Med Students too busy for a pet?

[wormed7600]

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I've been wanting to get a pet cat for a while now and I've read a lot about cat care and maintenance. It's never been feasible since I've lived in dorms throughout my undergrad but chances are I'll be getting an apartment next year. Assuming my roommates and landlord are okay with pets, would it be feasible to have a cat as a med student? I know that we'll be very busy, especially during 3rd and 4th year and moving around which really worries me. Does anyone have any experience with or advice about this? I was looking into getting an older, low energy cat, most likely an American Shorthair. If not during school, I suppose I'd have to wait until I'm less busy, but that could be years.

 

[megan143]

Cats are pretty hassle free. I have two cats, and have had them since junior year in undergrad. You'll have to take cost into consideration...mainly food and litter- my cats go through two big things of litter every 2 months or so and 1 big bag of food every two months or so. If you're getting an older cat then you won't have to deal with spaying/neutering, but they still get vaccines. Other optional things like heartworm prevention, flea/tick prevention all depend on where you live and if you'll be letting your cat outside/ if there are other pets in the house. Cats pretty much take care of themselves... but I did get a second to keep the first one company since I wasn't home too much during school. You can provide unlimited food and water through automatic sources... I don't do this because I don't want overweight kitties. If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.

 

[genswim24]

I've been wanting to get a pet cat for a while now and I've read a lot about cat care and maintenance. It's never been feasible since I've lived in dorms throughout my undergrad but chances are I'll be getting an apartment next year. Assuming my roommates and landlord are okay with pets, would it be feasible to have a cat as a med student? I know that we'll be very busy, especially during 3rd and 4th year and moving around which really worries me. Does anyone have any experience with or advice about this? I was looking into getting an older, low energy cat, most likely an American Shorthair. If not during school, I suppose I'd have to wait until I'm less busy, but that could be years.

I definitely think it's possible. Cat's are pretty independent animals and don't require nearly as much attention as dogs. I had a cat while I did an SMP, which is somewhat similar to med school in terms of time commitment. I had no problems whatsoever taking care of him. It is nice to have someone you can trust to feed it though if you need to go on trips.

 

[pianola]

bump

 

[Ashers]

I have 2 cats that I got this year. I took care of my family's really old cat M1 and M2 year which was difficult since she was sick. M4 year was difficult for having cats, since I had to find people to check on them or board them while I was away at interviews.

 

[nick_carraway]

I think a cat would be fantastic. Depending on the personality, they might miss you while you're away. I know that my cat does and she was a feral kitten, so that surprised me. Mine will wake me up early, early, early in the morning for food and want to play and will tell me by sprawling all over my notes and putting a few teeth marks into them too.

While I think it may be one more thing to consider when you're at med school for travels/nights at the library, if you have a classmate who enjoys cats too, you don't have to worry too much. If you get two littermates, they'll keep each other company and won't get as lonely without you.

Personally, I think every one should have a cat. I can literally feel my heart rate slow and my BP go down when I think about my cat and I'm perfectly calm when she's nice enough to sit on me or around me. Very cathartic, to be sure.

 

[alwaysaangel]

You'll definitely have time, but a lot of it has to do with you and the cat you end up with.

I got a 5 month old kitten after I was in med school for one month. But it turns out he's a pretty needy little kitty. He doesn't like being left alone a lot so I mostly study at home (which is hard for some people). He likes butting into my notes when I'm studying and tends to have some early mornings where if he's up clearly I should be up.

