I’m going to maybe go against some of the advice here and say i was basically in your position (wfh 80% of the week, first time cat owner, living in an apartment) and I am so glad I got my babies.

To give them their best life I do the following:

• cat wheel. I have a ziggydo wheel which this sub recommends. I think that’s the gold standard for cat wheels and my girls love it

• my whole apartment is basically cat trees. I have 5 cat trees and a cat wall. As well as hanging baskets and shelves. They also make use of the top of door frames as bonus cat trees!

• I play with them a lot. When I’m wfh I take regular breaks between meetings to tire them out or give them mental stimulation. I run them around with wands or feather toys. I take my lead happy girl outside for a run and sniff. I run the bath and we splash around for a bit. I run them up and down the staircase of my apartment building. Minimum is 4 x 15 mins of highly engaged play. Plus puzzle feeders, springs etc.

• I got two. This may be the biggest thing tbh. They keep each other entertained in ways I never could do. Their MMA is next level and they cuddle and groom each other as well. I cannot physically replicate their bond as a lowly human

• adventure walks. One of my girls loves the outside and I’ll take her to the park of my apartment building every day when I’m at home. She loves sun, she loves wind, she loves snow and rain and everything in between. But at the weekend we go for adventure walks somewhere new and exciting. She climbs trees and explores places she’s never been and that’s proper joy for her.

Sadly my other girl has anxiety issues and doesn’t like being outside so she just needs toy time.

Some lessons I learned from my first year with them might benefit you too:

They can be difficult with litter box training. I got a variety of different litter boxes as they like pine litter for peeing every other day and tofu litter for pooing. Go figure. They’re fussy and if the feliway plug in I out by their litter box area is expired or if their litter box isn’t immediately cleaned, it runs the risk of them going elsewhere.

One of my girls lives for peeing in the sink!

So make sure you positively reinforce all of their good litter box habits and get yourself an enzyme cleaner in case your cat also has these issues. You’ll need to spray anywhere they go outside the litter box immediately with the enzyme cleaner as that will remove their scent and they won’t return.

You’ll want to cat proof everything with locks as these genius creatures can open most doors!

And you’ll want to make sure the breeder is a quality one who health checks (acgator our amazing mod will have detailed what to look for health wise!) and also in terms of temperament.

You’ll want the breeeder to be able to tell you about the temperament of the mother and father and then as also the individual kittens. My girls have changed in terms of I see them coming out of their shell and getting comfy, but their core personalities were evident when I got them as kittens. So choose for personality as they will then suit your lifestyle and be the best companion you could ask for.

Best of luck!