Cats
Cats for adoption and cat supplies in Panama.
A cat asks for less kit than a dog, but it uses every piece of it daily: a litter tray it is willing to use, something to scratch that is not the sofa, and a carrier for the trip to the vet. That kit is bought and sold here new and pre-owned, from a tall sisal tree to a self-cleaning litter box. In a house on a septic tank, as plenty are from La Chorrera to Boquete, the choice of litter matters more than it looks. A cat that needs a new home is another matter: it goes to adoption with its vaccination card and is passed on, never priced.
Adoption for the cat, supplies for the house:
a cat looking for a family goes in adopt a cat, described by its temper and how it gets on with other cats and with children, and handed over by whoever has been caring for it. No cat carries a price. What does get bought and sold is in cat supplies, and most of it falls into three jobs: somewhere to go, somewhere to scratch and climb, and a way to travel. A cat that slipped out and has not come back belongs in animals lost and found.
Clumping clay, silica crystals or plant litter, and where it ends up:
clumping clay is the cheap, heavy default. It forms a firm lump you scoop out daily, but it is dusty and a big bag is a chore up the stairs. Silica crystals soak up urine without clumping, weigh far less and get changed all at once every few weeks. Plant litters made from tofu, corn or pine are light and low in dust, and several are sold as flushable. Before you flush anything, think about where the toilet drains. Many homes in Arraiján, La Chorrera, Boquete and the beach developments run on a septic tank, and cat litter flushed into one adds solids the tank was never sized for. Bag it instead. Whatever you choose, switch gradually, mixing in a little more of the new litter every few days, because a cat that dislikes a sudden change says so on the bath mat.
Litter trays, scratching posts and a cat tree that stays upright:
most trays sold for cats are too small. A tray should be about one and a half times the cat’s length from nose to the base of the tail, which is why a low plastic storage box often does the job better than a branded tray. Keep one tray per cat plus one. A hooded tray keeps litter off the floor, but some cats refuse to use one. For scratching, height and weight matter more than design. A post should be tall enough for the cat to stretch out fully on its hind legs, on a base heavy enough not to rock. A tall tree with platforms needs a strap to the wall, since one that tips under a jumping cat will be avoided for good.
Frayed sisal, swollen particle board and a self-cleaning box that has to run:
on a used cat tree the sisal wears first, on the main post at shoulder height. Posts usually unscrew and can be rewrapped, so fraying alone is no reason to walk away. Swollen particle board at the base, from a mopped floor or a leak, and bolts that turn without biting are. Smell the carpeted platforms and the inside of any cave, since a cat that sprayed leaves a smell no wash fully removes. Vacuum and wash anything carpeted before it comes into the house. Ask to see a self-cleaning box, a Litter-Robot or similar, run a full cycle with the drawer in place, and make sure the power adapter comes with it. A plain plastic tray is cheap enough new that a scratched one is rarely worth taking, since the scratches hold the smell.
Cat trees, carriers and a cat’s own handover:
photograph a tree fully assembled and give its height and the size of its base. Say whether it comes apart for a car, whether the screws are bagged with it, and how many cats used it. Unopened bags of litter or food sell easily; opened ones rarely do. For a carrier, show the door latch and the clips that hold the two halves together. If the cat itself is moving on, list it in adoption and send it with its tray, its bowl and half a bag of the litter it knows. A cat that finds familiar litter in a strange house is far more likely to use the tray on the first night.