Bringing Home A New Cat

Everyone is excited about the arrival of the new kitten to the home, except your kitten! This will be a stressful time for the new arrival, which can go smoothly if you provide the right amount of space, care and items. After you made sure to have the vet check over your kittens its time to bring it home.

Some planning and items are needed before bringing the new kitten into the home, the basic items are food bowls with preferably the same cat food, which the kitten is accustomed to. If you are planning on changing the cat food, do this gradually. Mixing in more of the new brand daily, until you converted the cat to the new brand.

Next, you will need a litter box, even if you already have one with another cat. A new litter box will help your old cat not feel threatened and your new one will feel much more at home away from the scent of your other cats.

Childproof your home, cats are very curious and try to climb into every dark hole they can find and may stuck or hurt. Make sure all windows and doors are shut and to remove any poisonous plants, chemicals or food from them. They are several household plants, which can be poisonous to your cats.

Preparing a room for your new kitten or cat, this is important because they will need a place to feel safe and have their necessities like a place to sleep, litter box, food, scratching post and toys.

Now the big moment of opening the cage, your kitten may be extremely scared and not want to come out. You should not force anything and let things happen gradually. They will eventually get curious or hungry and come out. Hiding under anything they can find, looking for a secure place, even though they are extremely scared it is not uncommon they may crawl into bed with you and get close for heat and protection on the first night. The first few days they can be demanding and lots of meowing but after some time this will get better.

If you have other pets and cats, make sure to keep them separated for a few days. This could be very difficult for some and will be an extremely tough few days, possibly weeks for everyone. Cats are hard to introduce to each other and may lead to a lot of fighting and biting. Making them get used to each others scent and let them meet each other at their own terms. After a few days you will start to notice a difference and most become good friends. On rare occasions two cats will not get along with and they will just tolerate each other.

This is a beginning to a great relationship; patients, knowledge and a lot of love will make this experience worth while for everyone.

For more information please visit Your Pet House.