Prepare for your First Kitten in 9 Easy Steps
Czarina siberians
Kitten Preparation
We are providing our personalized links to purchase these items through Amazon. If you use our links to add these items to your cart, we will receive a small commission from qualifying purchases.
We are providing our personalized links to purchase these items through Amazon. If you use our links to add these items to your cart, we will receive a small commission from qualifying purchases.
A quick google search produces a million and one ideas of what your first kitten needs. But who has the time to wade through all that!
No worries! We’ve got you covered.
Here’s your one-stop checklist so you can prepare for your new kitty successfully. So let’s put your energy into the fun part - shopping!
First, let’s cover the essentials: Food & Dishes, Litter & Containers, Toys & Trees, Grooming Tools & Kennels, Calming Aids & Treats. Getting these items ready before bringing your new kitty home will set them up to THRIVE with you.
FOOD
When bringing a new kitty home you DO NOT want to make a diet change. Sudden changes in food cause tummy upset. Find out exactly what food (dry kibble, canned wet, frozen raw, etc.) your kitten is currently eating and how to prepare and serve it.
Keeping things familiar is not only good for your new kitten’s physical health, but also for their comfort as they transition to their new home environment and family.
FILTERED WATER
Your kitten will be at their healthiest and their digestive system will be the happiest with fresh filtered water always available.
CZARINA SIBERIANS TIP: Amazingly few pet owners think to wash their pet dishes as often as their own. Just like you wash your own dishes after each meal, remember to clean your kitten’s food and water dishes daily to avoid introducing potential bacteria to your vulnerable kitty.
Cat whiskers are highly sensitive. Have you heard of whisker fatigue? It occurs when sensitive cat whiskers are rubbed against something to the point of exhaustion and overwhelm. Something as simple as choosing dishes that are wider than their whiskers enables your kitty to relax while eating and drinking, avoiding them using up emotional and physical energy needlessly. Wide, shallow dishes are the best choice.
CZARINA SIBERIANS uses pyrex glass baking dishes that are easy to clean and easy on our kitties’ precious, sensitive whiskers. This one adjustment can make for a very happy and relaxed kitty in your home.
LITTER & BINS
If you’ve spent much time on social media cat groups or pages, you have likely heard how distressing it is when a cat suddenly uses the washroom outside of their litter box. There are myriad potential reasons for this happening, but they all narrow down to two causes: medial or stress response.
First step is always a Veterinarian visit to rule out any health issues. If everything comes back clear, it’s time to observe your kitty and their environment until you discover the cause of their stress.
One of the most common possible causes is a change in their kitty litter situation. Moving the litter box to a new location, having too few litter boxes, switching out the litter type, adding a new noise or scent to the litter area, or even a kitty being startled while using the litter are all possible causes of this issue.
Just as with food, it is important to begin your kitten’s life in your home using the same kitty litter substrate as they are used to using. Ensuring you are using the same kind of kitty litter in the same style of litter box sets both you and your new kitty up for success in this regard. If you find you do need to change the type of litter your kitten is using in your home, do so gradually and follow your kitty’s lead. You do not want to confuse your kitty or cause discomfort for them. Taking care of these details for your new kitten’s litter area will create a much smoother and more comfortable transition into your home for your new kitten.
Even we as humans prefer our washroom set up a certain way - right down to the direction the toilet paper hangs. Your new kitten is a lot like you!
TREES & SCRATCHERS
Cats are wired to climb, scratch, and hang out up high. It’s in their nature.
It is important to provide your new kitten with appropriate options for expressing their instincts in your home, or you just might find your new kitty trying their paw at something you don’t want scratched or climbed. This isn’t bad behaviour, it’s completed natural and expected.
CZARINA SIBERIANS provides our cats with 5-6 foot tall cat trees with multiple perches and enclosed areas for our cats to use for hiding, pouncing, climbing, sleeping, and scratching, just like their wild distant cousins (lions, tigers, cougars, and more) do out in nature. Sisal rope wrapped posts and corrugated cardboard scratchers (horizontal and vertical options to meet all your kitty’s instinctive scratching needs) are a MUST because your kitten will need to scratch with their claws. If there is not an appropriate scratching surface available, your kitten will make due with your couch or carpet. Set them up for success instead! You will be thankful you invested in a few scratching and climbing options, commonly known as Cat Trees and Cat Scratchers.
TOYS
You cannot have too many cat toys. Seriously. If you have a dozen toys and think that is enough, sadly you’re mistaken. If you have thirty-five toys and this that is too many - sorry, wrong again. Grab as many toys as you can find. All kinds. The more variety of toys, the sooner you’ll discover which kinds of toys are your kitten’s favourites. Those are the ones to stock up on in the future. But for now, quantity counts with cat toys.
