It can be hard to know what to get a new cat owner. Sometimes there are seasonally appropriate gifts, but when there isn’t a holiday or celebration to give you ideas, what should you get a new cat owner as a gift? Well today I have a list of some of the items that I have found the most useful in my experience raising a kitten or young cat.
New cats, just like kids, require a ton of daily upkeep, and can be an enormous time commitment in a day. Photo Courtesy of quickmeme.com.
Cats and Kiddens Require A Lot of Daily Care and Maintenance
The Best Gifts For New Cat Owners Lighten The Load
1. Automatic Feeder
Cats are literally their best behaved when you keep them on a consistent schedule. Especially a consistent feeding schedule. This is particularly important when adjusting a cat or kitten to a new home or environment. Giving them a consistent schedule helps them feel comfortable and know what to expect which helps keep them from being too anxious or erratic.
An automatic feeder also makes sure that they are always getting enough food, but aren’t being over fed. They should never be too anxious, erratic, or hungry with an automatic feeder. I have seen this used to great effect to help a cat with some serious weight issues slim right back down.
Not only will an automatic feeder help the cat be healthier, they will also be better behaved all around. And that’s why an automatic feeder makes it to the number one spot on this list. This feeder will cut way down on the day to day process of feeding the cat. Which means that for a new cat owner, they are going to have to bend down and fill the cat’s food dish thousands of less times since they only need to fill the feeder once a week. As opposed to filling a food bowl several times a day manually. For a new cat owner this small difference more than pays for itself over the lifespan of the cat.
- Alternatively, A Slow Feeder Bowl
These bowls give the cats a little maze or puzzle that they have to get the food out from around. And since they are forced to manually get each piece of food or kibble out, they aren’t able to eat so fast that they overeat and make themselves sick.
And more than likely, if the new cat owner you know got a kitten, the kitten is going to overeat because they don’t know any better. And these slow feeding bowls will prevent them from getting sick all over the new carpet or upholstery.
2. Automatic Litter Box
An automatic litter box is great for a new cat owner. Scooping a litter box is a daily chore if you don’t want your house to smell terrible. But this can be a lot of work and if you know a new cat owner who has a busy schedule an automatic litter box can be a life changer. It will keep the cat happy, the owner happy, and the house smelling fresh.
A clean litter box, a consistent feeding schedule, and clean water can make enormous strides in helping a cat behave because it keeps them in a biological equilibrium.
3. Filtered Water Bowl
A filter water bowl is something that is not only healthy for the cat, it also removes the chore of having to refresh the cat's water all the time from the owner’s day to day life. So it is another one of the gifts for a new cat owner that makes their job of caring for the cat easier.
The way most of these work is that you plug them into the wall. There is a small electrical powered motor that pumps the water through a filter and out through a few little pipes on the top. Since it always keeps the water moving it always keeps the water fresh.
Cats in general have an aversion to drinking still water. I’m sure you’ve seen at least one adorable cat video on the internet of a cat drinking right from a faucet. These bowls do the same thing as a faucet in the cat’s brain. They ensure the cat has not only clean water, but also serves it up in a way that a cat has evolved to want to drink it.
The moving water lets them know the water is safe and free from bacteria. Not only are these enormously convenient on a day to day basis, they also keep way more water than your cat can possibly drink. So if you know a cat owner that has a difficult time knowing what to do with their cat when they travel, a running/filtered water bowl removes that headache for them. They know their cat has fresh clean water to last.
Some gifts are for the owner. Some gifts are really for the cat themselves though.
What Gifts Are Fun For The Cat?
These Are The Purr-fect Presents For The New Cat In Your Life
1. A Tall Cat Tree/Tower
If you know a cat owner who has a problem with their cat getting up on tables, mantles, and shelves, (and trust me, if it’s a new cat, the cat is definitely jumping up on things they shouldn’t be) a cat tree can make a great gift choice.
In order for them to be most effective you will want to find one that stands up pretty tall. If you know a cat that loves to climb where they aren’t allowed, a tall cat tree will save their new owner a lot of headaches over the lifetime of having the cat. You can’t teach a cat to not get up high. They evolved for it to make them feel safe and comfortable. So you can teach a cat that some areas aren’t ok to climb on, but they literally will not understand that no areas whatsoever are ok to climb on. That just seems like gibberish to them.
In order to get around these circles in the cat's evolutionary logic, you just need to get them a high up place that is approved for them to get up on and climb on. Not only will a cat tower keep the cat from getting up other places they shouldn’t be, most of them feature plenty of scratching posts that the cat can use on their claws instead of using the leg of a chair of the new couch. It really solves two problems at once which makes a tall cat tree a great gift.
2. Set Of Laser Pointers
First of all, cats love laser pointers. If you don’t know about this you are missing out on an enormous amount of joy in your life. Even if you don’t want to click that link and watch an adorable cat video on the internet, I can assure you the cat themselves will enjoy playing with the laser pointer.
Be sure to look for a set with a few different colors and ones that can be recharged. The ones that take the weird little watch batteries are very inconvenient when they inevitably die so they don’t make as good of a gift. Plus, rechargeable batteries are better for the planet anyways.
Finally, laser pointers are great because the cat’s owner will also be able to actively play with and exercise their cat all from the comfort of their couch or their bed. It really makes playing with your cat so much easier. This is especially useful if you know the owner of a kitten. Kittens have tons of energy and trying to keep up with them as a human adult who works all day can be exhausting. A laser pointer lets you play at their level, without expending so much energy.
Any of the gifts on this list will be a perfect choice for the new cat or the new cat owner in your life.
There you are! I hope this list gave you some ideas on how to help make a new cat owner’s life just a little bit easier with some simple, yet effective, gift ideas. I’ve used all of these and I can assure you that any cat owner will find a utility in any of these options.
