How do I take care of a cat?

At a glance

What you're signing up for

A cat is a 12-to-20-year commitment. Banfield's 460,000-cat dataset put the average lifespan at 12 years, and the biggest single lever is yours to pull on day one: keep the cat indoors. UC Davis veterinarians put the average indoor cat at about 10-15 years, with some living into their 20s, while free-roaming outdoor cats live dramatically shorter lives — traffic, predators, poison, and infectious disease. Letting a cat roam trades years of its lifespan for your convenience.

The daily reality is lighter than a dog's but not optional: feeding, scooping the litter box (which doubles as your best early-warning health check), and several short sessions of real play. Feline veterinary guidelines treat daily predatory-style play and social interaction as baseline care, not extras. Cats are not furniture that purrs.

The thing owners most often learn too late: cats hide illness. They mask pain and disease until it is advanced, which is why "he seems fine" is the most expensive sentence in cat ownership. Sixty-one percent of US cats are overweight or obese, stress-related illness from barren or disrupted environments is well documented, and cat households spend far less on veterinary care than dog households despite cats' heavy chronic-disease burden. The cat won't tell you when something is wrong. Your job is to notice anyway.

Housing

Cats need territory quality, not square footage — an apartment is fine if it's furnished for a cat. Feline veterinary guidelines (AAFP/ISFM) define five pillars of a healthy cat environment: a safe place to hide; multiple, separated key resources (food, water, litter, scratching spots, resting areas); opportunities for play and predatory behavior; positive, predictable human interaction; and an environment that respects the cat's sense of smell.

Setup essentials:

• Vertical territory. Elevated perches, cat trees, and window vantage points are a core resource, not decor — cats manage stress by going up, and raised resting spots count as safe places.
• Litter boxes: the n+1 rule. Provide one more box than you have cats — two boxes for one cat, three for two — kept clean and in quiet, safe locations. Boxes next to noisy appliances or food deter use, and a deterred cat finds somewhere else to go.
• Scratching surfaces. Scratching is normal marking behavior, a need rather than a vice. Posts and pads protect your furniture; declawing does not — it's opposed by the feline veterinary association and banned in several US jurisdictions.
• Hiding places. A cat that can retreat is a cat that recovers from stress.

In multi-cat homes, multiply and separate everything so no cat has to cross another to eat, drink, or use a box. Multi-cat households are a documented risk factor for urinary tract disease.

Keep lilies out of the house entirely. Not away from the cat — out of the house. See Health.

Feeding

Cats are obligate carnivores: they require nutrients found only in animal products — a diet high in protein, moderate in fat, minimal in carbohydrate, plus more than a dozen essentials including taurine, an amino acid whose deficiency causes heart disease and blindness. A cat can never be fed a dog-food or vegan diet.

Water is the quiet half of feline nutrition. Dry food is 6-10% water; canned is at least 75%, making it an excellent water source for an animal with a naturally low thirst drive. Low water intake is a risk factor for lower urinary tract disease, the number-one reason cats see the vet.

Frequency by life stage:

• Kittens: multiple small meals daily on a kitten-formula food until about 1 year.
• Adults: scheduled meals, not an always-full bowl. Feline feeding guidelines recommend multiple small meals a day, ideally through puzzle or foraging feeders that mimic hunting.
• Seniors: same rhythm, with weight and appetite watched closely — appetite loss in an older cat is a disease flag.

The mistakes that hurt cats: free-feeding dry food to an indoor cat (obesity is the most common nutrition-related problem in cats — 61% are overweight or obese, 33% clinically obese, and 28% of owners of heavy cats don't recognize it); treats beyond 10-15% of daily calories; raw meat diets, which carry bacterial, viral, and parasitic risk including toxoplasmosis with no demonstrated benefit; milk, because most adult cats are lactose-intolerant; and sudden diet changes or dirty bowls in stressful spots, which suppress eating.

