2 days until our new cat arrives - eek!

[AbandonShark]

So excited! He's a beautiful black and white rescued cat and we can't wait to bring him home. We've been waiting while he recovers from an operation, and I thought it would take longer, but he may be ready to come to us this weekend!

We're waiting on the carrier, litter tray and food to be delivered (hopefully that will arrive before the cat does!) and I'm trying to work out if I've forgotten anything.

We've removed dangerous house plants, got cardboard boxes for him to hide in, and have put cleaning sprays etc in a box so he can't lick them. . Most worried about cat vs kids' (4 and6 yo) small toys. Do you find your cat ignores kids' toys? Eats them? Anything else I need to get ready?

Keep (fairly) calm if you can - he should be with you for a long time.

What was the op for and will he need any special care? Oh and have you set aside a safe place for him to go to get away from the DCs if they all get too much? (Bet you wish that you could have one of those at times. )

PS - how old is he?

He's 2, was very friendly and affectionate when we saw him at the shelter. We'll set him up in our bedroom as we don't have a spare room. Lots of things to jump and climb, and soft places to sleep.

He lost the tip of his tail, but it seems to have healed really well. He was bought in with that, ear mites and fleas too, poor sausage.

Sounds fine - he may decide he doesn't need a safe place after all but somewhere safe - or high - to get out of the way if needed is always a good idea to prepare.

Hopefully he's mature enough for the house not to present too many challenges for him although for the first few days until he comes out of his shell and you know his character better, I'd maybe cupboard anything that's lying around that's expensive/sentimental and capable of damage. (Although I'm guessing that with a 4 and 6 year old, the place is already kid/cat proofed?)

I will make him a safe, high place then steal it from him when I need a break from the kids

One other thing, the paperwork they've given us says to keep him in one room for a couple of weeks to build his confidence - but I can't remember doing that with previous cats (it has been a while though!) Part of me would feel mean for keeping him shut in one room, but the other part of me doesn't want to stress him out as soon as he arrives. I guess I should take my lead from him?

Our cats spent 2 days hiding under a chair, and we had to just go with that. We moved the food closer and the litter tray too. For the first couple of days they inhabited a 2m x 2m space, even though we have a big open plan kitchen.

After a couple of days they became more confident, and were absolutely fine afterwards. I would also try to keep kids away from him to begin with.

I hope you enjoy him and he settles in soon.

Yep here too, our rescue spent the first few days hiding under beds a lot of the time. The first night though he actually went to bed at the same time as the DCs on Dd's bed and then slept on our bed next to my feet the rest of the night. So after that confident start, I was actually surprised that he did still spend quite a lot of the subsequent days hiding. 6 wks on he is on the beds, never ever under