Things I wished I'd known before adopting a cat..

[Sparkles29]

Don't invest in a cat bed-they don't even look at it - they choose to sleep in weird places instead
Don't panic when they hide on the 2nd day, they are in your house somewhere
They will return when you let them outside for the 1st time-even tho it feels like letting your toddler play in the road
They totally ignore you on a regular basis, hard to get used to when you've previously had a dog!
They miaow for food then take one bite & walk off
Long haired varieties often turn into a slug bus each morning
They sleep on their back which is so cute and funny-all is forgiven

Love this post and so true about the bedding! I got my cat a lovely soft igloo bed and I have a photo of her sleeping in the hard plastic washing basket next to it. And she only cuddles up to me when she’s cold but I love her in a pathetic, desperate kind of way 😂

My cats love their beds. And use them.

Agree with all of this, except that I was expecting my rescue cat to ignore me and she doesn't at all! In fact she wants to snuggle on me 21 hours a day and is hurt and surprised when I evict her from my lap.

I bought mine a dog bed. Instagram and YouTube taught me its that cats like dog beds, bonus points awarded if they can stop a dog using it.

My cats used their bed as a toilet when they were kittens, time and again. I would wash it each time until I realised this wasn't going to stop and got rid of it. They are more than happy with the selection of human beds to choose from now, and thankfully use the litter tray/garden as required.
Agree, it is so cute when they sleep on their backs!

One thing I’ve learnt is don’t have any expectations as you have no idea what they’re going to be like. We adopted two.

One loves and claimed ALL the cat beds in the house including the dog bed, the other claimed ours.

One would sit on our laps, the other wants to sleep with us at night but has nothing to do with us during the day although he will sleep in a basket in the same room as me...
They both appeared on the first day and didn’t go back into hiding - I think the braver one egged on the other who couldn’t be seen to be scared
They both hated crinkle or any noisy toys but love catnip ones and laser lights.

Loved it when our fluff cat slept on his back and all you could see was his fluffy tum. It was such a breakthrough and showed he really trusted us. Never picked up slugs thank goodness

Totally agree about the 1st time you let them out. It’s terrifying.

I am soo enjoying this as we are (all going to plan!) going to be bringing home two kittens at the end of June, our first family cats!

Wouldn't have changed my decision about having them, but wish I'd known how often some cats vomit (not envy).
Not all cats like cardboard boxes, in fact some cats can be a bit scared of them.
Cats can sound like a heard of baby elephants when they run up & down stairs - thought they were supposed to be light footed???
Cats can grow larger (not talking about fat here either) even when fully adult, if they had a bad start in life and are then cosseted and spoilt. Mine are now both significantly longer & taller than when they came home aged about 2.

Lost my beautiful girl a couple of months ago after 20 years. The abject grief you think is never going to end like losing a child. You don't expect grief like this. Nobody tells you you will love them this much.
The first time your feral cat sits on your lap and likes it.
Waiting to see what their personality is going to be like, not one of my 8 cats has been the same (didn't have 8 all at once).

If the house is cold they will lay right next to the radiator as an indication to turn it up to at least 200 degrees. The money is irrelevant and in winter should be on 25 hours a day....

Mine is affectionate only in the house. In the garden he thinks he's a tiger and constantly attacks me if I'm gardening. Full on biting and scratching. Maybe he thinks the garden is his...

Your cat will wake you in the middle of the night to remind you that they love you - then saunter off leaving you wide awake while they find a comfy place to sleep!

He may be ex stray, and you expect he’ll go wandering bloody miles so get him a tracker collar, but he’s actually half house cat never leaving for more than ten minutes or going further than next doors garden. Nor will he ever shit outside again!

As soon as you’ve found a food they will eat, and have ordered it in bulk, due to cost savings... they will refuse to eat it.
Open a cupboard door, and a cat will take up residence within a nano second.
Open a tin, all cats appear in the kitchen via teleport.
The moment the litter tray is cleaned, a cat will use it. (Fair enough - who doesn’t love a clean loo).
If you have one cat, others seem to magically move in (according to Dh).
Clean bedding makes the best cat bed. Changing the bedding is just one big game of 5 cats v one decrepit slave (me). Slave will lose and have to pretend to be doing something else in order to get the bed changed without feline assistance.

I love this thread so much!

Our former street cat is the one who rarely leaves the garden!

Also - if the cat food is not the exact one they like (so, in our case, the other Felix one!) that you bought by accident, they won't eat it, but they WILL eat a cold, discarded chicken nugget that they find on the floor.....

Or a decomposed mouse with ants on it 🤮

Wake up time is 4:30am. Bed time is 8:30am. They will poke you to wake up but if you wake them you will get a death stare & flat cap ears.

Settled on sofa and you really want the cat to join you....will not come, will not even look your way despite pleading. Just about to get up from sofa to do something important, cat senses this and immediately wants to snuggle on your lap.

The Zoomies are hilarious-almost teleporting around the house, so entertaining to watch
Loving reading all your posts!

Lovely timed thread. We are planning to adopt a cat in August (once we have our hopeful summer holiday out of the way).
We are currently running a points system with DD and buying items for the cat in advance (yes I know, a bit daft as we don't know what cat yet, but it's cheaper than 1 counselling session).

So far we have a cat teaser, a cat cube and bowls.
What else can we buy without knowing the size/age of the cat (won't be a kitten)?

Here's my funny addition to the family

@TeenMinusTests we bought a cat tree, our kitten ignored it but the bigger cats love it and desperately try and squeeze themselves in to the smallest platforms on it. You can often pick up second hand ones. It’s hard to tell if your cat will like it though so bit of an expensive gamble. A cat container for vets is essential though.

@TeenMinusTests

Lovely timed thread. We are planning to adopt a cat in August (once we have our hopeful summer holiday out of the way). We are currently running a points system with DD and buying items for the cat in advance (yes I know, a bit daft as we don't know what cat yet, but it's cheaper than 1 counselling session).

So far we have a cat teaser, a cat cube and bowls.
What else can we buy without knowing the size/age of the cat (won't be a kitten)?

I would definitely recommend a cat scratch mat with catnip scattered on it-mine loved it from day one & uses it every day

Buy expensive toys for Xmas.....ignores them
Unpack an Amazon box and it's like you've given them the best present ever

They will deliberately do their claws on your furniture for attention

They will jump off high places (like the flat roof!) on to your head with no warning

They will walk past all the lovely cat beds you've bought and seek out your pile of just cleaned and ironed washing

They will drink your glass of water when you aren't looking (and sometimes when you are!)

@TeenMinusTests also the pop up tunnel is a winner

This is a lovely thread.

I didn’t know that even a very quiet cat who didn’t spend much time with me during the day could have such a big presence. He was put to sleep on Wednesday and the house feels completely empty when it’s just me here during the day, in a way it never has before.