What to Expect when you are Expecting: A full Guide to Welcoming home your new Kitten.

Bringing a new kitten home is incredibly exciting! Here are some tips we've found useful for helping a kitten adjust to their new home.

The Essentials...

Before bringing a new kitten home, it's crucial to talk to your breeder about the food, litter, and toys the kitten is used to. Having these essentials ready will greatly aid in a smooth transition for you and your kitten.

It is very important to initially feed your kitten the same food they are accustomed to for several reasons, with the primary reason being the prevention of digestive upsets. Kittens have sensitive digestive systems that are still maturing, and sudden changes in their diet can easily cause issues like upset stomach, diarrhea, and vomiting. If you need to change their food, we suggest doing so gradually by blending the old and new food over a period of 7-14 days, slowly increasing the amount of new food while reducing the old food. Below is a chart we recommend following when transitioning your kitten.

To promote litter box use and prevent any unwanted accidents, we suggest using the same brand of litter that your breeder uses. This can help your cat feel more comfortable when using the litter box. Since cats instinctively want to bury their waste, it usually isn't a major issue, but providing your kitten with the litter they are familiar with is more likely to help them associate it with their established bathroom habits, making the transition to a new home smoother.

A few more essential supplies that are extemely important include high quality food and water dishes. We recommend glass or ceramic dishes for your kitten, try to avoid plastic dishes unfortunatly those can promote chin acne for your kitty.

Another important thing is a litterbox! While most any litterbox will work, stainless steel litter boxes are an excelllent option and offer several benefits over traditonal plastic litterboxes. They can be a bit more expensive but are known for being durable, resistant to odors, bacteria and can be easier to clean whereas plastic can hold onto the smell and bacteria.

We recommend scratching posts, cat trees, and toys as some entertaining options for your kitty. Giving them their own toys can help prevent them from playing with items they shouldn't play with!

Check out our "Products we Love and More" page for links to some of the products that we recommed!

Create a Safe Space

Before you bring your new kitten home, it is important to set up a safe area where the kitten can gradually get used to your home. This encourages proper litter box use and will help them become familiar with their surroundings. We suggest establishing this area in a small, quiet room or bathroom. Letting them slowly adapt to your home can prevent unwanted accidents, hiding, and getting into things they shouldn't. Ensure that you provide all the essentials we've mentioned above in their small room or bathroom.

Be sure that any low-hanging wires or toxic plants are kept out of your new kitten's reach.

Pickup Day!

You need two important things on pickup day. A carrier and blanket. When picking up your kitten it is highly recommended that you bring home your kitten in a carrier. While you may want to let the kitten ride on your lap, they can be quick little things and for the kittens safety, transporting in a carrier is the best option.

Bringing Home Your Kitten.

When you bring home your new kitten allow them to explore at their own pace. Though kittens can be extremeley social and outgoing at the breeders home, bringing them to a new place that they not familiar with can be a bit scary and can make them a little timid at first. We recommended leaving the carrier open and letting them come out when they are comfortable. Keep in mind that MOST kittens will not be like this but there occasionally can be a kitten who is a little more timid when being introduced to something new. Providing your kitten with a safe space makes a world of difference in introducing them to your home.

When introducing your kitten to other pets it is very helpful to do so through a door at first. This can prevent any unwanted behavior (growling, hissing, ect) from escalating. Always keep a close watch on the kittens first reactions with other pets, and seperate them if needed. Supervised interations are very important with new kittens, especially if your current pets are not familiar with kittens.

It's important to remember gradual acclimation when introducing a new kitten to your home. We suggest following the "3-3-3 rule," which involves 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months. During each of these phases, your kitten will gradually become more at ease and accustomed to their new environment. If you think your kitten might be lonely at home, the "two kitten rule" can be developmentally beneficial and offer companionship when you're not around as well as helping them adjust quicker!

Caring for your Kitten....

Now that your kitten has become adjusted to your home make sure to remember a few important things.

Schedule a vet visit for a checkup, update vaccinations and parasite prevention. Note when getting a kitten from PurrCozi Kitties all of this information will be provided to you.

Provide scratching posts, cat trees and plenty of toys for mental stimulation and to avoid unwanted scratching.

Engage in playing, socialization and handling your kitten. Socializing your kitten is another very important development role in your kittens growth. This will determine how they let you hold and handle them as adults. Gently handling them, gradually exposing them to different people, other vaccinated, healthy pets and different sounds can tremedously help them develop social skills.

Those are just some of the tips we recommend when introducing a kitten to your family!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, we hope it was super helpful!

Much love,

The PurrCozi Crew <3