As others have said, things to consider:
1) Can you study at home so your kitty isn't neglected?
2) Will you have someone to give him too/someone to check on him when you are away for interviews etc?
3) What are you going to do for breaks? If you are going to school far enough away that you need to fly home keep in mind only a few airlines take pets (Southwest isn't one of them) and its pricey and a lot of animals don't deal with flying very well. I'm close enough to my parents that he drive the 75 minutes home with me.
4) Will you have to move during med school? I am moving closer to the hospital for the 3rd year and I can't live in the complex that I REALLY want because they don't accept cats at all. Depending on the city you live in it can be easy or hard to find a place to live that accepts cats.
5) Cost. Can you afford it? Food isn't so bad. Neither is litter if you buy in bulk from somewhere like Walmart (probably about 20-30/month). But you will also need toys (enough that they are rotated out so your kitty doesn't get bored), and you need to keep in mind that if something goes wrong costs can go up. Vets are horrendous. I started walking my kitty outside for a few weeks and he got fleas. I spent over $400 trying to get those little buggers out of my house. If your cat destroys furniture or carpeting in your apartment its expensive to fix.
6) Time - you need to play with your kitty and be around at least SOME of the time. It takes time to clean out the litter box and its annoying when you're stressing about a big test (if you can afford it I'm a big fan of my recent purchase the Litter Robot (www.litter-robot.com) takes me about 15 min every week to deal with litter). I also am a big proponent of the big autofeeders and waters. I have a Drinkwell Fountain for water that I refill once a week and throw in the dish washer once a month. And a little simple feeder that I feel about twice a week. For most cats having food out all the time isn't an issue if they grew up that way - because they know theres always food there they don't tend to pig out. If you find your kitty is ballooning out measure 1-2 days of food in there, when he runs out he runs out. He'll learn.

I think those are the big ones. Cats are easier than dogs but you still have to realize you have a little being that is in your control and you really need to give them the care they need.

Good luck! I love my cat and he has made med school better but sometimes he's just a big pain in the butt.

 

[psipsina]

Alot of good points have been raised. Most important is what you would do with your pet on away rotations/interviews. My school requires us to rotate in hospitals that are in-state but far enough away that we have to live in school provided housing for up to 6 weeks. The school housing doesn't accept pets! I don't know if my school is unique in this but I'd check into that and have a gameplan for away rotations during 4th year and interviews before I committed.

 

[nick_carraway]

Regarding some of the tips alwaysaangel listed, I want to add a few comments:

[1] there's actually an airline now that specializes in transporting pets. The only humans onboard are crew to take care of the pets and it costs about as much as a normal airline does to transport a pet, but they get to stay in the cabin rather than in a cargo hold. They only fly to a select number of airports, so your mileage may vary: http://petairways.com/

[2] costs can definitely add up for vet visits and medical care. We let our cat wander outside on the nice days and we go out with her on a harness & leash since she's dumb and will eat everything/anything hazardous to her. Advantage flea treatments add up even though they're relatively cheap on Amazon and vaccines and annual visits are always an unexpected hit on the checkbook--even for a relatively young cat.

[3] I'm also a fan of an automated food dispenser for when you're gone (I use one with 6 chambers of food set on timers for weekends when I'm away). Even so, they do need company so either a human or a littermate will keep your cat happy (and warm!). I like the Petmate water fountain, too. My cat loves it and drinks a lot more water after we got it, which makes me a lot less nervous when the heat starts up in the summer.

[4] if you're gone for whole nights/days at a time, you can just fill up a water bottle with hot water and throw it in her cat tree or her bedding or her random little nests and it'll keep your cat warm even while you're gone.

[5] I agree that getting a cat does put limits on your life (e.g. where you can live, where you can vacation, how long you can be away), but it's totally worth it in my opinion. I'm never happier than when I'm with my cat. Although I hate it when she wakes me up two hours after my head hits the pillow, it still feels nice to have a friend when you're stressed.

 

[wormed7600]

Wow, thanks a lot to everyone who replied. It's really helpful to hear people's experiences. I guess I should give the context of my situation. There's a good chance that I will be living in an apartment between 1 to 2 hours drive away from home and a small chance that I'll be in a dorm that doesn't allow pets, in which case there's nothing I can do. From this thread and from talking to people, it sounds like it would be best to get two cats right from the start so that they can get used to each other. My roommate suggested a brother/sister pair since they would be more comfortable with each other and be less territorial. It certainly would be nice if my roommates next year would like to have the cats as well since we could all enjoy their company.

For situations where you're gone for a day or two though, how do you deal with cleaning the litter box? I've seen automated ones and, while cost is not a big issue, I'd like to not spend needlessly. I like the idea of automated feeder and water dispenser. If I can control the amount they give out, maybe over eating won't be a problem. Now if I could only get one for myself...

