Advice before getting our kitten

[darlingtwinklebum]

Hi, we are due to pick up our new kitten in just under 2 weeks. (Should be a picture attached)
I'm wanting to start buying the bits that we'll need but wanted to make sure I'm not missing any. Here's what's on the list:

Bed
Litter tray, litter, litter scoop
Food, food/water bowls
Toys, scratch post
Collar

Anything I'm missing? Could be something quite obvious so apologies if there is anything!

Also wanted to know what questions to ask when I pick her up?

Thanks

viccat - boundaries were not what the brother and sister taught each other - the brother still liked (until we were really firm with him) to bite our hands hard when playing.

They are much more secure with a friend/sibling though.

Mine had the bonus that my neighbours at the time got their litter mate - a boy - but they didn't know until they went out. They then became a fearsome trio for hunting and seeing off other cats - the sister who hated her brother who lived with her was surprisingly compliant and friendly to her other brother next door - who could be a bit hissy himself!

Not relevant for this summer, but next year you are going to need suncream and possibly a full set of body armour while you apply it for those amazing white ears.

I have mastered the art of suncream application.

Cat waits at door wanting to go out.....meanwhile out of sight I rub suncream to my fingers and hands.

Get cat excited about going out.....then before opening the door, give cat lovely strokes on head/ears. Suncream applied!

food yes if you move them onto a new food to fast they will get the runs.Its important any new food is slowly introduced by slowly adding small amounts of new food to old slowly taking away old and increasing new over a week or two.

To work out quality look at the back poor quality food has these ingredients

maize
wheat
corn
oats
rice
sugar
animal digest/derivatives/by product

look for named meat like chicken,beef i get my food from zooplus in bulk.I fill a cereal container and gaffa tape big bag

for beds and scratching posts spray with feliway or catnip to perk a interest.

collars are ok as long as they have a safety catch that comes apart easily.But as they come off easy some might wonder whats the point well some people dont check microchips it gives a easy quick glance that it has a owner.

toys make sure it has plenty of feathers they love feathers

be warned cats love chewing wires and scratching leather or fake leather.Get a cable tidy to product cables.

i also recommend a zoom groom to help with the shedding goodluck =)

Dobby, kudos to you! TailsCat hates having her head stroked, though (she's very non-cuddly), so I don't think I'll get away with your Cunning Plan.

No to two kittens. People get confused about this as kittens obviously play together and sleep together and are all cute.

Adult cats are solitary by nature and do not appreciate 'a friend.' You run the risk of behavioural issues such as spraying if you have a male. Plus there's the doubling of costs. Play safe and get just the one.

And I agree re no collar. Providing you microchip this is all that's required

People aren’t “confused” (how patronising). All of the reputable rescues who actually know what they’re talking about only rehome kittens in pairs. And it’s not to find more homes quicker.

Another no collar advocate, mine got his lower jaw stuck in his when being looked after by neighbours and was two days with his mouth open trying to get free, he rubbed his neck raw and was very distressed. I have never used a cat collar since.
Make sure you have no holidays booked for the near future- you cannot leave a tiny kitten to be fed by neighbours and catteries wont take them if they are too young or dont have all vaccinations done. (Or do what we did and take them on holiday with you).
I have two 15 year old litter brothers and they love and hate each other in equal measures these days- they are nearly always together and have moments of kitten madness daily- chasing each other around the house and they also have wild fights and have to be shooed out of the catflap.

Ok so I'll definitely be microchipping soon as possible.

Suncream I hadn't thought of  in fact I never even knew about it!

Collar is a no. @flamingnoravera Sounds awful poor cat!

I'll ask what food she's currently on and as long as it's a nutritious one will probably keep her on it. Same for litter.

As for getting two I'll put that on hold for now.. mixed reviews here so don't want to make a major mistake and end up regretting it.

We are getting her privately.. I trust the people we're getting her from, but are there any questions other than food i should be asking?

