Cat care column: The things you'll need to get for your new kitten

Here, Pauline looks at the things you'll need when you get a new kitten - which might not be as much as you think.

You could, of course, go to any pet store and spend an eye-watering amount of money on the latest fluffiest beds, the daintiest of china dishes and mountains of toys for your new little furrball(s). It is totally unnecessary.

Your kitten’s best toy is you; be prepared to have your legs shredded as he clambers up your jeans, those claw-like crampons digging in as he climbs Mount Everest. Try not to scream and mop up the blood when he’s not looking.

Having bought a variety of cat beds in the past and having had them totally ignored in favour of the boxes they came in, you really don’t have to spend a fortune.

A nice sturdy cardboard box, lined with an old fluffy towel or blanket – even a discarded baby quilt, folded up to fit, will do nicely.

Make sure the box isn’t placed too near a door where drafts or a steady stream of traffic could upset your kitten while he gets his beauty sleep.

You’ll come to treasure these peaceful times because when he’s awake, he’ll be racing around the house like the wall of death ride at a funfair.

My cats have got shallow metal dishes for their food. Cats don’t like to have their whiskers scrunched up while they’re eating or drinking so wide, flattish food and water bowls are best.

MORE: Cat care column: Kittens are hilarious but a handful so be prepared before you get one

You can pick up old china cereal bowls in charity shops for pennies but bypass any with cracks in.

A good scratching post is essential and it’s worth spending a bit of money on these, unless you’re very handy and can make one yourself.

If you encourage your little mountain-climber to use the scratching post instead of your legs or the furniture, it will be a habit that you’ll be relieved he adopted, thus saving the rather lame explanation each week in A&E when you get stitches and a tetanus injection.

Litter trays come in different sizes and if you have two kittens, it’s best to get three trays; you’d be surprised how quickly a kitten can fill an average tray. Place them out of the way – I always put mine under the dining table which was alright when it was just me in the house. Impressing a new boyfriend with a nice meal went slightly askew when Timmy, one third of a trio of ginger kittens, decided at that moment to use the tray to deposit one of the stinkiest poos known to man and beast.

The new boyfriend left in rather a hurry, while Timmy boasted to his brothers that ‘the plan worked’.