New To Cats - Advice Please!!!

Well, as of Wednesday I will be the proud mommy of a (presumably) Russian Blue little boy that we will be adopting from the local shelter.

I am not new to rescuing and having fur babies ( we have a whole pack of GSDs - both furever babies and fosters), and I pretty much know everything about dogs. But I know nothing about kitties. We already bought a regular litter box for him (his name will be Spock), and we ordered one of those self-cleanning things they advertise on TV. We bought a covered beddy, a scratch post, tons of toys and tons of treats.

So - let's start with the questions now:

1) I have all of my dogs on Frontline and Interceptor (for Heartworm). I already ordered the Frontline for cats. Is there any other preventative he needs to be on? Do cats get heartworms? Or are they susceptibile to any other things? What do I need to make sure I give him?

2) What's the best food for cats? My dogs are all on Nutro and Missing Link. I know all department store food is junk, so what's the best for a kitty?

What other (million ) things do I need to know about kitties - as far as making sure they are healthy, happy and (oh well......) spoiled :wink: ??

Thanks in advance, guys!!

 

a good place to start is
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Poin ... wners.html

the self-cleaning litterboxes can be scary for some cats as when the forks move to scoop they make a noise, so you want to see how Spock reacts to that. Also if the kitty has runny poop for a few days the forks on the litterbox get nasty. Personally...I'd start him out with a normal litterpan like he's probably used to.

Chicken Soup for Cat Lovers is good stuff. How old is your cat?

Check out the website as there is tons of info there for adding a new cat to your family and helping your cat adjust to life with dogs (another thing you'll have to deal with). I find GSD are good with cats if they are used to them...that is an introduction you'll want to take slowly.

You probably should keep your new kitty isolated in a separate room for up to 2 weeks (visiting often) to get him used to the sounds in your house and all the new smells.

Inside or outside? If inside only you won't have to worry about heartworm or other buggies (such as fleas and ticks). My cats are inside only and I haven't had to treat them for fleas in years.

Change the food over slowly (like you would a dog) to get Spock used to the change in diet.

You also might want to use the same kind of litter the shelter uses for awhile and change that gradually too.

Good luck and can't wait to see pictures

 

Well Mary already gave some great info so all i wanted to add was that I alos have an indoor cat who only gets to go outside supervised on a leash and harness. As far as the Frontline goes.....I've never had any flea issues with her, BUT i do frontline her every 4 months or so and i check her over for fleas or flea dirt every time i give her a bath, which is every 4-6 weeks. The reason being is that she does get SOME outside time and we also have a German Shepard that is my husbands work dog so he get to go outside and get dirty all the time and who knows if he might carry something into the house. The dog gets Frontline every month, but you never know.
For food i wanted to say that Nutro also makes cat food if you were wanting to stick with that brand. I feed my kitty Wellness and alternate every 3-4 months with Solid Gold. Some other good brands are:

California Natural
Innova
Evolve
Life's Abundance
Eagle Pack
Nature's Balance

And my kitties have also eaten the Chicken Soup and enjoyed it--Its made by Diamond which is also a decent food.
I'm sure if you just type any of those names into a search engine you can get more info on them if you are interested in comparing foods.

For toys i just wanted to share that i recently bought my kitty one of those super cheap $0.40 furry catnip mice....WOW...she's been going nuts over it for DAYS!! She only stops playing with it if she loses in under the furniture or i take it away. Now she's ignoring her more expensive toys, lol. She wouldn't even take a treat from me the other day cuz she was too busy with her new "pet" :lol: (I recharge it at night by sticking it in a bag of catnip) :mrgreen:
Good luck with your new addition! :m29: Picture Please

 

Thanks for replying, Mary!

They think Spock is about 6 months old. He will be an inside cat only. He will have a whole bedroom all to himself at the beginning, until I VERY gradually introduce him to the puppers. He will NEVER be alone with the dogs unsupervised.

Very good suggestion though about the litter and the food at the beginning. I'll do that.

I will also check with my vet as far as preventatives. (being in the deep south he may still need those flea preventatives - if the dogs bring one from outside, it will multiply like crazy inside on my kitty - we don't want that!!! :m14:

Thanks for the link too. will check it as soon as I can move a little (I'm at work now #-o )

 

I'm in the deep south too but I don't have my kitties on flea preventitive anymore. They are inside only but my dogs are in and out. BUT, Miss Brina came to us with fleas and hence tapeworms which everyone else got.

 

Congrats! Looks like you've received lots of great advice already.
Just wanted to add....you might want to get a scratching post or two. My cats really love the cardboard type and they are relatively cheap but its nice to provide a few different types if possible to find out which type your cat prefers. Cardboard boxes make nice little beds for cats too...mine even prefer them to cat beds.
For food my cats currently eat Natural Balance but I like to rotate brands every once in a while. They've also done well on Innova, California Natural and Chicken Soup. I feed mostly dry food but supplement with canned food as often as I can.
Good luck and don't forget to share pictures of your new baby!

 

Congrats! :0018: and yes, yes, pics are a must! :mrgreen:

 

Thanks for the tips, guys, and YES, there will be tons of pics of the little boy!! You'll get sick of seeing him!! I promise I'll post pics as soon as we get him home :mrgreen:

 

you might want to get them some kind of flea medicine and for food dads and purina is good. they were recomended to us by our vet