9 week old kitten coming home tomorrow! Advice and possible encouragement?

[Elliotmarie]

Hi! I’m a first time cat parent picking up a sweet 9 week old boy tomorrow! He’ll be mine and my guys first pet on our own and we’re super excited! I work at a little nutrition focused pet store and although I’ve never had a cat before I’ve done a ton of reading and asking for advice. Does anyone here have anymore possible advice or things I may not have already thought of? I’ve spent all day kitten proofing and I took almost two weeks off to be with him. I’m soooo nervous, I just want to do the best I can to make sure the little guy is as happy and healthy as possible! I really appreciate any advice!!!

[fjm]

Congratulations - how exciting! Have you got vet check and vaccinations sorted? Those would be at the top of my list. A safe carrying crate, some of the same food he is eating at the moment, a tray and litter (preferably that same as the one he is used to), food and water bowls - but I am sure you are already well prepared with all those.

Don't be surprised if he is a little subdued at first - I have had kittens that hid away for a while, and kittens that wanted to play from the moment they jumped out of the box. One, the wonderful Toby, went round my flat admiring everything - a chair! Carpets!! A whole kitchen!!! - and woke me up in the early hours sitting on my pillow purring at me to say how glad he was to have his own Human at last. Others took longer to settle in, needing time in a safe dark place from which they could make short forays. All became happy, companionable adults.

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures together.

[Ruth B]

Congratulations on the new addition, I'm sure everything will be fine, but it is a nervous time.

I think fjm has covered most of it. Finding a good vet is important, and best done before you have to take him for anything. If anyone you know can recommend one then that is good and not exorbitantly priced then it would be worth getting your boy booked in for a check even if he has been checked over by the people you are getting him from, it gives your chosen vet a baseline if you have to take him in later with any concerns.

The only other thing I can add is that some now consider 9 weeks to be about the minimum age to home kittens, when I was a child it was done at 6 weeks, but now 12 weeks is more common, the longer they have with their mother and siblings the more they learn from them. You might find you have to teach him a few behavioural lessons to make sure he doesn't start to play too rough or become too demanding. Don't be afraid to tell him no, but be consistent, decided on the rules of the house and stick to them, if you give an inch, he will take a mile, that is just the way cats are.

Finally plenty of toys, balls to chase, ping pong balls are great if you have a hard floor as the rattle round, but they and balls with bells in can be annoying at 2.00 in the morning, wand and string toys so that you can play with him and have him chasing them around the room, kick toys to kill, and chew toys to save furniture and cables.

[Mollycat]

You, basically, lots and lots of you. At this age you can step right in as his surrogate mum and teach him rules and boundaries. This is a great age to teach him to keep out of danger as he is still wired for learning. Just be sure to get him used to you going out and being out so that going back to work isn't a big shock to his system.