Tips and helpful tidbits for getting a new cat!

Two years ago my boyfriend and I got our first cat together. I had been working him up to the idea for around three years before moving in with him, and he had caved into it; before university I had always been a cat owner, but because student accommodation is rather prohibitive when it comes to pets, I had had to go three years without a cat. And so, when it came to my final year of university, I began researching cat breeds. I knew that we’d be living in a flat, and wanted a breed of cat that would be ok with that. Eventually, I found out about the ragdoll: a laid back ‘floppy cat’ that was not suited to the outdoors, and generally preferred the sofa over wild pursuits. And, as luck would have it, my partner’s flatmate’s mother happened to breed them – in fact they had a litter due to be born in May 2014!

I found out about the ragdoll: a laid back ‘floppy cat’ that was not suited to the outdoors, and generally preferred the sofa over wild pursuits.

In terms of purchases that I had to make, the fact that our new bundle of fluff would be an indoor cat meant we had to buy a couple more things. The first on our list was a cat tree – indoor cats still need to climb and scratch just like outdoor cats do. The cat tree that we bought is here on Amazon, and at the time of authoring this blog post, was priced at £47.60 (although the price does fluctuate a little – it was £39.90 when we purchased it). The next buy was a litter tray, we bought a hooded one to ensure that our cat didn’t kick his litter out of his box, and it costs £13.01 – a bit more expensive than buying an un-hooded one, but in my opinion it’s worth it for the discreetness alone; we place our litter box next to the bin, and hardly anyone notices it’s even there!

To fill the litter tray up, I use wood pellet litter. Unless you’re the kind of person who buys Tesco value, litter wood pellets are generally a bit cheaper than the conventional clumping litter, doesn’t get caught in your cat’s paws (which can be a choking hazard), and are better for the environment too as they are biodegradable. The price is £10.44 for 30 litres, which should last your cat close to 3 months.

Join Pets at Home’s VIP club – it will give you a 10% discount from your first order, free samples, and, if you’re lucky, you can book your cat in for a vet check up for £10.

I wanted an attractive carrier case for taking our kitty to the vet in, so I bought this classic looking wicker basket for him for only £23.51, and he sleeps in it too. I also purchased this bowl for £3.75, and a water bowl from TKMaxx. Obtaining a mat to go under your cat’s food and water dishes is also beneficial as they can be messy eaters! Upon the breeder’s recommendation, we fed our kitten Royal Canin Kitten Food for the first 8 months that we had him, before moving him onto adult food. The breeder recommended always getting the 10kg bags, as you save money in bulk; to stop the food going off once you’ve opened the wrapping, suggested using freezer bags to separate the food- it says on the bag that 10kg will last an adult cat 192 days, which is about 25p a day.

Here are a few of the toys that we bought our cat, Moomin: Cat wand (£2.99), cat laser (£4.99), and a bag of balls from poundland (£1).

Another useful tip is to join Pets at Home’s VIP club, it will give you a 10% discount from your first order, free samples, and, if you’re fortunate enough to live near a Vets4Pets clinic, you can book your cat in for a check up for £10.