Totally clueless!

[Bumpinthenight]

We are getting a kitten/s.

What do I need to know?

Litter trays - covered or uncovered and why? How many? Where to put it/them.

Food and food bowls? Water bowl? Where to put them.

Toys? I quite like the catit senses toy that you can expand - is it as good as it looks? Do I need a huge climbing tree (Dd is as desperate for one of these!)

Bed? Where to put it.

Anything else you think I need or should know!

Thank you!

Links to stuff would be gratefully received as seriously I haven't got a clue!

I'd try, at least initially, to get the litter/type of tray and food that the kitten's been used to. How old is it and are you getting from a rescue or privately? And has it had its shots etc?

Bowls can usually be sourced from your own cupboards - no need to buy specially if you have eg some smallish cereal bowls around for its food and water.

And toys? Again, no need to buy stuff right now unless DD is desperate. Balls of scrunched up paper and large cardboard boxes (if you have any) are quite favourites. Boxes, with an old fleece in for warmth and coziness, are also a good bed. Personally, I wouldn't but one specially.

\link{http://www.icatcare.org/advice/cat-care/helping-your-new-cat-or-kitten-settle\Here's} something to read.

Have you identified a local vet to get it checked over ?

Thank you!

Kitten will be a rescue one and will have had all its jabs and be chipped when we get it. We haven't actually got our name down for a particular kitten yet. I just want to be ready!

Vet is sorted!

Might need to order lots of big stuff from Amazon so the cat has boxes! Any excuse!

Our cat will absolutely notsleep on a cat bed. He has our bed. And a pillow by a radiator, I wouldn't buy a specific cat bed just something soft and fluffy in a box! Ideally two litter traysand whatever litter they are used to.

Oh and PersuasionCat's favourite toy is a cuddly rat from ikea. Are you seeing the theme here?

It's surely a good excuse to order stuff - to get cardboard boxes - but you'll likely find that friends or neighbours have one or two they can give you.

Kittens aren't that difficult. They're little survival machines. You just have to give them the wherewhithal (eg food, water, litter and warmth) but your most important job is to make them happy with love and games. And there's lots of experience on this board for you to ask questions if you get anxious.

Is DD aching for it to arrive?

PS - one of the rules of this board is that you have to post pictures of new kittens. Get that camera charging!

Noooo if I am buying a cat bed the cat must use it!!

Aware that the cat will be the boss but I would like to dream!

Dd is desperate for an arrival date! Bought a toy mouse to placate her for a while!

I promise I will upload photos!

Sorry,Bump. Other posters may have had more success but I've never had a cat yet who used a cat bed!

Remembering, I did try with Darling Twoago - nice big cardboard box with fluffy blankets. He thought it was a fine game (She puts me in, I jump out, She puts me in, I jump out.............) until he got too tired, crawled under the duvet and flaked out.

I leave them to their own choice these days. It's always in bed with me for the Siamese.

Kitten proof your house ! I got 2 kittens 4 months ago. So sweet but little terrors and into everything. Kinda like toddlers

I put mine in a medium dog bed with a hot water bottle and a fleece for a duvet and he likes it but as a kitten took a while to realise that the soft thing was a good place to sleep.

Check it's food is free from cereal/maize gluten/wheat, biscuits should be cereal free too.

Toys can be bought but they love scrunched up paper or shoelaces. I pick up conkers when I see them too, drinking straws are also popular.

We got our 2 kittens this week

• definitely use same litter and food as the rescue place
• despite expensive toys having been bought by me over-excitedly, by far their fave are the 16 ping pong balls I bought for 80p......
• they ignore the cat bed, except to use to hide in and ambush each other and sleep on the sofa!

Otherwise yes get a cardboard box and a largish paper bag - hours of fun!!!

Get a cat tree from the outset, or at the very least a scratching post.

Saves on furniture.

Oh yes - paper bags are a good toy. See if you (or friends/neighbours) can find one of those large paper carriers that some stores use. Hours of enjoyment for it.

