New cat owners

tealady

Oh what fun 2 new cats.
The thing with cats (as with most pets) they each have there own personality (or should that be purrsonality?) and the best part of having them is seeing how it develops. Some may seem shy at 1st yet develop into loving lapwarmers. Others may be the local "meet and greet" mog to whom all the world on two legs is a friend. Or you could have ones who have cattitude (and life can be fun with one like that!)
Just enjoy your furbabes, there are loads of sites to ask questions and find advice.
Oh and don't forget to post a few pics when you get them home.

paddypaws101

http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/112132-z-wet-food-cats.html
Lots of great info here about costs and quality of various wet foods...there is also a similar listing for dry foods.
There are undoubtedly costs involved with any pet....but then after having horses you will know that! But the joy they will bring the family really does offer 'value for money'

morg_monster

We have 2 cats, 3 yrs and 2 yrs, and at the moment they are on 100% wet food which costs ~£1.50 a day. This is high meat food from Zooplus. When they were on biscuits for breakfast I would say we spent about £1 a day.

We have a litter tray as the cats are shut inside at night. We use Oko plus clumping wood based litter which is great as you dig out the clumps, flush down the toilet, and we only change the whole thing once a month in summer, slightly more often in winter. Buying the big 30L bags of litter it costs us about £1 a week; slightly more in winter. Litter trays are cheap, we have a covered one as it has to go in our dining room & one of our cats is a big digger!

They are both insured, £6 each a month (Argos, the "platinum" life cover option). Annual vaccination boosters - I paid £70 for the 2 of them in total. We live in an expensive part of the country though.

We buy our flea and worming stuff from Pet Drugs Online, ~£20 for 3m supply (2 drontal worming tabs, 6 frontline flea pipettes) (but we don't always do it as often as advised on the packet as our cats are not hunters).

Pet carriers - you will need one big one or 2 to bring them home in, ask the rescue - they may not let you take them both in the same one even if it is large. They should last forever though!

Scratching post - in my opinion a must! - £10-£20 will get you a decent one, get the tallest one you can find. It should last a while.

Cat flap if they go outside - we got a whizzy microchip one for various reasons, but I'd suggest getting a basic model to start off with then if you have problems with intruders or anything like that you can go from there. ~£10-15 for a 4-way locking one (so you can lock the cat in / out if you want)

Collars - I always put collars on my cats with ID tags, if you choose to get collars make sure they are safety ones, I prefer the breakaway buckle ones to the elastic ones. They can take a while to get used to them if they haven't worn them before. If they continually lose them that can be an expense!! The cheapest ones are about £2ish and ID tags are cheapest off ebay, £2 ish, much cheaper than getting the guy on the high St to do them I find.

Food & water bowls, I just get the cheap brown ceramic ones, I find them easier to clean than plastic. few £?

Other things are all optional I think - they would prefer to lie on your bed, the sofa, a fruit bowl, a box etc, anywhere but the gorgeous bed you spent hours picking out! Catnip, toys, treats, etc are all cheap. Best toy IMHO is a laser pointer - again cheap off ebay. If you're both out at work all day you might want to spend a bit more on some toys once you know what they like; ours love their "catit senses" circuit where they chase a ball around a track.

Finally - the early mornings, we just don't stand for it in our house ;-) the cats are shut downstairs at bedtime and are so good, we never hear a peep out of them and they usually go outside and entertain themselves in the garden if we are having a lie in. I couldn't cope with them waking us up at all hours, we both sleep badly enough as it is!
Good luck, you are in for a lot of happiness and laughter, our cats are way more entertaining than we ever thought they'd be and getting them last year was the best decision we ever made!!

<end ramble!>

geri1965_2

The only thing my cats have ruined is my stair carpet - despite having two scratching posts, it's too tempting for them. I've given up replacing it now, but it's a price worth paying, I'd rather have my two lovely cats than a perfect but cat free home.

Oh and Jimmy has ripped all the felt from next door's garage roof but I don't know about that *whistles innocently*

You'll probably find that your OH falls in love with them anyway, mine didn't like cats at all until he came here and met mine.

loopylulu_3

Thanks for the replies everyone. My hubby was always a dog person until he got use to the cats at my parents and now he loves them whenever we visit (he secretly seeks them out to fuss over!)

