As a long time cat owner and cat lover I would never recommend to anyone that a cat isn’t a great pet or a great companion. Cat’s enhance our lives in so many ways. Cats can live for 15-20 years or more so if you can’t commit to providing for an animal for it’s entire life than please do not bring one home. If you’ve made the decision you are going to be buying a cat you’ll need to be prepared with some things first. These are our buying a cat first times tips and the things you’ll need for them.
The List
- Cat Litter Box.
- Cat Litter.
- Food and Water Bowls.
- Food.
- Cat Toys
First Cat Litter Tray
- Litter tray or box. I recommend a covered litter box. This is for a number of reasons. Cats like humans prefer to do their business in private. Place the box in a quiet area of your home in a corner. This allows the cat to feel comfortable to use the box and reduces risk of ‘accidents’ elsewhere in your home. Covered boxes also hold in smells, and minimize litter spray while your cat buries the deed. With all this said, because this site is all about the wild and the wacky things we buy for our cats, perhaps you’d like something a bit more extravagant. Maybe you love cats but dry heave at the thought of cleaning their litter box. I promise won’t judge. Check out the below video on the $130 Petsafe Simple Clean Self Cleaning Cat Litter Box.
Cat Litter
2. Cat litter. Clumping cat litter would be your choice if you use the above product. There are many forms from scented to unscented. Silica beads now all the rage and this has to be your personal choice on deodorizer and cost. Check out our thoughts and review of the latest and greatest in cat litter, Pretty Litter. You can find that HERE.
Food And Water Bowls
3. Food and water bowls. Have to say this will be some personal taste here but if you’re a new cat owner one thing to remember is what I call “slippage.” If you buy smooth bottomed cat bowls be prepared to be chasing them around the house. Or off the counter. We have a dog that will eat the cats food if it’s on the floor so we have to feed our two up on a shelf or counter so they get their food and the dog does not.
We’ve had some smooth bottomed bowls hit the floor while their noses were busy licking the wet food. This is a major buying a cat first time tip since it’ll save you frustration in cleaning up spills. We’ve also had naughty cats knock the empty bowls off in protest! Cats don’t like to eat in a corner with their back to the world. They will if they have to but it’s bred into their DNA to keep themselves safe from predators while eating. I’ve found a couple cool options on Amazon I think you’ll like.
You’ll notice as another buying a cat first time tip these bowls are raised and angled. Some cats while eating from a flat bottom, non angled bowl will eat too fast. Since the bowl is not raised and angled it traps the food in their neck and they are unable to pass it through the small opening in their throats. Hence, the food comes back up and out. You’re welcome.
Quirky Cat Approved Food Bowl
If you’re looking for something a bit more fancy pants quirky because I’m all about that myself, check out this fantastic futuristic quirky cat owner bowl to impress all your neighbors cats with! I’m literally going to buy this for mine right now!
If you get a nibbler cat like we have this is a great option. I’m not a fan of how wet cat food smells. It wouldn’t be so bad if my two brats ate all their wet food in one visit, but they don’t. Mine tend to lick all the juice out of it first and leave a lot of the meat chunks for later. They do their ‘first course’ and then head off to have a bath or roll around in “I just ate meaty goodness” happy state.
While they are doing this the food smell just keeps permeating the room. The food dries a little, in the summer sometimes bugs arrive. If you don’t like the smell of wet cat food, or you want to keep it fresh for them this is the option for you. It’s $60 on Amazon and has great ratings. Link for the product is here. Don’t forget it takes four ‘C’ batteries so pick some up before it arrives!
Food
4. Food! Remember folks, not all cat food is created equal! I have two orange tabby Garfield wannabe buggers in my house. These two eat anything and everything and literally will balloon themselves into blimp monsters if I let them. I have one who will basically try to steal anything carb related out of my hand or out of the bowl. Muffins, bread, potatoes, potato chips, Cheezies you name it he wants it. The other has zero interest in any of those things but heaven forbid you have some sort of ‘sauce’ on hand. Ranch dressing, butter, Caesar dressing, ketchup, gravy etc.
I started this blurb on food specifically because if I feed my cats crappy grocery store dry food its like crack for them. Junk food for kitties. Sure they love it but it’s so full of ingredients they don’t need it doesn’t fill them up. They just keep eating it, and eating it, and eating it. Quality food is expensive to buy but I guarantee you will fill their bowls less. Buying a cat first time tip here, quality food leads to healthier cats. Quality food leads to cats that don’t eat 10 times as much of it. For the absolute best food on the market for your cat, click here.
Dry Cat Food Tip
We have a cup here we use as a measure. If I fill the cup up with good food and put it into the bowl for two cats, it will last them an entire 24 hour period. If I was stuck and had to use cheap cat food from the grocery store I honestly fill those bowls up at least twice in that same period. Don’t feed your cats cheap dry food. They will likely just get fat and see health problems as a result. A huge problem in cats is a FLUTD/UTI disease. Dry cat food and cheap cat litter are huge reasons for this happening. Buying a cat first time tip alert, read this article on reducing UTI’s in your cat.
We use First Mate Chicken Meal with Blueberries here in Canada, and because we’re quirky it has BLUEBERRIES in it. Yep, Blueberries. Quirky to the max! Here’s a link to the food we use.
More to come on owning cats and for first time cat owners! Please feel free to comment, share or ask me questions about cat ownership or cats at anytime!