We are excited that so many of our kittens have found furrever homes! Introducing a new kitten to your family is a wonderful experience for humans, but is often overwhelming for kittens. Here are some tips to help your new family member feel safe and secure as he becomes acclimated to his new home.
Establish a Kitten Zone: Designate a quiet place (a spare bedroom, office, or bathroom) where your kitten can spend its first 1-2 weeks, away from foot traffic and other animals. Include a hideaway box (cardboard box, pet carrier, or a chair with a blanket draped over it), a size-appropriate litter box, and something that smells like you to help them get used to their new surroundings. Use a pet gate or a baby gate (or a piece of cardboard) to block the doorway while still allowing your kitten to become familiar with the sights, sounds, and scents of your home. Move small or breakable objects, cords, and valuables to higher ground. If your kitten is starting off in a bathroom, make sure the toilet lid is always kept closed.
Supervise Family Time: For the first several weeks, when your kitten is loose in your home, closely supervise interaction with children, other pets, and doors that open to the outside.
Discuss Safety With Your Family: Kittens are very small and extremely fast. It takes just seconds for a curious kitten to find its way through an open door, and humans will need to move cautiously in order to avoid stepping on or kicking their tiny new pet.
Introduce New Food Slowly: Start your new kitten with the same food they are used to eating. IBKR will notify you what brand of food your kitten has been eating at the time of adoption. If you would prefer to feed your new kitten something else, begin with a mix of 25% of the new food and 75% of the original food; feed this for two to three days. Slowly increase the amount of new food to a 50/50 ratio of new to original. Feed this for two to three days before increasing to 75% of the new food and 25% of the original diet, then, finally, increase to 100% new diet. Transitioning their food in this way will keep their digestive tracts from becoming overly sensitive and will reduce or eliminate diarrhea and vomiting associated with an abrupt dietary change.
Sit in the room with your new purry friend until she is acclimated to her new environment. As she begins to explore and become comfortable in her new home, make sure she continues to drink and eat regularly, and can easily find her way to her litter box. As she becomes more confident in her space, you can continue to slowly introduce her to bigger rooms in your home.