I've been calling the rescue centre for the last 2 days and have left two messages saying i'm interested in 2 cats and could they call me. The final bit of information my hubby wants to know befor 100% committing to this is how much we have to pay the rescue centre for the cats (we also want to ask about the process and home visits etc). Bit annoyed they haven't called back and hubby won't let me go and see them to get the information as he doesn't want to meet the cats until he is ready to go ahead and say yes straight away. He has seen them on the website and likes them though.

[Deleted User]

loopylulu wrote: »

Thanks for the replies everyone. My hubby was always a dog person until he got use to the cats at my parents and now he loves them whenever we visit (he secretly seeks them out to fuss over!)

I've been calling the rescue centre for the last 2 days and have left two messages saying i'm interested in 2 cats and could they call me. The final bit of information my hubby wants to know befor 100% committing to this is how much we have to pay the rescue centre for the cats (we also want to ask about the process and home visits etc). Bit annoyed they haven't called back and hubby won't let me go and see them to get the information as he doesn't want to meet the cats until he is ready to go ahead and say yes straight away. He has seen them on the website and likes them though.

It depends on the place, some have set donation amounts depending on the animal (cat, dog etc), and some places leave it up to you (as ours did, and (if I remember correctly) we left £60 for two cats) - However, one was neutered, the other not, and neither of their injections were up to date, so we had quite a bit of one off expenses to pay up front for this - if we'd not had to pay all this out so quickly after getting them, we'd've probably left more.

Also, if you have any vet chains near you it might be worth checking if they do any vaccinate for life schemes or similar (which we did with "vets for pets" and we paid £75 per cat and this covers all of their booster vaccinations for life so long as we return to one of their branches, and as they are a chain, even if we move we are likely to be near a branch). Expensive initially, but worth it long term.

Good luck with your new kitties,

D9

Fire_Fox

I have aimed to feed my little obligate carnivores a high meat/ grain free diet for 50p per day. IMO high carbohydrate dry foods are a false economy for cats as you need to feed a lot more and risk problems with teeth, diabetes, digestive problems, stinky poop and other health conditions. For wet food Bozita tetrapacks are the best value with 90%+ meat, Classic tins are also grain free and additive free and very reasonably priced. Pouches usually work out expensive, no need if you have two cats as you can get through one tin or tetra pack a day. Cat treats are a rip off, look at the price per kilo and compare to the best steak. :eek: Use a high meat, strong smelling dry food or frozen value prawns instead!!

AXA is considered to be the best insurance company, prices vary around the country but you can run a dummy quote online. DO NOT TOUCH E&L - they are a nightmare to claim from. You need cover that renews the pot of money each year and does not make you pay a percentage of any claims in later life. You cannot change insurers once there has been ANY vet treatment as a new insurer will exclude ALL digestive problems after a stomach upset.

Ongoing vet costs - Stronghold is £7 a month in my area and this covers fleas, most worms AND ear mites. You should treat monthly in the summer if they are outdoorsy cats, but can get away with less frequently out of season, or rarely if indoor cats especially if you groom regularly. Vets4Pets chain will do lifetime vaccinations for £99 per cat, but you must be on time EVERY year. They are not well thought of so you might want to use another vet for other check ups. Make sure to register your cats with a good vet from day one even if no check up is needed, in case you need emergency care. If not registered you will be ripped off and may have to pay hundreds of pounds BEFORE treatment.

Best toys EVER here, also fantastic service and all profits go to cat rescue http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/
You can make your own cat gym cheaper than you can buy a good quality one http://www.ikeahackers.net/2006/08/feline-physique-get-ikea-stolmen-cat.html
Cat gyms need to be strong and stable or they can snap in half. You should have several scratchers around the house as scratching is about scent marking not just sharpening claws, and you don't want your furniture wrecked. You need scratchers that allow the cat to stretch to full height and do not wobble - think about real trees. Cardboard scratchers are good to supplement a proper gym as they are only ~£5 each. Most online pet suppliers will do free delivery if you spend £29 or more; Pets at Home is good value when things are on offer but can be a rip off for others.

