Bringing home kittens

[Elpheba]

We’re bringing home two little rescue kittens at the end of the week. I know they’ll give us lots of information when we get them but I’m sooo impatient and could do with some advice!

They’ve told us which litter they’re used to and they’re currently on dry food- is dry food best? Do I keep them on what they’re used to permanently (bog standard Tesco dry) or look to move them onto something else? I have read a few things about wet food vs dry food but I’m not sure which is best!

I need to get supplies and bowls and a litter tray this week. Are there any high street or online stores which people would recommend for being cheaper for ongoing supplies? Don’t fancy just rocking up to pets at home and bankrupting myself!

And any recommendations for best pet insurance plan? Is it advised for cats or should I do the saving into a specific account for them? (And if so what is a good amount to save?)
Sorry for so many questions but mumsnet is my go to for wisdom in all areas and although I’m very excited I’m also nervous at making sure these little boys settle in well to their new home!

Also pheromone spray and treats- do I need both of these? And how many treats are kittens allowed?
Maybe it would be useful if someone could just suggest a great book about kittens so I don’t pester you all with too many questions

No to treats, yes to the pheromones.
Give them a room of their own and keep them in there on the first day (bathroom is the best room) a nice cardboard box with a hole cut out and a blanket will make them feel at home!

Wet food is good for getting fluids in the little fluffs!!!

If you go to Pets at Home they give you a booklet per kitten with money off vouchers in it. There's one that gets 10% or 20% off which is great if you're buying several items. There's also a voucher for some free Royal Canin kitten food.

My kitten loves applaws kitten and lilys kitchen kitten dry food (I wanted grain free). He also loves natures menu wet kitten food.
If you want to swap food do it gradually once settled in.
I got bowls from amazon and litter tray from sainsburys. And feather wand toys from amazon (china) that kitten loves!

Lily’s Kitchen wet food gives mine the squits, unfortunately. We use a mix of Meowing Heads kitten and bog standard Felix kitten pouches. But definitely keep them on whatever they’re used to at first.

Litter trays - I would get covered ones if you have room. You can take the door flap off till they get used to it, but the filtered lids really do keep the whiff and mess down. Use the type of litter they are familiar with to start off.

Cat scratching posts: kittens grow! Get a really tall one or a barrel type if you have room.

Cat- friendly disinfectant spray for random accidents.

Cat carrier (two when they’re bigger).

Cameras at the ready...

I wouldn’t bother with the pheromones personally. We do use them to help settle nervous or aggressive foster cats, but kittens will be fine without.

The Range is great for cat stuff. We got the majority of stuff from there.

I bought all my kitten stuff from B&M . Much cheaper for scratch posts, bowls , toys , litter trays etc

We have two kittens and have two litter trays

We get worm/flea stuff from pets at home. Its delivered monthly. They were also doing a kitten book , free first flea treatment and food when we signed up a few weeks ago

Carful about changing their food, do it gradually to avoid upset bellies.

1 litter tray per cat and they don't like those to be near their food.

Don't force interaction, give them somewhere to escape to and leave them alone if they are there.

Our (not so little) tornados arrived in November. We gave them the run of a smallish room and simply opened their cat basket (they shared a basket- breeder recommended this). We had the litter tray fairly close to the cat basket and the food a bit further away.

I think they slept in their cat carrier for a couple of days, before decamping to a laundry basket. 15 years before them, the original Madcats slept on top of a shelf of LPs for a few days. I wouldn't worry too much about cat beds- a cardboard box with the sides cut down and a blanket will do.

I buy most of our stuff from Zooplus, but have taken advantage of new customer offers from Fetch (deliver with Ocado orders) and Monster.
I don't have a car, so much prefer a delivery driver to carry a big sack of cat litter to my door every month or so.

We used to use Bitiba a lot, but they don't stock the brand of food we need. They used to be a lot cheaper than terrestrial supermarkets.

Ask if you can bring a blanket/toys that they have been using in the rescue place so they have a familiar smelling thing to begin with.

As others have said, when they first come home give them their own room - don't let them have free reign of the house until they are more settled. They might be nervous, but mine wasn't! Always been a confident kitty and rolls with the changes. When in their new room show them where their food, water, and litter box is. Then 'ignore' them until they feel brave enough to come to you.

Keep them on the same food and litter (and similar litter box) to begin with - then you can gradually change over to something else. Grain free, kitten specific food is best. There are pros and cons to wet and dry food - mine has both. Posh pouch in the morning, cheaper one for tea (sainsbury's own kitten food - gain free), and dry kitten applaws ad hoc as a top up.

You can get kitten specific treats and if i recall correctly it says on the packet how many they can have each day.

Wilkos, the range, b&m all good for cat stuff and cheaper than pets at home. Keep an eye out for cat-related Aldi 'special buys' when they have them on too.

I also use zooplus - got a massive cat tree from there which would have been easily double the price in pets at home.

I took on 2 kittens in November. The room we gave them was the kitchen. It had their litter tray food water and toys. I took the pet carrier into the kitchen opened it and left them in peace. It took them about 20 minutes for them to come out. I went into the kitchen about every hour and sat on the floor. After about 2 hours they came to me to investigate. I left them in the kitchen for about 4 days and then introduced another room gradually. Their favourite toys were a tunnel and a mouse on a spring which they still love to bosh and watch it bounce back and forwards. They are very active and run and leap and jump but then because they are still babies really they climb up on our laps snuggle and fall asleep