Diet and behavior

You have picked your kitten, but there’s still time before pickup day. While you’re waiting, here are a few things you can do to get ready:

Your new kitten will need a separate quiet place to spend the first week or so in your home. Your new kitten should have it’s own litter box, plus food and water bowls. This is especially helpful when there are other pets in the home, because animals grow accustom to each other’s scent before any face-to-face confrontations arise. It helps a new kitten feel safe to have a private safe place, and also helps prevent disease transmission. After your kitten is well adjusted to the new environment, you should introduce, and then gradually allow longer visits to new rooms and with new friends, until you no longer need to use the kitten’s private room.

Schedule a Veterinary Exam

If you don’t have a veterinarian, now is a good time to find one. Some veterinarians have busy schedules, so make an appointment in advance if necessary. Remember, your kitten must be examined within 72 hours of leaving our care, or else the health guarantee is void. Holidays and weekends do count in your 72 hours, so make sure you have an appointment if needed. We don’t intend to inconvenience you with the time limit, but after 72 hours a kitten can start showing symptoms of infections they’ve caught after leaving our care. Bacteria and viruses don’t respect holidays!

Arrange for Food and Water

You can find more information on our diet page.Just remember that we strongly recommend foods that you won’t find in supermarkets, so make sure you have a source (and ideally, an alternate source) for your chosen brand. It’s not a great idea to change a kitten’s food right away or all at once, so we will be happy to provide you with a supply of the food your kitten is eating at the time of pickup or shipping. Our cats are accustomed to drinking from pet fountains. Cats are naturally attracted to moving water, which also tastes better. If you want to get a fountain, there are many on the market and any one should be fine. Refill the fountain daily, clean it weekly, and change the filter monthly. We find that a plain, large head, soft bristle toothbrush is the best thing for cleaning. Just a minute or two brushing with soapy water, rinse, and you’re good to go!

Choose Litter and a Box

We recommend using an open litter box for the begining, that’s what your kitten is used to. You can switch to a covered litter box later if you wish. If you do use a covered litter box, don’t clean it less often just because it’s out of sight. Covered litter boxes trap humidity, and can actually smell worse than an open box- especially to the cat inside it!

Good quality litter makes a big difference, yet it doesn’t necessarily cost more.

Everyone is familiar with clumping clay litter, which is still a good option. Choose an unscented variety. There are also new litter products made from wood pellets, wheat, corn, and even recycled newspaper. Feel free to try any of them that may appeal to you. We are now exclusively using silica litter. Also known as ‘pearl’ or ‘crystal’ litter, these are lightweight granules that disperse urine and dry it out, so you only scoop the solids. The solids dry out rapidly and odor is well controlled. Silica litter lasts a long time, a month or more between changes. Plus there are no heavy, muddy urine clumps! Silica litter was expensive in the past, and it still seems expensive per pound – but 4 pounds fills a box that would require 15 pounds of clay litter.