If you follow me over on Instagram than you may already know, but last week our family grew by one! We have got a new kitten, our fifth cat, called Charizard, who was named by our Pokemon-loving Son Ethan after the infamous fiery, orange dragon Pokemon.
We'd not really planned on getting another cat, it was only after helping my mother in law to find some new kittens, that I got the itch for another. I went along with her to view her future kittens (we're just waiting for them to hit 8 weeks) and I fell in love. I immediately went home and told Adam I wanted another cat, and whilst we were both unsure about having five cats, we talked at length about it and decided to go for it!
The thing with me, is that I have always been a cat-lady, I guess you could say that away from being a Mum and a wife, my passion is cats! I've always loved being around them and I have so much time for them. I don't mind cleaning out litter trays and feeding them, because they bring me so much joy!
I do know though that five cats does sound a lot, haha! And we've timed it just after Henry's amputation and abscess which cost us a sizeable amount and was a difficult time for us with having to put in a lot of extra care and vet visits for him. But fortunately he's pretty much better and he's been given the all clear by the vets to go back out and stop his usual vet visits which at one point were daily. It's so nice to see him back outdoors being the outdoor-loving cat that he is.
Going back to our newest addition - I could tell by the photos online that Charizard would be a little personality. He just had that look about him and I wasn't wrong. He's such a character and has been trying to get outdoors since he arrived despite being only a tiny 8 weeks old. I think a bold personality was exactly what was needed though. We've got two little boys who like to make a lot of noise and play and four adult cats, he needed to have some confidence about him and he certainly does!
He's fit in really well and loves to be near us, have a cuddle and play lots! He loved the boys and isn't frightened of them at all. Rosie, who was before Charizard, our youngest cat, has been so interested in him. She always seems to be near him. I can't work out how she feels yet - I've seen her play fighting with him, licking him and playing with him and she's happy for him to sleep next to her. The other cats aren't really that bothered by him. There have been a few hisses which is normal, but other than that they're not too bothered. I guess they are all very much used to other cats by now.
We've just got a new litter tray which though was a little pricey, is a lot better than what we had, in that it's a covered litter tray and the bottom tray slides out. It's really well designed and contains all of the litter and a portion of the smell too. We've also bought some plastic spikes to put up on our fences to encourage our cats not to go the neighbours for their toilets. The spike's are small, so not gruesome looking and they can't hurt the cats being that their plastic, but hopefully they'll just deter them. We're also going to be using some space that we have out of the front to section off a bit and add soil to it, to encourage the older cats to use the soil, as we want to be as responsible for the cats 'toilets' as much as we can, as we know five cats is a lot.
After getting our new kitten Charizard last week, I had quite a few messages asking advice on bringing home a new kitten. Obviously I'm not an expert, but I thought since I've brought home my five cats individually each time and introduced them to the other cats, our children and our home I would share my own experience with bringing home a new kitten! In the video I share my experience with.. Introducing a kitten to other cats, what you will need for your new kitten, bringing your kitten home, neutering and microchipping, deworming, defleaing, going outdoors, going on holiday when you have cats, litter/ litter trays, cat scratching and more!
I'll embed the video below and I hope it'll be useful if you're thinking of getting a kitten soon yourself.Thank you for reading. Alex xo
