Beginner's guide to kittens please!

[SadieHH]

After a 40 year wait I'm finally about to start a kitten hunt! I've read lots (for years!) but really could do with a beginner's guide. Have never had a pet before. Both DH and I are around most of the day (we work from home) and we have two dds, 10 and 6. We have a fenced garden and live on a fairly quiet road. Will be getting kittens from rescue before anyone asks btw .

I'm assuming a pair of siblings would be better than two random cats? Does the sex mix make a difference?

Do we need two of everything in terms of feeding and water bowls, litter trays etc or do they share?

And I was looking at the scratching posts and climbing thingies. There are so many of them for sale second hand, is it better to buy a new one (unscented by previous cats I'm thinking) or is second hand OK? The money isn't a problem, just recycling I guess :) Are they bothered about things like that furry shelf that you hang on the radiator or is it like baby things when they invent stuff for new parents to waste their money on?

Congratulations on rescuing two adorable kittens! First, kittens have lots of energy and can get themselves into trouble very easily. Teach your children to be gentle with them. Two litter boxes, kept spotless at all times. Definitely get them a new climbing treehouse for playing and napping. Cats love to be up high. I wouldn’t spend much money on toys as they will probably be happy with two shoelaces tied together, but do spend quality time playing with them. It helps to create a bond and you will learn their individual personalities. Have fun!

Hi I have had cats for many years I have had both a sibling pairs and none sibling pairs both can work really well . They will work out the hierarchy themselves. I have had both male and male mix and female and female mix they will have have there little squables which sometimes they do fight but they soon get over it a neutered male and spayed female can work really well too .

You will need two of everything as cats really do not like to share as it can cause arguments and it is also best if you have a pair of cats to have a litter tray for each of them plus a spare one as well you can do this with bowls toys etc too i have and it really helped .
I have had both new and second hand scratch posts cat trees (cats love these) and i have had new both have been ok if you do go second hand go for one that has had very little use .
The radiator cat bed is a good idea as cats do use them from my experience however again you would need more than one . My cats sometimes just sit on the radiator itself an d ignore the beds . All in all it will be down to the individual cat as they have there own personalities .

Good luck with your future kitties i am sure you will all love the experience

That's really helpful, thanks both. Cant wait to get them, have been wanting cats since the dawn of time!

Hi there I recently got a new little kitten and have probably gone a bit overboard on the new stuff!

In addition to the usuals of litter trays, litter, bowls, mat, bed, cat carrier and blankets, I bought her a water fountain which she loves and drinks from regularly.

I also bought a radiator bed which has given a few dirty looks and then totally ignored!!

The best toys I have were cheap collapsible tunnels and cubes from Tesco. They were only a few pounds and she has had hours of entertainment from them. They also provide easy hiding spaces when she wants a bit of peace!!

Good luck - I waited a long time to get my kitten and it’s great fun. She is growing up so fast though!!

Mine never used a radiator bed either. You need a cheap tunnel though. Its bedn their favourite rhing for the past two years.

One of my cats loves his radiator bed, but only when the radiator is on.
Toys need to move to be fun, so the ones on little fishing rods are good. Mine also love a cardboard box. Kittens are the most fun, but can be a bit bitey and scratchy as they play, make sure you supervise your kids to play gently and not panic or over react to a scratch.

My five year old Bengal "kittens" love their kickeroos - zooplus is a good place to look - especially for cat trees
Here is their kitten kickeroo https://m.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/kittenproducts/kittenn_toys/185364

OK tunnel is a must, tree is a must, think I'll wait and see about radiator bed, it sounds like a winter thing. Water fountains sounds cool, will investigate that too. So many things! Ooh I'll have to get Christmas stockings and things! Exciting.

There have been cats in the extended family all the children's lives so they're not unfamiliar with them and can take little scratches and bites. I'm not one for rushing to A&E at the drop of a hat either so hopefully it'll all be fine.

Another question. Assuming no special dietary requirements or conditions, what's the feeling on which food to give? For example, I know plenty of cats on Felix (I do a Costco shop for friends every so often) but then I hear names like Royal Canin etc.

How exciting re getting kittens! We've just got a 4mo kitten last month, after our 16 year old cat sadly died earlier this year. Re food, I'd say go for a cat food with a decent meat content. I was shocked at how little they have in them sometimes! I realise that the 'gravy' and jelly ones have a fair bit of liquid, but even so it's sometimes only 4% meat content! Charlie, our cat who died earlier this year, developed feline diabetes probably because he was mostly on a (good brand) of dry biscuits. So best bet is probably a mix of dry and wet food, or just wet food – look at the ingredients and try to find something that looks decent. Our kitten loves the James Wellbeloved kitten food biscuits, and I've just tried him out on Animonda 'carny' (from zooplus), which is a trad tinned food. He's not keen on the proper meaty ones, but the poultry flavour is going down OK. Whatever you do, don't over commit to buying a food they've not tried out before! I'll try the kitten with the meatier tinned food again, as he's probably just less sure of it, but it might be that he just decides it's not for him... He likes the James Wellbeloved individual pouches/with gravy too. Whatever food he gets, he just gets small amounts at a go so that it's not sat out, drying up.

They will climb your curtains.
Don't have a Christmas tree this year unless you are prepared to put it back up everyday.
You will get trapped with a cat on your lap.
Your entire existence is to cater to their every whim.

If money is not an issue, Orijen is the absolute gold standard of dry cat food. I've only ever seen it sold in zooplus and pet planet as its not a UK brand. A cats diet should be very high in meat content, with no cereals as filler.

m.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/dry_cat_food/orijen/45156

Then this is my personal choice for wet food, as it has excellent ingredients. You can tell because it actually smells like what its made from.

m.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/catz_finefood#508331

With regards to toys and cat trees, it's really down to the individual cat. I have one that loves cat trees and one that pays zero attention to them. Both prefer a scrunched up receipt to play with than any cat toys

One thing to consider is that giving a variety of different food/brands as a kitten means they'll be less likely to be fussy as they get older. Saves a lot of hassle if they stop making one kind of food or change the recipe.

Same goes for cat litter to get them used to different textures under their paws for the times your preferred litter is out of stock

Just watch out for the cat scratching posts covered in carpet. Our cats never touched the carpets until we got them a scratching post with a bit of carpet on the top 🙄 Our cats have done really well on Royal Canin (combination of wet & dry) It’s probably just marketing but it does seem to work. We had a very picky cat (with allergies to boot) and the only food she’d eat was their variant for fussy cats, which fortunately also ticked the right boxes in terms of her allergies. Enjoy your kittens!

Oh God I forgot about their love of Christmas trees . I love my tree.

That's it! Kittens cancelled! not really

Spilledmycoffee

Just looked at that food. The ingredients list is amazing! I should feed it to my kids

An occasional sprinkle of cat nip on scratchers makes them (narcotically) interesting again.
Our cats have a mix of wet and dry food. They don't like the more expensive wet foods, but I'd suggest a bit of decent protein a day as they're growing is worth the expense. We've stopped buying James Wellbeloved dry food as one of ours loves it too much, bolts it, eats too much and is sick. Too nice apparently! So they're on a Royal Canin dental one now as pukey cat also has poor teeth.