What do I need for 2 cats joining the family?

Dr.Lou

Hi Scottishspendaholic....good luck with your new cats!

I've got two cats, and only one cat carrier. Most of the time I never use it, only for vet visits.

I have one massive bowl for dried food (one of the stainless steel with the rubber bottom to stop slipping) and one for water (which they both share), then they have thier own bowls for thier wet food.

I also would not bother with cat beds as my cats sleep in the most unusual places. They do like my fleecy blankets though.

You'll want something to line your litter tray with too. In the past when they were kittens I used old newspapers, or large carrier bags.

You may want to buy an antibacterial cleaner or spray and kitchen rolls to clean up any little accidents they will have.

A seperate cat spoon or fork to feed them with, ensure it looks different to your own so you don't get them mixed up!

I get a lot of my cat stuff (bowls/ toys etc) from the cheapy style shops (Hyper Value is a good one, but not sure if it is a welsh store), try In Store Poundstretcher and £1 shops too.

Believe it or not I am currently finding Pets at Home the cheapest for tinned food if I buy in bulk at the moment (they eat Felix cans ~37p instead of ~48p everywhere else). I normally buy a large 5KG bag of the 'pink' dried food at asda for about £4 which lasts them all month.

You'll also need flea spray and worming stuff later on in a couple of months assuming they will have been done before they leave.

Consider getting them microchipped too (unless they have already had it done at the CPL) it saves on a collar and tag (which I don't really like in case they get caught up on branches etc).

Good Luck - looking forward to seeing your pics of the cats!

BWZN93

I agree with not bothering with a bed - we had one which went completely unused! My cat now has her favourite sleeping places, her most secluded one for full on sleep is in the wardrobe in the internal drawer that was used for jumpers, on the sofa in my spot when we are on the computer, on the back of the sofa if I happen to be asleep on the sofa, and every now and again a quick snooze on the bed when no one is around!

She also meows at me if I close the wardrobe door fully, it has to be half open all the time! As for toys, her favourites are wine bottle corks, small sticks, and jumping for paper balls. She has loads of other toys from shops, like the usual mice and balls etc, but she doesnt really care. One thing she goes wild for is the lazer keyring, chasing the red dot is very amusing to watch!

Jo xx

scottishspendaholic

Hello everyone,

Thanks so much for all the kind replies - its given me lots to think about.

I think we are definitely planning to get cat insurance and coming from CPL they should be up-to-date with vaccinations, wormed etc but I will check all that out - I know they'll be very helpful.

We will give a donation to the Cats Protection League but this will leave us a bit wiped out financially so I just wanted to check what was necesarry to have in place (litter tray, bowls etc) and what we could build on as time went on (toys, beds etc).

I'll be sure to post a photo when they arrive! Oooh hope it all works out okay!

Thanks again everyone!

scottishspendaholic x

scottishspendaholic

Thanks so much everyone - I'm so glad I posted - this has been so useful.

Can't wait! I'll be back with the pics, I promise!

scottishspendaholic x

bulchy

Hi scottoshspendaholic, you must be so excited waiting for the new cats to arrive, I remember when we rescued our 2. Good on you for getting them from rescue.
Wilkinsons and the pound shops are great places to buy pet supplies. Not sure if anyone has already said this, but if your going to use a litter tray, you can get litter liners from poundshop, they save you cleaning the tray out as often, cats dont like a dirty litter tray,just scoop the poop as soon as you smell it :rotfl: I think everyone else has covered everything else, great advice on not buying a bed, we've got 2, one hooded that does get used, and another that the pup has now claimed, cats didnt use it at all. They do use the scratch post we got from Wilkinsons, cant remember how much we paid, but they've had it from being kittens. When we rescued an older cat years ago, she was so set in her ways that she didnt play with any toys or use scratch posts. We only have one cat carrier, only gets used when its time for jabs.As for pet insurance, we use Marks and Spencer, there rates are really good for multi pet households, and cover is great, and no excess for a few pounds more ( we insured 2 dogs and 2 cats for less than we insured 2 cats and 1 dog elsewhere). We've made one claim when our weimy had an accident, and they paid up no probs.
Sue

Anastacia

Morning
My little furry nuisances shares a dry food bowl, a wet food bowl & a water bowl. No cat beds as my bed or lap is the only place to be. Just need a fine tooth comb for grooming & making sure they dont have pets of their own. Cat travel boxes are fine from car boot sale but you dont really need one as they love boxes anyway & hop into any available box given the chance.

Enjoy your new family
Panda

Jo13_2

One tiny thing I'd like to mention - if you have blinds up, please don't let the cats play with the string as they can get dreadfully caught up in them. Also balls of yarn are a no-no unless under supervision, unfortunately it can be fatal if they swallow it.
No doubt I'm teaching granny to suck eggs here

poppycracker

jw1096 wrote:

One thing she goes wild for is the lazer keyring, chasing the red dot is very amusing to watch!

Jo xx

I thought it was only my mad maniac collie that did that!

booey_2

It's a shame you are not nearer to me (i'm in Somerset) because I have a big carrier, bed (used twice), scratching post, 3 litter trays, various food and water dishes and a bag of unopened toys going begging

My advice....Frontline is a must! I spent a small fortune on sprays, collers, powders, bla bla and none of it worked. Got Frontline from the vets, hey-ho, flea problem over!

Shop around for vets and their prices. It varies alot. Ask for recommemdations from friends, family, etc.

I didn't realise at the time but I was paying well over the odds to my vet. The jabs were several hundreds pounds, neutering another few hundred. I probably could have spent less than half of that had I to have shopped around.

Toys- don't bother! Cardboard boxes, pen tubes and rolled up bits of paper were the favourites of my two.

Enjoy your cats and good luck!!!

Glitterari

Well my cats are thoroughly spoilt...although they have cheapie cat food and dry food. But the other extras they have in abundance (from my pre-light bulb days)

One toy I would recommend though - a kitty kong - you can get them in jolleys. My Merlin goes completely mental for it. However he always chucks it under some huge piece of furniture but as soon as you get it back out he knows instinctively and comes bounding into the room for it. Merlin likes to eat the whiskers though (don't know why..) and they're rubber so I removed them but he just goes nutty for it.

Collars - if you're going to get them, don't get flea collars - they don't work at all and some cats are allergic to them. Merlin is always losing his collars (despite getting the extra secure and safe and cannot be lost ones) and thus the tags so he doesn't wear one now. (He's chipped tho).