New kitten advice & recommendations

[Elephanttrunk]

Morning all,
First time cat/kitten owner here.
We have two kittens (brother/sister) due to arrive in a couple of weeks from my friends litter. They are moggies.
I wondered if I could ask for your recommendations/advice on the following:
Kitten food - what do you look for in kitten food? I.e meat content wet to dry ratio? What to avoid? They are currently fed whiskas kitten pouches
Litter trays and type of litter? So far I have been recommended Bio-Catolet recycled paper granules
Toys/scratch posts/beds - how many are needed? Any particular recommendations?
What do you look for in a vet?
What do you look for in pet insurance?
Advice for first few days and getting them used to our family - 2 kids aged 7+

Thanks in advance

Kitten food, highest protein content and fed whenever they ask. I never fed dry, he looked at me like I was mad when I offered him kibble.

In a vet you need a vet you trust, ask for recommendations from other pet owners. I drive miles to see ours but I trust her implicitly.

3 trays for 2 cats, kitten litter. Nonclumping as clumping can kill them if they eat it and kittens do stupid things.

Tallest cat post you can afford, they like to stretch up and it’ll last them to adults.

Beds, you’ve got furniture so you’ve already got beds. One day they’ll boot you out of yours unfortunately.

Thank you @Fluffycloudland77 really appreciate your response, especially about the beds 😂

My cats love cardboard boxes. Keep your shoeboxes and voila, free cat beds.

I left dry food out and gave wet food several times a day. Tbh I still leave dry out and give wet 2 or 3 times a day.

If they are mixed sex then you should definitely get 1 or both desexed at around 4 months. Both my boys were neutered at 4 months and got their microchips inserted at the same time.

Insurance is with ManyPets

Thank you @dementedpixie which wet and dry food do you use?
You are the 4th person to mention many pets so I recon they are a winner.
I plan to get them booked in for desexing asap once I have chosen vet.
does anyone pay for pet plan on top of insurance?

Fo you mean a vet plan? Petplan is an insurance company too

I pay a monthly amount to the vet and it covers annual vaccinations and flea/worm treatments

Kitten advice ? Well I'd advice you to kiss goodbye to any soft furnishing you are fond of (My two - came here as 1yo- have mangled parts of the stair carpet . Luckily it is old and I love the little varmints )

And you need photos <obvs> I'm surprised you thought you could post without

And names , which will develop nicknames .

Kitten food - what do you look for in kitten food? I.e meat content wet to dry ratio? What to avoid? They are currently fed whiskas kitten pouches

Don't change their diet until they've had a chance to settle in or you'll end up with two kittens with the squits 🙈 as to what to buy - you'll largely be dictated by what they'll eat IMO. Cats are notoriously fussy and for kittens the most important thing is that they're eating enough food. We fed Whiskas as kittens and mine are now all on Felix with no issues, though both foods are slammed on here 😉

Litter trays and type of litter? So far I have been recommended Bio-Catolet recycled paper granules

We just have standard plastic trays from Tesco and use Greenwood's recycled litter.

Toys/scratch posts/beds - how many are needed? Any particular recommendations?

Mine don't have separate beds and don't really play with toys now they're older. We do have a scratch post/bed/house thing we got from Amazon though!

What do you look for in a vet?

Convenient location in case of emergency. I've had to drive mine in the middle of the night a couple of times and location was vital.

What do you look for in pet insurance?

Lifetime coverage and the best insurance you can afford.

Advice for first few days and getting them used to our family - 2 kids aged 7+

Give the kittens lots of space and let them time to approach you! Enjoy 😊

Sorry @70isaLimitNotaTarget here are the obligatory photos of the kittens. Our carpets need replacing throughout the house so I’ll leave that for the foreseeable which dh will be pleased about.
Thank you @sunsetsandsandybeaches I will definitely stick to the same food for a few weeks, definitely don’t want to be dealing with the squits
if I can help it!
I have emailed my local vets so fingers crossed they have capacity to take them on as need to sort neutering and microchipping asap.

I’d send the black and white one back, looks trouble to me 😼

Aw they look so adorable!!

Little troublemakers!

They are both super cute!

Oh they are adorable 🥰
We had kitten siblings too.

I feed the best quality high protein dry kitten food they will eat and pouches from the supermarket. Supply chain issues caused problems over lockdown with my fosters so I got used to feeding two types of food. Paper bags are the best toys ever.

They are so sweet. I have had siblings before and they were great company for each other. This time Cat Protection only had one available which is a blessing as our poor old boy probably couldn't be bothered with 2 terrors! I have kept our kitten on Felix as that's what he was being fed at the fosters, turns his nose up at dry though. Don't waste your money on beds, they choose what every furniture that they aren't supposed to go on, like the kitchen table. Oh and there's big love for a cardboard box. By the way ours loves a paper straw 😹

Black cats are the trouble (ask me how I know )

I noticed on Rescue Sites how a pair of kittens will have a Black Cat paired with a tuxedo /ginger/or tabby . (Like the custard cream you always get in a biscuit three pack)

Ha Ha , we lucked out with 2 beautiful black cats ( I have to say this or there will be a horses head on my bed )

Beautiful kitens there OP , enjoy them

Our female likes a Bag For Life to sit inside ( I Fits, I Sits)

There is nothing as Wrong Wrong Wrong as a Closed Door

Don't even dream about a Christmas Tree this year (or any year if they're anything like our ratbags )