Make your Kitten feel at home! (Cat Starter Kit)

Member Name: mummy2harry

Product:	Cat Starter Kit
Date:	01/08/08 (959 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lot of items for a great price, everything you'd need

Disadvantages: Cat carrier is a little flimsy

When we had made the decision that we were going to be getting a kitten, we realised that we knew absolutely nothing about cats so set about looking up all the information we'd need to know on the Internet. I realised we needed to get the kitten a few things in order to bring him home and settle him in, and these included a carrying box, a bed and a litter tray. Looking at Pets Smart, we realised these things weren't going to be cheap. But then we spotted a bargain!

We noticed on one of the Internet offer sites www.hotdealsuk.com that Argos were selling a cat starter kit for just £12, half the usual selling price of £24, and considering the carrier cost £10 alone in Pet Smart, we knew we were onto a good thing and quickly reserved one online. When we collected it from Argos, it came in a large-ish cardboard box which wasn't too heavy so was pretty easy to get in the car and bring home, ready for our new arrival!

The Cat Starter kit really does contain the basic items you need for a cat or kitten and these are a bed, a carrying box, twin feeding tray, a litter tray and scoop and a scratching post. The items come in blue, so are ideal if you are getting a male cat, but we weren't bothered whether we go a male or female kitten so it would have done nicely for a girl as well, it's not like they'll mind if it isn't the right colour is it?! Ok, as mentioned all the items came together, unassembled, in a cardboard box so you have to go home and assemble everything before collecting your kitten/cat.

Firstly, the cat carrier is an essential item for transporting your cat around, as they can be quite wriggly and you don't want them jumping around over the car, especially on the first jounrey home, as they'll be a bit disorientated with their new owner. This carrier wasn't the best quality, but for the amount we'll be using it, it'll more than suffice. You have to clip together the top and bottom sections usiing 4 clips located on the sides, which was easy to do. Then you need to slot in the grate at the front of the carrier, which traps your cat in. This took a bit of getting used to but once you align all of the posts and slots, its fairly simple. It is a nice big size, with the measurements being 29cm high, 33cm wide and 48cm deep. It also has a carry handle on the top, and is nice and lightweight and we're pleased with it, and Magic seems okay with it too!

The next thing we removed from the box was the fleecey bed in a dark blue colour. This is a basic oval bed, which is a furry material and lovely and soft for your kitten. There is a double-sided cushion which goes on the base of the bed. One side is furry like the bed itself, and the other is fleecey, so its depends on what your kitten wants. The bed is machine washable at 30 degrees,to its easy to take care of as well. My only problem with the bed was that it had been squished into the box, and consequently was an odd shape for a few days after taking it out, more like the shape of an eye (the pointy ends rather than rounded oval ends) but I've given it a good squash and finally it's settled on its natural shape. Magic loved his bed and first but now prefers to sleep on our sofas at night, fussy cat!

You also get a blue plastic litter tray and litter scoop in the set as well. We chose to get a kitten that was already litter trained as I didn't want to have to worry about that as well as potty training Harry, so a litter tray is an absolute necessity. The tray is thick blue plastic, and a generous size too. You have to buy the litter itself seperately and put a thick layer in the tray for your cat to do its business on. I also got a blue plastic slotted scoop to allow for removing the mess from the tray, which does its job perfectly! The kit also came with a twin feeding tray, which is a tray with 2 "bowls" to place some cat food and water into, and is the perfect size for a kitten. It's easy to clean, and Magic seems to find eating from it easy.

Finally, we also got a cat scratching post for Magic to play with, which was good as we wanted to get him some toys to play with anyway to entertain himself with when we had to go out, so this was an added bonus for us! The scratch pole was seperate from the square base, and just needed screwing in which was simple, just slot the post in and turn until it was tight. It is blue and cream, with a blue pom-pom attached to a string that kittens/cats can play with, and the rough material on the pole helping to blunt their sharp claws. It's a great play too and finishes off a fantastic starter kit.

The kit is currently available in Argos for the selling price of £24.99, catalogue number is 870/0704, you can reserve online to pick up instore or arrange for home delivery. The items are all of a good quality, and are great for people starting out with cats like we were. All the items have lasted perfectly for the 2 1/2 weeks we've had them and Magic seems happy with his bed, feeding tray and his scratching post too. The carrier is also good, perhaps not for those who would use them a lot as it isn't as robust as the ones in Pet Smart but for us, its perfect. It's a great kit, and I'm glad we spotted it at a great price too!

Thank you for reading.

Summary: Superb cat starter kit