Okay, to be honest I hate the phrase “[pet] mom” or even like “boy mom” or “girl dad”, but we’re aiming for clicks here folks.
Before I had my cat, Montana, I had never had an indoor pet before. We were never allowed them growing up because we lived on a farm and “animals belonged outside”. So having Montana and working in an urban vet clinic with almost exclusively indoor pets taught me a lot about things that are good to have, although not necessary to have when you have a pet cat.
Saying that though, I am going to start with a recommendation from veterinarians about how many litterboxes to have. They recommend 2 per cat, per floor of your home. Now, I have to admit that I have only followed this one once. Apartments don’t really have enough room to have multiple litterboxes. So I normally only have one extra-large litterbox and clean it twice a day (often, sometimes it’s just once – often he normally uses it at night so I can get away with cleaning it once). But having a clean litterbox is absolutely essential to having a cat who doesn’t have accidents. And this is something I was really worried about as he was given up by his previous owners for inappropriate urination.
Speaking of litterboxes, one of the best things I have ever purchased for my cat is the LitterLocker.
This is absolutely fantastic for not having to constantly take bags of dirty litter out or having a stinky garbage can hidden somewhere (or not hidden somewhere depending on your apartment’s storage situation). I got mine at Wal-Mart, but you can also get them on Amazon, at Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, and I’m sure at pet store chains. It’s fantastic, I would love to have one of those fancy self-cleaning space ship litterboxes but they are huge and I don’t have the space for that, and I also don’t have $700 to spend on a litter box. It holds about a weeks worth of dirty litter and you don’t smell a thing for that week.
I also subscribed to the bag refills on Amazon when I moved here because the stock of the refill bags doesn’t seem to be very reliable up here in any of the stores. So I now get one package of refills once a month and it works very well. I also stocked up on a couple extras when I did see them in the Wal-Mart up here.
A dog bed. This may not be necessary for all cats, but my cat is a big boy, and I find cat beds to be much uglier than dog beds. I spent far more money than is necessary on a pet bed, but I love it and it doesn’t look like a total eye-sore in my living room. I got mine from Joules, they no longer make my exact one, but the one pictured below is the most similar. He doesn’t use it all the time, he seems to go through phases with it, but it does wash extremely well. He must have peed in it at one point because it was reeking of old urine and I sprinkled it with baking soda and left it in the sunshine for an afternoon and then washed it with powdered tide and it washed up beautifully.
These silly little cat wine bottle catnip toys. Honestly, I just bought them on a whim, but he loves them. They’re the first “independent” toy (like one that doesn’t require me flicking something for hours) that he has ever played with. I have tried mice, little balls with bells, fish, he hasn’t been interested in any of them. So I don’t know if it’s the catnip or the shape of them, but he loves them.
Furminator Brush. This is the best grooming tool to ever exist. He doesn’t particularly enjoy being brushed with it, but the amount of hair it gets out is unbelievable and it greatly reduces his hairballs (which honestly are our biggest problem). It is designed to cut the hairs of their undercoat. There are different versions for short and long-haired cats and yes it is absolutely the most expensive pet brush on the market, but in my opinion it is the only one worth buying.
My favourite cat litter is the PC Green Clumping Cat Litter. I’ve been having a hard time finding it lately, and some of the google search suggestions were for PC naturals litter discontinued, which was slightly alarming. I’m really hoping it isn’t discontinued as it is the best cat litter in my opinion. I hate the smell of most cat litters, and if I don’t clean it the liter box fast enough and he steps in a wet spot with a clay litter he will track little clay foot prints all over the house. I initially started using the PC litter because in Guelph the city compost took cat litter and it is a compostable litter. I’ve continued to use it since just because I like the smell of the clean litter and I like that if the plastic bag my garbage bag gets picked up in ever breaks down then my litter will break down easily. Also Montana seems to like it.
The next thing on the list isn’t really a thing for cats, it’s more of a hair management device. But the Chom Chom lint roller, it doesn’t work on clothes, but for beds and furniture it is amazing. The amount of cat hair this picks up off my bed is actually disgusting and super satisfying. I actually think it works better than vacuuming furniture to get pet hair off.
I think that is all I have to share for now. I have a few things on my shopping list that I would like to get for him, namely a cat tree for easier window looking. Before I got this cat I would have never imagined all the things that having an indoor cat requires and I wish I had done a bit more research before, but bringing him home was quite spontaneous so I didn’t really do any research on the kinds of things you should have for your house cat.
Do you have anything for your cat that I don’t have on this list?
Laura
Thoughtful Millennial 