{"id":518,"date":"2026-07-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/findmypetcare.com\/?p=102"},"modified":"2026-07-06T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T09:00:00","slug":"first-week-checklist-new-kitten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/findmypetcare.com\/?p=518","title":{"rendered":"The first-week checklist for a new kitten"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-group fmpc-tldr is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"fmpc-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">TL;DR<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Start small: one quiet room, a litter box they can see, food on a schedule, and a vet visit booked for day 3-5. Everything else can wait until week two.<\/p><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Day one: one room, not the whole house<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A new kitten in a new house is a small animal in a very big world. Pick one quiet room \u2014 a bedroom or office is perfect \u2014 and set it up before you bring them home. Litter box in one corner, food and water on the opposite wall, a soft bed, and a couple of toys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let them come out of the carrier on their own time. Sit on the floor, read a book, and wait. Most kittens are exploring the room within 20 minutes.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Food, water, and the litter box<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feed the same food they were eating before you brought them home for at least the first week \u2014 a diet change on top of a home change is one stressor too many. If you want to switch, do it slowly over 7-10 days after they&#x27;ve settled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kittens usually know how to use a litter box, but they need one they can climb into. A low-sided tray with a fine, unscented litter works for almost every kitten.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Book the vet visit for day 3-5<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You want a wellness check within the first week \u2014 partly for peace of mind, partly to get on a vaccine and deworming schedule. Bring any paperwork from the breeder or shelter, and a fresh stool sample if you can.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Expanding the world<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After 3-4 days in the starter room, open the door and let them explore on their terms. Don&#x27;t move the litter box for another week \u2014 let them come back to it until they clearly know the layout of the house.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seven days, one small human, and a very small cat. Here&#8217;s the schedule that made week one calm at our house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tldr":"","author_role":"","author_bio":"","read_minutes":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-pet","tag-cats"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The first-week checklist for a new kitten - findmypetcare.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/findmypetcare.com\/?p=518\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The first-week checklist for a new kitten - findmypetcare.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seven days, one small human, and a very small cat. 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