Bringing cats home

Badger_Lady

Newbeginning wrote: »

This is the one I saw on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CatGenie-120-Self-Washing-Self-Flushing-Cat/dp/B002KRAQXM

Bloomin' 'eck! :eek:

My first thought opening that link was that it was horrifically expensive... but actually when you read through and realise that you never, ever have to buy kitty litter, it doesn't sound bad at all.

So nice never to have to deal with it. Mmm...

rising_from_the_ashes

Looking forward to seeing the pics!

Just a quick thing from me re litter boxes - I'd go for one with a higher "lip" at the entrance (the one you've linked to on has a bit of a dip) - to help with tracking litter out the box.

Something like this (PAH £15)





I'd also recommend keeping the tray even if they do eventually go out (which won't be for several weeks and coming up to winter, may be a bit longer!) as it's a often provides the first clue should anything be wrong (upset tum etc) which are easily missed if the cats only toilet outside.

I would also say have as many scratching posts as you can fit in - I have 2 downstairs & 2 upstairs. All are used & I've no scratched furniture! (although no guarantees on this!)

HTH:)

hostertlady

i have never had a cat flap......

i never would get one.. when they are in they are in and when they are out- they are out.. i know where they are... and i would get every other cat in the neighbourhood coming through the cat flap if i had one!!

cat litter: i buy Bio catalet..cat litter it is tiny pellets of paper and is wonderful, no clumping, no dust, no smell.... it;s great x from pets at home ( i have the cat litter as one of my cats is banned from going outside anymore as he wandered off and promptly got shot!! so he has to stay in now and he is fine about it..)
good luck with your new arrivals x

UKTigerlily

hostertlady wrote: »

i have never had a cat flap......

i never would get one.. when they are in they are in and when they are out- they are out.. i know where they are... and i would get every other cat in the neighbourhood coming through the cat flap if i had one!!

cat litter: i buy Bio catalet..cat litter it is tiny pellets of paper and is wonderful, no clumping, no dust, no smell.... it;s great x from pets at home ( i have the cat litter as one of my cats is banned from going outside anymore as he wandered off and promptly got shot!! so he has to stay in now and he is fine about it..)
good luck with your new arrivals x

Not if you used a microchip catflap I like to have one so when i'm out Tess can get in if it throws it down with rain or she gets too cold or is in danger

hostertlady

UKTigerlily wrote: »

Not if you used a microchip catflap I like to have one so when i'm out Tess can get in if it throws it down with rain or she gets too cold or is in danger

when i am home they are out for an hour or so... and when i go out I always get them in...

i also have two well padded kennels outside if they are playing silly !!!!!!s and wont come in when i am in a rush x
i like to know where they are and they all have the same routine.. morning naps, afternoon naps, meal times etc..
hang on...
that's MY routine:rotfl:

McKneff

and just for future ref. OP, you can get something called Pet Pods, they are automatic cat feeders.
If you want to go out all day, they automatically open at a set time, comes in singles, doubles and tirples.

Mine is invaluable for when we go away fro a few days, we set it to open breakfast and lunch, daughter comes up in the evening to feed and play with her a little and sets the ped pod for next day, brilliant piece of kit, we got ours from Argos.

UKTigerlily

hostertlady wrote: »

when i am home they are out for an hour or so... and when i go out I always get them in...

i also have two well padded kennels outside if they are playing silly !!!!!!s and wont come in when i am in a rush x
i like to know where they are and they all have the same routine.. morning naps, afternoon naps, meal times etc..
hang:rotfl: on...
that's MY routine

lol sounds just like my own!

lostinrates

Newbeginning wrote: »

That's fantastic! Think I would always worry about the cat falling down the toilet while I'm out though.

This is the one I saw on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CatGenie-120-Self-Washing-Self-Flushing-Cat/dp/B002KRAQXM

Some of the reviews make it sound very entertaining!

we thought really hard about training our cats...we started, but more and more I read and having spent some time discusing it with animal scientists with particualr interest in cats the less inamoured I became....

cats have a psychological need to scrath and cover. Some cats adapt absolutely fine, but on reflexion the ones I have met who are toilet trained are a little more ''nervy'' which IMO is often missread by loving (and good) owners as ''expressive'' but is simlar to behaviour we saw when beginning to persue this ourselves.

