So far, I'm to get:


Unscented cat litter.

Litter box (Get 1 more litterbox than cats you own, they like having options.) (get two)

Cat treehouse

Cat brush

Bed

Treats

Bowl

Water bowl (use purified or watered bottle, preferably; filtered water is also fine)

Urine chemicals and destroyers

Cat carrier.

https://www.chewy.com/naturally-fresh-unscented-clumping/dp/171577

https://www.chewy.com/inaba-churu-chicken-variety-creamy/dp/666742

https://www.greenies.com/products/feline-greenies-adult-dental-cat-treats-catnip-flavor-975-oz-tub

Go to the vet at least once a year.

Get vaccinated at least once a year.

food portions are depending on cat's weight buy toys/balls/cat lasers ,its good to exercise

organic cat grass

cat water-fountain

Lots of soft places to sleep, some high & some low

scratching post

balanced diet (good dry food (I use hills) and cans of wet food)

It's better to split the food like 3/4 of a cup in the morning and 3/4 of a cup in the evening with treats

Have multiple water bowl options they can choose from and keep them clean

Clean the litter box every day-- twice.

Hairball preventative made up of petroleum jelly.

It's best to use the lunch paper bags (to clean their waste)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/176379804268

Get some dewormer or other medical supplies like a flea treatment so you have it on hand if in need, if you can afford it.

Cat tooth-paste (they love malt flavor).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353440574835

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353440574835

Start with a teaser toy for the cat.

Use Purina Pro Plan Urinary for adult cats. It’s at Petsmart, but little pricey. Other options available. Just give them 1/3 of dry (AM/PM) and split one can amongst the three. Cats eating habits differ.

Micro-chip it ASAP!

Find a good vet, preferably one that specializes in cats. Follow their advice. Find a list of plants that are toxic to cats -- never, ever have lilies in your house or yard. Consider that strictly indoor cats live up to 10 years longer than cats that go outside.

Cat springs

https://www.amazon.ca/Ethical-Pet-Durable-Plastic-Colorful/dp/B000CMKHDG

Pet insurance is very good advice. Maybe ask your existing car/renter/whatever insurer if they offer it, sometimes they'll give you a discount to bundle things.

Avoid wheat, gluten, & or corn as filler as much as you can.


The above is everything that people have suggested to me.

If anyone has any brands to suggest or maybe extra things that aren't on this list, let me know.

Also, advice on raising a cat.

Well-known as well as obscure advice.

  • BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml
    ·
    1 month ago

    In no particular order, some things we do for our cat that you might find helpful:

    I can vouch for gimcat malt soft paste anti hairball paste, our cat loves it as an after meal dessert and we haven't found any hairballs in months. I tried tomlyn and hartz and she wouldn't eat them.

    If you plan on trimming claws and they don't like it, try giving a treat after each clip and then transitioning to giving treats after you do each paw. I lay our cat on her back on top of my thighs and now she drools all over patiently waiting for me to finish so she can have treats - she used to hate it. I also make sure I have enough light to see through the claw to make sure I never get the fleshy part.

    If you or anyone has cat allergies, try using Purina liveclear or an egg powder from chickens exposed to cats - I'm moderately allergic and the Purina dry food and foaming shampoo works wonders (though the foaming shampoo is a lot harder to use if your cat hates it). Our cat is somewhat used to the shampoo so I try to time applying it within a week of guests staying over.

    Don't forget to inspect the chin area for acne by parting the fur, you can treat it with chlorhexidine wipes or spray and a silicone massage tool (our cat likes that better than the wipes). We switched to a set of stainless food bowls and run them through the dishwasher after a single use to help prevent acne, after initial treatment we only need to apply chlorhexidine every couple weeks.

    It's fun to get a bunch of catnip and stuff to apply to toys, we have a jar of catnip, silvervine, and catnip spray which is easier to apply to toys that don't have catnip pouches.

    Don't forget to spread out all the cat things, we have litter in our kitchen, food in the living room, water fountain in one bedroom, and several beds in every room and on the desk (gives her a place to hang out that's not in front of the keyboard) and beds on bookshelves that she can jump onto.

    If your vet determines that your cat doesn't drink enough and you already have the fountains and wet food, bone broth is a nice treat that achieves hydration. We make our own using bones collected from cooking. We just pressure cook them in water after giving them a rinse to get rid of sauces and seasonings and freeze the result after skimming fat into ice cubes we can heat up and serve as dessert.

    Clicker training has been loads of fun, we got her a scratching post and she wasn't using it so after associating the click with getting a treat for a week we would put her paws onto the post and then click and treat. Eventually she would scratch it all the time for a treat so we transitioned to giving verbal cues and only rewarding if the cue was used, and we've expanded to other tricks like nose kisses, shaking paws, sitting on command, and standing up on command. It's loads of fun and I think it's a good mental exercise for her to be learning verbal commands. We're working on fetch but she still doesn't quite get that the toy needs to come all the way back.

    • Pluto [he/him, he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      1 month ago

      Glad that someone can corroborate the "malt flavor" thing.

      And yeah, I'll make sure to check the chin area. See, no one told me that. I'm glad that I'm asking around though.