First cat... any tips and advice please!

[LetMeJustCheckMyCitrusPocket]

We've seen a lovely little rescue cat and are hoping to bring her home at the end of the week.

First family cat, never had one before so just wanted to ask for any tips or advice at all that might be useful to help her settle in well, that we maybe wouldn't think of ourselves!

Thank you 🙂

She looks very confident and at ease. She’s probably had a good start in life which is nice.

As pp have said. If you’re after a missing cat they like wardrobes or drawers in chest of drawers with soft things like jumpers there. My old Felix especially liked a mohair throw to knead on and lie on. They like fleece blankets too.

for a bit of an occasional treat they love chicken and cooked (even raw) fish, like tuna. And cheese. Mine have even gone for things like crisps and cake and recently she had a bit of a Pepperami as a one off treat!

Be careful if you or neighbours have garages which they can get in. Anti freeze spilled is like cat nip to them, they can’t resist it and drink it but it’s poisonous and dangerous for them. Mine years ago did this and had to have emergency pet visit.

She’s beautiful! 😻 congratulations on becoming a cat slave!

One thing to maybe consider…I don’t know your setup at home but one thing that I wish so much I did from the beginning was have a catio put in. I live in a quiet area and on the hairpin bend of a 20mph road. Kids play out, so car tend to go slow. I didn’t let my cats out until all spayed/neutered, chipped, vaccinated etc and had been with us for at least 6months. They were all road savvy. And I didn’t let them out at rush hour times or at night, but one still got hit by a car and killed (during broad daylight on a Saturday last summer). I’ll never forgive myself for that.

Within a week of that happening, I had catios put up in the front and back gardens. My ex built them so it cost me less than £1k for both (and they are big!). My remaining 3 cats still have outdoor access but I have the peace of mind that they are safe (no chance of them getting hit by cars, stolen, lost, hurt etc). the transition for them has been fine. They have obstacle courses across the inside walls of the house, plus plenty to do in the catios.

You will have so much fun. Our rescue kitten is now a 19 year old cat and very much loved.

Its her carpet now.

Just so you know.

She is gorgeous.

@Iizzyb we have an Amazon box cat too. When we adopted him he liked to be up high, particularly on top of the fridge/freezer, so I stuck a box up there with the towel he came to us with. It was a proper “moment” when he first got into our previous girl’s bed I’d left by the living room radiator and started sleeping there. We replaced her bed with a big fluffy dog bed because he liked to loll over the edges, but even now (two years on) he still hops into his Amazon box most afternoons. It’s so battered it’s barely even a box now but I worry if I replace it it won’t be the right box.

Loads more replies! Thank you all so much for these, it's brilliant reading them all and I'm taking everything on board you've all kindly posted.

@Shedmistress that did make me laugh... it IS her carpet now 😁

@Judystilldreamsofhorses what a gorgeous boy 😸

This is so true! One of mine took 4 1/2 years to become a lap cat.

cats throw up furballs. so dont be surprised if you hear hup, hup, hup, bleuch. it’s a cat thing. doesn’t mean shes ill. mine would throw up once a week.

i used to keep aldi leaflets and slide under the likely spot under her face when the yakking starts so she throws up onto the leaflet and i could bin it! much easier than cleaning carpets.

Brushing regularly and hairball dry food/treats help with fur balls.

No furballs yet but good to know and be prepared!

She has her first vet check tomorrow...hoping we survive getting her in the carrier 😬

Tip the carrier vertically so it’s standing on its end with the door open, then just lower the cat in from above. Our boy shouts and carries on a bit when he’s in the carrier but is fine at the actual vet. Our last cat used to cry so much it was absolutely heartbreaking. We once had to leave her at the vet for tests and she wouldn’t let any of the nurses pet her, or eat anything there - usually she was everybody’s best friend and loved her food.

Thanks @Judystilldreamsofhorses, she's settled in so well, and is such a little sweetheart and so friendly with us, but has also been nervous/scared of things she's seen through the window, so a bit of a mix. Just hoping it doesn't set her back.