 

[Stixman28]

I have two litter boxes for my two little demons. The lady and I can leave them for 36-48 hours. Although, we've gotta clean the boxes as soon as we walk in the door. I wish I could afford an auto box, but that one that was posted earlier is 300 bucks!

Also, you dont necessarily need a brother and sister. If you've got social animals, you can start with one and introduce another. You will never hear that advice from anyone but me, but I had no issue. We had a very social lady cat, and brought in our less than bright male cat and they're the best of friends.

If you adopt a cat that is 6 months -1.5 years though, they may have already been spayed/neutered and that can save you some of the initial large costs.

Just dont let anyone convince you that since they're lazy, they don't take a fair amount of work, at least mine do.

 

[nick_carraway]

Wow, thanks a lot to everyone who replied. It's really helpful to hear people's experiences. I guess I should give the context of my situation. There's a good chance that I will be living in an apartment between 1 to 2 hours drive away from home and a small chance that I'll be in a dorm that doesn't allow pets, in which case there's nothing I can do. From this thread and from talking to people, it sounds like it would be best to get two cats right from the start so that they can get used to each other. My roommate suggested a brother/sister pair since they would be more comfortable with each other and be less territorial. It certainly would be nice if my roommates next year would like to have the cats as well since we could all enjoy their company.

For situations where you're gone for a day or two though, how do you deal with cleaning the litter box? I've seen automated ones and, while cost is not a big issue, I'd like to not spend needlessly. I like the idea of automated feeder and water dispenser. If I can control the amount they give out, maybe over eating won't be a problem. Now if I could only get one for myself...

Hahahaha you're so silly.

I used to clean my cat's litterbox daily, but I got tired of it. In fact, she doesn't even get a litter box. She gets one of em thin, wide, long plastic storage boxes from Walmart and we fill it with pine litter & Fresh Step litter with crystals and we scoop it about... twice a week? Once a week if we're busy.

It doesn't stink, she's happy using it, and we're happy not cleaning it. As we remove her clumps, we add a bit more litter to compensate. We change out all the litter and bleach the tub about every 4 weeks.

 

[nick_carraway]

If you adopt a cat that is 6 months -1.5 years though, they may have already been spayed/neutered and that can save you some of the initial large costs.

Just dont let anyone convince you that since they're lazy, they don't take a fair amount of work, at least mine do.

I agree on getting a kitten a bit older who has already had the surgeries & vaccines. It also increases the chances that the kitten was taught how to use litter by its Mom.

 

[Law2Doc]

Alot of good points have been raised. Most important is what you would do with your pet on away rotations/interviews. My school requires us to rotate in hospitals that are in-state but far enough away that we have to live in school provided housing for up to 6 weeks. The school housing doesn't accept pets! I don't know if my school is unique in this but I'd check into that and have a gameplan for away rotations during 4th year and interviews before I committed.

I'd reemphasize this. First two years, having a pet should be no problem. But during third year and some of fourth year (Sub-I's) you may have rotations where you will be away from home for 30 hours plus commuting time. In fourth year you may do away rotations away from home for a month. And during interview season in 4th year you very likely will be away from home a couple of days in a row each week. So unless you have a roommate or SO who is willing to take care of your pet during these times, the later years of med school are going to be less than ideal for having a pet that can't just fend for itself.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

My fish died during my surg rotation, from a combination of neglect and old age. 🙁

 

[nick_carraway]

My fish died during my surg rotation, from a combination of neglect and old age. 🙁

I just thought of an idea! Get two cats and a bunch of fish. Rotations solved!

 

[Law2Doc]

I just thought of an idea! Get two cats and a bunch of fish. Rotations solved!

And make the fish piranhas and you even out the fight.

 

[SDN2013]

im thinking of getting a cichlid again.

the last one I had died after two years, which was my record for a pet fish.

 

[alwaysaangel]

From this thread and from talking to people, it sounds like it would be best to get two cats right from the start so that they can get used to each other. My roommate suggested a brother/sister pair since they would be more comfortable with each other and be less territorial. It certainly would be nice if my roommates next year would like to have the cats as well since we could all enjoy their company.

