A guide to your first cat: 10 tips for new pet parents

Welcome to the wonderful world of introducing your first cat! Bringing a new cat home for feline absent families is an exciting start to the paw-some journey of becoming a cat parent. To make sure you provide the best home for your cat to be as happy and healthy as it can be, it’s good to know a few tips about cat basics before you take the purring plunge.

If truth be told, many cat parents still seek out helpful hacks and tips on cat care even after years of cat care experience. They’re fantastic companions who bring their humans endless joy, but to be their best selves they need a few things to be just right. So, here are some quick tips and tricks for everything you need for a cat as a first-time pet parent.

Your new cat checklist for cat necessities

First-time cat carers will need these essentials to meet your new kitty’s basic care needs to start things off on the right paw. These are a few things you’ll need to buy before you bring your first cat home:

• Food bowl
• At least one separate water bowl or fountain
• At least one litter box with clean cat litter and scooper
• Cardboard boxes for playtime and scratching
• A few cat toys for them to paw around
• Additional scratching posts
• Grooming brush (as purr their fur type)
• Cat carrier (preferably the more secure, easy-to-clean plastic carriers)

Great, now you have the ideal interior design for your new feline family member, let’s take a look into some cat necessities to go with their newly acquired essentials. 

Im-paw-tant tips for your first cat 

1. Create a safe and secure environment

Bringing a new cat home when they’re at any age is a scary experience for them. A new environment puts them on edge and takes time for them to adjust to. Preparing a cat-friendly home from the start, it’ll help them settle in a lot quicker.

Begin with just one room - cats can become easily overwhelmed by lots of new smells, people, and things all at once. Allowing them to adjust in one room keeps their stress levels down. Make sure noise in the house is kept to a minimum and over lots of little hidey-holes and elevated platforms or areas so they have places to go to feel safe.

To add some extra ambiance, invest in a cat-calming diffuser. As your vet what they would recommend - some provide soothing scents like cat nip, and others send out gentle pheromone smells for relaxation. 

2. Introduce your cat to other pets and young children slowly

This fits in with creating a calm and safe environment for your first cat. Make sure they’re fully settled into their new room before you begin to introduce new things like pets or small kids. As both can be quite intense with their curiosity, it’s best to make sure these meetings go as slowly as possible. Start with introducing your cat to their smells with blankets and toys, move on to brief supervised meetings through a door, and then begin to gently try short face-to-face interactions. This can take a lot of time and patience, but it’ll pay off in the long run.

3. Food and water bowls locations are key

And, yes, that water bowls plural. Cats are funny about where their food and water bowls are, mostly they don’t like to eat where they drink. It’s a natural thing from back when they were wild little predators, but cats are more likely to drink when their water source is not next to their food. Cats also benefit from having different water sources around their home - it’s not unusual to see cats drinking from taps or puddles even when they have a luxurious water fountain set up for them. A couple of extra water bowls (refilled each day) around the place means your cat can stay nice and hydrated.

4. Invest in quality cat litter

Not only does this help reduce the chance of allergic reactions, but it also prevents your home from becoming stinky. Good quality cat litter will work to eliminate odors, clump well for easy cleaning, and not overpower your home with an artificial scent. Cats hate it, humans hate it, it’s better for everyone.

5. Scratching posts are a cat necessity

You don’t need to invest in a fancy cat tree with five levels covered in a woven carbon fiber material. You can just use compacted cardboard boxes, dead logs from outside, or cheap scratching posts from Chewy or Amazon. Scratching is as much of a need as using the bathroom or grooming - they do it to spread their scent to feel more at home, and as a way to relax and unwind. If you like your furniture (and most people do) you’ll also be grateful for these extra scratching posts around the home.

6. Find the right vet for them

Think of finding your new cat’s vet like trying to find a suitable doctor for yourself. While many dogs can be easily won over with treats and attention, most cats are far less fickle. Do your research beforehand - check to see how cat-friendly your local vet clinic is set up to be (it’ll say on their website) and see if any of the vets specialize in feline care. Experienced vets or those with feline expertise will make sure they have the most positive first visit to the vet.

7. High-quality cat food is a must (and they know the difference)

Cat nutrition is a big deal - it can help improve existing health problems, prevent any new ones from developing, and help them to age well. As carnivores, cats don’t need fruit and veg in their diet, instead, they need good quality meat with minerals like calcium and magnesium. If they’re outdoor hunters, they’ll already be receiving these nutrients from their daily ‘presents’. For indoor cats and non-hunters, this needs to come from their meal times. Talk to your vet, see what they recommend, and create a tailored diet plan that best suits your new cat’s needs.

8. Designated daily playtime

Playtime for cats is super important - not only does it provide physical exercise, it’s great for mental stimulation. Kitties can become bored easily, and when that happens they can become destructive, overly vocal, or develop depression. To prevent this at least 10 minutes of designated playtime a day can keep your cat happy and healthy.

9. Don’t forget grooming

This doesn’t just apply to long-haired cats. While long hair needs to be brushed daily to prevent mats from forming (causing your cat a lot of discomfort), short-haired felines still need the occasional groom once or twice a week. This can help to reduce hairballs and the amount of dander and floof around your home. 

10. Give them a taste of the outside

Deciding whether or not to keep your feline friend as an indoor or outdoor cat is completely up to you. Your circumstances are as unique as any other cat carer, so there’s no right or wrong answer to this.

For those who opt for an indoor lifestyle, a taste of the outdoors can be beneficial for your kitty’s mental and physical health. Cats are natural outdoor beings, so outside stimulation like watching birds or wildlife in the trees or on the street, tree branches for scratching posts, or just the chance to enjoy some fresh air, can make a world of difference for your new family member.  

This can be as simple as putting a translucent mosquito screen in front of an open window. Some pet parents can set up a catio, but obviously, not everyone will be able to do this. Others may decide to do full harness training to be able to take them on walks. Whatever you choose or are able to do, just a small piece of nature can make for a happy and healthy kitty.

Cats are home-centric creatures who are easily stressed by sudden changes. The next time you need to be away, avoid the stress and hassle of cattery care and find a cat sitter near you instead. Not sure if cat sitting is for you? Head to our Community Forum to connect with experienced pet parents and sitters to hear about their cat-sitting tips and triumphs.