Our guidance when adopting a cat or kitten

How long to keep your cat or kitten indoors

​We advise keeping an adult cat indoors for a minimum of 8 weeks and a kitten indoors for a minimum of 8 months.  (These are also within the terms of the Adoption Agreement.) 

This may seem a long time for an adult cat but you will be giving your new addition his best chance of resetting his radar and remembering where he lives when he eventually does venture outside.  Remember, many cats will have been living in several places beforehand – a home, the streets, the shelter, a foster home, and now your home.  Cats that are allowed out sooner do disappear as they become disorientated and so this is always something we ask you to agree to during our calls.

Kittens should be at least 8 months old. Preferably they would be 12 months before they go outside but we all know how much energy kittens have and sometimes they need that time in the garden for a while to burn some of it off! Always let them out when you are at home and on hand should anything happen. For the first couple of years of their young lives they can still be quite silly and have no road sense at all, so ensuring your big kitten or young cat is indoors whenever you go out is always a good idea.
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When you first decide to let your new family member outside, our tip is to let them out before their dinner so that their tummies will soon bring them home. You could also reward them with treats. If you have to wait a little longer, waiting until the Spring to let them out is always better than letting them out for the first time in the Winter. This is just incase you find you have to go out and hunt for them to bring them back home in the dark and cold!

Flea and worm treatment

​All our cats and kittens are de-flea'd and de-wormed. Please continue with these treatments when you have brought them into your home. We advise a vet prescribed flea treatment or if this is not possible, then advantage or frontline. Please do not use supermarket bought flea treatments as these are at best ineffective, at worst are toxic and will cause skin burns. These include Bob Martins, Johnsons, Beapher and also the online treatment itch.com. Remember indoor only cats can also catch fleas as they can be transferred in on your shoes from outside.

Pet carriers

You will want to take your new addition to the vets for their vaccination boosters or if they ever become unwell. There are several different types of cat carrier that you could use. The best and easiest carrier to use is a top loading wire basket carrier. These are easy to lower a cat into and secure. 

Given the alarming numbers of cats who escape their carriers when leaving their vets, please use the plastic carriers with front opening doors with caution. Make sure they are strong enough to hold back your big strong cat - especially the boys. Check those clips, that they are secure and strong enough to hold back the door if it gets pushed. And always always check the doors before you leave the vets so that there is no chance of escape.  Cloth carriers with mesh windows maybe ok for a couple of kittens but are definitely not suitable for an adult cat who can simply claw its way out through the mesh with it claws.