Just Adopted My First Cat! - Tips Please?

litter and a box she can jump into
dish for water and food (no milk! it could upset her tummy)
we bought a bed, but neither of mine slept in it
one of mine LOVES to bat small balls around the house (but not too small that she can eat it!)
be careful with any wires hanging (they think they are string and will chew into it)
dependent upon her coat length, a brush (flea brush too for later)

Thank you for adopting a stray and taking her to the vet!

we took in a stray over the summer. She was really young. 5 weeks maybe. I was so scared she was not going to use the liter box becasue she was feral but she did with no problem. So liter box of course plus if she's young some toys are always good. brush, collar and food. cats are pretty self sufficient so they are great first pets. enjoy your new pet. Did you decide on a name?

of course the basics. but be careful of string especially at christmas time, the LOVE it but it can get caught in their intestines and require surgery. cat's are fantastic pets....we have a few.....they love to be close to you and talk to you and if you let them, most will sleep in the bed with you! do take her to the vet (or him!!) and get shots, and maybe some basic blood work and get it on a flea pill that prevents other stuff too. enjoy your new baby, it's alot of love to give and recieve!

Get her some nice treats .

Shampoo and a collar, just in case she is the wondering type.
toys
catnip
laser pointer for chasing. my brother's cat went crazy for that thing.
a nice brush and a slicker for removing the underhair .

Maybe you should invest in a scratching post of some type. there are so many now. This way she doesnt decide to sharpen her claws in your couch.

Dont forget a litter box and there are a million litters to choose from so take your time and pick one that will work your house.

Remember that in general cats will climb and scratch pretty much anything so especially a decent scratch post or some old carpet, and beware of your christmas tree, my cat never has been brave enough to climb up but they can go for the lower branches, oh and also don't put any chocolate decorations on lower branches as they eat them (wrapper and all!) Good luck! :laugh:

We have 5 cats - they're the greatest souls! You'll have fun!

Cat Fancy magazine has a website with super tips and information. It's called the Cat Channel.
http://www.catchannel.com/kittens/default.aspx

Oh man! Congrats! I have two babies and I love them so much! Zoe May I had since she was about a week or so old. She was abandoned so I had to bottle feed her which was amazing. Of course litter box. My cats like foil balls, the little plastic ring around the milk and my lap. They like to cuddle with my face too. Some people can't handle that but I love it. Just give them lots of love, remember they are cats, they are mischievous but with proper care and training you can lessen the mess they get into Good luck!

All great advice so far. The obvious: food bowl, waterbowl, litter box, cat litter, cat food, collar. Cats are relatively self sufficient, so very little is absolutely needed. Some extras that are good ideas: cat litter deodorizer (comes in boxes), scratching post (cats can't help trying to "sharpen their claws" and will use furniture -- however, if you train them on the scratching post from an early age, they'll use that instead of your furniture). Toys...to tell you the truth you can spend a bunch of money on toys (we spoil our two cats rotten), but rolled up newspaper, empty cardboard boxes work fairly well. Our two enjoy the laser pointer (they chase the dot of light and it was under $5) and the little fuzzy mice (they're partial to pink ones, though I'm not sure why, but also like the grey and the white. They also like the crinkle-cellophane like balls.

We made a decision to avoid catnip with ours -- I've heard that only about 1/2 of cats respond to it. It's optional -- it won't harm them. Food -- kittens specifically need kitten food. We started ours on IAMS, but any high-quality food will do. They always have dry food available 24/7 and we give them 1/2 a can of friskiescanned wet food at night (avoid giving them canned food for breakfast if you can avoid it -- they'll get you out of bed at 4AM to feed them and you'll never be able to sleep in!). We also get treats for them (pre-packaged), but try to limit how many we give. Cats are pretty good about self-regulating their diets (as opposed to humans). We also avoid table scraps and human food since they are highly caloric and there's no MFP for cats! LOL!

Definitely have them checked by the vet. Take along a stool sample for your first visit because the new one will need to be checked for worms. They're not a big deal -- just an oral medicine to get rid of them, but they become a problem if left untreated. Pick the stool out of the litter box and place in a baggie -- the vet will look at it under the microscope. Fleas might be an issue from an outdoor cat -- there are a variety of topical flea medicines that work well and the vet can recommend one. You definitely don't want fleas breeding in your house. Spay/Neuter please, unless you intend to breed the kitten.

We bought the cat beds too, so they'd have a place to curl up. Basically they chose their own places and didn't use the cat beds. They pretty much curl up with us at night and sleep on the back of the sofa or a blanket on top of a cardboard box. Ours like heights, so be bought a carpeted tower for them (which they love).

