Kitkat is new to cats

Hey Everyone!
As the title suggests, I am new to cat keeping. In fact, I don't even have a cat yet. I am planning to adopt a 3-6 month old kitten from the animal shelter around March. I know it seems like a long way off but I learned the hard way to do plenty of research before you actually buy a cat. (20 or so fishies died).

So, with that said, any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

lol well good news! In my opinion, cats are a lot easier to care for than fish are. I've killed plenty of fish in my time too but no cats. Unlike fish, you don't have to worry about adding chemicals to their water which is usually what caused my fish to die. I swear the instructions on some of those fish tank chemical bottle are lies! You do as instructed and your fish still die.
With cats just make sure that you give them plenty of water to drink, a healthy, balanced diet, lots of love and attention, proper vet care, and plenty of patience.
A lot of shelters have a list of vets that will do a free exam within a certain time period after you adopt your cat so best thing to do is to take advantage of that and take your kitty in right away, besides that you should only need to take your cat in to the vet for its vaccination UNLESS you think your cat may be sick. Biggest thing as far as that goes is to KNOW YOUR CAT. Reading some of the horror stories on this site, its easy to get paranoid for no reason. Know what's normal for your cat and if you cat starts acting otherwise you may want to get it checked by a vet. Also when considering a cat or kitten to adopt, be sure to ask what it's been checked for, what treatments/medicine/vaccinations has it been given, and if there has been any signs of illness or aggression or any other personality problems. Unless they're a shady group, they should be open with this information and most places with have it all in writing on the kitten/cats information card but its always good to ask someone in person. They can't fit everything on the card and something could've occured since they last updated the card.
Toys, get a wide vareity of toys and rotate them. Some younger cats aren't very interested in cat nip so you may want to just wait to buy a cat nip toy until your cat reaches about a year in age.
If you want to switch foods, DON'T just swap it out. Start with 90% old food to 10% new food and gradually reduce the amount of old food and add more new food. A lot of cats can get digestive issues with you switch foods without gradually changing it. Alot of cats become lactose intolerent when they get older. If you want to keep feeding your cat milk throughout its life, a lot of pet supply stores like Petco or Petsmart have lactose free milk for adult/lactose intolerent cats.
Make sure you get a scratching post and have a high place for your cat to get to. Cats love high spots.
Also, a lot of cats are very scared when they're brought home for the first time. They will often hide under a bed or other peice of furniture for hours if not longer before coming out. Don't rush your cat, give him/her some space. The cat will come out when its ready. A lot of people have a designated safe room for the cat. Often a bathroom or a small spare bedroom that they put a litter box, some food and water that they can keep the cat in until it gets comfortable. When they do get comfortable, let them explore. Just follow them around to make sure they don't start chewing on cables or anything. Some cats, like my Chacho, don't really need that alone time. Some seem to take to their new home like fish to water.

Those are some great "basics." You may want to also consider getting pet insurance. Some of the vaccines can be a little pricey. I don't have pet insurance yet but I'm planning to in a month or so. It seems like most plans that cover vaccinations run around $26 - $30 a month and it will help cover any emergency situations such as surgeries as well. If I were you I'd also subscribe to Dr.Jon's Cat Crazy e-newsletter. Go to PetPlace.com to subscribe. Its free and it has a lot of information about pet products along with advice. Dr. Jon is a registered vet and has practically an army of vets also helping with the site.

Hi and welcome to TCS ! I hope you enjoy your stay. You will find plenty of people with good advice on whatever issue you might have. If you have time we would love to see photo's of your cat . Also I find keeping cats much easier then keeping fish, to be honest .

Welcome to TCS!

Many of us are associated with animal rescues and/or shelters, and we'd be glad to give you all the advice we can.

Welcome to TCS!

Any kitty that comes into your well informed care will be very lucky!

Welcome!