Читать книгу The Cat Handbook - Karen Leigh Davis - Страница 24

Kittens are cute and adorable, and few people want to miss the joys of this short-lived stage. However, you can save yourself the expense of spaying or neutering by adopting a grown or nearly grown cat that already has been altered.

If your heart is set on a purebred, you may get lucky and find one that is being retired early from a breeding program or the show ring. Such cats typically cost less to acquire than a purebred kitten, simply because it is harder to sell adults or find good homes for them. Usually, purebred cats placed in this way are altered and up to date on their annual vaccinations prior to sale, saving you, the buyer, these initial expenses.

Certainly, kittenhood holds special joys for cat lovers, but this stage can also be the most destructive. Kittens are not born knowing how you expect them to behave in your home. They have to be properly socialized and patiently taught not to climb your draperies and not to sharpen their claws on your couch.

On the other hand, many adult cats are surrendered for adoption because of behavior problems related to their past care or to a lack of proper socialization and training. House-soiling and destructive clawing are two of the most common behavior problems that result in cats being surrendered to animal shelters for adoption (see page 25 for tips on adopting a cat from a shelter).