TheCat Standard
Your cat has standards. So do we.
Practical cat care, considered purchases and things you might not need to buy. Goldfish has opinions.
Start with the first-cat checklist
A useful place to start.
What to buy, what can wait, and where everything goes. The cat will have amendments.
Start with the checklistChoosing the tray, containing the mess and keeping on top of it.
Explore litter guidesBowls, feeders and fountains. Including the bits you’ll have to clean.
Explore feeding guidesThings to climb, chase and destroy that you actually bought for the purpose.
Explore scratching and playA bit of outside, with the boundaries thought through.
Plan your outdoor spacePlan the full bill with cost guides, a tray calculator and sizing worksheets.
Plan costs and upkeepSomething else in mind? Browse all our topics
What we’ve found from living with them. Your cat may disagree.
Easy to clean, reassuringly private and rather large. Goldfish uses the top entrance, like she’s in a spy movie.
Allow for its size. Our oddly shaped bathroom happens to be useful for something.
Four customisable meal times, an easy setup and battery backup that has handled several minor power cuts.
A little food can linger at the outlet. Goldfish considers pawing it out a bonus course.
Best Friends is covering a temporary stay for a Navajo Nation family after floodwater left their home uninhabitable.
Guides, reviews and the occasional good cat.
Best Friends is covering a temporary stay for a Navajo Nation family after floodwater left their home uninhabitable.
After veterinary treatment and foster care, Bradley and Jennifer have been adopted together.
An update on a senior cat’s established home.
The young cat with extra toes has been adopted after care from Alley Cat Allies, which shared his story on 22 October.
After care from Cats Protection’s Glasgow volunteers, Meeko has found a home alongside an older deaf cat called Elmo.
Rescued from a Maidstone car wash in July, Scruff has been rehomed with Clara, a kitten born at the RSPCA cattery.
The kittens became close companions in foster care and were adopted together by Jen and Charlie.
His owners found him beneath decking; a nearby bakery had helped with daily garden searches.
Get the carrier, familiar supplies, identification and contact arrangements ready before bad weather makes them urgent.
A grant supporting hundreds of neutering surgeries forms part of a practical effort to help shelter cats and dogs find homes.
Lost Cats Brighton records Kity’s return home after a postman found her during deliveries in Wilbury Road.
Work out your food bill from pack size, price and daily use, with dated wet and dry examples and the cash needed at the till.