Cats
Find and offer cats in Costa Rica.
A cat changing homes in Costa Rica rarely travels alone. With it go the litter tray and the bag of litter it already knows, a carrier, and a scratching tower that has to come apart to fit in the car. Cats and kittens are passed on here by owners and rescuers rather than sold, and the trays, towers, fountains and beds they leave behind are listed new and second-hand. What suits a cat in a cool house in Cartago is not always what suits one on the Caribbean coast, so check the litter and the bed against your own climate before you arrange to collect.
Cats looking for a home, and the gear they leave behind:
the two branches under cats split exactly there. A kitten from a street litter, or an adult whose family is moving abroad, goes to adopt a cat, where cats are rehomed rather than traded and the questions are about character and health. The objects go to cat supplies: litter trays, carriers, scratching towers, fountains and beds, some still boxed, many from a house whose cat has died or moved on with its owner.
Litter, bowls and beds from Cartago to Limón:
a cat needs the same things at any altitude, but the right version changes with the climate. Clumping clay is the litter most cats accept and the easiest to scoop. Silica crystals are light and last longer between changes, though some cats dislike the feel. Pine pellets crumble to sawdust when wet and work best in a sieve tray. In the humid lowlands, an open bag of pellets or plant-based litter soaks up damp from the air and spoils, so buy smaller bags or keep them sealed. Ants find a bowl of dry food there within hours, which is why bowls on a stand set in a shallow dish of water are worth having. Beds follow the same split. On cold nights in Cartago an enclosed igloo bed gets used. In the heat of Limón a cat sprawls on the floor tiles and ignores a plush cave, and a raised mesh hammock or a window perch suits it better.
A scratching post tall enough, and a carrier that opens from the top:
a post has to let the cat stretch to full length on its back legs and be heavy enough not to wobble, because a cat that feels it move goes back to the sofa. Sisal rope outlasts carpet, and a tower needs a base as wide as its top platform. A hard carrier with a top door lets a vet lift the cat out instead of tipping it out of the front. Hooded trays keep the smell in for you, but some cats refuse them. If you change the type of litter, mix the new one in over about a week; a sudden switch is a common reason a cat stops using its tray.
A used litter tray, tower or fountain, and where each one fails:
plastic trays scratched by years of scooping hold a urine smell nothing removes, so a plain tray is cheap to buy new and worth very little used. Self-cleaning boxes are the exception worth a look, provided you watch the rake complete a full cycle before you pay. Rock a tower: if it sways, the base screws are loose or a post has split, and shredded sisal means rewrapping, which is cheap and easy. Carpeted platforms keep the smell of the cats that used them. Run a fountain on the spot and listen to the pump, and check that its filters are still easy to find. On a carrier, open and close every latch, because old plastic cracks at the hinge.
Passing on a cat with its tray and its tower:
send the litter it knows and a blanket that smells of home, and tell the new owner to keep it indoors for the first couple of weeks, since a moved cat often tries to find its way back. For the gear, photograph a tower assembled, give its height and say whether it comes apart, with the screws and the key in a bag. Name the fountain model so the buyer can order filters, and say whether there were dogs or smokers in the house, because a fussy cat will refuse a bed that smells of either. Someone coming from Ciudad Quesada to collect a tower in a small car needs to know before setting off whether it fits flat in the trunk.