We're probably going to collect our kitten next week some time, which means that this will be a fun weekend of shopping. As a newbie, I need some advice on the right things to get.
1, Cat bed - I know everyone is going to tell me that the kitten will ignore the bed anyway, but for cats that do like their beds, do they generally prefer a hooded, cocoon type of one, or just a simple open one?
2, Scratch post/cat tree - My DH says we just need to get a scratch post to hopefully discourage it ruining the sofas, but when we visited the kittens, they had a tree and seemed to making a great use of! So, is a tree necessary, or can we make do with a scratch post?
3, bowls. This seems like a silly question :) . When I read about how to prepare for a cat, it seems to say everywhere that cats whiskers are very sensitive, and to get low sided bowls that they can eat/drink from without it touching their whiskers. But when I had a wander around Pets at Home, they all seemed like high sided bowls, like a dog's bowl. Where do you find the low sided ones? When we visited the kittens, she was using a frisbee as a feeding bowl. Is that a common thing to do to get the low sides?
Do you think we should get everything we need from Pets at Home, or will there be much better choice if we get it all online from zooplus or something? My DC are really looking forward to the whole shopping experience and picking stuff out, so will quite disappointed if I tell them that I'm just going to get it all online!
Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.
The litter tray
Shopping for the new addition
Thisismynewname123 · 11/09/2020 14:57
Mine like my bed the most, followed by the back of the sofa! However they do quite like the Igloo style beds, and have been known to squabble over it when I only had one.
I think most cats appreciate trees, many like to get high up and observe their realm from a vantage point 
. Putting it near a window also gives them "cat TV". My Girlcat likes to sit or lie on the highest point (about 5 feet up) watching the world go by, my Boycat likes to try to (very unsuccessfully) hide in one of the caves - see attached pic of him "hiding".
I had fun in PaH before mine came home, and got their litter tray, food/water bowls, feeding mat etc there. The cat bowls in general do seem to have lower sides than the dog bowls, though mine happily eat their dry out of a higher sided one (ad lib so always full), and drink fine from one. Ceramic of some form is always better than other materials, and I gather plastic can affect the taste of the food a bit.
Then again, in "the olden days" people used to use an old saucer for cat food!
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.