Adaptation

Adaptation of a kitten to a new place is a very difficult task. Until this moment, the kitten lived in one world, now he must understand and accept another. You must understand that the baby is in shock, and for shock to pass, it takes time, your love, and patience. Adaptation for some kittens takes a couple of days, for others a couple of weeks. I really want to help you and your kitten, so I wrote these notes based on questions that I get asked and my experience.

Once you have arrived home

Place the carrier in the location you have chosen for the kitten, open the door and be patient. Let the kitten go out by itself and find a secluded place that you have prepared for him. Be nearby, talk, and try to play with him. For a kitten, the most important thing right now is to feel safe. If you have the opportunity to allocate an entire room for him, that will be great. If this is not possible, then select a quiet corner in any room. Put a cat tree or other entertainment there, where the kitten can hide and watch you. Also put some water, some toys, a scratcher post and a litter box in there. If this is a separate room, you can keep the door closed and when the kitten is comfortable in this room, open the door, and by itself it will explore the rest of the space. But you should definitely go into this room often, talk to him, feed and play. A kitten should not get used to being alone, he should get used to you, your voice, smell, movements, noises in the house and much more. In a space for a kitten, it’s good if there is no way to hide under the bed, climb into a chair or sofa. If he is still hiding, DO NOT pull him out by force! Such actions will scare the kitten, increase the shock, and will undermine your credibility. Cats do not tolerate violence and love to do everything themselves, your task is to create conditions for the cat to do what you need. Do not pull the kitten out from under the sofa, but lure it out with its favorite toy or tasty treat. Playing is very important for kittens and adult cats. It is the key to communication, trust and understanding. Play with them more. Cats love to sleep in the same bed with their owners. You must decide for yourself what rules you will set for your pet and follow them relentlessly. You can't let a kitten get into your bed today and kick it out of the bedroom tomorrow. Consistent behavior is key. If you do not want your cat to sleep in your bed, put them in a carrier or crate overnight. You can, if necessary, limit the kitten's active space at night or when you leave the house. This may be especially necessary at first. Use kennels, cages and play pens. Our kittens are accustomed to sleeping at night and spending a little time during the day in kennels and will take these rules well in their new home.

How to pet a cat

Do not forcefully take a kitten into your arms and pat it. Imagine if someone grabbed you across the body, dragged you somewhere and began to pat you on the head. I think you would be scared and try to free yourself. Cats are very independent by nature, for them such actions are even more unacceptable. First, let them sniff your finger. When the kitten stops being afraid and makes contact, offer him the whole palm. If he is sitting next to you on the couch, this is already contact. Increase your desire to pat very gradually - touch with your finger, finger on the back, palm on the back, lure him with your favorite toy or tasty treat to your lap and move just as slowly. With such behavior, you do not force the cat into submission - “I will do with you what I want and when I want”. Trust, understanding and eventually full contact are established between you.

Feeding your cat

Due to stress, the kitten may not eat his food for a day or two. This is normal. The stress will subside, the kitten will get hungry, and they will eat. You need to offer him food, let it be available for the kitten for about 15 minutes, then put the remaining food in the refrigerator until the next feeding. We feed kittens 4 times a day. You can switch to 3 times a day. Look at the food packages for the serving size and the number of feedings. Different manufacturers have different recommendations. Kittens and cats in our cattery eat raw food made at home. To do this, we have a commercial meat grinder, which grinds the meat together with bones. If you need our recipe, I will gladly share it. We understand that not everyone has the opportunity to feed raw food to cats. To transition a kitten from raw food to any other food, you need to have wet food in cans or frozen food. We provide food with the kitten for 3 days, 4 meals a day. This is frozen raw food. Keep it in the freezer and take it out as needed. Warm to room temperature before feeding. The kitten is under stress due to a change of home, we advise you to use this stress and start changing food from the first day. Mix 50% raw food with 50% new food, do this for a couple of days. Then 30% raw food and 70% new food for a couple of days. Then 10% raw food and 90% new food. This way the raw food that we have provided you will be enough to completely transition the kitten to a new food. Usually, kittens like wet food and the transition is not difficult. DO NOT feed a kitten 100% dry food until the age of 1 year. If you plan to feed your cat with dry food in the future, then after the kitten has completely switched to wet food, start slowly adding dry food to wet food, a couple pieces at a time. But for good health until the age of 1 year, continue to combine wet and dry food. Clean water must always be available for the kitten to drink when they want.

Cat toilet

The kittens know to only use their cat litter box. But remember that the baby is stressed. Place the litter box close to the cat tree. Let the kitten settle in. Then start moving the box with the filler to the secluded place of your choice. Of course, access to the box should always be available. Keep the litter box clean. If it is dirty, the cat will find a cleaner place to do their business.

Toys

Cats love to play with feather toys. But cats also love to chew feathers. A feather can get into the nose or the kitten can swallow a feather or part of a feather and it will get stuck in the throat. And this will be a big problem. It is good and fun to play with such toys, but only under your supervision, after the game, please put all toys with feathers in a place inaccessible to the kitten.

Going outside

Our kittens have always been indoors. But you can teach your pet to walk and even hike with you. Accustom the kitten to a harness gradually. Put the harnesses on him and play with him for 5 minutes. Several short playing sessions per day is best. Then increase the time. Step outside as well. Cats are very curious and they like to walk outside and even in parks. We have friends who walk and hike with their cats. If you choose to take your pet outside, you will need monthly deworms, fleas and ticks treatments and possibly additional vaccinations.

Concluding remarks

Once again, it is all about the safety of a kitten in your home. Cats are very active, love to run, jump and climb everywhere. Look carefully in your house where the kitten can climb and get stuck. Keep an eye on open doors and windows. Nylon screens on the windows are also dangerous - cats tear them with their claws and run away. Make sure that the kitten does not chew on wires. Buy a bitter spray and use it on the wires if you see him interested in wires. This spray can also be used to keep the kitten from sharpening its claws on furniture. Buy a catnip spray and spray the cat tree and a scratcher, this will attract the kitten to where you want it to sharpen its claws. Give it love, patience and time and everything will be fine. 😊