What to Know Before Adopting a Kitten: A Beginner’s Guide

There are few things more precious than bringing a new kitten into your family. However, without the correct preparations for your new arrival, that emotional experience can quickly become very stressful. The first step as a responsible pet owner is to evaluate if you are ready for taking home the kitten. But after you make that decision, you need to have both your home and yourself ready to keep the kitten happy and healthy. Some things to keep in mind when caring for kittens. Some essential elements of kitten care that you may not know:

 

What is the proper maturity of your kitten for adopting?

Every creature, young or old, needs their mother in those early weeks when they first come into this big scary but beautiful world and kittens are no different. Some vets will say you should rescue a kitten after 8 weeks old and others won’t allow it until they are 12 weeks.

 

Questions to ask before bringing a kitten home

Are you ready for a kitten?

Bringing a kitten home is one of the most wonderful things that could ever happen. However, before you undertake that path ask yourself a few questions.

1. Are you going to be around?

They can get lonely and unhappy when alone for a small duration of time. We all know how curious and playful kittens and cats are, right? While an adult cat can be left alone for a few hours, a kitten needs attention and looks after it full time.

2. Are you allergic?

Anyone in your family have allergies to cat hair? Before you get a cat, you need to find out whether or not you are allergic.

3. Are you patient?

It is much more than just buying a kitten, giving them food and cleaning the litter box. Many a time kittens may show wary or aloof. It is all a matter of being patient to know what your cat wants, its nature and to wait for them to get accustomed.

4. Can you keep it long term?

For the most part, cats do grow to form an attachment with their pet parents over time. Depression, among other behavioral disorders, is common when you give up an older cat.

5. Are you capable of performing the duties?

Raising a kitten comes with its work, but it is so gratifying. You have to clean their litter box, attend their vaccinations and deworming, give a balanced diet, groom them constantly and when they are sick take care of them.

6. Is your family ready for another member to be added on?

You want to ensure everyone in your home, both two and four-legged animals is happy about you bringing a kitten into the household. Many pets have different personalities, so there will be times where a current pet might not take to a new friend right away. But, are you willing to spend the time and effort it takes to get them socialized?

7. Are you ready for the scratches and bites that may come?

Kittens, especially rescues, are often timid and may not be affection givers. Therefore, they can quite easily scratch or bite others when playing around and worse even if they feel threatened. However, with enough patience and time your kitty will grow up a bit and learn how to safely interact with you too.

8. Will you promise to stick it out with the kitten when things get tough?

In the event of a tough or unsure state of affairs, would you still keep the kitty, or perhaps even leave it behind?

If you can say yes without hesitation, bringing a kitten into your life may be the perfect choice. You will also need to cat-proof their future home and make sure all things are in place so they can be in a safe environment.

 

Before bringing that beautiful kitten into your home, the space must be perfectly prepared for their arrival. Well here are some necessary steps to follow:

1. Balconies and windows protection: If you live in an apartment higher than the second floor, be sure that these places are veiled or netted. You can also use pet-friendly floor cleaners.
2. Stay away from harmful foods:  Raisins, garlic, chocolate, coffee and grapes are toxic to cats. Make sure they are hidden and out of reach.
3. Dispose of harmful substances properly: ashtrays, cigarette butts, wine bottles and canned soft drinks may contain poisonous substances.
4. Lock up sharp objects: Keep knives, scissors, screwdrivers and other easy to reach sharps in drawers which can be locked with a child-proof latch.
5. Plug electric outlets: Get a professional to baby proof all electrical ports so as to remove any potential dangers.
6. Household products locked up: Keep medicines, creams, lotions, detergents and items such as dental floss in drawers inaccessible to children.
7. Cable organization: Dangling cables can be a target for nibbling or play by kittens. Hide cords of any electronic gadget, chargers and other electronics.
8. Eliminate toxic plants: Some houseplants (e.g., Ivy, Aloe Vera, Crassula and Dumb Cane) are hazardous to kittens. Try to remove them or give them away.
9. Close all cabinets and appliances: Make sure your cupboards, drawers, washing machines, refrigerators, dishwasher doors are closed because kittens can hide there as well.
10. Prevent and avoid high jumps: Do not let your kitten jump from high up areas– they may get hurt.
11. Have an emergency kit: The kit should have diarrhea, vomiting and other gastro-intestinal medications; oral rehydration salt or electrolyte powder and some basic first aid stuff.
12. Interact under supervision: Make sure that babies, toddlers or other pets are never alone with the kitten.
13. Keep a close eye on your kitty: Be vigilant about any dangerous situations to prevent mishaps.

One final advice, have your kitten essentials; food and bowls, bedding and litter box with a scooper ready in advance to ensure seamless transition to the new home.

 

The First Weeks When Your Kitten Comes Home

1. Keep the Place quite

Kittens are very perceptive to changes and new environments like seeing, hearing, smelling things they have never been exposed to before. Relocation to a new home can also be stressful and you need to give your cat some time to adjust. Make sure the space is calm to help the kitten acclimatize and allow them to explore at their own pace, monitoring but not crowding them. Do not be too pushy, if they do hesitate to pick them up or cuddle back off.

2. Gradual Introduction of Key Components

Introducing kitten to bed toys litter site. It should also be comfortable, warm and quiet because kittens can get cold easily and new sounds may scare them. Choose non-clumping litter since some kittens will try to eat it after they go in the box.

 

3. Veterinary Check-up

The kitten should be taken to the vet for an initial visit a few days after it has settled in. Signs of illness must however be investigated without delay with a veterinary check if required.

While visiting, the veterinary clinic will give a full health check to make sure he is healthy. That includes looking for skin issues and other maladies. Also, the vet will help to define a list of vaccinations and deworming’s to do. Kittens are extremely susceptible to bacterial and viral diseases, not unlike the human infant. Ask the vet about supplements for immunity to help the kitten fight off infections.

If the kitten is frightened of car travel, maybe the vet could come out to you.

 

4. Socialization

Just like babies, kittens have sharp minds and can learn pretty quickly from a small age, so the earlier you start out by socializing them, the greater.

• Rewarding little treats for good behavior acts as a positive meddling, encouraging them further to act accordingly.
• Playing with your kitten is a really important part of their socialization. It also keeps them active and mentally engaged, nurturing your relationship.
• A kitten who becomes accustomed to the sights, sounds, smells and handling by humans when it is young will be more confident as an adult. As a result, provide the kitten and be used to many different environments using watchful supervision of sounds, smells, and individuals. But be sure not to oversaturate or you may inadvertently train them to resist anything new.

 

5. Be patient and nurturing.

Possibly the most important tip is when your kitten comes into their new home, they will feel overwhelmed with caution and unrest within the first few weeks. It is your job as a pet owner to ensure that this transition period goes as smoothly as possible. Hand feed, play and gentle strokes if the kitten allows it to earn his trust they act as the stepping stones above which your trustworthiness is built upon. But if your kitten withdraws, give them space. Eventually they will come around, but when they do, it is such a fulfilling feeling.