We got our two cats when they were kittens and used to curl up to sleep together. But they don't get on any more, they've had fights and territory battles. I recently started a thread asking for advice on it.

Anyway, I'll leave the 1/2 cat dilemma with you, OP, but meanwhile here are my recommendations:

• Good quality cat food with a high meat content. See www.scampers.co.uk/news/view,wheres-the-meat-lets-talk-about-cat-food_53.htm
• For insurance, check out Bought By Many
• You won't need a cat flap just yet as you shouldn't let the cat go outside until it's 6 months old (and neutered, obviously) but when you get one I recommend a microchip one like SureFlap. They're pricey but worth it!

Oh and I agree with the others about no collar. Just get kitten microchipped. The vet can usually do microchip, first round of vaccinations and flea/worm treatment all in one appointment.

Cross post. Ask if they've done any flea/worm treatment yet. Assume they won't have done microchip or vaccinations but worth asking just in case.

Fab @AnotherEmma will ask about treatments and then get her into the vets

@MustardScreams I don't mean to be patronising. It's true. Cats are, by nature, solitary creatures when they reach adulthood. Some will tolerate other cats of course but, generally speaking, that's all they do. Tolerate. You run a risk of behavioural issues once adulthood is reached

Those are facts. Patronising or not.

Aram1nta
No wish to get into an argument but I'm afraid I fundamentally disagree with you.
You are thinking too simplistically. Yes cats are solitary hunters but they are social animals - why else do you think that feral cats often live in loosely knit colonies?

Some cats are bonded as adults, some just rub along with each other, but behavioural issues in multiple cat households are the exception not the norm.
Personally I believe that behavioural issues are more likely with single cats without outside access who are stuck in a house all day with nothing to do - but that is my opinion and anyone is welcome to disagree
So please do a bit of research and you will find that your opinion is far from universally accepted,
and stating that your opinions are facts doesn't actually make them so.

Hi. What a gorgeous kitty. I did a big order from zooplus before our kittens came home. Their prices are great and it was convenient to get it all from one place.

Our kittens are 5 months old so it’s all quite fresh in my memory. So this is what’s worked for us. Sorry it’s long but hopefully will help.

Consider a cat tree and one that has sleeping area at the top. Get one that won’t wobble or topple over and that will last until the kitten is fully grown. Ours is great as they can stretch up high to scratch and this has stopped them from using the furniture. Some vertical cat scratchers don’t let the cat stretch up fully. Also the corrugated cardboard scratchers are good for placing near furniture that the kitten is scratching.

If you are going to get a cat flap installed get a microchip one. Ours is a SureFlap one we got for our last cat. It’s simple to operate, still going strong even though it hasn’t been used for 3 years, and cost about £50.

Stick with their existing food but they may have an upset tummy after coming to you and after first shots. I always use chicken and rice for upset tummies. Chicken thighs boiled up with 2 tbsp of rice. You can also use the chicken and rice to introduce new food by adding it in and increasing the percentage. My kittens tolerated Wainwright’s dry and wet from Pets at Home and Applaws dry and wet and now happily eat a mixture of brands. If you sign up for the Pets at Home VIP card you get some good discount vouchers off food and they aren’t single use. If you read the customer reviews of different brands of pet food it gives a good idea. There’s also some useful info online about nutritional values of different foods.

Feather toys on poles and small silver crinkly balls have been our winners. They also like pieces of Velcro and Velcro cable ties😀.

Mine haven’t been fussy about litter and I’ve switched them over to Oko Cats Best as it’s biodegradable and flushable though I just scoop out the poop and flush that. It’s worth getting a litter mat that will stop the litter being tracked all over the house.

I kept ours in a quiet room with everything in it and then gradually moved the litter trays out and the food out once they were comfortable exploring the rest of the house. But they were curious as soon as I got them home that was quite straightforward.