You'll also have to do some cat-proofing. Kind of like you do for a child. Avoid letting them have access to chemicals like under the sink or under the bathroom sink. Be careful of some houseplants which can be toxic to them (you can find lists on the internet). Tinsel on christmas trees is particularly bad -- they like to eat it and then it can block their intestines... String and yarn for the same reasons...

Those are my thoughts. Congratulations on your new cat! They really are a joy!

All of our cats are good about using scratching posts. Just introduce it to them early. If you declaw, make sure your vet knows what they're doing. Declawing is a surgery that removes the first portion of their toe (like if you cut off your finger to the first knuckle). If done wrong, it can result in deformaties. Declawing can also change how they put their weight on their joints, so be aware as they get older if they show signs of artheritis.

Definitely spay or neuter. It reduces the risk of several different cancers.

We have Littermaid automatic litterboxes. LOVE THEM! They're fairly inexpensive at Target. They're pretty pricey at PetSmart.

Get bowls that are ceramic or metal and somewhat shallow. Plastic bowls or bowls that are too deep can cause chin acne (we've had 2 cats experience that).

Beds are good. They love to be snuggly. Our cats actually love a throw blanket just piled up.

Get a food like Blue Buffalo that is all natural ingredents. Read the packaging and try to avoid fillers. We also prefer pet food that is made in the U.S.. Fillers make them fat and also can cause cancers. Some cats like kibble only, others like both kibble and wet food. We give ours canned tuna as a treat sometimes. There are human foods that can kill them or make them very sick so keep things out of reach if they tend to "surf" counters or sinks.

Don't let your cat outside (unless you can train them to stay in your yard). Cats that live indoors have a much longer lifespan. Ours have lots of window seats and a few go out on a leash. Some people build screened in patios for them. We hope to do that some day!

Get your kitty microchipped. The vet can do this. It's very inexpensive and doesn't hurt them at all.

Get a good brush to keep them from getting hairballs. The first time you see your cat try to hack up a hairball you might be in shock because it's a very weird event, but they'll be ok. There are hairball treats if they seem to get them alot, but brushing helps!

Yeah for kitties!!

congrats on your kitty! You will be owned in no time!

Be sure and have things for kitty to scratch, like
scratching posts, carboard scratchers, etc and
catnip is great too (if the kitty is over a year old)

at some point (if kitty lives indoors, which is a must)
you can try offering some kitty grass (easy to grow)
and choose quality dry foods with meat or seafood
as the first ingredient.

Kitty will invariably love empty boxes and or bags
and for fun tyr putting down sheets of tissue paper
or the foil gift wrap sheets for kitty to lay on

please, never declaw your kitty either.

I have not read the other posts yet, but I assume
all the usual things like litter and toys have
been mentioned

Have fun!

Congratulations on your new pet!:flowerforyou:

To start off with take it a bath you may use baby shampoo I heard it works well. Also keep it indoors for about a week (if it is going to be an indoor cat) so that it can get adjusted to its new environment. Give it space. Like give it food and walk away. Put a litter box in the bathroom or somewhere and put the cat on top of it a few times so that it knows that there is where it has to use the bath room. I have 3 cats the mom the son from her first pregnancy and another son of hers from her last pregnancy. Cats love to be by the window or the sun so I got a free box from Costco that has an opening in the middle and made then their own home. They love this and even take turns. Cats also love to cuddle in small places like their own bed or something round. Cats love to play toys that have cat nip are very entertaining for them. You can get a paper bag and poke a hole in it and put a pencil trough it to interact with your cat. Mine love this. I hope these tips can help you and if you got to the vet you can buy some drops to keep flees away from your cat. You put it on their skin once a month and they work really well.

Buy a decent scratching post.. my cat obliterated the carpet on my stairs and the back of the couch .. even though he had access to trees in the garden lol!

Put a jumper what smells of you in her basket, it'll be a comforter for her..

Lots of toys.. cats love stimulation and playing keeps them trim too!

Lots of peaceful time on their own.. cats love affection..but when it suits them!

Lots of love and cuddles.. and no smelly dogs to annoy her..:happy:

Congrats! You will just love it! I never had a cat until about three years ago, and I couldn't imagine life now without him! I don't know what i had to talk about before, haha!

Lots of toys! I wouldn't necessarily get the cat bed-as mine just sleeps with me either in bed or on the couch. Also, they are like toddlers-so keep all doors to cabinets closed unless it is ok for them to be on there. Remember that they LOVE heights, so don't keep breakables "out of their reach" because they can "reach" pretty far!

Love it. Just snuggle:) If it will let you-my husbands cat hates when I make her give me hugs, haha! Seriously, just enjoy it-they will give you so many hours of enjoyment-please just love it and cuddle it!