Help for a new cat owner!

[TiddleTaddleTat]

I had 2 cats as a child that lived to a grand old age (20 and 18) and were a much loved part of the family. After years of renting and not being able to have pets we have just had the call to say we can take two beautiful 1 year old brothers.
Excited!! And bamboozled.
On my list to get hold of in the next week:

• 2 litter trays
• food and water bowls (I'm guessing one each is right?)
• food - apparently they are both eating 2 pouches a day plus biscuits as and when. Their food has varied because of donations etc. Can anyone suggest budget friendly places to get hold of good cat food? I don't like the packaging on the pouches, is it possible to get the same thing in a recyclable tin ?
• scratching post if budget allows

Eek! So excited and daunted!!

Should have said - years of renting but bought a long term house a year ago.

Oh how lovely, you will wonder what life was like without them, lol. Would also add a few toys, agree scratch posts would be good (to try and save your furniture), and defo look into pet insurance. Good luck, and let’s see photos!

You need three trays for two cats.
Extra tall scratch post, £20 or so on zooplus because they need to be able to stretch up full length.
Butchers do a grain free cat food in tins.
Ceramic dishes wide enough not to bend whiskers.
Fishing rod toys, catnip mice etc all cheap in zooplus.

@Fluffycloudland77 thank you, I'll look into those. Is the butchers grain free tinned food of equal quality to pouches ? Sorry you can hear I'm a newbie!
I've heard the three tray thing - I can do that. What do they do with the third?

My 2 cats shared an xl litter tray. I did have 2 at one point but they only used 1. I have about 8 food dishes with 4 used at a time - 2 for dry food, 2 for wet food. I have a separate water bowl that only 1 of them tends to use.
I have a large cat tree and a tall scratching post plus a couple of horizontal scratchers

my bowls are plastic and the cats don't seem to mind it. Good variety of food and other cat equipment on zooplus

I look forward to photos . Zooplus is your friend for food and everything else at related. I'm sure I had an email saying they had money off some grain free food.
Our lad has Thrive which comes in tins but isn't a cheaper option if you have two. Lily's Kitchen comes in foil trays. I agree the pouches are bad but some animal rescues raise funds recycling them via Terracycle.
Our lad loves to play with ping pong balls and a little catnip fish.

Ah brilliant thanks for all these responses.
Zooplus sounds like a good one stop shop? Delivery would be much easier for me at the moment.
The rescue said they'd noticed one of the cats was eating biscuits too fast and making himself sick . One of my cats used to do this. Any tips or foods that can prevent this? Ta

We used to feed our pet cats cod flaps (I guess skin and fish offcuts) from the market that were boiled down. It seemed to keep them really healthy but everyone seems to use the bought food these days?

you could do a mix of bought food and home food. You would normally give the same food they currently have and phase in new food gradually. I use thrive and encore dry food and a mix of wet food pouches/trays

You can buy puzzle feeders which slow down the eating of dry food.

Great, so far my list includes:
3 litter trays
Large feeding and water bowls
Possibly a cat bed
Scratching post
Dry food - they have been eating Tesco's value so far
Pouches / wet food - maybe brewers grain free in tins
Puzzle feeder
Cat flap (to be DIY fitted in a few weeks)
Pet insurance plan
Register with a vet

What are people's thoughts on Feliway ? To help them become accustomed to new environment??

Will need to make savings where I can as the adoption fee is already quite a chunk. So probably don't need to buy everything up front I guess.

I have a silicone mat for the food bowls to sit on. Saves the floor a bit. Got it from pets at home i think. Also got their bowls there. Got their litter tray from pet planet- has high sides to save litter being kicked everywhere

I've never used Feliway so don't know how good that is

I use Bought by Many for insurance and pay for a monthly plan at the vets for flea/worm treatments plus annual boosters
Think my large scratching post was from pets at home too

Sounds as though those two have landed on their paws.

When they arrive try to give them a quiet room to hide in for a day or so, a closed cardboard box with a door cut in the side and a blanket inside can be a safe place for a nervous cat. don't try to crowd them or coax them out if they hide. Leave doors open at night so they can explore in their own time. They might not need settling in time, some don't .

Don't forget the dreamies! Might as well start as you mean to go on.

Word of advice, if you have an open chimney block it off, yes I am thinking of you Charlotte with your spay stitches barely a day old shooting off up the chimney (and luckily coming down again).

Cat nip toys. Some kicker toys. Dreamies.!!!!
I think three litter trays is over kill. I have two indoor cats and they only use one tray despite two being offered. My shed kittens also only use one tray and there are three of them and mum ..... they all slept in the other trays despite three lovely cat beds also being in the shed..... cats are fickle.

Dreamies and webbox sticks
Mine also like dried treats (cosma snackies) that I get from zooplus

Thanks ! Yeah I'm not sure where we would fit 3 litter trays. It could be tricky. Will have a look.
Dreamies.... sounds good!
Cardboard box yes - I have a nice big one and definitely would be a good hidey place.
Thanks for the tip on the open chimney - we do have one but has furniture in front . It has been blocked off but will double check that as a curious cat might try and explore that...

You cant beat a cardboard box!

Are they microchipped? You’ll need to keep them in so plan carefully!
Worth checking what food and litter they are used to. Different food might mean an upset tum and different litter may mean they won’t use it!
Take your diary to note down when flea and worm treatments and vaccinations all due.
Good luck!

Please keep them on their original diet for at least two weeks and only swap onto anythingnnew gradually. They can end up with a runny tummy otherwise.

Thank you, yes I asked about food and litter - they said they used a wood pellet litter and food-wise have biscuits out all the time and 2 pouches a day .
Type of food has varied depending on donations , she said the dry food has been Tesco own brand most recently and felix pouches. I might get those to start and find an alternative dry food on zooplus?

Yes , microchipped. She said they'll need to be kept in for 6 weeks , we don't have a cat flap yet so will be installing that - hopefully DIY into the kitchen uPVC door panel.
Are the microchip cat flaps worthwhile? There are a few cats in the area so don't want unwelcome others coming in!

I guess we should get cat carriers as well for taking to the vets ...
According to the rescue they have just had 1 year boosters so due again in July 2021. She said about worming and flea treatments and needing to be every one - two months?
We never used to get our cats de wormed or flea'd, they only used to go to the vets if unwell (which fortunately they never were until their final years)