Advice please on adopting a rescue cat!

[SidneyCarton]

We're based in West London (Ealing / Acton borders) and have a 4-year-old son. We've been planning for ages to get a pet, and finally feel we're in a position to do something about it, but have waited till after Christmas so the cat can have quite a calm introduction to our household.

We've both had dogs in the past, but no experience with owning cats and feel a bit clueless. Where do we start? We'd really like to get a rescue one, but will rescues rehome to households with a small child? (My dog came from Battersea, who also rehome cats, but I don't think they're keen on families with small children.) If so, would you recommend / not recommend any in particular?

We have a house with a garden, down a quiet cul-de-sac, so the location is pretty suitable. The catch is that everyone else in the neighbourhood thinks so too, and so there are a lot of local cats prowling through our garden: is there anything we could / should do to give our poor moggy an easier start in claiming a bit of territory for itself?

There's a good local vet, and have thought about insurance / microchipping/ food / catflap etc. What else do I need to think about?

[paneer]

The Mayhew is quite close to you themayhew.org

I rehomed from them when my dd was 5. We went for a few visits before the right cat found us. They interview you and do a home visit, basically they need to ensure that the family and car are the right fit.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I don't think a 4 year old would be a massive problem as long as he doesn't rip the heads off all cuddly toys.

Contact between them would need to be supervised at first. I'd get a pair so they can play fight with each other. Kittens can be feisty.

How exciting.

They'll be lots of black and white ones there & black ones, they get overlooked in favour of torties/tabbies but are lap cats. Never met a b&w who didn't think all humans are mobile cat beds.

[SidneyCarton]

Definitely not inclined to rip the heads off cuddly toys (his toys are his babies and get wrapped in blankets and put to bed). He might be a bit over-enthusiastic about cuddling a pet, so of course we'll need to be careful, but I'm confident he would never deliberately hurt one.

No prejudice here against black or black and white cats. And a lap-cat would be awesome.

[AngelCauliflower]

I got my lovely rescue cat a couple of months ago. She is great but was very aggressive at first. She bites,scratches and attacks us. I have a 6 year old so it hasn't been an ideal situation. The rescue centre didn't tell me anything about her being aggressive.

[SidneyCarton]

By the way, thanks for the tip about the Mayhew - I had a look at their site and they look very promising.