• Litter tray - at least one for each cat. These aren't expensive and can be purchased at supermarkets or pet stores for under £5 for a basic one. You can get all singing and all dancing litter trays which are more complicated and more expensive and more gadgety than the basic one.
• Litter scoop - to remove the solid waste from the litter. Can also be bought at most supermarkets and any pet store - usually for less than £2 for a basic one.
• Plastic bags - or any method of disposal. Some litter can be flushed down the toilet, but most cannot - in which case you will need to put the waste in the rubbish bin. There are special disposal bins ('Litter Lockers') on sale at stores such as Pets at Home. You open the lid of the litter locker, put the waste into the plastic bag at the top, and turn the handle of the litter locker. This moves the waste round to the back of the litter locker and presents you with a 'new' bag. We have used litter lockers for the past year and we're quite happy with them - however some people may find that they can get smelly, and they are certainly a fairly expensive option compared to say, a plastic carrier bag which can then be tied and put into the rubbish bin.
• Litter. Although your cat will leave with some litter this won't last for long and if you want to be extra prepared then have some litter waiting at home. Our kittens are brought up with wheat based cat litter such as 'Swheat' or 'World's Best Cat Litter'. They are also used to wood pellets. The wheat based is quite possibly the most expensive on the market, with the wood pellets being possibly the cheapest. We would not recommend clay based litter because this can track and stick to the carpet - also making cleaning the trays a difficult task as the clay sticks to them.
• Disinfectant for cats. Use this after you've cleaned the litter tray in hot soapy water.
• Paper towels. Not essential, but after you've cleaned the litter tray and sprayed disinfectant over it, it's best to keep things clean and finish off with disposable paper towels to remove the excess moisture before refilling with litter.
• Wash cloth and towel for litter trays. Use a separate cloth and drying towel to clean your litter trays - you don't want to be sharing your dinner plate with a cat's bottom do you? Drying towels should be washed often. I would advise that you rinse used wet cloths out and pop them into the microwave for one minute. This will kill all of the bacteria on the cloth and will keep it smelling fresh. You may want to put this cloth on a specially allocated microwaveable plate if you don't like the thought of putting it directly onto the microwave plate.

• Whiskas kitten food. This can be kitten food in jelly, kitten food in gravy or kitten loaf. We will give you a diet sheet to tell you what your kitten has tried. You do not necessarily have to stick to the food we give them, but make any changes in their diet slowly. Kittens are quite prone to runny tummies anyway so changing the diet often will not help them to settle down! We find some kittens will just not want to eat biscuits. We advise our new owners to use the biscuits they are given by us to find out if their kitten is a grazer - the last thing you will want to do is spend money on a 10kg bag of Royal Canin or James Wellbeloved complete food only to find that your kitten won't eat biscuits!
• Bowls. Keep at least four of the double dishes (they don't have to be anything fancy - just the plastic double dishes will do), two single bowls (for water) and one larger bowl for biscuits (though your cat may not eat biscuits - see above!)

• Cat tree. We could recommend toy after toy for your new Bengal, but each cat is different - some will like furry mice and others will turn their nose up. The same with catnip. We should be able to give you some pointers with your new cat - but if you don't get anything else DO GET A CAT TREE WITH SCRATCHING POSTS! All cats love cat trees - they're good exercise and the scratching posts give them something to scratch on. You don't need to spend hundreds of pounds on cat trees. A Dollycat owner bought a post on eBay for less than £40 and it was absolutely enormous! We have low ceilings in our cottage so as much as we would like to get a massive cat tree we don't have the room. We have managed to get a smaller version for under £25 - again from eBay. (Please check the seller's profile before buying anything if you are new to eBay - check that people are sending in good comments about the thing that you are looking to buy).

• Cat carrier. You can buy basic cat carriers which look very similar to sports bags from Pets at Home for under £10. You can get more advanced ones and can spend silly money on carriers if you wish to. We have a mixture of sports bags (they love going into bags so are very at ease with these) and strollers (We have a basic double stroller to take our cats into cat shows). The cat carrier isn't only essential to get your cat home from us, but you will need it when he or she has to have visits to the vets for boosters and to be spayed/neutered.
• Harness. If you wish to have your cat walk on a harness it is essential that you get your kitten used to one as soon as possible. We do not currently have any cats that are trained on leads so cannot give much advice apart from 1) start early and b) be patient.

INDOOR CATS - GOODBYE TO FLEAS!(?)

You would think so, wouldn't you? Indoor cats are much less likely to be subject to flea infestations than their outdoor cousins. However you can still get the occasional outbreak which is annoying, but is also something that can be easily sorted out. Fleas can come into the house on your shoes - or land on your cat whilst at the vet, so you do need to be aware that it can happen to your cat even though he or she is an indoor cat.

The most practical way of dealing with an outbreak is to apply Frontline to your cats skin. We use spray on young kittens but you will find that as your cat gets older he/she will be extremely reluctant to allow a smelly, hissing, spitting thing close to them - even if you spray it directly onto your gloved hands the cat probably won't allow your smelly rubbery hands to give him/her a stroke! So we recommend using Frontline Spot On. You need to part their coat and apply a pipette full to the skin (please follow instructions from the vet). You can also ask your vet about using a programme that consists of twice yearly injections if you find that you're getting more than the rare outbreak. This will make sure that the fleas feasting on your cats blood become sterile, thus breaking the life cycle. Don't forget, too, to treat the cat's beds, your furniture and carpets.

You'll find these outbreaks rare with your indoor cat - if non-existent - but it's better to be armed with the knowledge to deal with the problem than not!