I use Cats Best OkoPlus cat litter which is granular wood (not pellets as cats prefer small pieces) which is great for smells and clumps easily - this averages £1 a week for one indoor only cat. Cheap clay litter does not control smells and is a false economy as you cannot scoop out the clumps of used litter; clay litter is mined so bad for the environment. Another litter well thought of is World's Best corn litter but you can buy chick crumb (food for baby chickens!) from a farm supplies store which is basically the same and much cheaper. Some litters track badly - i.e. walk out of the tray so mean a lot of vaccuming - sadly both OkoPlus and World's Best track.

Get large underbed storage boxes for a litter tray (~£3 from Wilkinsons), you need two or three trays for two cats. Cats should not be forced to share facilities and may not want to poop and pee in the same tray. Covered trays hold the smell in so nicer for humans, but would you use a toilet that stank of someone else's poop? Cats noses are more sensitive than ours, have trays that smell if you want to risk them going elsewhere in your home. I have one covered (no door) tray and one open tray and no problems, but I did have trouble with just one covered tray for one fussy cat. Good quality food should reduce poop smells substantially, wet food means pee is more dilute so again fewer smells.

As Spike7451 says join Purrsinourhearts forum, it's so friendly and helpful. Enjoy your new mogsters!

loopylulu_3

Thanks Domino and Fire Fox for the useful information, will definitely be making note of it. I'm so glad i use the MSE forums, everyone is so helpful.

LittleLauz

Awww, how exciting having two new additions to the family!!

I have just one big boy kitty, Oscar who came to me free due to his family abandoning him, but my cat before him who came from a shelter was a donation to the rescue of around £50, but she came up to date with injections, although she was too young to have been neutered already.

Oscar has 2 wet food pouches a day, plus biscuits at night - and the odd mouse, pigeon etc.... :-( his food is around £25 a month
He doesn't use his litter tray as he always toilets outside so I'm lucky that I don't have the expense of litter which was costing about £12 a month when he first came to live with me.
I don't insure him at the moment but this is definetly something I'm looking in to for peace of mind, and it seems around £6 per month.
He prefers to attack my stuff than play with his toys so I don't bother with those any more, he's happy chasing my shoelaces and unexpectedly attacking my dressing gown cord whilst I'm sat watching tv. :rotfl:
booster vaccinations are £30 at the vets I use. I think the initial course was £55.
I can't think of anything else that I buy for him, so think that's it.
However, he does need a lot of patience when he's meowing for his breakfast at 6am then has one mouthful and !!!!!!s off outside to play, or when he's "talking" to me in the middle if the night, or when I come home intoxicated after a night out and have to catch a teeny mouse that he thought I mightve appreciated as a gift, or yeowling his head off when he can't drag a dead pigeon through the cat flap first thing in the morning....the list goes on really!
But I wouldn't swap him for the world, I 100% love him to bits and my house would be so quiet and lonely without him there to run to greet me when I get home from work and without my morning cuddles and loud purry boy in my ear.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Don't forget to add in;

Cost of new carpets
Cost of repainting door frames
Cost of sorting out chair/table legs
Cost of trousers, tights and jumpers with threads pulled
Cost of removing cat fur from expensive clothing at the dry cleaners
Cost of sleep the first time they don't come back in at night and you find yourself unable to sleep and wandering down the road in your slippers at 3am calling 'Here, kittykittykitty...'
Cost of anything breakable on tables, shelves, windowsills and walls
Cost of friends that hate cats - actually, that's probably a benefit rather than a cost
Cost of your nasal sensitivity - nobody can clean out a litter tray without losing some of their sensitivity to odours.
Cost of a good night's sleep/one not interrupted at 2am when it wants a fuss, 3.30am when it still hasn't moved and you are losing sensation in your arm, 4.30am when you have just gone back to sleep and it decides it's time to go out and 6 am when it decides that it might be breakfast time soon, so you had better wake up a bit early so you don't miss it.
Cost of your pride, when you call mog over for a bit of fuss and they look at you as though you had suggested rolling in some fox poo with the dog and totally ignore you for the rest of the day.


[See, I don't just think of these things regarding dogs, I am an equal opportunities kind of person]


But I still think it's a price worth paying. [said sitting on the rubbishy old armchair they have massacred whilst they snore peacefully on the brand new leather sofa covered with sheepskin and fleece throws for their person comfort, not for the presumed protection of the material]