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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

First ever cat coming next Saturday

12 replies

Pipbin · 04/01/2014 23:35

I grew up with loads of cats (22 in total, 11 was the max at one time) but this will be the first cat that I have owned as an adult.
We have her all lined up and ready to come over next weekend. The spare room has been put aside for her for the first few days.
I have a litter tray, bed/scratching post, toys and food bowl.
Is there anything else you think I might need?

Also, we have a cleaner. Would it be wise to keep the cat in the spare room when she comes round? She only comes every other week so won't come until the cat has been here for over a week. Ultimately when the cat is happy and established it won't be a problem but would it be wise to start with?

Oh and flea treatment? Back when my folks had cats it was flea collars, what do people use now?

Anyway, I'm in the middle of round 2 of IVF and this cat is the perfect distraction for me. I welcome your advice.

OP posts:
sashh · 05/01/2014 08:16

Let the cat meet the cleaner and beware, I once came home to a cat shut in a cupboard after the cleaners had been.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 05/01/2014 08:24

Yes, watch out for shutting her in rooms/cupboards by mistake, a week after our two cats arrived DH shut one in the loft, she had crept up the ladder behind him and he didn't hear her. We put collars with bells on them after that.

Also make sure the cleaner knows not to let the cat outside till you are ready for her to go out.

We get flea treatment from the vet, I'm sure I've read that flea collars are not a good thing. You'll need to get her registered with a vet and think about insurance.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 05/01/2014 08:26

Oh and she'll need a water bowl as well as a food one.

ShoeWhore · 05/01/2014 08:28

Yes the spot flea treatment from the vet is the way to go.
YY to water bowl.

How exciting!

Original poster
Pipbin · 05/01/2014 10:26

I've got her a water bowl too. Insurance is lined up and ready to go. There is a vets about 2 streets away. Do I need to go and register her when we get her?

Also, when she is shut in just one room to start with she will, of course have her litter tray and food with her. Ultimately I'd want them to be elsewhere in the house. How do I show her that it's moved or will she just find it?

OP posts:
Original poster
Pipbin · 05/01/2014 10:27

Oh, will she need flea treatment when she is exclusively indoors?

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 05/01/2014 10:48

I'd just take her along as soon as possible to introduce her/get her a once over and get her spot ons etc. (Then if there are any insurance issues, the vet will have seen her recently as well.) Will she need any shots ?

Oh - and yes, even as an indoor cat, she'll need regular flea and worm treatment. Homes aren't a sealed environment I'm afraid and there's no knowing what might be tracked in on clothes/shoes in terms of eggs, live fleas etc. I've had indoor cats with fleas before now.

When you move the tray, she should find it given their keen sense of smell but it would do no harm to take her to show the new position. (She'll likely look at you as if you were the world's worst bore and then stalk off - but she'll have clocked it.)

How old is she?

You must be so excited!

Smile
cozietoesie · 05/01/2014 10:51

PS.

I'm assuming she's neutered but is she chipped yet? If not, get that done when you visit the vet if you can. (Still well worth it even for an indoor cat, just in case they get out unexpectedly.) If she's already chipped, remember to change the owner and address etc.

Original poster
Pipbin · 05/01/2014 11:42

She's from the RSPCA so she has been checked over by a vet, spayed, had her shots, microchipped etc.
She will eventually be an outdoor cat but indoors for the first month or so.
She's about 8 months old. We both work full time so a kitten would have been a bit too much.

OP posts:
stealthsquiggle · 05/01/2014 22:21

We are currently looking around our house and realising that was was fine with 22yo cat (apart from her pooing everywhere Angry) is really not going to work with 2 * ~9mth old cats (brother and sister) when they arrive at the end of the week Grin

Can't wait, though - they are very shy and have not been handled much so we will be taking it very slowly.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 05/01/2014 22:28

We started our two off with food, water, litter trays in the spare room, also some boxes and bedding to hide under, then after a month or so started moving things, one thing at a time, so food and water moved to the landing for a couple of weeks, then so did one litter tray, then food bowls moved to the kitchen and one litter tray moved downstairs, probably took 2 months in all to get everything to its final spots.

After the first few days they hardly went in the spare room apart from to use the facilities, they adopted some space under our bed as their favourite bed/bolthole.

cozietoesie · 05/01/2014 22:55

Yes - much depends on the nature of the cat(s). Some cats you have to take it slowly. Some are so confident that you realise (usually with hindsight) that you could have made any changes in hours. It's usually best to be more cautious than the other way, though.

Best of luck Pipbin. I'm sure you'll work it out fine.

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