What do I need to know before adopting a kitten?

[mondaytofriday]

I’m sure there’s lots of things I need to know before bringing a kitten home… Like having the right plants, what to buy (food, toilet thingy), and what do I actually do when I have to leave it home alone (for short time) for the first few days/ weeks?

Also, do I need to prepare myself for being woken at 3am on regular basis, making sure the back of any furniture is clean enough for roaming, and my sofa will get scratched…

Lots of people will say ‘another kitten’ but I disagree.

Have a room set aside for the kitten with lots of hiding places. Keep them in just that room for a week or two. They will most likely want to be behind or under something for a few days. I found a blanket over a dining chair worked a treat. Try to get the food and litter they are used to.
Sit in the room reading, watching tv, reading your phone. Ideally sit with another member of the family and chat. Let the kitten come to you.
If you need to leave them alone that’s fine for a few hours if they are in that one room.

This is a good guide

https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/pregnancy-and-kitten-care/bringing-a-new-kitten-home

And there are further links at the bottom of the article. Once you've read it you might want to come back with more questions!

Oh and one thing we’ve found with our cat was that the weekend we got her was really hot so we had a fan running in the room the whole time. As such she doesn’t care about things like fans, hair dryers or even the vacuum cleaner.

Thank you so much!
Can I ask how much is normally paid for health insurance and/ or how much a routine health check costs?

I have my girl signed up with the local vet and pay monthly about £15 which covers her check ups, flea and worm treatments and vaccinations. Her insurance is about £200 a year I think.

Don’t have lillies. Some are safe but I have a blanket rule to be okay.

Remember that the cat is in charge and makes the decisions.

Get insurance before you even get them. We made mistake and our kitten had serious health issue no insurers will ever cover because we 'already knew about it'...really regret not getting insurance from day 1.

The one thing to bear in mind is regarding insurance. I adopted 2 kittens this year. My voluntary excess on each cat is £170. Unfortunately for me both of them have had to have vet visits (one of them twice), so this has cost me over £150 within the first two months of having them. Of course I couldn’t claim on the insurance as it was below the value of the insurance excess.

They will swing on your curtains
they will chew your cables
they will dive into the toilet
and get stuck behind your fridge

but when they curl up on your chest all will be forgiven lol

feed them the food they were weaned on then slowly add new food to old slowly switching it over. So as not to agitate their tummy's to much

Look for food with named meat products like chicken beef try avoid things like animal derivatives,digest,animal by product

I use zooplus to bulk buy my cats food and ask what cat litter they used.It may have a preference to use that cat litter already

night time antics are inevitable its about a year or two before they calm down. Its a necessary evil to let them in the bedroom ,at first they will be a pain. But over time they realize its bedtime and find a spot nearby to rest .Very important feed them at the same time each morning or they will wake you earlier and earlier. Mine tried it but he soon learnt exactly when breakfast was and does not bother me before

I feed wet food at 7.30 am and then let them graze on dry through out the day .

goodluck haha

One thing I will add is that my girl was adopted alone straight from her mum who was rescued with her and her litter mates.
When she came U.K. use had constant access to food. Because there is no other cat for her to compete with for food she has no complex over food. Past cats and friends cats have been obsessed and will wake them up for breakfast etc. My girl doesn’t. When she wants to eat she eats loads, But today she had breakfast at 3pm.

Flat Cats screens stop cats getting out of open windows - they’re easy to put up, very tough & come in whatever size you need.

Cats tend to be very good at telling you what they want.

Also, neither of the cats I have owned have scratched furniture. I’m not sure why but they did both have access to the outside and found wood that they wanted to scratch.

On the subject of outside, get a microchip cat flap. I would recommend setting a curfew right from the start.

Do not let them out before they are neutered!

Lots of scratching posts.

A water fountain somewhere away from their food (some cats don't like to drink where they eat).

And I hate to say it, but two kittens are better than one. We adopted a 5 month old kitten with an 11 year old cat. They got along fine, but the kitten had too much energy for my old boy. Adopted another kitten and omg, it's been lovely to see them both get used to each other and then start loving on each other. They play together, sleep together, and groom each other. There are some things us humans can't replicate, and it's this.

And now my 11yo gets peace and quiet. Never thought I'd have three cats, but here we are.

Also, my second kitten (12 wks) settled in within hours with another kitten to bond with. It took a couple of weeks with my older kitten and my old boy.

Join the Pet Health Club for the first year (helps with the cost of vaccinations and neutering). Probably not worth it after the first year.