As the great day dawns, you’ll awake to the realization that life will never be quite the same again. Ideally, you will have arranged to collect your cat or kitten on a day when you will be at home so that you can reassure it and get to know each other, and also when your household will be as quiet as possible. Before collecting the new feline addition to the family, check that you have all of the food and equipment that you’ll need to take care of your cat and also that you have positioned its food and water bowls, bed and litter tray in suitable spots – as a temporary measure, perhaps in the room to which you’ll first introduce it (when your cat feels at home, you can move them to more permanent places). Finally, before picking up your cat-carrier (don’t forget to line it with newspaper) and heading out through the door, ensure that all doors and windows are firmly shut.
On coming face to face with your kitten or cat for the first time on your mutual big day, don’t abruptly bundle it into its carrier: spare a few minutes to give it some attention so that it knows that your intentions are friendly, and also be patient as its previous owner bids it farewell. Remember to ask for any tips, for example, regarding the diet or type of cat litter that it’s been used to, and only then lift your cat gently into its carrying basket. As you wend your way
Home together, make soothing noises in response to any terrified yowls that your cat may make to express its fear at being torn away from the safety of its home by a stranger — it will inevitably be terrified, particularly if it’s enduring a close encounter with a car for the first time. Do not, however, under any circumstance, be tempted to remove it from its carrier to stroke or cuddle it: the best-case scenario is that chaos will ensue.
Once you have arrived home, set the cat‘s carrier in the room that you’ve temporarily allotted your cat and don’t let it out until you have taken off your coat, have shut the door and are ready to give it your undivided attention as it takes its first tentative steps out of its basket and into its new home. Give it some words of gentle encouragement, but don’t make a lunge for it to give it a reassuring cuddle, which would only scare it. Instead, sit back and let it explore its new surroundings. If, as is likely, it either slinks or bolts to a spot that offers its cover and a sense of security, such as behind the sofa, don’t attempt to haul it out, just wait until its curiosity prevails and it’s plucked up the courage to venture out again. Watch patiently as it explores the room and, when it feels confident enough to approach you, offer it a caressing stroke, but don’t make any sudden movements. If it hasn’t already discovered them, and when you have built up sufficient trust between you to enable you to pick it up, take it to its litter tray and rater bowl – it may be very relieved to make Heir acquaintance – followed by its bed.
Don’t feed your cat until you are certain that it is starting to feel at home (a good sign is when it starts washing itself, which indicates that it’s feeling relatively relaxed). Thereafter, if both of you are still up to it, you could introduce it to He rest of the house – but not to the garden – taking your time to allow it to investigate each room in turn, a process that, depending on the size of your home, it may be sensible to stretch out over some days. Don’t leave it to its own devices, but shadow it to ensure that it doesn’t bolt – or creep inside a fridge-freezer! Finally, exploration complete, return to the room from which you started out together, which it should by now regard as the core of its new home.
At a kitten’s bedtime, tucking a hot-water bottle or heated pad under one side of its bedding for the first few nights of its residency will provide some reassuring, sleep- inducing warmth (older cats may appreciate this, too). Some people also advocate placing a clockwork alarm clock near it – but make sure that the alarm’s switched off – to simulate the familiar rhythm of its mother’s heartbeat.
Whatever your new cat‘s age, it’s best not to give it access to the great outdoors for at least a week (and in the case of nervous felines, three) to give it the opportunity to become thoroughly familiar with its home, to which it should then always return, if only at feeding time!
If only everyone planned the addition of a pet to the family so well… All your tips still apply if you have dog (or dogs) in the house, too, especially the early “introducing the cat to the house” parts. Easing into things seems to require more patience than with a dog, at least in our house it’s worked out that way.