The bit between kitten's birth and bringing them home!

[LittleTabby]

It's incredibly exciting isn't it!

Born 19th May, coming home 16th August!

Female tabby, super gorgeous and tiny!

Am starting to look into vets for microchip and neuter (will be fully vaccinated, flea and worm treated before arrives with us!) and insurance.

What else do we need to do to prepare?

Pets at home have a great what you need to prepare for kitten list on their website, most of it all you can probably get nearer the time, a bed, litter trays, scratch post & feeding area will be your main needs, we found angled cat bowls on Amazon that were really cheap apparently better for the to eat out of so they aren't straining their necks, kitten food has been trial an error with us he absolutely hates dry food with a passion right now all he will tolerate is fresh cooked chicken & whiskers kitten food in gravy not jelly he's extremely fussy! So I'd recommend getting a couple of different types of foods and seeing which she prefers over her first few weeks with you.
Oh and lots of toys!! Have fun with your new little cat they are such fun to have in the house & Good luck with the wait I agree it feels like forever!

We are in the same boat! Getting two rescue kittens born on 3rd May and coming home early/mid July. Yay!

@DeeDeeTheDragon

We are in the same boat! Getting two rescue kittens born on 3rd May and coming home early/mid July. Yay!

Yay!!!!!! Are yours male or female? What colour?

It’s so you can order the internet for your cat.

Shopping is ok if it’s for someone else isn’t it? It’s altruism.

@bigbeatmanifesto

Pets at home have a great what you need to prepare for kitten list on their website, most of it all you can probably get nearer the time, a bed, litter trays, scratch post & feeding area will be your main needs, we found angled cat bowls on Amazon that were really cheap apparently better for the to eat out of so they aren't straining their necks, kitten food has been trial an error with us he absolutely hates dry food with a passion right now all he will tolerate is fresh cooked chicken & whiskers kitten food in gravy not jelly he's extremely fussy! So I'd recommend getting a couple of different types of foods and seeing which she prefers over her first few weeks with you. Oh and lots of toys!! Have fun with your new little cat they are such fun to have in the house & Good luck with the wait I agree it feels like forever!

I replied to thus yesterday! But it hasn't posted!

All brilliant advice there, thank you. Especially with the food! I agree lots of toys!

We areeo so excited! Though am wondering how we are going to keep her in from 12-26 weeks when she can be neutered with only one downstairs internal door! Tricky! Not yo mention it will be thr middle if August and the patio door will be open!

Ours are two little boys, both black. We are visiting them on Sunday. So excited!!!!

Ah how lovely Debden!

Ha! DeeDee even!

Though am wondering how we are going to keep her in from 12-26 weeks when she can be neutered with only one downstairs internal door! Tricky! Not yo mention it will be thr middle if August and the patio door will be open!

As my cats are indoor only, I use FlatCats on windows. However the sheer cost of having FlatCats made for my patio doors made me look at other options.

What I have now is extending poles either side of the doors going from floor to ceiling like curtain poles only vertical. You can put them in place then extend them until they are firmly wedged, then if you want to move them just shorted them slightly. Stretched between them is cat proof mesh, which you can get clear so it isn't too obtrusive, floor to ceiling again as you're getting a kitted & they do climb!

@Allergictoironing

Though am wondering how we are going to keep her in from 12-26 weeks when she can be neutered with only one downstairs internal door! Tricky! Not yo mention it will be thr middle if August and the patio door will be open!

As my cats are indoor only, I use FlatCats on windows. However the sheer cost of having FlatCats made for my patio doors made me look at other options.

What I have now is extending poles either side of the doors going from floor to ceiling like curtain poles only vertical. You can put them in place then extend them until they are firmly wedged, then if you want to move them just shorted them slightly. Stretched between them is cat proof mesh, which you can get clear so it isn't too obtrusive, floor to ceiling again as you're getting a kitted & they do climb!

That is really helpful, thank you! I have looked into flat cats!

We are having safety restrictors added to all our windows so they only open a small amount... assuming that will work for the windows!

Would your idea work if the patio door isn't in a recess but it flush with the wall and one edge goes all the way up to the right angle wall too?

The poles just have to be longer, so they reach right up to the ceiling. You can put the pole right into the corner for one side, then the other just past the other side of the doors. This is actually what I've done, the netting is only across one of the 2 doors. I've attached a couple of photos of mine showing the top on each side

Ah brilliant! How do you open and close the door? Our patio door is huge, full height and width of thd room with handles kept on the left and central lock in the centre. It can only be unlocked indoor sidearm is only door to the garden....

Ah mine is a standard 2 doors that swing open from the centre. The mesh is about 1 inch squares so plenty enough room for me to stick my fingers through to open the door & give it a push, then I've tied a ribbon onto the handle that goes through the mesh, that I can just pull & the door swings shut.

But that's 'cause I'm lazy, you could do what I did before I thought about the ribbon which is relax 1 of the poles and move the netting across, then put it back after.

Just thought, another method could be to have the netting attached to the pole with ties or velcro, then just undo the attachments to move the netting aside while you open/close the door, then reattach. You could also have the netting in 2 halves almost like curtains but attached in the middle, so you can "open" them.

Thinking further on this, you could use standard window nets/voile and just make sure they are secure round the edges. But you would have to make sure they are very tough & check them regularly, as some cats will chew holes in the fabric, plus of course you couldn't look out as well as with the netting.

Thank you again. Lots to think on! All brilliant ideas, but I am not sure any of them could be entrusted to my children and friends going in and out! Might have to find a section if the house we can close her into away from the patio door for the last bit of August and see if we can manage closed after that. Eeek!

Will restrictors work for Windows? Gap around 1 inch?