade cat that you like, is healthy, and doesn't cost much, which can be covered by 12 years of cat care expenses.

Raising a Kitten from a Young Age

It's best to keep a kitten from around 3 months old, as it's too young to be separated from its mother, which could lead to death or behavioral disorders (23 months are the key periods for a kitten to learn from its mother).

The kitten is the cutest at this stage, with its fierce and adorable appearance.

Cats are also more closely connected to us.

We also need to teach them many life skills, such as using the litter box, automatic waterers, automatic feeders, and pet toys.

Choosing an Adult Cat

Adult cats are more mature in body condition, and even if the previous owner has done a good job in socialization, their habits and training are relatively easy to maintain. However, adult cats may find it difficult to bond with a new owner after changing homes.

Do You Prefer a Male or Female Cat?

Female cats can give birth, while male cats cannot. This is their biggest difference.

During the kitten stage, male and female cats are not very different in size. After they grow up, male cats are generally more robust and larger than female cats.

Male cats are more attractive to female cats, which is more in line with our aesthetic preferences.

The cheeks of male cats are more prominent than those of female cats.

Male cats are more likely to spray urine and mark territory than female cats, but female cats will also do so when they feel insecure or during estrus.

Urine marking is different from regular urination. Urine marking is tilted and spreads in a comet shape, while regular urination is vertical to the ground and spreads in a circular shape.

Female cats are more likely to meow than male cats.

If you are renting, it may be more suitable to choose a male cat.

In fact, the personalities of male and female cats can vary greatly.

Generally, male cats are more playful and lively, with a higher level of aggression; female cats are more reserved and timid, with less aggression, usually because they are afraid and retaliate.

How Many Cats Should You Adopt?

Raising multiple cats from a young age can provide them with playmates. When you're not home, the cats can play together and won't feel lonely.

Cats raised together from a young age can effectively prevent fights, with the most they can do being playful, rather than fighting like stray cats downstairs, which can lead to injuries and bleeding.

This also avoids the need for multiple litter boxes and food bowls.

The best combination is to raise two cats from a young age, one male and one female.

If you plan to add another cat to your home after your adult cat has grown up, it's best to choose a cat of a different gender.

If you already have an adult male cat at home, it's best to adopt a female cat, as this will make the work easier.

It's best to avoid bringing another male cat into the home if you already have an adult male cat; even if you do, don't put them in the same area, and prepare separate litter boxes and food bowls for the new cat, and keep them separated for a while to establish territories.

It's better to adopt a new cat if you already have a female cat at home.

How to Choose a Cat

Always choose a cat in person if it's not from someone you know well.

Whether it's a cat farm or a pet store, they often sell cats online through small videos or photos. Don't make reservations online; just pick the one you like.

Always choose a regular cat farm or pet store to see the cat in person before making a reservation.

First, observe the cat's appearance in person to determine if it's the cat you like. Pet stores may have many similarlooking cats, and online purchases may not be what you want.

Second, observe the cat's living conditions and environment, as well as its health status. Regular cat farms and pet stores have aftersales guarantees to prevent you from buying a sick cat.

Cats with diseases will cost a lot of money, which may even be higher than the cost of buying the cat.