Our cat bed turned out to be a box with some old duvet covers in that I'd been meaning to take to the charity shop. It invariably acquired a cat overnight within days of them arriving. It now has a fleece on top of the duvet covers and a cat-shaped hollow and the charity shop will have to whistle!

I seem to recall that people have had great success with using kiddies' old car seats as beds. Did i imagine that?

cozie my kitten, the lovely cuddly Dudley, absolutely loves his Maxi Cosi car seat bed, we also have a cardboard box with fluffy blanket but the car seat is the number 1 favourite

I third the suggestion of big paper bags (we use a cat litter which comes in big paper sacks so we reuse the sacks)

His favourite toy has always been some pompoms from the kids' craft sets - he carries them around everywhere with him

Scratching post has been completely and utterly ignored, total waste of money, wouldn't buy one again

I bought two beautiful cat beds for mine and do they use them? Of course they don't. Only places they sleep are
A) on top of my clean washing on the heated dryer thingy.
B) on my back when I'm foolish enough to sleep on my front.
C) in this "cat hotel" I made out of packing boxes with cushions in. Quite proud of it really!

Paper bags are great fun but snip the handles so kitten doesn't get strangled. Our kitten favourite toy is light pen.

If you really want a scratching thing, Zooplus have cardboard ones which are good and a bit cheaper.

I've had mixed results with cat beds. My old boy was never interested in his early days but as he got older he did use it. When he died our big girl decided to use his bed when before she had been sleeping on a scratching square we made out of old carpet.

We got a kitten over Christmas and I've no idea where she sleeps! Except being asleep on people, she seems to be awake all the time!

In terms of toys, sweet wrappers and boxes are the most fun but we do have a mouse on a stick that is good if you want to play along, or distract them.

Ours is still nameless though. We thought it would come to us when she was here but not yet.

Many thanks all!

Looking forward to shopping for really cool stuff and having it all ignored in favour for a rolled up ball of tinfoil!

A carpet scratching square is actually a useful thing if they won't use a post. We've mostly seemed to develop a 'sacrificial' piece of furniture (Seniorboy currently uses a very disreputable old upholstered armchair to scratch) but other than that, a carpet piece, anchored to the floor is a good scratching place for them.

If you happen to come across carpet samples (from those books that carpet shops use) then try to bag a few and put them in a cupboard fir future deployment. Good quality wool carpet is best and you can anchor them either with a tack or two or by lodging a side of them under a piece of heavy furniture so that they don't move around too much.

They've got to have somewhere to scratch so best provide an authorized place or they'll just try anything. (Telling off if they scratch an 'unauthorized' item allied with lots of praise if they use their legal thing usually works well.)

Hope that DD is having fun roaming the cat aisles at the supermarket/internet shops.

Oh, I meant to add about kitten proofing - give it some thought. Mine wants to kill itself in the fire place so we have had to block the bottom to stop her getting in it. The in laws also have a kitten and had to block holes behind the kitchen cupboard or who knows where they will end up.

My experience is that kittens are very nosey so anything that looks new and different is likely to be explored. I've got to the stage of having to check where she is before putting the washing machine on - just in case she's snuck in there!

Another kitten-proofing thing you need to do is to avoid using candles - at all really, but certainly not in fireplaces. They are far too dangerous when little fluffy tails are swooshing around.

Wow! Thanks again! Lots of food for thought!

Hadn't even thought about the candle:tail issue, we have loads and of candles dotted about!

Spent the morning clearing the boiler room. Old carpet on the floor now. So cosy I might get DH to live in there!

Have mice and balls with bells in so far!

Keep an eye on the kit if they're playing with anything with hard parts that might come loose or could be chewed off eg eyes on wire stalks - that sort of thing. Kittens aren't quite so clueless as puppies with regard to chewing and eating things but some of the animal toys on the market are really not up to standard on safety.

I tend to make things myself or go for small kiddies' soft toys - you can get them from the charity shop real cheap usually (and easily put them through the washing machine) and they're usually safety certified.