How to make a kitten comfortable in an apartment

What to do to keep your kitten safe

The kitten should arrive in the safest possible home. Before you bring your baby, organize the space so that it is friendly to him. To do this, you need to walk around the house in search of potential dangers for the kitten and eliminate them all, no matter what it takes.

Be aware that bathrooms can be very inappropriate for kittens. Keep cleaning supplies locked in cabinets and the toilet lid down. Dental floss, hair ties and any material that looks like rope should be hidden away – the kitten can play with it and swallow it, causing life-threatening intestinal damage.

Kitchen cleaners should also be kept out of the reach of kittens. Cellophane drink holders and unused plastic bags must be disposed of properly, as kittens can get tangled in these things and get hurt.

Hide your sewing supplies, including needles, pins, thread, and yarn. Kittens can start playing with these dangerous items and get a lot of health problems if they get inside.

Keep indoor plants away, as some of them, such as spurge, can be poisonous. If you are not sure if your house flowers are toxic to cats, look online for information about this. Medicines, especially in tablets, should also be placed out of the reach of the animal.

If you have children, then know that their toys made of soft material, such as foam, rubber, are real “magnets” for kittens. They can bite off and swallow small pieces, which leads to serious stomach problems. Some kittens may chew on electrical wires, risking an electric shock if they are unlucky enough to bite through the cord from a powered appliance. Therefore, if possible, all wires should be hidden or insulated with something, for example, wrapped with tape.

Windows, especially plastic ones, are the most dangerous places not only for kittens, but also for adult cats. It is advisable to install anti-cat nets on them and never leave them open for upper ventilation – the kitten can jump into the gap and hang in it with a squeezed stomach, which leads to the failure of internal organs. This is because cats’ claws glide over plastic, unlike wood. As a result, the animal turns out to be completely helpless, hanging between the frames, it cannot get out. The way out can be special corners that can close the space between the frames. You may argue that you always keep your windows tightly closed, but this is likely to be self-deception, unless your apartment or house is equipped with air conditioning. Curtains and curtain and curtain ties can suffocate a kitten if it gets caught on them. Reduce or remove them.

Keep any toxic items, such as bleach or lye, locked up so that the kitten cannot bite through the package.

Know that kittens are very curious and love to crawl into secluded places. So find out if there are any unsealed holes around the plumbing pipes in the bathroom, check for any holes in the walls and block them.

Preparing the house for the arrival of a kitten

Bring familiar smells to your kitten in your home. If the baby is not taken from the street, then it makes sense to ask the people who give it to you for a blanket, bedding or soft toy that the kitten and his mother used, so that the baby would have something that would smell like his mother.

After you bring a kitten home, you can use a cat product with pheromones, chemicals that cats produce to communicate with and calm kittens. It comes in various forms such as spray, wipes, collar or diffuser. You can find out about the varieties and rules for using cat pheromones in pet stores and on the Internet.

Be sure to buy a kitten a comfortable cat bed with a good pillow. Or just take a small cardboard box, cut off the top and put a warm, cozy blanket in there. Place the kitten’s bed in a room where it will be quiet and peaceful. The kitchen or the hall are usually not very suitable options. Your kitty needs a place to retreat to in case the hustle and bustle gets too much. And in no case do not try to force him to sleep with you during the first month of your stay in the house, unless he himself expresses a desire to join you. Cats gradually begin to come to their owners on their own, and here it is important that the kitten knows that this is his choice.

When purchasing a tray, remember that if the kitten is less than 3-4 months old, the sides should not be high. It is better to choose the filler familiar to the baby, and then change it to one that does not stick to the paws and retains the smell well. Bowls with food and water are best placed closer to the bench and away from the tray. But at the same time, the distance between the tray and the stove bench should not be very large, and even more so they should not be in different rooms. As the kitten begins to get used to the house, you can gradually move the tray to a more preferable place for you, but immediately after arrival, the tiny kitten needs easy access to the toilet. On the first day, put the kitten in the litter box every couple of hours until he starts using it. Kittens are very smart and quickly get used to the tray.

Nutrition is a very important point. Feed your kitten cat food, not adult cat food, as they grow quickly and need more calories and nutrients than adult cats. The choice of food depends on your financial capabilities, but in any case, you should not feed your baby food from the table or use only dry food. Be sure to add wet to dry, but in another bowl. Ideally, this should be premium food sold in pet stores, and not economy category products that are littered with chain supermarket shelves. Premium class feeds are more expensive, but they require less volume than economy class feeds, since even a small amount of high-quality feed is rich in vitamins and nutrients. Trying to save on cheap food is an illusion, because you will have to buy a lot of it, or the kitten will be constantly hungry.

Be sure to buy some toys designed for kittens. Small fur mice and “rods” with feathers are the favorites of most of them. But catnip will not be needed by a small kitten, since he has not yet developed a reaction to its smell, wait until he is older.

Introducing a kitten to a new home

When you get home, don’t take the kitten out of the carrier right away – just leave the door open and let it go out at its own pace. If the baby does not come out, put a bowl of food away from the door – this may encourage the kitten to leave the carrier and go to eat.

When the kitten comes out and walks around the apartment, show him the bed, and then carefully take him and put him in the tray to give him the opportunity to go to the toilet. If the kitten does not come off either big or small, he will at least know where the tray is.

If he will not be the only pet, first keep the baby away from other pets. It is ideal to place him in a separate room for the first time, along with a tray, bed, food and water, before introducing him to other pets. If you have small children, ask them to be very careful around the cat, whether they are holding the kitten or playing with it. So it will be more comfortable for both children and a small animal.

And most importantly: give the kitten time to get used to the new house and to you. From time to time pick up and try to play with him, but do not force him to do what he does not want. Kittens adapt quickly enough, the main thing is not to interfere with their adored exploration of rooms and the study of apartment smells.

Opinion:

Irina Kulikova, veterinarian:

– When moving a kitten to a new home, he will need a tray and a filler, preferably the same one that he is used to, separate bowls for food and water – cats, unlike dogs, do not like double bowls, kitten food that the kitten already eats , trimmer, couch, scratching post, toys and a lot of love!

A big mistake that new owners often make is that they constantly watch the kitten in its hiding place. In cat language, staring is a sign of aggression, it will make the baby feel insecure and more likely to hide. Instead of staring, sit quietly next to the house, couch, or corner of the sofa where the cat is located and read a book or browse the Internet on your smartphone. Without looking closely at the baby, from time to time put a treat on the floor next to you – the cat will definitely come up. When this happens, sit still but put in another treat to reward your courage.

Wait until the kitten is confident enough to rub against your legs before you pick him up.