New kittens! Shopping list?

[NameChange30]

I'm getting two kittens on 18th October! Here's the shopping list I've started... is there anything I've missed? Any recommendations for specific products to buy?

Pet carrier
Kitten food
Food & water bowls (two of each?)
Litter tray (do I need one or two?)
Litter
Kitty bed
Scratch post
Toys

Two litter trays but I really wouldn't bother with a bed - none of mine have ever slept in one that I provided. You're much better off getting a big cardboard box and putting a soft old (and washable) blanket or fleece in it.

Neither would I bother with special food and water bowls. You (or family, friends etc) have probably got plenty small china bowls (cereal - type bowls) in cupboards that will do just fine.

Oh - and get a decent sized carrier. You''ll likely need another when they grow to full size but even two kittens will put on size quite quickly. I'm always staggered by how many people I see at the vets with grown cats squeezed into tiny kitten carriers which they haven't upgraded.

And get the battery charged on the camera. We'll all need pictures.

I'd use cheap side plates for food dishes, easy to clean & not a huge loss if they break.

Wilkinsons do plain white for under a £1, I'd get 4 each. Three each for one day and one each for the next days breakfast while the dishwasher is on.

Plastic dishes can give them feline acne under their chins apparently.

Get a Sure Flap installed before they arrive.

I didn't know about the feline acne (good tip there) but from experience, I don't think they like plastic much. I use a host of dishes for only one cat at the moment though so I'd definitely get more than a couple each for food. They just seem to melt away from the pile however often you wash dishes and they do dislike plates which are crusty with old dried food.

I didn't know until someone on here had a cat with it. We've always used cheap crockery.

flea and worm treatments. preferably reputable products not pet shop nonsense. advocate/front line/panacur/drontal etc.....

Re the cat beds - it will depend on where you want them to sleep. Both my cats have their own beds which they sleep in every night but thats because they sleep in the kitchen.

I wouldn't worry about too many toys my kittens favourite toys are scrunched up paper and feathers (she goes mad for feathers )

I never had bought toys for my first few cats and the tradition has sort of stuck. Cardboard boxes and scrunched up paper bits/newspaper swords and opened newspaper pages - either dropped on the cat or with something moving underneath.

I also have found a fine line in small teddie etc toys from charity shops. They usually have a bin of really good quality discards which are very cheap and the cats seem to love 'killing' them and carrying them around/dipping them in food bowls and scrunching them. (Toys with big floppy ears are a particular favourite.) They also wash up a treat on an acrylics wash and dry perfectly within an hour or two.

You have to check - as with all toys - that they haven't any unfortunate inclusions such as metal stalks for eyes/questionable innards but the good thing about ex-kiddy toys is that they're nearly always certified as fit for children which generally makes them OK for cats.

Thank you all for your tips, really helpful!

I've registered at a vets and booked them in for their first vaccinations. The vets have a "kitten plan" and I'm wondering whether it's worth it. It depends how much flea and worm treatments are likely to cost, as they're included in the plan. So I was wondering if anyone could advise me how often you usually have to treat kittens for fleas/worms and roughly how much it might cost? The one year "kitten plan" (with treatments included) is about £75 more per kitten than just paying for the vaccinations and microchips.