I need a beginners guide to having a cat

[westcoastnortherneragain]

I’m adopting a cat, she’s two and is small the runt of the litter with a poorly eye. Her mum had cat herpes when she born.

She’s litter trained and an indoor cat, I’m wondering what do I buy for a her? And can she become an outdoor cat?

Where are you adopting her from and is her eye ok now. She will need a selection of food, try and find out what she likes, a food and a water bowl with a mat to put them on. A litter tray, litter, scooper, nappy bags, pet friendly anti bac spray. Fluffy fleeces or blankets to sit on, cardboard boxes to hide in, a few toys but pingpong balls, mice toy and toilet roll tube are fine, .A brush, she can go outside with you as long as she's had her vacinnations. Has she had worm and flea treatments, if she's up to date with her vacinnations she should have a vets record, has she been spayed, if she became outdoor cat she could get pregnant. . Camera to send us pics

She might be happy to remain an in door cat. You can introduce her to your garden after a few weeks, if you have one, to see what she thinks. Keep her inside for about 3 weeks anyway. If she does like the outside, she should be kept in at night, as that's when cats are most vulnerable. She'll need a litter tray. Lots of people seem to have the covered trays,but I just have the ordinary open ones. Get her some kitten toys, a scratch post, a tree or tower. Have a look at zooplus m.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats

for lots of cat paraphernalia. Is her food prescription or just ordinary? Feed her what she's used to, anyway. When she arrives at your house, put her in a quiet room and see how she is. She might like a box to hide away in. It depends what her personality's like. She might be a real takeover bid. Happy catting.

She’s my hairdresser’s daughters cat, it’s complicated but she needed rehoming. She’s essentially like a dog, likes playing fetch and snuggling. I left her in the kids bathroom with her litter box, food, water and her bed.

Check with the rescue whether there's a good reason why she is currently an indoor cat - e.g. mine are indoors only and it was a condition of their adoption, same with my SiLs cat who is blind in 1 eye & has luxating patella on both back legs.

Check she's had all her jabs and has been spayed & chipped - if she's from a rescue then that should all have been done by them.

Start out using the same litter and food as she is getting currently, and if you decide to change it do that slowly as there can be all sorts of mess with rapid diet changes (not envy).

Remember that the food, water and litter tray should all be some distance apart (would YOU like to eat in next to the toilet with the door open?). Don't worry about getting her a bed, she will probably sleep anywhere BUT the designated place. A good scratching post or similar is important, and if she stays indoors consider a decent cat tree.

Oops X-post!

She's VERY pretty!

Thanks for the advice, I’m letting her slowly get used to the place. She’s not sure of the dog ( dog doesn’t care, but interested in her food bag).

Has the vet said she has to be indoors because of her blind eye? If not, it's perfectly possible for her to go out if she wants to. I regimes a cat once who had spent the first year of her life as an indoor cat in a flat. We had a cat flap and she started going out within about 3 weeks of living with us and she loved the outdoors.

Apparently she’s terrified of outdoors. I’m going to take her to the vet

Has she been spayed? And vaccinated? And chipped?

Could you create a safe outside space for her? Either by putting up brackets and netting around your fence (lots of options and DIY guides online) or by building a "catio"? In my opinion a cat that's always lived indoors is at risk outdoors if allowed to wander and get to roads etc. In any case you should wait 4, ideally 6 weeks before letting her out.

She is beautiful

She’s not chipped but has been spayed and tattooed. I’m going to have her chipped and make sure all vaccines up to date

Also she seems to like the song “soft kitty,sleepy kitty” from the Big Bang Theory

tattooed? I haven't come across that before. I take it you're not in the UK. Is that what they do to show they've been neutered in your country (if so I wish they did it here). Is it on the ears?

If her eyesight is compromised because of her eye condition I'm not surprised she is petrified of going out. She may feel very unsafe in the outside world. If that is so I would keep her safe indoors, and therefore happy. She will need somewhere she feels is her bolt hole. For my cat that is under my bed, and she has a cat igloo under there as well. Cats like a warm bed, somewhere they can be high up, a scratching post. The litter tray away from her food and preferably the water and food separate as well. Through in a few toys, plenty of stimulation from you and lots of love and you will have a very happy cat.

A beginner's guide to owning a cat:
1)the cat is in charge
2)you do not own the cat
3)the cat reserves the right to ignore his food until you open a different sachet and place it down next to the first bowl where he will promptly eat the first offering.
4)any warm comfy areas are for the cat's exclusive use,this includes pillows,cushions and clean washing ,particularly if newly ironed and warm
5)to ignore expensive scratching post and sharpen claws on the sofa
6)to bring home gifts of small wildlife and expect due respect and gratitude
7)to move in with the neighbours to be spoilt with chicken breast and cat milk if you try to feed him shop brand food.
.......😊🐱

I’m also adopting an ex breeding queen in the next couple of weeks, am really excited but not had a cat since I was a kid so hopefully it all goes well!

Ok so it’s going well... she’s ignoring her expensive bed and sleeping in kids sink and plays fetch better than the dog. She also has sharp claws of death... turns out you only stroke the belly once

She is lovely!

We adopted our girl from a family who had had her mainly indoors, but she was able to go out in their secure garden with them. After about a month we started carrying her outside when we were there (it was in the summer) and it took her about a fortnight to figure out that the back door led in and out. After that there was no stopping her, and her previous family are still astounded when I send them photos of her up trees, sitting on the shed roof and so on. She still doesn’t go far, basically the neighbours or our garden, and always comes when she’s called. She now won’t use her litter tray (which was pretty dicey during the recent snow, when DP had to dig a path and “toilet” for her!) and if she’s not virtually lying on the radiator, she’s in the garden. We don’t have a cat flap, so she only goes out when someone is in, and she comes to the window to tell us when she’s had enough.