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First of all, you need to get a cat bag before taking the cat home. It is highly recommended to buy a large-size cat carrier, which can also be used when cats growing. A transparent cat bag may cause you cat stress. Don’t purchase this kind of carrier because of the good looking. It’s a waste of money.
Secondly, you should be aware of the cat’s basic health conditions, including vaccination, desexing, parasite prevention and deworming.
On the way to bring the cat home, try to keep the car as quiet as possible. Make sure there is no pungent smells in the car, such as perfume, smoke, marijuana, and etc. They all will do harm to the cat.
When arriving at your home, the cats (especially adult cats) need a quiet and enclosed place at the beginning. Don’t rush to play with him/her. It takes a while for them to get used to a new home. It’s common for them to hide under the bed for a few days. All you need to do is to prepare the food and a water bowl. Don’t forget to set up the litter box. They will come out when they feel safe.
In the meantime, you have to make sure to put away all the glasses and knives which could probably cause danger. And no chocolate or coffee which may be poisonous to cats.
1. Cat Litter Box
We recommend buying a cat litter box (top-entry or side-entry) instead of a litter tray. A larger one is preferred. You can visit amazon, Petsmart, Petvalu, Walmart, Costco and etc.
2. Cat Litters
There are 2 types of cat litters in the market: clay litters and tofu litters. Each comes with advantages and disadvantages. Please choose according to your needs.
-Clay Litter:
Pros: good cat foot feel; better odor control; low price; easy to buy (Costco, Walmart, Petsmart and etc.)
Cons: grey color which is difficult to see the color of the urine; dusty and easy to be taken out of the litter box.
-Tofu Litter:
Pros: If there is blood in the urine or soft stools, you can easily find it out. Flushable and easily clumping.
Cons: pricey and deodorant
3. Cat Food
-Raw Food Diet
-Canned Food: staple food & snacks
-Freeze-dried Food: good brands including K9, Meow, Ziwi, VE
-Wet & Dry Food: good brands including Origen, Acana, Instinct, N&d, Ultra go, Wellness, Nutrience
Tips: Don’t buy cat food from Costco or Shoppers. Brands such as Whiskas, Royal are not recommended
4. Feeder and Bowl
Ceramic cat bowls are not easy to breed bacteria which are good feeder choices. But be sure to wash the cat's bowls frequently.
If possible, it is highly recommended to buy an automatic water dispenser. Because in the eyes of cats, running water means clean water.
Most of the cats do not like drinking water. However, they need water to stay healthy. Inadequate water intake will cause kidney and urinary tract diseases.
5. Cat Bathing
The cat grooms itself a lot and it is very clean. It does not need bath a lot! Bathing your cat once every three month is enough. Frequent bathing will make the cat's immunity weaken.
When you bathe your cat, you need to use a cat-specific shampoo. Most of the cats are fear of water and hair dryer. if the cat is too aggressive during the bathing process, please just let it go.
6. Scratching Board
Cats have the habit of grinding their claws. If you don't want your sofa to be scratched, it is necessary to prepare some scratching boards at home.
7. Cat Comb
Don't buy too sharp ones. Comb your cat like it is licking itself, don't brush too hard!
8. Nail Clipper
Be careful to trim your cats’ nails and do not cut the blood lines.
9. Snacks
Snacks can only be used as a reward to build your relationship closer. Do not feed you cat with snacks too much which could cause health problems in future.
Then we want you know what cats can't eat at all! The followings are the things you should be aware of:
· Human food with seasoning
· Milk (most of the cats are lactose intolerance)
· Chocolate
· Coffee
· Bones (could scratch the stomach)
· A large variety of flowers
Last but not the least, let's talk about the cat canned food, which is mainly divided into canned staple food and canned snacks. You can easily identify the two types by looking at the ingredients list. If the crude fat is greater than or equal to 5, it is a staple food while less than 5 is a snack.
Canned snacks are not nutritious and with a lot of starch, guar gum, excess attractants and additives added. But it can be used occasionally as a reward.
!!!Don't feed snack cans for long time. It’s not good for your cats. Don’t buy cheap canned food from the supermarket.
The staple food can is nutritious and meets the daily needs of cats. It does not contain additives and food attractants, which could also replace the dry/wet cat food.
In addition, food pouches, a small pack about 85g can be used as food topper for daily diet. It helps cat to have more water.
The followings are some of the great cat food brands:
· Ziwi – New Zealand (WeChat Merchants: Renspet, Globalpet)
· k9 (WeChat Merchants: Globalpet)
· Wellness: Signature & Core (Petsmart, Petvalu, Renspet)
· Nutrience (Renspet, Globalpet, Petsmart, Petvalu）
· Instinct (Petsmart, Petvalu)
· Merrick kitten (Petsmart, Petvalu, Renspet)
· Rawz pate (WeChat Merchants: Globalpet)
· Go(WeChat Merchants: Renspet, Petvalu, Globalpet)
· Weruva (WeChat Merchants: Petvalu, Globalpet)
· Openfarm (WeChat Merchants: Globalpet)
And some WeChat with good reviews:
· Pawpawdear
· J&J Pet Club
· Cola Pet
· Petz Kingdom
That’s all about what to prepare before bringing a cat home. Hopefully this guide will do some support for new cat parents.
