Help with recommended cat equipment please - I need everything, fast!

[minipie]

Sooo we are off to see two rescue cats this weekend and one of them, if we like her, we would be taking home pretty much straight away!!! So excited!

But... I don’t have anything! Except a catflap, which will be kept locked for a while anyway. I thought we’d be looking for a while so didn’t get organised.

Please can you recommend to me any particular cat bed, cat tower, and scratching post you’ve found cats particularly seem to like? Bowls - are water fountains better or not necessary for most cats?

I was thinking one or two of those mostly enclosed felt ball type of beds so she can hide away a bit?

Any recommendations much appreciated.

If you've never had a cat before, you are in Fr a treat. They are just wonderful as will bring so much joy to your house, but just remember that you are there to serve them. And you don't own them. They own you!

Thanks again!

Sounds like I should back off on the bed for now, and maybe the scratching post too - though would like to at least try to divert future dcat away from the furniture and stairs...

Anyone found anything that works to dissuade them from clawing carpet and sofas? I know I’m being optimistic here...

Plastic cat carrier for washability

Sounds like “high place” doesn’t need to be that high, more like chair height than wardrobe?

Will ask the rescue/fosterer what they are eating and what litter

Def insurance, I think we get a few weeks

70IsALimit Yes I know - will keep an open mind although not sure the DDs will! I’d like two tbh but main priority is super friendly and that’s rare enough in rescues without saying we want two of them...

Toddlerteaplease I had cats growing up, but they were Burmese so a bit more like dogs in some ways... almost desperate for attention ... I’m expecting these cats to be more discriminating

I was going to suggest that you don't bother with a cat bed, CharlieAlphaTango prefers to move around, with preference for my chair. Folding clean laundry and leaving it our will make a nice bed especially if it's your favourite jumper. They will probably only sleep on it once, until you repeat the process.

You need dry food bowl, wet food bowls, water container but keep it away from the cat food - you can leave it in a different room. Litter trays and litter. I line the litter tray with newspaper. He hardly uses it as he goes outside.

Scratching post.

Nice to have - a brush for brushing the cats.

Don't buy lots of food unless you know they will eat it. CAT likes Dreamies, Tuna or Chicken creamy sauce and lick-e-lix as treats. They are probably not good for him.

You can grow special cat grass for indoor cats. Wilko sell the seed in a packet. I don't know if you need any. Catnip plant is great if you want neighbourhood cats rolling about in your garden.

The cat will be very scared when it first comes to your house and will hide or go back into the cat carrier . This will last a few days.

Make sure that the cat can't escape. They can squeeze through open windows and jump from first floor windows. Friend's cat could open a locked catflap.

Not for the cat but you might want to get a pair of rubber gloves and/or a rubber brush for your clothes and soft furnishings - this means you don't clog your vacuum cleaner.

New cat will be a little toddler for a few weeks, then will turn into a stroppy teenager. You will become a humanservant.

Mine loves a flat cardboard scratch box. No interest whatsoever in a cat tree or scratch post

Mat for under bowls definitely

Couple of cheap toys - mine likes the balls with bells in, and stuffed mice with tail. Also yeowww catnip toys (Amazon, fetch have them)

Mostly he plays with (supervised) cotton buds, springy hair bobbles, rolled up paper and lids off anything he isn't meant to have (deo, foundation...)

A sheepskin pet mat from skyeskins has been a surprising giant hit

A mat is similar to the folded jumper.

I put a new throw on the sofa once and it had a different colour circle in the middle of it. CAT curled up perfectly over the circle. So cute.

I’m expecting these cats to be more discriminating

That's the word my mini panthers would use ........I'd say Judgey is nearer the mark

I have two identical black M/F siblings. They gaslight me as they waft past . (Is that her....or him..?)
I can tell who leaves the house by the way they use the catdoor. He bunnyhops , She slides out like a viper.

Toddler is right , cats add something to a house just by being there, ours make it a home
(But the guinea-pigs never stealth attacked our feet from under the sofa, just saying, DH )

The barrel type scratchers are great as they serve a multitude of purposes - usually a bed at the top level and a hidey hole or two, and lots of scratching surface. Zooplus has some called Diogones, or Amazon usually has some.

I didn't read every post but not sure if someone already said, it's best to set up one room for a new cat for the first week or so - ideally a quiet spare room upstairs if at all possible,and put all their things in there. Helps them have somewhere quiet to settle into the new home (lots of new smells, sounds etc.) before exploring the whole house.

See if Amazon sell your litter of choice- and if it is on subscribe and save. Litter delivered to your door and you dont have to worry about running out or hulking great big bags back. Ditto their biscuits. We have a lidded litter tray which is kept in the bathroom. Easier to sweep scattered litter off lino then have to hoover it off carpet.

Toys wise minipurr has this catnip stuffed thing that's been killed many, many times over. She will also play with cheap rainbow stripy balls and those cat waggler things.
The older one thinks toys are beyond her but I've seen her with an old chewed up fish toy in her mouth before.