You may want to try one first and then get 2. It sort of depends how big your apartment is but you really should have 2 litter boxes if you have two cats (the general rule is actually n+1) because otherwise they'll be dirty A LOT. If you have 2 they'll play together more which is good but may find your apartment quickly confining. And if you can be home to study then 1 will do just fine without a buddy. Everyone I know who have 2 they are little terrors, they're just badder than 1 cat. Its like that plan evil things behind closed doors.

And remember if you get 2 thats double everything, double food, double litter, double vet bills if they both decide to jump off your balcony. Double pet rent/deposit if you live in a place that charges that. I did the math and ultimately decided I didn't need to and really couldn't afford it as easily.

Adding a kitten to a 6 month old kitten or 1 year old cat isn't hard. They aren't really threatened by kittens and they do ok. Adults are harder. My little one was introduced to my parents' 2 cats when he was 6 months old and they accepted him and really enjoy his visits. My family had a lot of cats when we were kids and we added a kitten almost every year for a while. Its not hard to do especially with younger cats that want a playmate.

When you do adopt try going to a shelter or a rescue - they're already fixed and have all their shots and especially in the summer have tons of kittens. Don't pay some nutjob $200 for a unspayed kitten with no shots. I saw people selling kittens like that on craigslist and was trying to figure out what kind of ***** would pay that much for a domestic kitten that has had nothing done.

Although, we've gotta clean the boxes as soon as we walk in the door. I wish I could afford an auto box, but that one that was posted earlier is 300 bucks!

Yeah its pricey - I got a refurb (cleaned out one that someone elses cat never took to) for $270. Still pricey but so worth it. Its one of the more reliable ones, has a great warranty unlike all the cheapy $100 ones. I figure if this one lasts 10 years with tiny replacement of parts her and there it will more than pay for itself - especially when I'm in 3rd/4th year and residency.

The litter robot is 2nd only to the Cat Genie which is like a kitty toilet - cleans all the litter and reuses it. But you have to live in a house for that one to attach things to pipes etc.

But if you want a cheaper one the litter maids and stuff do a pretty good job for like 70-80 but I've heard a lot about the rakes getting stuck and messy.

To the OP - remember for leaving for a weekend here and there, if your kitty has a RUNNING water dispenser (not just a stagnant water dispenser that holds a lot) they will drink more water (they've done studies - its considerably more) and will pee more and therefore have more mess. My one kitty's box used to be almost nothing but pee and poo if I was gone for 1-2 nights. So if you think you might be away for a lot of weekends without him or them then just get the normal water dispenser and decrease on waste.

 

[binko]

Two cats are best – they can keep each other company (and also warm, when the heater goes out). If they're littermates they're unlikely to get in serious fights. Get females if you can. They're less likely to suffer FLUTD (very common urinary issues with cats) than male cats are.

 

[pianola]

Yay. I'm thinking of getting a kitty in a year.

 

[MonkeyChow]

One thing to keep in mind is that you could use petsitters during those busy rotations/traveling. I have looked into them for my dog and while it can be a bit pricey, the company of my dog (de-stressing) is more than worth it for me. Petsitters in my area will come by once a day for about $20 bucks (may be cheaper for a cat). Just a thought...

 

[binko]

One thing to keep in mind is that you could use petsitters during those busy rotations/traveling. I have looked into them for my dog and while it can be a bit pricey, the company of my dog (de-stressing) is more than worth it for me. Petsitters in my area will come by once a day for about $20 bucks (may be cheaper for a cat). Just a thought...

Or if you have a friend nearby just ask them to do you a favor and buy them dinner when you get back.

 

[nick_carraway]

One thing to keep in mind is that you could use petsitters during those busy rotations/traveling. I have looked into them for my dog and while it can be a bit pricey, the company of my dog (de-stressing) is more than worth it for me. Petsitters in my area will come by once a day for about $20 bucks (may be cheaper for a cat). Just a thought...

Or go to a med school with a vet school nearby. Vet students love to pet sit. At least they do in Davis.