We got our best information from the two cat rescue organizations we adopted our current cats from, but they don't really have much about introducing a new cat if you don't already have a cat. Some of this might be useful for introducing the cat to children, though I think your kids are much older than I envision their being given how long ago it's been since I saw you.
Here is Last Hope's page about introducing your cat to your other cats. There's lots of incidental information about what cats like. We got Cassie from Last Hope.
If you can, starting the new cat out in one room and letting them get settled and also curious about the rest of the house seems to be helpful. Visiting the new cat in the room is encouraged. Second Chance Animal Rescue, where we got Saffron, strongly encourages somebody to sleep in the room with the cat and expect a rather disturbed first night as the cat startles at every sound, hisses and growls, and demands explanations of what is happening just as you drift off to sleep. This might or might not sort well with your usual routine. I did it with Saffron and she was quite calm by the second night. They recommend a week of keeping the cat in just the one room, but I think we relented by Day 4, and if you don't have another animal to consider you probably don't need to take a whole week.
If the individual room won't work or isn't available, trying to in some way restrict where the new cats goes at first is still a good idea, reducing the risk that you will have to extricate them from the furnace ducts or some incredibly tiny space you didn't even know existed. Providing places the cat can hide and feel safe -- anything from cat furniture to cardboard boxes -- helps reduce these tendencies of a new denizen, but it probably doesn't eliminate them, so restricting available space in whatever way is possible helps a lot.
I'm better at answering questions than coming up with everything, so feel free to ask whatever occurs to you.
Catproofing (for adult cats): no toxic plants, keep away from chemicals/medicines. I don’t think we have any open vents / weird ways into the walls. How much do I worry about electrical cords? Any other category of hazard I should think about? Do I need to put baby locks back on the cabinets or is medication etc being in a container in a cabinet sufficiently secure?
It really depends on the cat. Siamese and Siamese-adjacent cats or mixes with those elements are often more curious and dexterous, but any cat can be.
If the cat's being fostered the people will know things like that, or if the cat's been turned in to a shelter those people might have information from the former owners. In the absence of that, I'd start with the baby locks and see if the cat seems interested, whether the cat paws at the doors or tries to gnaw the baby locks or whatever.
Most cats can't deal with childproof caps, but if a bottle is prone to burst open if dropped, I'd do something extra to secure it. Also tubes are often a subject of great interest. Saffron doesn't care about bottles, but any tube must be knocked on the floor at once; and eventually it will be kicked and maybe chewed. So I don't leave those lying about and I don't put them in a drawer she can open. She mostly can't open drawers, or can't be bothered, but we've got some very light plastic stacks of drawers that slide open easily and she enjoys pulling those open sometimes.
With electrical cords, it also depends on the cat, and the rescue people might know about that or they might not. Cassie used to chew on cords to make us feed her, so it was mostly only the ones on bedside tables, and we had to tape them down with electrical tape until she forgot that she could wake us up that way.
Oh, yes, feeding. If the cat doesn't have a history of eating too much -- lots of former strays do -- open feeding is much easier on everybody, as ism, if you need to feed them a fixed amount at one or more fixed times, feeding them at some time that is definitely not near when you wake up. Cats always push feeding time earlier if they possibly can, and this can be disruptive to one's sleep.
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tiger_spot
no subject
Date: 2022-04-16 08:51 pm (UTC)Here is Last Hope's page about introducing your cat to your other cats. There's lots of incidental information about what cats like. We got Cassie from Last Hope.
https://lasthopeanimalrescue.org/introduce-cat/
If you can, starting the new cat out in one room and letting them get settled and also curious about the rest of the house seems to be helpful. Visiting the new cat in the room is encouraged. Second Chance Animal Rescue, where we got Saffron, strongly encourages somebody to sleep in the room with the cat and expect a rather disturbed first night as the cat startles at every sound, hisses and growls, and demands explanations of what is happening just as you drift off to sleep. This might or might not sort well with your usual routine. I did it with Saffron and she was quite calm by the second night. They recommend a week of keeping the cat in just the one room, but I think we relented by Day 4, and if you don't have another animal to consider you probably don't need to take a whole week.
If the individual room won't work or isn't available, trying to in some way restrict where the new cats goes at first is still a good idea, reducing the risk that you will have to extricate them from the furnace ducts or some incredibly tiny space you didn't even know existed. Providing places the cat can hide and feel safe -- anything from cat furniture to cardboard boxes -- helps reduce these tendencies of a new denizen, but it probably doesn't eliminate them, so restricting available space in whatever way is possible helps a lot.
I'm better at answering questions than coming up with everything, so feel free to ask whatever occurs to you.
P.
no subject
Date: 2022-04-16 09:51 pm (UTC)Catproofing (for adult cats): no toxic plants, keep away from chemicals/medicines. I don’t think we have any open vents / weird ways into the walls. How much do I worry about electrical cords? Any other category of hazard I should think about? Do I need to put baby locks back on the cabinets or is medication etc being in a container in a cabinet sufficiently secure?
no subject
Date: 2022-04-16 10:52 pm (UTC)If the cat's being fostered the people will know things like that, or if the cat's been turned in to a shelter those people might have information from the former owners. In the absence of that, I'd start with the baby locks and see if the cat seems interested, whether the cat paws at the doors or tries to gnaw the baby locks or whatever.
Most cats can't deal with childproof caps, but if a bottle is prone to burst open if dropped, I'd do something extra to secure it. Also tubes are often a subject of great interest. Saffron doesn't care about bottles, but any tube must be knocked on the floor at once; and eventually it will be kicked and maybe chewed. So I don't leave those lying about and I don't put them in a drawer she can open. She mostly can't open drawers, or can't be bothered, but we've got some very light plastic stacks of drawers that slide open easily and she enjoys pulling those open sometimes.
With electrical cords, it also depends on the cat, and the rescue people might know about that or they might not. Cassie used to chew on cords to make us feed her, so it was mostly only the ones on bedside tables, and we had to tape them down with electrical tape until she forgot that she could wake us up that way.
Oh, yes, feeding. If the cat doesn't have a history of eating too much -- lots of former strays do -- open feeding is much easier on everybody, as ism, if you need to feed them a fixed amount at one or more fixed times, feeding them at some time that is definitely not near when you wake up. Cats always push feeding time earlier if they possibly can, and this can be disruptive to one's sleep.
P.