Never feed (or keep in the house):

• Lilies — Easter, tiger, day, and Asiatic lilies. The entire plant is toxic: stem, leaves, flowers, pollen, even the vase water. Grooming pollen off fur can cause fatal kidney failure.
• Onions, garlic, chives — red blood cell damage and anemia; cats are more sensitive than dogs
• Chocolate, coffee, caffeine — vomiting, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures
• Alcohol and raw yeast dough — vomiting, incoordination, respiratory depression
• Grapes and raisins, xylitol, macadamia nuts, excess salt, citrus, coconut oil, milk and dairy
• Raw fish diets — they destroy thiamine
• Dog flea and tick products containing permethrin — never apply dog products to cats

Poisoning contact: ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, (888) 426-4435.

Health

What insured cats actually get, per 3.5 million Nationwide claims in 2023, with average treatment cost in the first 30 days: gastroenteritis ($747), urinary tract disease/FLUTD ($904), kidney failure ($694), dental disease ($1,300), arthritis ($447), hyperthyroidism ($547), respiratory infection ($1,575), and diabetes ($967). FLUTD — feline lower urinary tract disease, an umbrella for bladder and urethra problems — is the number-one reason cats visit veterinary practices. Aging cats add hypertension, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, and cognitive dysfunction, and 61% of cats carry the extra weight that feeds several of these.

Early signs owners miss — most of them live in the litter box, which is why daily scooping is a health check, not just chores:

• Changes in urine or stool output are often the first visible sign of diabetes, kidney disease, or obstruction.
• Drinking and urinating more: classic early kidney disease, diabetes, or hyperthyroidism.
• Weight loss with a good appetite: hyperthyroidism.
• Hesitating to jump or "slowing down": arthritis, chronically underdiagnosed because cats don't limp obviously.
• Drooling, dropped food, one-sided chewing: dental disease.
• Peeing outside the box is almost always medical or stress, not spite. Rule out FLUTD first.

Go to a vet today if: a male cat is straining in the litter box and producing little or no urine, crying out, or licking his genitals repeatedly — that is urethral obstruction, and the time from complete blockage to death can be under 24-48 hours; the cat had any contact with a lily, even if it looks fine — kidney failure follows within days and early treatment is the only window; the cat is breathing open-mouthed or panting, which is never normal; there are seizures, collapse, known toxin ingestion, trauma, an eye injury, or uncontrolled bleeding; or the cat hasn't eaten in 24-48 hours, which risks a dangerous liver condition (hepatic lipidosis).

What it really costs

Setup is modest: roughly $365 in one-time costs including initial medical care and spay/neuter, with shelter adoption fees typically $50-$175. Rover's 2025 report puts the full first year at $750-$2,715 including initial vaccines and spay/neuter.

Annual figures vary by who's counting. The ASPCA's itemized budget totals $1,149 a year: food $225, routine medical $160, preventives $140, litter $150, toys $22, treats $36, insurance $348, license $15, grooming supplies $28. Recurring basics without insurance run about $634 a year (roughly $53 a month). The AVMA's 2022 survey found cat households averaging $321 a year on veterinary visits, with a typical wellness visit at $169. Accident-and-illness insurance averaged $383 a year (about $32 a month) in 2023 — roughly half the dog premium.

Here is the unglamorous math: cats cost nearly as much as dogs over a lifetime — about $32,170 over a 16-year lifespan — because they live longer. And the cheap years fund the expensive ones: a single dental episode averages $1,300, a respiratory infection $1,575. Budget for the 16-year cat, not the $75 adoption fee.

Daily and weekly routine

Daily - Scoop every litter box; note anything unusual in output - Feed measured, scheduled meals; wash bowls; refresh water - At least one or two short interactive play sessions with a wand toy, completing the stalk-chase-catch sequence - Predictable interaction at consistent times — cats are routine animals

Weekly - Full litter change or box wash as needed - Brushing (daily for long-haired cats) - Body-condition check by feel; watch for weight drift - Rotate toys to keep play novel

Monthly - Nail trim - Parasite prevention as your vet prescribes — cat-safe products only - Restock food and litter; audit treats against the 10-15% calorie cap

Annually: a wellness exam even when the cat "seems fine" — twice a year for seniors.

