Adding an adorable kitty companion to your home can be such a joyful event, but we recommend a few helpful tips to ensure a smooth transition for your new furry family member, as well as for those already living in the home.
When bringing in a new feline family member, it is important to meet their physical, mental, and nutritional needs. Some essential things to remember include:
Making room for your kitten
Provide a safe, quiet space for the new kitten to dwell in, especially during the first weeks of their arrival. This includes a cozy bed, either simply constructed from a recycled box with a blanket, or purchased specifically with your new kitten in mind. If your household has other pets, it is very important to offer the new kitten a safe, isolated area in the beginning. This will allow all pets to safely investigate each other, sniffing through the bottom of a door, without fear of a prison riot and the damage that could incur as a result of face-to-face combat. Also, this keeps all furry family members safe from potential illness and transmission of parasites until our veterinary staff can examine your new kitten.
Dietary essentials
The nutritional needs of an energetic kitten are much greater than almost any other stage of life so chose a food specially designed for kittens. To avoid stomach upset, continue feeding them whatever food they were given prior to coming into your home and slowly transition them to the kitten food of your preference. Providing constant access to fresh water is essential as well.
Play time
Provide safe toys for a sassy kitten to play with and release all that energy. Hard, durable toys and laser pointers are great, as well as household items like paper towel rolls or crumpled paper. If in doubt about what is safe for your kitten, don’t hesitate to contact our staff for advice. Kittens love to bite and scratch as part of their play so regular nail trims will help limit the amount of scratches the kitten may give you, but be prepared to take a bit of a beating during play time.
Everybody poops
A clean, private litter box with constant access is ideal for your new kitten. Cats are incredibly intelligent and simply showing them a litter box’s location should be all the potty training required. We recommend one litter box per cat, and it wouldn’t hurt to place them at different locations. It’s important to clean a litter box often. Both you and your pet will appreciate a clean and odor free environment.
Veterinary needs
Your pet should visit us several times in his first year. It is important to keep the financial responsibility of a cat in mind before bringing him home. Make sure to research the costs of keeping him healthy, and please contact our office for specific pricing and recommendations about vaccines and neutering.