Happy kittening. 😊

@GingerKittenHuman thanks for the reply. Lots of good advice there appreciate it

Regarding the 1 cat 2 cat thing. I always had 2. But this time had one rescue at 10 months. He really craves attention from NDN cat. They play together and hunt together. They pop in and out of each other’s homes. NDN cat showed my cat the cat routes in the hedges and how they work. They call for each other every day. They are BBF. NDN cat is much older.

As far as the 1 or 2 cats thing goes, having had a solo cat for over 10 years (adopted as an adult rescue) and now having four young cats, I just feel our multicat home offers them so much richer lives than my solo cat ever had. I have two sibling pairs with a year apart in age and they all get along well. There is so much nose bumping, washing each other, playful wrestling, sleeping cuddled up, sitting together waiting for me to feed them, catching butterflies in the garden as a team...

Of course most of the time it's easiest to introduce them when they are young and not too set in their ways. Trying to introduce a companion to an older adult cat who has always lived alone is much more difficult than adding another to a multicat home.

We have enough space for them to keep away from each other but most of the time they are in the same room/go out together etc.

I've got one cat ATM. down from our peak at 6! We tended to get sibling pairs, of kittens of a similar age, much easier all round to have two. The one time I got one I very quickly went looking for a companion for her. Yes,they might not be BF for ever, but they will be happy, well socialised, Adults.

In my experience (over 30+ yrs) males are soppier and less territorial as neutered adults than females. So if there's a male sibling I'd get one at the same time. The only cats I've had that weren't keen on other cats have been females. The soppiest pair we had were an older male who took a younger male under his wing, they slept together and groomed each other.

They really do entertain each other, they have each other when you go out, the comfort of a familiar face in this scary new environment- and you'll get hours of fun just watching them play together.

Flea comb. Mine cane riddled and kittens can't have very strong flea medication. Good way to see if they've got them. I hadn't noticed!

We had a car bed for ours when they were kittens and they loved it as they curled up in it together for about their first year. Now they both prefer to sleep in piles of freshly washed clothes or ironing. They also love empty boxes, paper bags and any family board game laid out in the floor. Last week one decided that the best place to sleep would be on my sandals. 😉

Sorry to hijack but, realistically, per kitten, how much does having one over cost over the course of the year? Insurance? (Worth it?) Food? Injections? Cattery fees during a 2 week holiday? Toys/bedding? Anything else to take into account?

I would definitely recommend a cat tree. My kitten didn’t show any interest in his for the first week or so but now he loves it! He runs up it so quickly and he likes to sleep at the very top too. I just got a cheap one from eBay but will probably get a more sturdy one when my kitten is older as he’ll get quite big. He’s good at using it for scratching too and has so far stayed away from scratching my leather furniture!

Maybe think about registering with a vet and if you're planning on insuring your furry friend look into and compare different insurance companies before hand.
Also I'm assuming he/she will have been given worming medication, you will need to continue with the worming medication on a regular basis so maybe get some worming medication on hand.

@higherforce It's easier for me to list monthly than annually, so... Insurance £10-20, vet's healthcare plan £12-15 (covers microchip, flea/worming treatments and one check up + annual vaccination, plus 10% off everything else), litter approx £6, food anywhere from £15-40 entirely depending on what you choose to feed (i.e. supermarket food or the best you can get).

Catteries and cat sitters are usually around £10-15 per day.

Toys, cat trees, beds etc. accessories as much or as little as you want to spend really! Have a look on ZooPlus. You'll need a good quality cat carrier (really not worth getting a cheap flimsy one as they are a massive escape risk) - about £40-65 but if you get a good one it will last for the lifetime of the cat.

If you're getting unneutered kittens then budget around £65-100 for a spay (female) or £45-80 for a castration (male). There are low cost schemes available depending on where you live that may or may not be means tested.

Insurance is definitely essential unless you have several thousand spare you could easily use on vet fees at any time.

You might need to have a catflap fitted if you plan to let your cats have outdoor access.