Common mistakes

1. Free-feeding into obesity. 61% of cats are overweight or obese and 28% of their owners don't see it. Feed measured, scheduled meals, ideally from foraging feeders.
2. Too few or badly placed litter boxes. Follow n+1 — one more box than cats — in quiet locations, and keep them clean.
3. Reading house-soiling as spite. It's usually FLUTD or stress. Vet first, behavior second.
4. Skipping annual vet visits because the cat seems fine. Cats mask disease; cat households already underspend on vet care relative to cats' chronic-disease burden.
5. Keeping lilies, or bouquets containing lilies, anywhere in the house. Every part of the plant can kill a cat, including the pollen and vase water.
6. Applying dog flea or tick products to a cat. Permethrin is toxic to cats.
7. Furnishing for humans only. No vertical territory, hiding spots, or play outlet is the barren-environment problem feline welfare guidelines exist to prevent.
8. Letting the cat roam outdoors unsupervised — trading years of lifespan for convenience.
9. Declawing to protect furniture. It's opposed by the feline veterinary association and banned in several US jurisdictions; scratching posts and nail trims are the humane fix.

Is this pet right for you?

A good fit if... - You want a quiet, apartment-compatible companion for the next 12-20 years - You can commit to daily scooping, scheduled feeding, and real play sessions - You'll keep the cat indoors and make the indoors worth living in - You can absorb roughly $634-$1,149 a year plus four-figure surprise vet bills - You'll take a cat that "seems fine" to the vet anyway, every year

Think twice if... - You want a pet that needs nothing but a full bowl and an open door - You're unwilling to give up lilies in the house - Your household can't keep a predictable daily routine — disruption literally makes healthy cats act sick - You expect affection on your schedule rather than the cat's - You plan to let the cat roam outdoors

Worth knowing

Cats can't taste sweetness. The sweet-receptor gene (Tas1r2) is broken in all cats — a dead pseudogene, an evolutionary consequence of eating only meat. Your cat begging for cake wants the fat.

Purring may be a healing mechanism. Cats purr at 25-150 Hz, frequencies researchers have proposed promote bone density and healing — and cats purr when injured, not just when content.

Healthy cats act sick under stress. In an Ohio State study, routine disruption made perfectly healthy cats vomit, refuse food, and avoid the litter box — those three made up 88% of sickness-behavior episodes, and disruption raised the risk 3.2-fold. Stability is medicine.

Neutering is a longevity drug for male cats. In Banfield's 460,000-cat dataset, neutered males lived 62% longer than intact males; spayed females lived 39% longer.

A blocked male cat can die within 24-48 hours. Urethral obstruction is one of the fastest-killing common pet emergencies. Straining with no urine is a tonight problem, not a Monday problem.

Lily pollen alone can be fatal. A cat that licks pollen off its fur can go into kidney failure — no bite of the plant required. This is why the rule is no lilies in the house, period.

Cat years front-load. A one-year-old cat is roughly a 16-year-old human, two years is about 21, then each cat year adds about four human years. A 10-year-old cat is around 53 in human terms; a 15-year-old, about 73.

The priciest common claim isn't dental. An upper respiratory infection averages $1,575 in the first 30 days — more than dental disease at $1,300.

What you'll need

• cat food, life-stage appropriate, including canned — obligate-carnivore nutrition and a major water source (advice-only) (buy this where you already shop — we don't sell it, on purpose)
• cat litter — daily litter box use; buy at the supermarket (advice-only) (buy this where you already shop — we don't sell it, on purpose)
• litter boxes, one more than the number of cats — the n+1 rule against house-soiling and stress
• litter scoop — daily cleaning and health monitoring
• food and water bowls — daily feeding, washed regularly
• food puzzle or foraging feeder — hunting-style feeding that fights obesity
• cat tree or elevated perches — vertical territory for stress management
• scratching posts or pads — outlet for normal marking behavior, saves furniture
• covered hiding spot or box — safe retreat, one of the five environmental pillars
• wand-type interactive toys — daily stalk-chase-catch play
• brush or comb — coat care, daily for long-haired cats
• nail clippers — monthly trims, the humane alternative to declawing
• cat carrier — safe vet transport, needed from day one
• cat-safe parasite preventives — never dog products — permethrin poisons cats

Browse the store for the gear above.

Sources