So many recommendations please!

[zaffa]

My lovely elderly boy cats passed away this year, and my house has been terribly empty with no cats.
So we contacted a local shelter to find a cat looking for a home (assuming to have an uphill battle as I have a four year old - who is very used to being around cats and very gentle, and live on a busy road) and the upshot is that within the space of a weekend we agreed to adopt three cats 😁
And now I'm panicking a little. We have about three weeks before they come home because we are going away in a couple of weeks (I assumed the process would take ages but didn't bargain for the sheer number of cats that need homes) and a lot to do (including shopping!)

I'm hoping to keep them in for a good few months before letting them roam as they are all black (odd white patch on two of them) and it will soon be fireworks season round here (this seems to last from September to January 😒) and Halloween.

So I need a good litter recommendation (we used Catsan with my boys, but I know that there have been a lot of new brands on the market) for the many litter trays I'll need

Second is cat trackers - has anyone had any experience with any and are they good?

Lastly is cat proofing the garden - does it work? We are only looking at doing the side gate as it allows access to the front. The rest of the garden backs onto many surrounding gardens. They neighbours have limited front access if the cats get into their gardens and also have dogs so hopefully that will deter visitors. The garden itself has a few trees and it just won't be possible to proof it all. But is it worth it? I picture getting the chicken wire lid across the top of the side gate (that is the only danger point) and the narrow side path and one of them just climbing up on top of it.

They are all 18months old - I have no pics yet but I will after Thursday when I visit them again. They are beautiful 😻

Start out with whatever litter they are currently on at the rescue, same as food. You can always slowly move over, but keep as much as you can familiar to them. I'd also send/take something that smells of you or your children to the rescue so your new cats can get used to the smell - and when they come home it will smell of them too which will be more comforting.

Catproofing comes in many forms (and costs!). I've seen some in recent years where the top of the fencing bends over into the garden, though this can lead to neighbouring cats getting IN. There's also ones with free moving rollers so they tip a cat off if they try to climb it. Another option, depending on how big and how you use your garden, is a catio.

Sorry no comment about trackers, mine are indoor for a variety of reasons.

You may want to get Feliway or similar to help them settle in at first, and I've found Zylkene to be brilliant for the first firework season or two until they get used to bangs & flashes, also good if you entertain & have a house load of noisy people/kids. Oh and don't panic if they hide for a few days/weeks, that's pretty normal!

Good luck - looking forward to seeing the pics & reading about their antics.

Thanks!

Yes, my plan is to keep everything the same initially, but over time we will find the most suitable options for a busy home (especially for the litter trays!)

I considered a catio, but with there being three of them I'd like them to have space from each other to roam and I worry a catio would be too small and encourage them to be too territorial about space.

Already ordered the feliway! One of the boys is stressed and over grooming so I'm hoping that will help calm him too.

We have dropped off cat beds and blankets for them, and luckily the foster cattery owner is accommodating so we are also visiting regularly until we go away so they get more used to us.

Thanks for the tips - I can't wait to bring them home and flood the world with pics of my beauties!

Posting for the pictures. Not gonna lie.

Congratulations, that is so exciting! Are they siblings?

Re your questions -

You can cat proof your garden if decide that is the way you want to go. If you have a smallish garden with fences/walls this is what I would use

https://katzecure.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5Ky1BhAgEiwA5jGujs5uidpKZP29hAxc4ErFk1C9zq7UwZ54qHSDDkxUQ5tiN2APECFk6xoC0sYQAvD_BwE

Our garden was not suitable for that, and we had two cats run over so we made our cats a garden within a garden, using Protectapet

https://protectapet.com/pages/how-it-works

I know you have identified the potential issues of Bonfire Night/Halloween, but just to say IME black cats are more likely to get run over too because they are so hard to see against the road surface, even in daylight.

I have used trackers in the past and currently use one for my older cat who still roams, I found it very effective and have found cats stuck in sheds or who have roamed a fair distance. This one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09XF678NT?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder_k0_1_7&amp=&crid=2C1L8392QPGCG&amp=&sprefix=tracker

It runs on batteries which need replacing maybe twice a year.

I have tried every variety of Feliway and never found it made any difference, except to empty my wallet.

@Shellingbynight thanks - it is worrying me a lot - allowing them to roam. I am skeptical that we will contain them by cat proofing the side gate - and our garden is too big and contains trees etc to allow proofing all the fences.

I'm debating a catio, but also worry that having spent so long in a cattery pen waiting for a home, they have spent long enough contained and should be allowed to roam. I'm not entirely convinced though - how did your cats adapt to a catio? How big is it?

It's a really difficult decision because I don't like restricting cats. But we had several disasters, one of our cats was badly injured by a neighbour's dog, and two were run over (quiet village road).

It isn't a catio, that would be too small, Protectapet custom made an enclosure for us so we could decide on size and shape. Our garden was far too big to fence too, so they have a catflap out of a side window into their garden which I suppose is the size of a town garden. It uses the mesh netting you see on their site, and ours has a netting lid too because ours are Oriental and the younger ones are v athletic. We have 'enriched it' with high platforms and seating area and they have their own personal shed. They still manage to catch mice and other critters which foolishly walk through the netting, so they do have a half-natural life. It also means they can stay out all night because they are safe, and they love that (I always got them in at night when they roamed).

They would be happier if they could roam, but then again they'd probably be dead.

Thanks @Shellingbynight - it's certainly a better option to being restricted inside too.

Certainly one of the cats is a climber - he climbed the inside of his pen mesh wall when we arrived and howled down at us from the top to be let out so he could get a better look at my daughter (who he then proceeded to leap up on like a dog) which really surprised the staff because the previous child he had met he hissed and spat at and ran away from. I'm not sure my daughter quite knew what to do 😂 we were never going to leave without him.

I suppose we need to bring them home and get a real feel for how they adapt to home life and their personalities. Looking at our garden, we could accommodate a large enclosure but it would require some logistics - could I ask how much it cost to build?

He sounds like a monkey - one of mine is too and it's a shame he hasn't had the chance to climb a tree! I agree it's a good idea to get them first and see how you go, you will get a feel for their personalities and how much restriction they would tolerate.

I can't remember the cost, it was 6 years ago so the price probably wouldn't be that useful for you. My OH drew a flat plan for the size, then took photos of where it would go, and emailed it all to Protectapet - they were really helpful. Two of their guys came and built it, which took 1.5 days. I've got a couple of photos of the finished item, I'll try to post them.

The cat garden

That looks great! Wouldn't mind living in there myself!