Please remember that your kitten is like a toddler playing sports. Those toys you just purchased will be shot all over the place, including under furniture, as your kitten plays and hones their hunting skills while going through multiple mini growth spurts. Most toys will need to be fished out from under furniture from time to time. Daily is ideal. Your kitten will be delighted to have their fun toys back for another hunting session.
ONE MAJOR CAUTION: any toys on strings (we call them fishing rod toys) need to be securely stored in a drawer your kitten cannot access. Only bring those toys out while you are actively playing with that toy with your kitten. It is all too common for cats to play with these dangly toys unattended and become tangled in the string, risking getting strangled or traumatized. Please don’t risk it. Keep those toys locked up. But don’t shy away from adding them to your cart, as these toys are a fabulous bonding tool as kitties love interactive play with their family.
GROOMING TOOLS
Short haired cats will need a soft brush, while long haired cats need a metal tooth comb. Whether your kitten needs combing or not, we recommend combing them every day right from the start. This creates an expected schedule and will make life so much easier when they grow more and actually do need regular grooming. This is also a highly bonding activity in cat community.
You will also need cat nail clippers. Plan to either trim their nails every week or two. For kittens, we recommend trimming just the hook part of the nail until you feel confident to clip closer to the vein. Once again, creating a schedule is one of the best ways to ensure success with your kitty’s grooming needs for life. This habit will also protect your furniture, your clothes, and your skin from accidental catches during your kitten’s play time.
Brushing your kitten’s teeth is an important part of pet care that is sadly often overlooked. Pick up some cranberry or liver flavoured toothpaste for cats. Introduce less than a quarter of a pea size amount of toothpaste on your finger for your kitten to lick off. Slowly acclimate your kitten to you touching their teeth, then sliding your finger gently under their gums. In time, you can switch from brushing with your finger to brushing with a cat toothbrush to help increase the gentle abrasion while brushing your kitten’s teeth.
CZARINA SIBERIANS always finishes any grooming sessions with a high-value treat they love. Some favourites around here are Catit Creamy and Freeze Dried Minnows and Catit Nibbly and Freeze Dried Poultry Hearts. High value treats and lots of loving praise make even tricky grooming sessions tolerable for everyone involved.
KENNELS
Your kitten will inevitably grow, so just know that you will need to upgrade to a larger kennel later in their life. For now, you want a small hard sided kennel big enough for your kitten to sit and stand without their ears touching the top and for them to comfortably lie down or stretch and turn around inside. Set up a cozy space for your kitten in the kennel with a nice blanket and a couple soft toys for your kitten to snuggle into. This will give your kitten a cozy space for traveling home with you that will become their safe space when they arrive in their new home.
SAFETY NOTE: Your pet is safest with cozy blankets in a hard sided kennel that is buckled through the handle or buckle tab in the car. This helps prevent any change of the kennel rolling on a sharp turn or the kitten getting hurt on a sudden stop during the drive home.
CZARINA SIBERIANS is proud of all our kitties for loving kennel time. We always remove the kennel door at home so there is no chance kitty can get trapped inside or become accustomed to opening the door for themselves. We leave the kennel out with a cozy blanket inside, and our kitties often curl up for a nap in there. Whenever we need to take our kitties out to the Veterinarian or on a trip, as soon as we open the kennel door for them, they walk right in. Creating a safe space your kitten will grow to love makes trips out of the house less stressful, and even enjoyable, for your kitty.
CALMING AIDS
Transitions are difficult, especially moving from one home and family to a new home and family. There are two invaluable tools for helping facilitate a calm and safe environment for your new kitty right from the start.
A pheromone spray or diffuser will release calming pheromones proven to calm cats without making them drowsy. This is likened to your kitten snuggling with their momma kitty while she purrs. It uses SCENT to create a relaxing atmosphere. A spritz under the kennel blanket before leaving to pick up your kitten is effective, as is plugging in the pheromone diffuser several days before bringing your kitten home.
Cats can hear sounds up to 64,000Hz, while humans can hear sounds up to 20,000Hz. This second tool taps into kitty’s powerful sense of HEARING. Music for Cats is searchable on YouTube and creates a subtle background sound designed to match feline resting heart rate with sounds they find pleasing. Try a few longer options (8-16 hours) over the first handful of days to see which sounds your kitten prefers.
A calm kitty will feel more ready to explore their space and bond with their new family, so we highly recommend making use of these two calming aids.
Now you’re ready to get started setting up for your new kitten to join your family. Happy Shopping!
NOTE: We are providing our personalized links to purchase these items through Amazon. If you use our links to add these items to your cart, we will receive a small commission from qualifying purchases.
CZARINA SIBERIANS thanks you for your support!