If you've never owned a cat you may not know what to look for when choosing one. Here are some hints to help you choose the perfect companion.

• Your local rescue center or humane society will have both adult cats and kittens.

• Please consider adopting an adult cat. They don't have the ultra-cute factor that kittens have, but they do have well formed personalities that will allow you to pick a cat that will mesh well with your household. Many Humane Societies also have some background information on a few of their cats due to fostering and previous owner descriptions of behaviour.

• I'd also recommend bringing all members of your family with when it's picking out time - some cats take better to kids than others.

• Be prepared to go to a few shelters and possibly go to them more than once to find the perfect cat for you. A few calls to the shelters will help to let you know if they have a cat that would fit with your description of your family.

• Some shelters have "trial adoptions" where you can take an animal home for a period of time to make sure it will fit in and get along with all the family members and any other pets that are in the family.

• Remember that it is most likely you that will end up doing the majority of the care for the cat - from feeding and grooming to cleaning the litterbox. Even the most well intentioned and well behaved child cannot be expected to take on full responsibility for a pet.

• Good luck, and enjoy the new addition to your family!

This article is Copyright © Paula K., and printed with permission of the author.
March 9, 1999

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