a few general questions

[meep]

i am very very excited and didn't want to post anything until i had pictures, but i forgot my cable for my camera and do have some questions, so i'll have to announce this first before i go ahead with the questions...

i now have two beautiful cats called Darcy and Stravinsky. :D They are brothers, 3 years old, and they're really big, handsome boys! Darcy is a tabby, and Minsky (his nickname) is a tabby with white markings.

As some of you may remember, I've been patiently waiting to take on some feline friends since I moved flat but had to hold off till after a holiday, decorating and building furniture. But now everything is settled, we welcomed them home last night, and they're already very settled themselves! Anyway, I'll introduce them properly later with photos, but I do have some questions.

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Litter trays.
Apparently Minsky in the past has had some issues with litter trays, in that he likes them really clean and will avoid them otherwise. So far he's used only the litter tray without any qualms, but I just wanted to check the norms. I have had cats before, and ones that have occasionaly used litter trays whilst being kept indoors, but never indoor only cats with litter trays.

Do I remove any mess from the trays, including damp grit, every morning and evening, fill up with a few handfuls of clean grit, and then maybe clean the whole tray out once every 3 days? I think this is the norm, but not sure if I should clean out the tray entirely every day for especially 'clean' cats. I filled it up last night, have removed all mess so far, and Minsky is still using it... Would appreciate some advice :)

Feeding
These boys are big cats. All my cats in the past have been a bit smaller, and have been outdoor cats so a bit more active, but two sachets of food a day has done them fine without them desperately looking for more (obviously they sometimes chanced their luck ;) ) Yesterday I gave the boys a tin each of Tesco's Finest (they are quite small) then afterward half a tin each, as they were still really hungry - licking the bowls, looking round for more, giving me the 'i'm hungry' look. This morning I gave them a tin each and they seemed fine. They aren't overweight but the vet suggested it wouldnt hurt them to lose a little. I don't want to purposely starve them but dont want to indulge them either.

Would three tins of tesco finest a day be too much? I know i will have to monitor it myself and just keep an eye on them, but i've always gone by the rule of thumb that two packets a day per cat works, and it has. So do any of you feed your bigger male cats more than two packets a day? I'm also considering giving them dry food, although this is something I've never given any of my cats before. Any thoughts on this?

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Sorry for the very long post! I am just very excited and did have a few wee questions. I don't want to seem inexperienced with these questions; I've grown up with cats my whole life, and still have two cats at home with my parents (but their outdoor cats so couldn't take them to my city flat.) I'm fully confident I can give them an experienced and extremely loving home, it's just the two things above I'm not so sure of!

Thanks :)

[kitty cats]

regarding litter trays, maybe try the new catsan smart packs, i was sceptical but couldnt be more pleased with them, they keep things really fresh and clean and theres absolutely no odour, my Jake only uses the tray occasionally as he goes out and Tibby the kitten obviously uses it all the time, at the moment the packs last just over 2 weeks for each pad, i have a friend that uses them for 2 house cats and they last just one week as theyre both adult cats, as they are really absorbant all you have to do is take out the poo, the litter itself stays dry as the pad beneath it soaks up everything, obviously it will depend on how much your kitties use them but maybe worth a go if hes fussy about things being clean?

as for food they will probarbly want less if theyre not going out as theyre not using so much energy, ive always fed dry food, keeps their teeth very healthy,just have to be sure theres always plenty of fresh water with dry food, also convenient if you have to go out etc, just leave a bowl of dry food out and it doesnt go off :)

congratulations on your new babies!! :D

[meep]

Hi Kittycats, thanks for the reply :)

I am intrigued by these catsan smart packs, I've not heard of them before. Is it a whole pack, tray, litter and all? The only problem with litter trays is that Minsky will only use grit litter. He wasn't using the litter tray at the foster home at all, and the CPL warned us when we got them that he may not use it at all. But he used it absolutely fine because we had grit, and the CPL fosterer had wood-based. The CPL had contacted the first owner of Minsky and she advised that he'd only ever used grit which is why we tried it. So I am a bit hesitant to change from grit to anything else in case this stops him using it again.

But the absorbant pad sounds promising - is this something I could buy seperately?

[kitty cats]

Hi Kittycats, thanks for the reply :)

I am intrigued by these catsan smart packs, I've not heard of them before. Is it a whole pack, tray, litter and all? The only problem with litter trays is that Minsky will only use grit litter. He wasn't using the litter tray at the foster home at all, and the CPL warned us when we got them that he may not use it at all. But he used it absolutely fine because we had grit, and the CPL fosterer had wood-based. The CPL had contacted the first owner of Minsky and she advised that he'd only ever used grit which is why we tried it. So I am a bit hesitant to change from grit to anything else in case this stops him using it again.

But the absorbant pad sounds promising - is this something I could buy seperately?


have a look here
http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=604&pf_id=8047

theres 2 pads in a pack and yes its the pad and the litter all included but not the tray you just put it in your existing tray as if it were a liner, its still grit that the cat scratches in so he shouldnt notice a difference :)

[meep]

Thanks kitty cat that does seem really promising! We've ordered a covered cat tray online (one like a carrier with a swing door) with charcoal filters to combat the odour, but these catsan things do seem like a great investment so I dont have to change the litter every 2 days!

I'll let you know how I get on with these!

Also - do most people line their litter tray with something?

[kitty cats]

oh and i have seen in the pet shops food specially designed for indoor cats, maybe its worth looking at something like that so that they dont get too fat hehe
:D
one day ill remember to put everything i have to say in one single post haha :p

[meep]

also, this website is very very dangerous ;) i used zooplus.co.uk to get my carriers, scratching post, big litter tray etc. but this one is another one to have a look round with lots of tempting toys for my boys!

[kitty cats]

Also - do most people line their litter tray with something?

i tried putting liners in the tray in the past but the cats just tore them up when they got carried away with scratching so gave up on that idea, so far my two havent torn up the catsan packs, they didnt even notice a difference i dont think lol
those covered trays are really good too, nice and private especially for cats who like to hide when taking care of things :p

[kitty cats]

also, this website is very very dangerous ;) i used zooplus.co.uk to get my carriers, scratching post, big litter tray etc. but this one is another one to have a look round with lots of tempting toys for my boys!

i buy all their food from petplanet, theyre a really good site but as you say, very dangerous! i never go to the checkout with JUST food ordered :lol: have fun spoiling your boys! ;)

[meep]

well so far the boys seem to love tescos finest chicken - it actually has real bits of chicken in a sort of gravy! very posh! and its cheaper than whiskas.

I'll probably buy them some standard food too, just wanted to get them some extra nice stuff to help them settle in. it is tempted to buy so many things online.

and thanks for info on liners, i had the suspicion that they'd wrip any plastic ones up too as they do seem to spend a lot of time covering their mess, and they are quite exciteable too, so anything like a plastic liner would probably result in the liner shredded and litter everywhere!