Kittens and their maintenance costs

Wickedkitten

Our kittens are 14 weeks old this Saturday and we use


Worlds Best Cat Litter - £17 for a 17lb bag from Petplanet.co.uk (you can also get cashback from quidco) - So far this bag has lasted now for nearly a month with loads left over and our house definitely does not smell like cat because I empty out both litter boxes twice a day. You only need to
You can read more about it here

http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com/


Iams Complete Kitten - That's what the woman that we got them started them off on so that's what they are going to be eating until they are both a year old. I think we got 9 kg for about £27 from Pet Planet which should last them for absolute ages.I usually leave 2 bowls of dry out for them to munch on as they like throughout the day and then they get a wet pouch around 7.

Freefeeding is fine especially as you have two because they are usually so active you won't have to worry about them getting fat although they will slow down after you have had them fixed.

milkydrink

My boy doesn't use the litter tray anymore. But when he did I used the white crystals, they sell it in small bags in nearly all the supermarkets. It has THE BEST odour control, it seems expensive but you just need to pick the poos out with a sieve thing, the main litter will probably only need complete scrubbing & changing every 10 days of so. It says on the pack it lasts 4 weeks with 1 cat, I thought more like 3.
As for food Iams is a REALLY GOOD budget option. It's readily available from all the supermarkets. Dried food is better for their health, their teeth, doesn't smell bad, doesn't attract flies, doesn't go dried & crusty in the bowl & works out really good value.
I feed mine Royal Canine, beware cats are fussy, they will quickly develope a liking for the most expensive stuff, feed it once you may never go back, they won't let you, LOL.
Whiskers complete is not much cop, but Iams is a good choice. If you want to pay a little more Hills Science Diet is really good & pet shops often have offers on this. I wish my boy would eat this for me :-( Royal Canine is probably about the most expensive complete dried food in the UK!!! But when we're at the vets getting the annual jab, he looks at Ted's teeth & says "great teeth" & he's 5 now.
This link will get you Frontline (fleas) & Drontal (worms) at the cheapest price I have ever found them at.

http://www.petremedies.co.uk/product.asp?cookiecheck=yes&P_ID=275&strPageHistory=related

Kim

Gahddenbooi

Missus and I picked up two sisters from a litter in July. Since then we've had them chipped, spayed, jabbed and MOT'd/taxed. Not to forget insurance.

So we're sorted for the year. All we need to remember is to get the booster jabs next year.

Feedingwise: Found out fairly quick that Whiskas is their grub of choice. Irony has it that the smelliest one (cod) is their favourite. And they go absolutely ape for the whiskas treats.

When we got them, I had two medium littertrays. One upstairs in the bathroom, the other downstairs in a corner. Once they'd outgrown them, I put a single large one in the bathroom. Initially they did a bit of sniffing around the spot where the old one was downstairs, but they got the hint. Upstairs in the bathroom is now the spot of choice. I've put their tray in a cardboard box so that they can throw their litter around as they please without hurling it all over the bathroom floor (10cm gap all around). I use the clumping litter, clean the large bits out on a daily basis and replace the litter every 14 days. When replacing litter, I wash the tray inside and out. Since I've had them, they've not made a single slipup.
:T

They're our kids for the time being... now if they'd only leave me some duvet as a sign of appreciation...

They're not cheap, but the main costs are behind us and we wouldn't have it any other way.

keatergreyhound

Its funny that someones bumped up this thread as Kayto and Bingo (kitties) are arriving at their new home tommorow
Ive sorted out all their bits (litter teay, collar,food,bowls,toys,scratch posts, radiator beds, normal beds)
mmm I think anohter child would have been cheaper.
Jabs are booked for early 2007 @ £65 per cat and spaying shall be done at 5 months @ £65
Come to think about it they are costing me as much as another child but im sure they will be worth it!

Contains_Mild_Peril

keatergreyhound wrote:

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.

Piffle! The clay type stuff will form soggy sludge at the bottom of the tray, which will need changing quite often.

BatCat wrote:

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.

I'd say that's quite an optimistic estimate for 2 kittens, especially if using clumping litter.
I think Argos have some sort of kitty starter sets which include, among other things, a big high-sided litter tray so they won't scatter the litter outside the tray. It does have a shallow bit on one edge for easy entry.
I think wood or (shop-bought) paper-based litter is much better than the clay sort. It's more expensive, but much less smelly, and it's easier to change because it doesn't stick to the tray when it's wet so much, and you don't get the dust cloud that happens when you pour cheapo litter into the tray.
That said, I normally use the cheap nasty sludgy clumping stuff just because it's cheap.
It's really not necessary to keep them on kitten food till they're a year old. They'll be fine with adult cat food much earlier than that. I think Morrisons still do own-brand dry kitten food, which is quite good value. I believe Asda also do.
As for toys, if you know anybody who has Kinder Surprise eggs or those little 20p novelties from vending machines which come in similar plastic containers to the Kinder toys, see if you can scrounge a couple of the plastic ovoid containers. My cats love them!

angchris

my cat ended up not really touching her food much she prefferred the self catering option:rolleyes:right next to my house there is a lovely babbling brook and every day she brought enough mice and baby water voles home to feed us all! lucky us!:eek:

bluezone

I used to use 'sophistikat' cat litter - and it was better tan the clumping variety imo. We did try the pellets that explode but the female cat refused to put her paws onn it and ketp trying to balance her paws on the top edges of the litter tray!. I know the sophistikat litter is a bit more expensive but it worked reallly well and hardly smelt!

Kitten food. I used the kitten food for a while (about 4 months) but then went onto normal food - and to my joy they preferred the cheapest of the cheap - turned their nose up at whiskers! As another poster has said, kitten food has only shown up over the past few years so normal food wont harm the kittens.

bluezone

for the first month or so - get a kitten litter tray or a cheap baking tin that doesnt have high sides unless you like the funny side of watching them trying to get in and out of a full size litter tray. You can geet the litter tray liners but my 2 used to rip it to shreds in the bottom so as I went to lift it out it fell everywhere - I'm sure I used to see them giggling at me !!

emma_b_4

could anyone give me some advice regarding my kitten approx 16 weeks old (was a rescue kitten) we have had cats and kittens beofre but this one is so dirty! he will use the litter tray no problem but doesnt bury his mess, he leaves it then stands on it and spreads it round the floor, units, wherever he can before we see him..its driving us both barmy..

have tried difrent litter

have thought about getting a tray with lid on (like a catflap type) but he doesnt "kick" the mess around as such more carries it out

we do have another cat in house (dont know if relevant..they get on fab)

please help!

jillie1974

make sure you feed them a mix of dry and wet food. if they only have dry food they can get a condition similar to cystitis and it can damage their kidneys! my older cat Charlie had this and spend 5 days at the vets being treated!

best of luck with them. have you thought of names yet?