Cat beds- waste of time as far as mine are concerned. They've already got great big beds that they can both fit on together when they want. Shame it's my bed and yes, I would actually like to sleep in it sometime.

Enjoy your furry overlords. They say you don't own cats, you serve them. Especially true with my bigger one who is in love with one of my dc and can usually be found in close proximity to dc.

Pic of moggies for cuteness and to show off their cat bed.

at the minipurrcats .

DH set up an Amazon account for CatsBest bag monthly -but it was always out of stock. So we recently got an order for 2 huge bags when we were in to recieve it (don't really want them knocking on all the NDn to find someone to take in a massive boxload)

At the moment , Female cat is on DD bed , Male cat is on DH side of our bed (with his dirty little compost heap paws - cat , not DH)

If the cat takes a fancy to your furniture put some silver foil on the area they scratch, leave it for a few days and they will be thoroughly put off scratching it.
You need a cat tray for every cat. Yes they will use both but it helps stop accidents. (We have 4 cats so annoyingly 4 trays).

Try them first on a good cheap complete cat food. Ours use Tesco complete meat. To have complete on the packaging it has to meet certain standards.

Thanks again all!

Ok so the putting all their stuff in one room for the first week or so thing... Which would you choose between:

• Sitting room, downstairs, no carpet, glass doors to open plan family room (so may not feel that quiet /private). Currently has various somewhat delicate items which would need to be covered/removed
• Utility, downstairs, very warm and private but also very small and boring with no windows or furniture
• Upstairs spare room/playroom, carpeted, has kids toys in. Could keep the kids out of there for a week or so but longer would be tricky
• Top floor spare room, carpeted, very quiet and private but a fair way from downstairs and is next to kids’ bedrooms...

Sitting room so you can keep an eye on them. You will be checking that they are still breathing every 20 minutes or so.Unless you want to be going up and down the stairs all day.

Oh, I would have said the top floor room (if the cat is at all overwhelmed).

I would second (or third) the barrel scratching posts. Lovely height for curling up on to stare out of the windows or have a head rub as we go by, and they are tall enough to let the cat really stretch out to scratch. We had to get a second one for the second cat.

You might find they pick their own room
Or like mine, stroll out the carrier, gaze around, announce you are home thank you very much and curl up on the humans lap for a nap 15 mins after arrival
He was my first cat and I had to throw away the handbook of "your cat may hide for a week"

Oh I would love that ClientListQueen!

I guess we can try the sitting room first and if they seem very nervous we can try upstairs.

Barrel thingy sounds good, hiding place perching place and scratching place in one.

Here's my thread
seem to have acquired a cat [[http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_litter_tray/2486829-i-seem-to-have-acquired-a-cat www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the<a class="break-all" href="http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_litter_tray/2486829-i-seem-to-have-acquired-a-cat" target="blank">litterrtray/2486829-i-seem-to-have-acquired-a-cat

Thanks ClientList! Will take a look through. I am the opposite of you in some ways... always wanted to have a cat, been planning it forever but somehow it seems to have happened much more quickly than I expected!

I’m currently filling a basket in Zooplus...

OP, I would say that if you want your cats to sleep in a bed, get beds from the outset. Otherwise they will appropriate yours and never give it back.

To dissuade them from scratching the furniture, get the biggest, chunkiest, freestanding scratch post you can find and site it somewhere very accessible. We put ours right in the middle of the sitting room (you can move it later). If they go for the furniture, clap hands and give a very firm "no". If they use the scratch post, make a massive fuss about how clever they are and give a treat. Mine stopped attacking the furniture from about two weeks in. Cats aren't stupid, even though some dog lovers would have you believe they are.

A word of warning about bean bags, whenever i have had them in the house Daphne has peed on them. They must feel like litter.

Hi, just got a cat (1 year old) from a cat rescue on Wed 8th Jan. Do you have a fire with a open chimney shaft? Some cats find the smell of the outdoors irresistible, and climb up. Our cat did this on Thursday morning, got past the cushions we had placed in front to block the gap at the top/behind the fire, and climbed up. Luckily she just sat on a ledge, and then came out after a few minutes. We have now bought a fire guard, the type you buy to stop children getting near a fire. Also there is something you can get called a chimney sheep, which is really to stop the draught from a chimney, but apparently people buy to stop their cats cats from going up.

Basically baby/child proof your home, watch out for dangling electric cables, gaps under furniture etc. Apologies if you have previous cat experience, don’t mean to preach.

Good luck☘️

@clientlistqueen. Just read you Ollie adoption thread. That is the sweetest thing ever!

If you have a 'The Range' nearby they seem to be really good for pet things. We bought the majority of things from there. Bowls, food, scratching post, toys, a cat tipi bed thing which actually gets used we needed a second as Sally wouldn't let Jack in hers . Ours is near to pets at home so anything we couldn't find we were able to get anyway.