Choosing a Pet

Bringing Home Your New Cat or Kitten

What To Have:
Indoor and outdoor cats and kittens should have the following items in your home:

• Litter Box
  
• Scratching Post
  
• Food & Drinking Dishes
  
• Variety of Toys
  
• Grooming Brushes
  
  

How to Introduce Your New Cat or Kitten Into Your Home:

Kittens

• Your new kitten will be meowing for mother or siblings to answer. Speak to kitten in a soft, gentle voice so it will begin to trust and know your voice.
• Place a litter box, and a shallow food and water dish in a danger-free room.
• As you watch from a distance, allow the kitten to first explore the room on its own.
• When the kitten cries, keep speaking to it in gentle voice, and be sure to give it lots of love and attention.

Adult Cats:
Because older cats have been in another environment longer than the young kitten, it may take some cats longer to adjust.

• Show the cat the location of the litter box and its food and water dishes.
• Allow the cat to explore its new environment without pressuring him.
  
  

Getting Adjusted - Common Cat Behavior
If the cat appears anxious or scared, don't pressure the cat and force him to let you hold him. This will only make him more anxious. Give him some time to warm up.

If cat may retreats to a hiding place, allow him to enjoy the comfort and security of his hiding place. When he gets used to his new environment, he will retreat less and less often.

If the cat hisses or displays aggressive behavior, she is responding to the uncertainty of a new home, or she has had some previous scares with a similar person or emotional trigger in the home. In this case, let the cat adjust slowly. Let her see that her new home is a happy, safe place.

Be patient. It may take some cats longer to adjust than others. Give them lots of love and attention and it will be worth the wait.

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