New kittens checklist

[khaa2091]

I grew up with moggies, who were both rescues and survived to 20+ with minimal input but were very much loved. They definitely did not have the inputs that now seem to routine and commuted to Dublin.

I now have a 4 yr old, am not at home (but someone is around school) and am often (<weekly) away for a single night so potentially interested in automatic feeding but also have a willing teenage neighbour. I would like to get a pair of older kittens / cats (our local cat rescue has plenty of potential candidates and happy for me to adopt) and work towards them having free access to the garden via a cat flap. I might consider ocassionally taking them to my parents (who now have no pets) for the night.

"Official" info as far as I can tell
Microchip
Spaying / vaccinations (??annually)
Insurance
? Vet cover is separate
Feeder
Cat carrier
Basket
? collar with ??tracker (? birds vs tangle and getting lost risk)

Any advice gratefully received ......
No photos as I will discuss with cat rescue who they think is suitable....

The rescue should vaccinate, neuter/spay and microchip the cats before you adopt them I'd think - here ours will give a vet voucher to neuter if the animal is too young when it leaves and you enter into a contract to get it done when it's old enough.

Insurance - yes. We have a 24 hour vet access helpline thing with ours which is useful
Vet cover - we don't pay a plan for this, but our surgery do offer it. You'll need vet strength flea and worm treatments which are usually monthly or three-monthly depending on what you get. Also annual boosters
Feeder - we have a load of dishes for wet food with low sides (like saucer shaped) and bowls with higher sides (more like soup bowls) for dry food. We do have a timed feeder which I tend to set to deliver a handful of biscuits at around 4am - the witching hour
Cat carrier - yes - get one that has a top opening as well as a front door if you can. Easier to "post" the cat in through
Basket - our cat (and previous cat) likes cat beds, many don't
Collar - no from me, but I know many disagree. I don't like them for safety reasons as even the quick release ones can fail

I'd add to your list:

Scratching things - posts, mats
Cat tree - our last cat wasn't interested in this and we got rid of it, but our boy likes being up high so we got him one which sits at the kitchen window and he loves it
Water fountain
Toys - ours loves little mice he can carry about in his mouth, and also things on sticks/wands. Our previous girl was far too sophisticated for most toys but did like a ball track thing
Mats for under food and water locations
Litter tray/litter even if the cats go outside - we also have a bobbly mat thing under this that's supposed to catch stray litter. Poo bags and scoop. If you have more than one cat it should be a tray per cat plus a spare