I might be adopting a cat soon, and it will be the first time

It's a cat. Not much to do. Show it to its litter box (or boxes, depending on the size of your place), give it a really nice, high quality food, and leave it alone for as long as it needs to get used to the environment. Basically, for the first week or two, just clean the box and leave out food. Every cat is different: some it will take zero time for them to think they own the place, others it will take a few weeks.

Oh, and you are going to see its asshole a lot, as a cat walks about with its tail straight in the air when it is happy and content. It will be weirdly uncomfortable at first, but you'll get used to it.

>>2202431
Get used to your house smelling like shit for the rest of your life.

Not all cats are the same. You can get a shitty cat. You don't know. Dont let it ruin your experience with cats. I never had a bad cat, but oh boy do personalities change drastically from kitten to adult. If this is your first cat ever I'd suggest adopting an adult cat. I've hand raised many kittens. None of them were shits but the change is very drastic. An adult will have a set in personalities. With kittens you don't really know what you may get.

Also clean the litter box often. This is very important, otherwise it will smell terrible or encourage it to shit on other things because they want to do that somewhere clean.

>>2202467
What age is the cut off from kitten to adult? 2 years?

>>2202480
One year, officially. Some breeds take up to 3 years to stop growing though.

>>2202467
That scares me... one of my kittens is 5 months old and I absolutely adore her.

I definitely agree, don't get a kitten if it's your first pet. Kittens are hard work and unpredictable. With adults what you see is what you get. If you pick an awesome adult it will stay awesome.

Clean the box every day, feed grain-free canned food only, and get a cat tree.

>>2202498
Didn't mean to scare you. I've really raised many abandoned kittens. None turned out shitty. They are still great cats, and Ive learned that male cats tend to be less skirmish and more outgoing. My permanent female now going on 16 is still lovely. She may hide from strangers at first sight but crouch down and call her over and she will love all up on you. My permanent male is almost 4 and he has hardly changed as a kitten, to the point of being annoying since he is still so active. My gfs cat and another female cat I had for 10 years(wasn't my cat, the owner moved out with her). Good lord. They went through the kitten-to-adult phase hard. Wonderful kittens. But as soon as they hit a year or so, they went batshit. You live in terror when they will attack fucking anything and never know what mood they are in, spayed or neutered doesn't seem to matter. My male cat also went through this phase. Luckily it's not forever. They calmed down. Gfs cat went from awesome kitten, terrorizing teenager and awesome adult. This appears to be normal, but also not the case. Some is worst than others(my gfs cat was unbelievably drastic), some may not. I usually try to find kittens homes immediately after vet checks, but occasionally I had to ride them out. My point is that sometimes you won't know what you will get, and teenager cats tend to be awful. Keep them around nice people. Pay attention to them, raise them around dogs, etc and you shouldn't have a cat that hides 24/7.

Dont get one

>>2202431
-Feed it wet food. Cats are known for not drinking enough water, which can cause kidney issues later in life.
-Don't declaw.

I'm in a similar situation like opie. Only I've taken care of cats before so I know what to do

My question is, just where does one find a cat to adopt?

Same as OP too. My grandparents have always had a cat so I'm used to them but I'm new to actually taking care of them. I'm also worried because my flat is pretty small and I don't know how I could let the cat go outside (I live in Paris).
Any advice /an/ons ?

>>2204523
Google for local shelters, I'm sure you'll find one in your area. The world doesn't exactly have a shortage of stray cats.

>>2204820
If you care about the cat, don't let it go outside. Not unsupervised at least.

>>2204523
Craigslist. Outside. Friends and family. Shelter. My area is flush with kittens right now.

>>2204820
Small apartments are fine for kitties. You can get a cat tree or make one.

Get a second cat so it won't be lonely or autistic.