I'm getting a cat!!!!

baby and crumble

Omg you guys!!!

Ok, so we're in the process of buying our first house, and we always said that as soon as we could we'd look at adopting a cat. We also always said we wanted to adopt one that maybe had a less likely chance of getting picked- maybe it was old, or disabled or something. Anyway, I was looking at an adoption website the other day and one cat jumped out at me, and so it looks like we're adopting her! The place are happy to keep her until we are settled (which could be a while yet, you know yourself and buying a house!) but I want to et stuck into understanding what we'll need when she moves in. I've had pet cats before but they were always outdoor cats in the countryside so I've never dealt with litter or anything like that.

Any cat lovers want to tell me what I'll need? She's a 2 year old cat, one eye, and needs to be an indoor cat because of that.

pawrick

The Practical things:

Litter Tray
Litter Scoop for emptying the tray
I buy Thomas litter - habit not sure if others are better but it seems to do the job for me
Good quality indoor cat food - reduces the smell
A litter bin - you can get airtight bins especially for putting it in until ready to dispose of, I find it handy anyhow.
Scratching posts
some cat toys to keep it occupied
Some throws for the cat to lay on and keep the furniture clean of hairs etc.

I also have an igloo type bed which mine sleeps in during the day and night in addition to a cat tree with hides etc.

Get her vet checked and ensure vaccines and wormers are up to date and that she is micro chipped, maybe consider getting her spayed also. The charity may have all this in order before giving her to you so just confirm it with them first. Having an indoor cat reduces the amount of trips to the vet with cat fighting, accidents, a killing of wild birds, shrews etc.


check zooplus.de or zooplus.ie for ideas and prices, I usually find the german site to be cheaper if buying in bulk but I've other pets too so that might not be possible for just one cat.

Congrats on the house btw - I did the same thing last December and also adopted a cat

SillyMangoX

If you want a disabled cat you should have gotten onto me, you could have borrowed Dude for a bit (oh who am I kidding, he would go nowhere :P) Well done on going for one with a lesser chance, don't have much more to add than above, but I am looking forward to pictures

Pumpkinseeds

I'm not sure puss will have any real problems, I suppose it depends on the depth perception in the remaining eye. We have a huge litter tray that we got from zooplus. I always found the shop ones too small for our cats. We get cats best oko plus cat litter from the same place. It's made from natural stuff, corn husks I think, and is flushable as well as compostable. I find it great for hiding odours, it goes a lot further than the old stuff we used and is light in the bin.

The other poster pretty much covered the essentials:) Have a browse in the cat section of zooplus, you'll find loads of stuff. Not sure if it's been said yet, but you can't go wrong with a cardboard box, they all love a good cardboard box, especially if it contained a really expensive toy that they have no interest in.:D

Zapperzy

Congrats

I prefer covered trays, less mess when they decide to dig to china. Get a good deep one anyways otherwise you'l be keeping the hoover beside it. For litter I use pura clumping litter. The wet patches harden up into a little ball and you just scoop it up. It's dearer to buy initially but I find it lasts longer and smells better.

Have a look through zooplus for food, there's pros and cons to wet vs. dry food, personally I prefer wet food for indoor cats. Go for a good quality high in meat food. Applaws dry food is good, for wet food there's a ton of good quality brands on zoolplus (grau, animonda carny, bozita, smilla are just some of them).

A sticky roller and a pair of rubber gloves to pick up the hair. Sticky roller for your clothes and rubber gloves for every item of cloth furniture in the house.

MayoSalmon

<snip>
Not in this forum, please.
DBB

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You can take a break from the forum now: arguing with a mod on-thread is not allowed.. editing your post to do so is just gilding the trolly lily.
DBB

baby and crumble

Thanks guys!

I'm so excited. I've never dealt with litter trays before so recommendations on trays and litter much appreciated!!!

Mountainsandh

baby and crumble wrote: »

She's a 2 year old cat, one eye, and needs to be an indoor cat because of that.

Congratulations ! That's so exciting ! I got my Popey just like you, I was waiting impatiently to get my own house to get one...

... and as you may have guessed from the name, Popey is a beautiful one eyed cat. I saw him with the 2 eyes at the vet's (had been left there as stray), poor thing was close to death with cat flu, but the vet was going to remove the eye, and thought he might have a chance to recover, it was a bit touch and go...
Look at him now (hope it's ok to post a pic ?)
untitled-274 by mountainsandheather, on Flickr

He's 11.
I just wanted to correct you on the outdoor thing.
We are very rural, so this was my one worry adopting him from the vets, that he would have a handicap outdoors, that it would be difficult caring for him.
She told me not to worry, that he was young and would be well able to get about.

