Bringing Home a New Cat or Kitten

Adopting a cat or kitten is a very exciting time. Most people cannot wait to introduce their new family member to friends and family and they immediately begin fantasizing about years of happy companionship. However, how you introduce your new cat or kitten to your household can have a huge impact on how well your new friend makes the adjustment. It is extremely important that you learn the basics before bringing home a new cat or kitten.

Cats are creatures of habit that like things to remain predictable day after day. When you adopt a cat or kitten you take them from a familiar environment and put them into a noisy moving vehicle and expect them to adjust to a completely new environment with new people and sometimes other pets. In order to make the transition as smooth as possible for your new friend you must take things slowly and give your cat plenty of time to adjust to its new surroundings.

Before bringing your cat or kitten home

• Make an appointment with your veterinarian to have your new pet examined. Ideally you should schedule this appointment for immediately after you pick them up.
• Make sure that you have a sturdy travel crate for your new cat to ride in.
• If possible, arrange with the rescue group to take something familiar home with the cat or kitten. This might be a blanket or towel. Place it with them in the carrier on the ride home.
• Before adopting, find out what type of food and litter the cat has been using. Purchasing the same brands will help to eliminate a lot of stress and upset stomach for your new pet.
• Before bringing your new cat home, place its food, water and litter pan in a quiet room that can be closed off.

Introducing your new cat or kitten to your home

• Place your new cat or kitten in the room that you have prepared. Keep the room closed off and allow your new pet to explore undisturbed.
• Allow the cat to come out of the carrier on its own and approach you when it is ready.
• Leave the carrier open in the room so that your new friend can go back inside if it feels nervous.
• Introduce other family members slowly. Have children sit down and show them how to gently stroke the cat’s fur.
• Children must be taught never to chase the cat or bother it when it is eating or using its litter box.
• If there are no other pets in your home, allow the cat to explore the rest of the house after two or three days.

Introducing your new cat or kitten to other cats in the home

• Before introducing your new cat, make sure that it has been tested for parasites and diseases and that it has received all of its vaccinations.
• Keeping the new cat in a quiet, separate room is extremely important if you have other cats. They will usually sniff each other under the door. Do not be alarmed if there is some initial hissing.
• Rub a towel over each cat in turn to get them used to each other’s scent.
• Feed them on opposite sides of the door to your new cat’s room.
• After a few days, take the new cat out of its room and put your other cat in the room with the door closed. Allow your new cat to explore the rest of the house for a few hours each day.
• Allow your cats to meet slowly by propping open the door only enough that they can see each other and put a paw through.
• After a few days, try to feed the cats in the same room but at opposite ends of the room. Monitor them closely and separate them after mealtime.
• Every day move their dishes closer together until the cats are eating side by side.
• Once the cats seem comfortable with each other open the door all the way.
• To avoid litter box issues, provide one more litter box than the total number of cats in your home.

Claws N Paws Day Spa has many wonderful cats and kittens looking for a forever home! For more information, please call 714-962-1005.

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