Kittens and their maintenance costs

keatergreyhound

Our 2 new arrival arrive in a couple of weeks time.
Ive been told that clumping cat litter is the best as you only need to change whats soiled in it. Can nayone please tell me in their experience wheres the cheapest place to buy a good amount from is?
Also kitten food. Ive looked and reasearched and am aware its only available as a special diet like Hills or in pouches for wet food and little 400g bags for dry food.
Does anyone know where I can buy them in bulk. The cheapest ive found the wet food is £2.99p for 12 pouches and 99p for Whiskas dry food.
Ive been told to feed them this for the 1st year so im after bulk buying it.
Thanks
Allie and kittens Kato and Bingo!

shariatlanta

Not sure about where to bulk buy but clumping cat litter is pretty good, saying that I am now using shredded paper for my 4 month old kitten, as long as they can bury they are happy.
With regards to food I used Whiskas kitten food tins, it's smooth as kittens tend to find chunks a bit hard to chew with small teeth, it's around £2.60 for 4 tins and as they only need a small amount lasts a good while. I've never given it for a year, kitten is now eating regular cat food and dog food if he gets the chance,;)
I've had many cats over the past 20yrs and it's only in the last few that kitten food has been brought out, before all mine were given was regular cat food just mashed up, none have suffered any ill effects, dry biscuits are a good idea as they help to keep the teeth clean and stop any problems in that area.
Not quite the same subject but are you going to get them insured, I never used to and have suffered some horrendous vet bills over the years.

BatCat

Hi!
Felix do a kitten food as well which is pretty good. Hills can be expensive and not all cats like it (I think it's a bit dull). Best thing to do is to find out what the kittens are eating at the moment and buy some of that then slowly change over to whatever food you are going to give them (have 1 quarter new food, 3 quarters old food etc. for a while). This will prevent them being sick a lot.
Clumping cat litter is good, but some cats can ingest it which can cause digestion problems. The Tesco value clay cat litter is pretty good and you can just remove the waste. Clumping or no clumping you will have to completely change the litter box (best to get one with a hood, I think Argos do them) ever couple of weeks.
Don't give them milk whatever you do! Cats are generally lactose intolerant and they will boke it up all over the place. Also, try to use metal or ceramic dishes as plastic ones can harbour germs and oil and increase the chances of your kittens getting feline acne (though this is less prevalent if you have more than one cat!).
Be prepared for the destruction that kittens cause! And buy some pompoms, lovely cheap kitten toys! Or just roll up a wad of aluminum foil.
Hope you all have a lovely time together. Also, remember to protect your Xmas tree!
Cheers,
BatCat

keatergreyhound

Yeap Im going to have them insured with Marks and Spencers

pbfhpunk

Hi, I found the best shop bought cat litter for 2 cats I used to have, was a Tesco own one, I think it was called natural and is an orangey colour. I'd 100% advise against the clay type as it will just stick to the bottom of the tray, which is very annoying!!

Even if you use clumping you need to totally clean it out often as especially with 2 cats it will start to smell very quickly, I had 2 trays with 3 cats and it was a nightmare!!

I, personally, wouldn't use newspaper for litter as we had a persian that had been trained on paper and when my dad would leave broadsheets on the front room floor on a sunday morning, then go and make a cup of tea, he'd come back to find Raffles had left his opinion of hard hitting journalism all over it! we also had a cat that was trained on paper and found that when we were wrapping xmas presents it was like having a really big toilet! and so we were constantly having to show him away and you can't punish them as it's not their fault really, they were taught to go on paper!

Currently for my house cat we use this fantastic stuff, that is actually meant for putting under cars that leak oil!!, my mum gets it from the engineering supply scompany that she works for, it's very cheap very easy to clean and Misty is fine using it. We also have some old rubber car mats underneath the tray asMisty has a habit of arcing his pee over the side!!, with the kittens we used to put the tray on Pamper's care mats as this would help soak any spills.

It's important to know what their original owner was using as when I got 2 kittens a few years ago I used the same type of litter that I used for my chinchillas, small wooden pellets that expand and absorb liquid, to try and save money and the kittens loved to flick the litter out and bat it round the room but wouldn't use it for litter, and found the corner of the dining room much more suitable!

Also rather than use expensive litter deodoriser powders just sprinkle som e bi-carb of soda on the bottom of the tray before you put fresh litter in and another sprinkle on the top when it's full.

Sorry this reply is so long! I just got carried away!!

taxi97w

Adsa's own SmartPrice clumping cat litter- £1.49 for 10kg. On a side note: going by your name, you don't have greyhounds do you?

keatergreyhound

We used to have a greyhound but sadly shes not with us anymore. Yes her name was Keater.
Were moving in 10 days hence my signature and have decided that due to me not being at home as much now as I work p/t 3 days week a dog wouldnt be suitable to join our family. I know it would be fine to leave a cat for the 3 hours that I work and nobosy else is at home hence us deciding on 2 kittens

taxi97w

I think getting 2 kittens is a great idea-gives you peace of mind knowing that they won't be lonely-at all! Be careful though if you are getting a male & a female, as I did. Was not aware that females can get pregnant at 4 months old :eek:

keatergreyhound

Nope their both girls and so beautiful. Have already decided to get them spayed at 5 months

lucky33

congrats on becomming a kitty parent they are great little things!

with regards to the litter , most cats will use what they are givem as long as it is clean, my advice is to use wood pellets (available in most super markets defo tesco and morrisons) the reason I recommend this is because you only need to use a small amount because as soon as it is wee'd on it expands, it drys ou and smells of pine. The clumping litter is ok but it does smell and nobody wants their house (especially if new) to smell of cat wee. because you only use alittle amount it lasts much longer so works out more economical.

food is best to serve little and often as they will gobble it up and have bulging bellys, dry food is good to introduce at an early point bcause its handy to have inb the cupboard and good in the summer to stop wet food going off. but do always have fresh water and wet there so they dont get urine infections or get dehydrated.

taliwillow

Hi,

I would also recommend the wood pellets. I'm not sure what size packs you intend on buying but I have 5 cats so buy everything in bulk (cat litter, biscuits). I buy the 30 litre bags and I was paying around £9 per bag at pets at home which was the best value I could find in any shops. I have now moved house and the nearest pets at home is 40 minutes drive so I decided to do some research on the internet. I was almost beaten (as I couldn't find anywhere cheaper than pets at home) but then, fortunately, i came across a website called https://www.petfoodnstuff.co.uk. I would totally recommend them. I have been getting the same size bags of litter for £5.49 and they charge £2.99 delivery so even if you only buy 2 bags at a time you save money. I buy 6 bags at a time so I save quite a lot of money and they seem to last around 12 weeks (I have 3 litter trays) so I definately find it value for money. I also get a 15 litre bag of biscuits for £12.50 in our local Crofts pet shop and that lasts me about 6 weeks (which I don't think is all that bad with 5 cats).

Hope this helps.

Taliwillow