Popey is an excellent hunter (although not too bothered now he's older, still well able for the old mice when he's not too lazy). He brought back pheasants, rabbits, mice, voles, birds... As a young cat his hunting/killing rate was pretty heartbreaking in fact.
He's never bumped into something because of the eye, he climbs, he runs (erh... used to, before the belly flap), he jumps just like any other cat.
He's had mishaps outside, just like any other cat, on occasions, but nothing that I could see was related to having one eye only.

I don't think he's aware at all he's got one eye, I honestly don't think it's ever made a difference to his life. In fact, I mostly forget about his eye missing too, he's just a normal cat, I remember the eye missing only because it's a bit odd to other people sometimes.

So of course you can make your decision to have an indoor only or indoor/outdoor cat, but don't base it on the missing eye, that's not important.

But well done on adopting that cat, I had an idealised cat in my head before I adopted Popey, but from day one I just thought he was beautiful and the ideal was him. He's like a Russian blue for f*cks sake !

untitled-270 by mountainsandheather, on Flickr

Lawliet

Zapperzy wrote: »

A sticky roller and a pair of rubber gloves to pick up the hair. Sticky roller for your clothes and rubber gloves for every item of cloth furniture in the house.

On this point, I would recommend making sure your wardrobe matches your cats fur from now on. Saves time!

Seriously though, one thing I noticed about indoor cats is that they can be odd about what they'll drink water from. I'd get a ceramic or metal bowl rather than plastic and keep it a meter or two away from their food bowl, they seem to prefer that for some reason

Mountainsandh

For the litter tray by the way, I got the Cleany Cat litter tray in desperation, after years of litter mess, and I have to say it is great. That's good to know it's there in case your cat doesn't take to the covered litter tray (my Popey is very tall and didn't like having to crouch into a covered one).
https://www.personalised-pet-products.co.uk/cleany-cat-litter-tray-trixie-40371-40373

But the covered ones are the business if cat likes them.

edit : also, since you're just moving in and all, maybe if you have an elevated spot you think would suit for the cat food, it might be a good idea to start her/him in that spot straight away... so if some day you have a baby crawling around, or a new puppy or something, they won't pick in the cat food bowl, and your cat will always be able to have their food in peace.

baby and crumble

All really great tips, thanks so much guys!!

As for the indoor/ outdoor thing, the rescue has said that they reckon she'll do much better indoors, and tbh I'm happy enough with that- and they know her I guess. She is fully vaccinated and wormed, and spayed, so we're all good on that score (but I'd do it anyway). And we'll deffo get her microchipped, it's just good practice.

I've been doing some research (and will continue to until and probably after we get her!!!) and I think that biodegradable litter that was mentioned will be good. I like the idea that it can be composted.

Anyone have any recommendations on wet vs dry food? And are those electronic feeder things worth it, say if you're unexpectedly away overnight or whatever?

I think we're going to visit her next week to make sure we all get on. It feels like aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages away!!!! :pac::pac::pac:

angeline

Aw, so kind, reminds me of this little story http://lovemeow.com/2014/08/together-can-see-world/

Always a lovely gesture to take a less adoptablecat, I am sure you will have a long time companion. Only thing I can add is it is a good idea to get the cat used to being groomed if possible.

morgana

We feed a mixture of high quality dry food (Purizon and Orijen) and wet food (Animonda Carny and Vom Feinsten, Smilla). On an exclusively dry food diet I'd be worried they don't drink enough water. Also provides some variety as cats can get very fussy in what they eat lol.

chamaid

Just cats vet clinic do a very good blog on this. You should feed a mix of wet and dry. Good for moisture intake and less calories!!! So no more phat cats! These vets just deal with cats so they seem on the ball but they don't mention any brands so not sure which one you should go for.

mymo

We feed grain free food, applaws dry food and Bozita wet food (tetra packs), one tetra pack is feeding four cats currently, and we leave some dry out during the day, it's working out about €2 a day for 4 cats, aged 13-14, 11ish, 1 and 5 months (she also gets dry applaws kitten, but eats everything).

I have two hooded cat litter trays, get the biggest you can, they help with the smell and prevent over enthusiastic burials getting all over the floor.

(3 older cats all ask to go out to toilet)

Pumpkinseeds

We feed Bozita tinned food to our 4 and they thrive on it. Grain free and about 1.5 cans a day does all 4 of them. We used to free feed the Applaws dry food and they loved it.