Possibly getting a kitten

[hellohellohihi]

A friend of mine's cat has recently had kittens and they will be ready to be rehomed at the end of April. We're moving to a new house early May and we're thinking of having one of the kittens :)

What do I need to know? I grew up with cats in my family home but I haven't had one in my own home (if that makes sense) and haven't been totally responsible for one (ie my parents were).

What would I need to get equipment wise apart from food bowl/mat and a litter tray? My cats at home never had their own bed, though obviously they had their preferred (numerous) sleeping places.

We have DD who is 16 months and hope to have another baby next year. Is this a bad idea?

Is pet insurance worth it?

What kind of 'running costs' am I looking at?

Am very excited but want to get it right!

[thecatneuterer]

The first couple of pages of this thread deal with what you need to get etc etc: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_litter_tray/1681116-Were-probably-getting-a-rescue-cat-soon-What-do-we-need-to-buy-and-how-much-will-upkeep-cost

You shouldn't take a kitten before it's a minimum of 8 weeks old and really 10 weeks would be better. And even then it's going to feel very lonely and a bit frightened if it's on its own. It's so much better to get two kittens as then they can keep each other company and will sleep together and play together and generally be much less trouble for you. At the rescue centre I'm involved with we won't home kittens under three months singly for that reason.

The most important thing is that you get your kitten/s neutered at 5 months old. You must not leave it any longer than that.

It seems very irresponsible of your friend to allow their cat to have kittens. Are they planning to now get the mother spayed? She should be done as soon as the kittens are weaned.

[hellohellohihi]

Thank you, I'll take a look through later tonight.

The kittens will be 10 weeks at towards the end of April and we wouldn't have one until early May at the earliest. I'm definitely up for 2 but I'm not sure if they've got homes sorted for them all already. I was aware that they might be happier as a pair. Actually makes me v sad to think about babies of any kind being separated from their mother and/or siblings!!

Not sure what the full story is as to why they had kittens, it's not a close-close friend but she's not generally the irresponsible type.

[Crabbypink]

I wouldn't bother with pet insurance for a young animal (or any animal - I think we overinsure our lives). Our kitten needed very little - just good kitten food, and the breeder can advise you what the kitten has been eating. We played with it a lot, using socks, little foam rubber balls and bits of string. It fell asleep in the middle of the game. It'll grow up without much input from you, and growing up with children, it will tolerate a lot of noise and commotion. We just made sure the children were kind to it. You will have a lovely, lovely family pet!

[Sparklingpeaceandlovebrook]

[thecatneuterer]

I strongly disagree with Crabbypink about insurance. It's true that kittens are unlikely to get ill, but all sorts of accidents can befall them - things falling on top of them (normally as a result of exhuberance), falling out of windows, dashing out of a momentarily opened door straight infront of a car - all sorts of things. Admittedly it's unlikely, but if it did happen you'd have a choice of a bill for often many thousands of pounds or having your kitten put down. Insurance is worth it for peace of mind. Also some kittens start showing symptoms of long term conditions. If you have insurance before these are diagnosed your kitten should be covered for life for that condition.

[Sparklingbrook]

I agree with thecat re insurance. Unless you are very wealthy and a huge vets bill wouldn't bother you. Sparkling Cat costs £5.50 a month to insure.

[cozietoesie]

I would agree with thecatneuterer about insurance. I don't have insurance on Seniorboy currently so I can't give you figures (although £5.50 seems very good Sparkling) but that's only because when I got him, he was already too old to be genuinely taken on by anyone and my previous boy was in an age where there wasn't much in the way of insurance around.

I've just been lucky - if I had a new boy who was in the frame for being covered, I'd be taking insurance out directly. I know there are some posters here who have had their financial bacon saved by having it in place.

[Sparklingbrook]

Sparkling Cat is with Direct Line.

[Leonas]

I would advise not to spend a fortune on toys/ equipment - our boy has a box of toys (DP hasn't had a cat before and spoilt him rotten) but only plays with a ball of tinfoil which he carries about in his mouth and drops on us to play fetch. We played with him a lot when we first got him and he is very sociable although now that he gets out he barely acknowledges us unless he is hungry :)
Find a good vet you feel you can trust - I love the lady on reception at our vet's, she is a star and remembers all the wee things about every animal!
We got an igloo bed for ours which he would only sleep on top of so he now has a massive bed that is actually meant for dogs (see what I mean about him being spoilt!) but downstairs he is happy to sleep on anything.