tips for welcoming new kitten please !

[MaryAnnSingleton]

we are getting our new kitten in a couple of weeks time -she will be around 9 or 10 weeks,already she is eating and drinking and using the litter tray...can anyone advise on how to make her feel welcome and comfortable in her new home ?

First couple of days, confine her to one room and do not pick her up too much, just let her find her feet - give her a box to hide in.

After that allow her to wander round and she will find you. Avoid loud noises and introduce children slowly. Make sure they sit down so she can come to them.

Find out the food she has been having and stick to that too - helps with the transition.

thank you - she has been born and brought up so far in a housefull of children and a boxer dog,so she may be quite ok there- have asked which food she is eating too. Box sounds a good idea.

Keep the box for a while. They tend to regress to it when they hear loud noises and it makes it easier to find the kitten!

Take a blanket to her current home, so that you can bring her to your home with it in her box, and she won't feel so homesick, cause it'll still SMELL like the first home.

Meow- good idea !

Yes defo confine her to one room at first, and whilst she is still little pop her back in there at night so she doesn't get hurt around the house. Keep playtime with children as calm and quiet as possible at first, and stop if she gets too excited! Give lots of places to hide and also a scratch post. Make sure you keep a litter tray somewhere easy for her to find and check what litter they are using for her, transfer her on to grit/catsan if they are using paper. If you go out and leave her alone then put a radio on quiet, also make sure her room is nice and warm. Also make sure your house is cat safe - remove any poisonous plants, never have any lillies in the house. Good luck and have fun! x

thanks ! no lillies as dh is allergic to thew pollen !

I let my kittens sleep on my pillow at night and just put their cat litter tray on the floor near the bed. They can snuggle up to me at night and still have the security of the tray as well, should they need to go.

(I have an understanding husband).

aww ! does it matter if you move the tray around ? do they find it (once you've shown them where it is ?)

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maryannsingleton Merlino is making a serious point about no lilies -one of our previous cats died as a result of eating the leaves.
Lilies are poisonous to cats-if they get the pollen on their fur and lick it off or if they eat the leaves or flowers it is usually fatal. Am still heartbroken about my lovely cat -if I had known I would never have had them in the house.