Your New Kitten Checklist: 7 Essential Items

Whether it’s for your family or you’re just an animal lover, getting a kitten is a joy — but with great joy comes great responsibility. While you might think that you’ll figure it out as time goes on, not being ready for your new feline friend could make life a lot harder for both of you. Knowing how to prepare for kittens in the house is equally as important as knowing how to raise a kitten once it’s actually in your care.

We’ve put together this checklist of new kitten essentials, explaining the things you need to know before getting a kitten along with the things you need to have ready for their arrival in your home.

New Kitten Checklist

Waiting to bring them home

One of the most important things to know before getting a kitten is that after you’ve had your pick of the litter, you’ll have to leave them with their family for at least 8 weeks / 2 months of age. You may have made your selection just days or even hours after your kitten’s birth, but those first two months with their mother and siblings will play a big part in forming the rest of their life.

Nursing can provide your kitten with some essential protection against diseases, so you have to allow them to stick to their own until they’ve at least finished weaning. Once they’re 8 weeks old, they should start to look and act more like miniature cats rather than defenseless little babies.

Prepare your home

Kittens and cats are mighty curious, but while they may learn to land on their feet later in life, their early years can make your household environment somewhat hazardous. There are steps you need to take to kitten proof your home and ensure that they don’t end up getting hurt in these early stages.

Some precautions include:

• Keeping windows securely closed
• Removing any poisonous houseplants
• Securing any cabinets, especially those with cleaning products
• Tidy up any loose or hanging wires and cables

If you’ve taken the steps to secure your home, you’ll have massively reduced the potential of your kitten getting injured.

Prepare their home

One of the most important things you need for a kitten coming into your home is their own safe space, where they can get to grips with a new and exciting location in peace. Create a sanctuary for your kitten either in your own bedroom, the kitchen, or the bathroom, and keep them there for at least a few weeks while they get to grips with the space.

This is especially important if you have other pets in the house, as a clumsily-handled meeting can lead to poor relations moving forward. Make sure that if you have other cats or a dog, they meet gradually and softly rather than being forced upon one another.

Make arrangements with a vet

Your kitten will need a few visits to the vet in the first few months of their lives before you can start to raise them as your own. Not only will a kitten need two sets of vaccinations within their first three months, but a vet will also be able to take important tests that let you know how to properly care for your cat going forward.

It’s during these early meetings that they can give you valuable advice on how to properly feed the kitten, along with figuring out a good pest control routine. All of these aspects of pet care are totally essential, so you want to have met and made arrangements with a vet prior to actually bringing your kitten home, so you have a vet that you trust and don’t have to compete for appointments at the last minute.

Cleaning products

Potty training pets is one of the key competencies when it comes to having animals in your home, but you can’t expect it to happen overnight, and you should be prepared for the accidents. Kittens and cats are renowned for their cleanliness, but in those early stages of life, you can still certainly expect to see the occasional number one or two making its way onto your floor.

Keep cleaning products in the house, so that when this inevitably happens, you can snap into action without delay. Make sure that you choose pet-friendly products because otherwise, you could inadvertently end up poisoning your new friend.

The ultimate kitten supplies list

Along with all the preparation you have to do in terms of your home and access to a good vet, you need to ensure that you’ve prepared everything you need for kittens to be properly comfortable in your home.

Our essential kitten supplies list includes:

• Cat litter box with plenty of litter so they can relieve themself inside
• Food and water bowls for feeding times
• Wet/dry nutritious cat food to fill that bowl with
• Some tasty cat treats for training and rewards
• A comfortable cat bed for them to curl up in
• A collar and ID tag so they can be identified if they wander off
• Plenty of cat toys for them to play with
• A good scratching post or two for them to relax with
• Cat trees and perches for them to sit on and look out your windows
• A good cat carrier so you can take them on journeys with you

It may seem like a lot, but you have to remember that your kitten is a living thing and not in your home for your entertainment. Source each item from a reputable dealer, and you’ll have made great steps towards increasing your kitten’s comfort in your home.

Arrange insurance

This should be one of the first things you consider when you get a new pet, as veterinary bills can be pretty significant, especially in the case of emergencies. Having a good insurance policy in place will alleviate the potential stress and burden of having to empty your own pockets in case the worst does happen to your kitten.

If you’re lucky, you’ll never have to make real use of your insurance policy, but that’s what insurance is for. It’s better to have the safety net and not need it rather than finding yourself in a tough situation with nothing to fall back on.

Get a quote from PHI Direct today to learn more about our approach to pet insurance protection.

Now you should be fully aware of what to know before getting a kitten, along with what you’ll need to put together in your home for their arrival. Remember, your kitten is a real living thing with needs, nuances, and natural impulses, and you need to treat them as such. Make sure that everything is ready for their arrival, so they can be as comfortable as possible from the minute they enter their new home.

For more interesting and helpful articles on being a pet owner, visit our blog today — there could be something that you’d really like to know on there!