Can I ask, does everyone just let their cats roam everywhere around the house at night?

When we first got her we kept her in a couple of rooms to start, and then all of downstairs, and then upstairs with one of us with her just to watch her as she's into everything.

But I've not yet let her free roam around and be upstairs with us at night and wondered if this is the norm and everyone is just woken at 5am by them on the bed demanding breakfast? 😁

I let mine have free run of the house at night except for the always closed 3rd bedroom aka junk room, the toilet (separate in my house from the bathroom) and the kitchen.

Girlcat comes in for bed time Dreamies then wanders off, and Boycat used to come in and snuggle up with me for half an hour, but I'm very lucky in that otherwise they don't pester me when in bed even if I'm late for breakfast.

But to be honest I can't see many downsides to waking up having furry cuddles

We’re a cat-in-kitchen overnight household. He has a bed, cat tree, food/water/litter, and a wicker basket of toys in there, and it’s a big room. He can’t get outside into the garden after we go to bed.

If he would settle and cuddle down in bed with us at 5am that would be lovely, but he’s an absolute pain and we need sleep! (Our last girl was the exact same and had a knack of pulling my hair in a really painful fashion until I got up for her.) Occasionally if DP’s away for work I think how nice it would be to have a little bed friend and let him in with me, but that generally lasts one night.

He tends to spend quite a lot of time in the kitchen on his cat tree looking out the window anyway, particularly in winter when he’s reluctant to actually go out in the cold/wet.

You’d be very lucky if your cat waits until 5am before before demanding breakfast. In my experience, it’s usually 2 or 3 am when they start making a nuisance of themselves in order to persuade you to feed them. For this reason, our cat is confined to downstairs at night. He has a cat door so can go in and out as he pleases.

I think we'll maybe try letting her free roam at night but yes, any middle of the night wake-up calls would be a no from me.

Good to know that others do sometimes keep their cats confined to one room at night and the cats are quite happy with it.

We've not had her long but at some point will need to think about letting her outside...the rescue said she'd been out before with her previous family and she's desperate to get out and explore. Not looking forward to it!

She's currently giving me the cold shoulder as we actually dared to take her for a vet check up today 🙂

Just beware if your cat roams free at night they’ll either want to play (hunt), eat or go out. They’re crepuscular animals which means they’re most active between dusk and dawn.

Don’t worry about letting her go out. Does she have a cat flap? I usually let mine out first thing and she comes in at 5/6 (but she’s home at various points through the day too). Cats usually sleep in daytime. She might be a bit nervous with other cats in the area, she’ll want to mark here territory. Ensure easy access for her out of the garden (I got my stepdad to build a ramp next to a high wall for mine).

I would go out with her a few times and stay while she has a nose around. Talk to her and let her hear your voice. She will need to associate the scents around your house with her home and she will need to come when she hears your voice.

You need to keep her in for a while longer before letting her out. Keep her in as long as you can, 6 weeks is a good amount of time and then go out with her and walk round the garden with her for the first few times.

Have had two rescue cats one explored the house straight away then got up on a lap. The other was quieter and cat under the sewing machine very keen on eating and got up on a lap first even they are all different.

@LetMeJustCheckMyCitrusPocket we kept Louie in for a month then started going out with him in short bursts over the course of a week or so. We gave treats for coming jn. He actually took a few months after that to seem to enjoy being out and didn’t really bother much - I think he needed to feel safe and “home”. Our previous cat we adopted in July and it was easier when we started to let her out because the weather was nice and I was off work all summer (lecturer) so she would just come in and out with me. She never really used the litter tray again after the first day we let her out, but Louie comes in specifically to use it and then goes back out.

I read somewhere - possibly here - to put used (weed on) litter round the garden boundaries before letting a cat out, and it helps to establish a territory and also get them home. I don’t know if there’s any truth in that but I actually did, and neither of our cats have particularly roamed beyond immediate neighbours’ gardens.