It takes moments a day to clean out a litter tray, and their is no risk to their emotional well being.

To be clear, I'm not saying its cruel, and I have seen cats that take to it fine, it certainly isn;t difficult to train them to do it but we decided that while it wasn't cruel neither was it kind, and given free choice cats will choose scratch and cover. (one cat expert suggested thinking of it like being asked to leave the loo without cleaning ourselves...a little anthropomorphic perhaps)

fwiw, even though mine have access to outside we still have litter trays. Its better in bad weather (and in fact my cats come in at night anyway and need somewhere to go) but most importantly the first clue for an owner that something is wrong is often a change in toilet habits...again, for those few minutes a day its worth it IMO to know everything is working how it should at the earliest opportunity!



Cat litter is very ''personal'' to the owner. We swore by the hard to find Pura moonlight clumping litter until recently, when we decided to have a nother home trial and now we have swapped to the dreadfully named Golden Odour (which we buy via zoo plus). Its not cheap and its very heavy, and it tracks, but its super, super clumping and highly economical and clean (I use a hand held bagless vacuum to deal with tracking after scooping sessions)

And a final note on cats and loos we have several different litter trays and IMO for economy and for ease the bigger the better, and I prefer hooded for odour control. We have one HUGE and deep one which just seems so economical on litter and the cats choose that one first without fail.



If you have radiators mine like radiator beds, but cats sleep whereever they want. Depending on the type of cat you might need to clip their claws, some breeds have very fast growing claws, and particularly older cats can have the claws grow round and cause them immense pain if they grow back in (we found this with our older siamese, the claws would grow round back towards the pad if not cut :eek:) and so to make this easier with our cats we do clip claws, so that its something they are comfortable with and not distressed by later. Our cats don't velvet their claws ever, so keeping the just the ends off (which are resharpened by them very quickly at the shorter length) makes life more comfortable...otherwise I'm always scratched and bleeding where they sit on my knee. It will relaly depend what type of cat you have, all our Siamese have needed trimming at some point (which is why we introduced it to these guys young) but our moggy never did, and the ferals here I note have nice claws with no issues.

Fridaycat

UKTigerlily wrote: »

Claw clippers are only needed with old cats like mine who despite having & using a tree/fences/trees outside don't wear them down naturally. I don't see what's so horrible about them though, it's only like clipping our nails & doesn't hurt or distress them if done properly (& long claws do cause problems for mine)

I agree - I have five cats and trim the two youngest's claws and the eldest's claws. The youngest (6 months old) because they are both pedigree show cats and it is something you need to do to show them; and the eldest (13 years old) because she no longer wears her claws down naturally. They may have a bit of a whinge and a wriggle when I do them, but they definitely don't hurt if you only take the tips off.

My two strapping boys who are 2 and 7 and spend their days hunting and tree climbing and territory-guarding (when not sleeping!) do not have theirs done.

hostertlady wrote: »

i have never had a cat flap......

i never would get one.. when they are in they are in and when they are out- they are out.. i know where they are... and i would get every other cat in the neighbourhood coming through the cat flap if i had one!!

I feel exactly the same way. I have had cats for years and don't have a cat flap. I know that you can get the microchip ones now which are a great idea, but my cats all stay in at night and so this is another reason why I've never got one (I know you can lock them, but once they are used to going in and out of them, I think the hassle of stopping them is worse than not having one at all).

In terms of cat litter, I have tried many over the years and my absolute favourite is OKO Plus which you can get from Zooplus. It contains odours well and is soft on cats' paws. Also, if you get kittens, they can sometimes have a habit of eating cat litter, so you should not get a clay-based clumping one as it cannot pass through the cat and so can build up in the stomach and can cause serious injury or even death :eek: It is quite rare, but has happened, so why take the risk?

georgiesmum

Ermmmmmm you might want to think again about getting those kittens. if you buy all the things here that they say you need, you will have to take out a mortgage. I'm going cross-eyed just thinking about it.