Bringing a new kitten home may be a very exciting time for you, but it can also be a very traumatic time
for the new arrival. Taking a few preparatory steps beforehand and following a slow-and-easy approach after arrival will help smooth transition and ruffled furs for everyone involved.
Pre-Arrival Checklist
Before you bring your new kitten home, make sure you have supplies and toys available. If possible, use the same cat litter the little one has been using. If desired, you can gradually change to a preferred brand, but allow the kitten that familiarity.
Feed the cat the same food for about a week as well. After that, if you prefer a different brand, slowly integrate the new food, displacing the old, until after a week or so, when the kitten will be fully acclimated to the new food.
Have a kitty-safe area reserved. A spare room with food, water, a few small toys, a scratching post, and a litter box that is separate or separated from the rest of the house usually suffices. A roomy pet transporter with a favored blanket or towel may suffice for a few hours at a time; just allow the kitten time out of the carrier for exercise and exploration and for feeding and relieving itself.
Kitten-proof the home. Cats are naturally curious, and most are extremely precocious. Lie on the floor in each room and look around from a cat’s point of view. Note cords, plants, knickknacks, pictures, draperies, and furniture that might intrigue a playful and energetic kitten.
What you’re not willing to risk against damage or accidental destruction, move, remove, or cover. Providing the kitten with a safe climbing and scratching structure can help stem a little of its exuberance, but with a cat, there’s no guaranteeing the kitten will comply with a ‘No Zone’ command any time soon.
Prepare your family members for the new kitten’s arrival. Explain to children that while the kitten is cute and cuddly, visiting hours may be limited and only in the kitten’s safe zone for a few days. Explain to them that this is an adjustment period for the animal and not a punishment for the kids.
Other Animals
Helping a new kitten adjust in a new home is especially important to older cats who have ‘seniority’ in the household, lots of individual but separate attention goes a long way in reassuring the older animal.
Use the adjustment time to familiarize each animal with the other’s smell. For each cat or dog, rub a towel on an animal and place it near the sleeping area of the other. Scent is the greatest recognition factor to an animal, and allowing each to become familiar with the other’s scent prior to any real contact may not completely eliminate adjustment difficulties, but it most certainly can help minimize them.
After a day or two, still don’t allow unlimited mutual access but allow controlled contact. Leave a door open slightly, ensuring it cannot swing open enough for either animal to get through. There may be a bit of territorial behavior, but that’s natural. Always reassure each animal separately and together that neither has lost importance in the household.
After a week or so, the kitten should be able to fully integrate itself into the everyday workings of the household. Keep the safe zone available for naps and quiet time, though, just for reassurance. Fully welcome the kitten into the household and enjoy a lifetime of love.