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YAY! You've adopted a new family member, a cat! Now that you can bring her (or him) home, you need to stock up on cat products! These 9 cat essentials will make sure your new feline is both happy and healthy!
Bringing home a new family member can be nerve-wracking! I was a new cat mom not too long ago. Going from a German Shepherd Dog mom, 5 months earlier, to a kitten mom was a culture shock. However, I quickly figured out what cat products I needed to purchase to keep Bella happy and healthy during her transition as a new member of our family! Just look at that face above, she's complete perfection!
9 must have Cat Products
1. Food and Water Bowls
Food Bowls
There are so many options out there for food bowls. Are you a one cat household or a multi-cat household? We got Bella roughly 2 weeks after my boyfriend and I bought our house and moved in together in 2020. Steven already had a cat, Mirra, so we became a 2 cat household.
With either one cat or multiple cats, I advise you to get a new food bowl for the new cat! While they might flip flop and eat in each others bowls, it gives each cat their own personal space when eating. I like ceramic bowls for our girls. The weight of the bowl means tip overs aren't as frequent. Bella does flip the bowl over about once every other month, but for the most part, the food stays in the bowl. I found our bowls at TJ Maxx / HomeGoods / Marshalls, one is Rae Dunn and the other is a random company. Snagging a new complimentary bowl for Mirra was important to me! I love this similar set of matching bowls.
Water Bowls
Our two girls drink A LOT of water! We have 2 large Rae Dunn pet bowls in our kitchen. One says "The Boss," that I bought for Mirra before we moved to Charlotte. The other says "XOXO," that made me think of Bella. I believe they were meant for dogs, but they are perfect for water bowls. Here is The Boss bowl that we have!
2. Cute Cat Essentials - The Cat Collar
A cat collar is essential for your new feline companion. The collars sold now have quick release breakaway snaps so there's no worry getting it caught on anything and being a danger to them. How cute are these pink collars? That's Bella's signature color!
3. Litter Box
This is my favorite cat product and favorite appliance we own, by far! The CatGenie AI is absolute perfection! I can't rave about it enough. It's a fully flushing, self-scooping, self-cleaning, automatic cat litter box.
It easily hooks up in either your laundry room or any bathroom. It requires a cold water hook up and access to a waste line. We have ours hooked up in our laundry room. The directions were easy and took very little effort other than having to purchase a few more supplies to extend the cold water line, which is ok per their FAQ! You however cannot extend the waste line.
We have our CatGenie AI set to cat activation mode, which means that it detects when our cats have entered the unit and is set to clean 15 minutes after they leave it. You can change how long after your cat leaves, that the unit will clean. The granules are cleaned each cycle using the sanisolution cartridge that is placed in the machine. With our two cats, we have had to replace our sani-solution about every 2 months. We top off our granules every month as some do escape the machine on our cats paws. I would say that 1 box of granules lasts about 6 months.
Please note that you cannot use the CatGenie on kittens that are under 6 months old. For this first period of time, a small traditional litter box would be best until you can transition him or her to the CatGenie AI. It was a surprisingly easy transition!
4. Cat Carrier
While a cat carrier is not something you'll use often, it's a must have for taking your cat to the vet. We also used it as a safe haven for Bella when she first came home. She used to sleep in it on occasion. We had it on the floor next to our bed when we first brought her home with the blanket I brought her home in when we picked her up.
5. Cat Tree
This is one of our cats favorite items! The perch at the top of the cat tree is a favorite nap spot! Mirra likes sneaking into the little cubby hole and Bella definitely uses the scratching posts! It's been adorable seeing her move from using the bottom scratch posts to being too big and having to use the next layer of the scratch posts!
6. Cat Scratcher
Cat scratchers are a must in your home. We love our corrugated cardboard cat scratchers the most, but also love the scratching post on our cat tree and a couple other small ones we have around the house. I think the corrugated cat scratchers are perfect for our house because the below design adds a little design interest. We have at least one cat scratcher in each room for our girls.
7. Cat Toys
Our cats like very different things, however they both love feathers! We have quite a few toys and/or cat scratchers that have feathers. We have these feather flips that Bella loves, cat nip toys (the corrugated cat scratchers above come with a free catnip toy!) and wands with feathers!
8. Cat Care Essentials - Nail Clippers
Cat products such as nail clippers are something that are a necessary evil. Bella tolerates me cutting her nails. I started holding the clippers and showing her the clippers as soon as she came home with us. I wanted her to be comfortable with me cutting her nails. I would hold her paw regularly. She tolerates me doing this for her
9. Cat Treats
Last, but certainly not least, you need to get some treats! We love our cat nip flavored temptations in this household!
Our cats are definitely living their best lives with these cat products. Staying healthy and happy is of the utmost importance for our 4 legged family members! You can't go wrong with these products for your newest family member!
This post was all about 9 cat products you must own as soon as you become a cat parent!
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Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular post! It is the little changes that make the most significant changes. Thanks for sharing!
Itís difficult to find knowledgeable people for this topic, but you sound like you know what youíre talking about! Thanks