Actually, you can spay before they go in to heat and most vets will actually recommend that you do. It should actually be cheaper to get an animal spayed before entering heat, than an animal that has already done so. Shawn Wilton Junior in CpE MicroBiologist Phone: (503) 881-2707 Email: shawn@black9.net http://black9.net Alexander Rice wrote: > On Mon, 10 May 2004 10:26:53 -0400, D. Jay Newman > wrote: > >>> impossible to train or completely domesticate. I would get a dog, they >>> are easy to train and can do everything a cat can and more. Dogs can >>> scare away thieves and salesman, Cats just poo in a box and wreck your >>> house. > > > Actually that is not true, you just have to have the right approach and a > lot of patience - cat's are about as intelligent as the average dog > (dumber than an collie, smarter than a yap dog), i have trained all my > cats to come when called by name (one of them actually runs!) and do > stupid stuff like jump up, stay and sit. Cats do vary between individuals > and between breeds, and if you are going to train them to do anything you > have to start when they are pretty young - 6 months or so. Generally cats > respond to food rewards, one of my cat's absolutely adores marmite (don't > let's get started on that again!) so a little bit on my finger was all it > took, it may take a week or two to teach them new behaveour but once > learned they don't seem to forget it easily. I have never tried to put any > of my cats on a leash, on one occasion when i was at my grandparents house > i did tie a bit of string around one of the cat's collars to stop him > getting lost and wander around the garden, but all my cat's hate cars and > would go completley berzerk if i tried that around town - if you want > somehting to go on walks with you by all means get a dog. None of our > cat's 'wreck' the house, however some tom cats can be inclined to scent > mark stuff (aka piss on the furniture) and bear in mind that if you get a > female cat that you can't spay them until after the first time they go on > heat, so expect to have a bonkers cat for a week. > > Alex > > -- > http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList > mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu