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Choosing your Cat or Kitten is not always as easy as you first might think, there are a lot of things to be taken into consideration. You need to realize that a kitten is in essence a baby and as such requires a lot more time and attention than a grown cat does. It’s not to say that an older cat doesn’t require time and attention, but normally they are easier to care for than a baby kitten. If you decide to get a male cat you have to make the decision on whether or not the cat is going to be neutered. Just as a cautionary note, when a male cat is not neutered they tend to have a much different personality. You might find that they spray urine all over, will try to roam, and might just pick fights with other cats if there are  any in the house or outside. When you choose to neuter them, you will be able to avoid a lot of these tendencies.

Female cats have different traits than male cats do. They are a more careful and gentle than males are. They tend to also be quieter as well. Again comes the question on whether or not to spay your female feline companion. If you choose not to you will be looking forward to dealing with her heat cycles and all that comes with it, especially not a good thing if you have any unneutered male cats in the house.

Once you have made a decision on whether the cat will be male or female you need to decide how much hair that you want to contend with. That is, do you want to get a long haired cat? or a short haired cat?

You next need to decide how much money you really want to spend. The reality when you go to buy a cat or Kitten is you can choose from mixed breeds or purebred cats. When you buy a mixed breed there isn’t quite as much to worry about because you don’t have to worry about all the pedigree issues and such, plus as you might have guessed they aren’t going to cost quite as much. On the other hand all of that changes when you plan to buy a purebred.

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There are behaviors that many cats share, but you might not know the logic behind them. Below are many of these characteristics as well as explanations as to why your Cat may perform them so you can better understand what your Cat is trying to tell you.

Ears: A Cat’s ears can say a lot about what they are feeling or trying to express to others, different Ear positions mean different things

• Ears Forward: When the Ears are forward and relaxed, then your Cat is happy and listening to the sounds around them.

• Ears Erect: This is when your Cat is paying attention to something; they are alert to the happening around them.

• Flattened Ears: This can relay fear or the Cat being anxious.

• Ears Turned Back: Your Cat is either annoyed or aggravated, this is warning to whoever has caused their mood.

• Ears Completely Flat: This means fearful and aggressive, plus the Cat is probably hissing and have their eyes narrowed.

Tail: A Cat’s tail can also say a lot about their mood and what they are doing.

• Straight Up: This is a happy and content Cat.

• Horizontally Behind: This means that the Cat is relaxed, confident, and alert.

• Straight and Quivering: Your Cat is happy

• Straight with a Hook at the end: Your Cat is being friendly, but is not quite sure of the situation, person, or other animal.

• Straight and fluffy: This means your Cat is feeling fear and is threatened.

• Swishing Tail: This can mean your Cat is being playful or that they are annoyed.

Being Vocal: Your Cat’s communication with you can mean a number of things.

• Common Meow: this can mean they want to say hello, want their dinner and such.

• The call: This is when a female is in heat and looking for a male, kind of a howling sound.

• The Chirr:  is when a female is calling her Kittens or your Cat may do it when they are being lovey with their owners, kind of a rolling sound.

• Hissing: This is a warning sign that your Cat is not happy and they are getting ready to attack.

• Growling: Again, your Cat wants to be left alone.

• Purring: Your Cat is happy and feels safe.

Even though many of these behaviors may seem odd, your cat does have an actual reason for performing many of them. The best you can do it to try to understand them to some degree and make sure that your cat is kept safe.

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Cats need to stretch and exercise their arms and legs, just like humans do. Unfortunately they choose to do this by scratching things since no one has invented a gym for cats.

In order to avoid having them scratch up all of your furniture, it might be a good idea to invest in a cat scratching post, and the sooner the better.

A scratching post will help your cat realize that they have their own piece of furniture to claw up and to leave yours alone. When buying a scratching post for your cat, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. First, you need to make sure that the scratching post is actually tall enough for your cat to be able to get the full effect. This is so they can completely stretch their body out and still have room to spare. Next make sure that it won’t fall over as soon as it has something leaning against it or your cat will be tipping it over all of the time.

If your cat already has a few bad habits such as scratching furniture and such, you might

need to train your cat to use the post instead.

This might take a little time and patience, but if you make sure your cat is playing with it whenever you are around, they will begin to get the idea, and it also helps if it is in an accessible area to your cat.

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