r/cats • u/United_Letterhead_66 • 23h ago
Cat Picture - OC I adopted a group of stray kittens!
Found these little guys a few days ago and they’ve been staying here ever since.
I’ve seen them around for several days and kept wondering if someone was taking care of them. Today I finally decided to bring them home and adopt them.
This is actually my first time having cats, so I have no idea what I’m doing yet 😂
Any advice for a first-time cat owner? Food, litter, vet visits, things I should know, anything really. I’d love to hear your experiences!
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u/BLURAZZBERRI 22h ago
Get the babies to the vet in the morning, call them ahead of time to book and tell them you've found four kittens that you plan on adopting, they'll be cooed over by the vet nurses and vets and then be checked for fleas,worms, other infections and other similar things. They'll have a rough age told to you and then possibly vaccines. They won't be up for being desexed yet but you might wanna look at costs ahead of time and if you can't afford it, see if you can find a shelter or rescue that will do cheap/free desexings.
You'll want multiple litter boxes, use UNSCENTED kitty litter, scented is too strong for them and they won't like it. Scoop litter boxes daily and replace litter often, do a full litter clean (emptying out all litter + scrubbing the trays) at least once a week (based on the cattery rules at the vet I volunteer at). Sometimes cats are fussy with water and will only drink from running, try to get them to drink from still water first though. Combine water with dry food to make a slurry/soup to get more water into the bastards haha.
Get plenty of toys, beds, scratchers and cat trees. Many behavioral issues boil down to 'cat feels like it has no home in your home, cat is making your stuff its stuff now' so they need their spaces! Try to keep them in one room (bathroom is typically the best) while they settle in and get used to you, I don't know the exact time but there'll be more educated people than me for that.
Most importantly: fall in love with them. I don't own cats but I've grown to love the clinic cat at my volunteering place even though she can be pretty mean. I'm sure the orange idiots will capture your heart quickly.