Preparing your home for a new cat: The essentials
New cat moving in soon? How exciting! Here’s a practical overview of what to prepare ahead of their arrival.
Set up a base camp
Set up a smaller, separate room that the cat can feel safe in and use to slowly acclimatise. It’s important that this is set up ahead of time and have all the basics in there: bed, a box to hide in, water, food, litter, toys, de-stress spray.
Learn to speak cat
A cat in the home means your space will change. Watch this video to start off on the right foot when it comes to communicating with new cats in the home. For more brilliant cat advice, check out Jackson Galaxy and Tabitha of Chirrups & Chatter.
Find a veterinarian
Research, read reviews, speak with other cat lovers, and take the time to find the right vet for you, before your new cat arrives. Although vaccines will be up to date, we recommend you bring your new cat to meet your vet after a few weeks.
Transfer the microchip
When you adopt a cat in Portugal, the microchip will be in your name with the Portuguese association ‘SIAC’. As the database are not connected, when your cat arrives, you will also need to register the chip with the database in your country, for example www.ndg.nl for the Netherlands. The number is in their pet passport.
Shopping list
Cat carrier - Avoid backpacks and carriers that are too simply too small. Here are our 3 tried-and-tested favourites: Ferplast Atlas hard carrier (29 high, 32.5 wide, 48 long), Skudo hard carrier 36 high, 35 wide, 55cm long), and Bertache soft expandable carrier (27 high, 28 wide, 46 long).
Multiple large litter boxes and sturdy scooper – 1 box per cat plus 1, and placement is very important. Check out this helpful video about setting up litter boxes. For litter, go for low dust and no scent. Our favourites are: Tigerino, Vitakraft Natural Clean, or Super Benek Corn.
Food bowls and water bowls - multiple throughout the house, and the food & water not close to each other. Avoid plastic and go for ceramic or stainless steel. Or a cat fountain (E.g. this one is a fave here).
Toys - Ask which toys your new cat prefers. Cat tunnels, toy mice and feathers on a pole are generally good choices. Our faves are: matabi (silvervine) sticks, the “cat dancer“ toy, the “da bird“ pole toy, tissue paper and cardboard boxes. Ping pong balls are also a hit! It’s good to keep toys ‘in rotation’, so that there’s always ‘something new’.
Perches, towers, and cat beds. Some cats are climbers, some are burrowers. Most cats really appreciate vertical spaces. Ask the fosterer if the cat prefers a covered or open bed or no bed at all.
Scratching boxes, posts and trees. Unless you want them to redesign your couch. A favourite here are the sisal barrels. They last longer than the wobbly trees.
Food
* Wet food: we usually give a half a small can twice a day, so 2 x 40g per cat. We typically feed “MjamMjam” as we can buy large cans at a decent price and the quality is excellent. There are lots of great brands out there. Go for high protein, quality food, varying the flavours.
* Dry food: ‘Royal Canin Fit32’ or ‘Advance Sensitive’ is what we typically (free) feed. Most vets recommend portioned feeding.
* Treats: a great way to break the ice with a cat and interact with them. Our go-to’s are: boiled chicken, canned tuna in water, Vitakraft sticks and Churu liquid snacks.Probiotic: add a sachet to their wet food or dry 1 x day for the first week. This helps settle the gut in case of stress from travel. We often use ‘FortiFlora’ by Purina Pro Plan.
Anti-stress spray or diffuser: plug into their ‘basecamp’ and then onto the main part of the house such as the living room. Our favourite is Beaphar anti-stress spray.
Grooming tools: a hairbrush and nail clippers. We love the ‘kooa’ bamboo brush and clippers from Trixie.