Bringing Your New Cat Home

Traveling Home
The first thing you should know about your new cat is that most cats hate to travel.  After the ride home from the animal shelter, he will, most likely, not be in the mood of fun.  For the trip home, confine your pet in a sturdy cat carrier.  Don’t leave him loose in your car where he might panic and cause an accident.

Arriving At Home – The Starter Room
To make your new cat’s transition to your household as comfortable as possible, select a quiet, closed-in area such as your bed room or a small room away from the main foot traffic, and set it up with a litter box, bed, food and water.  Its completely normal for a cat to be scared, and take days or weeks to adjust to their new environment.

If possible, make this the starter room the  permanent location of the litter box.  If you plan on having the permanent location of the litter box be elsewhere, you’ll need two litter boxes.  Keep the old litter box in the same location, and put a new litter box in the new location. Once the cat is using the new litter box, you can take up the old one.  You may need to slowly move the old litter box closer and closer to the new one for this to happen.

If you are adopting an adult cat, be sure that this "starter room" has very secure screens, and keep the windows securely closed. More than once a new kitty, who is actually quite happy in his new home, has decided to check the out-of-doors, pulls off a screen (how, we don't know, but it's true) and takes off.  The escapee is then disoriented, and can very likely become lost and injured.

Going Outside
Don't let your new kitty go outside when you first bring it home, whatever you do! Even if your new kitty cries at the door or window, and does not eat or go to the bathroom at first, keep it inside!! Despite stories about cats finding their way home, in reality your new cat is very likely to become lost and suffer. Adoptive families have learned this the hard way.  Kittens should be kept indoors at least until they are full grown (around 12 months), and do consider the advantages of keeping your new cat indoors always  — outdoor cats are exposed to disease, cat fights, being killed by dogs and other wild animals, and hit by cars.

If you do want to have an indoor/outdoor cat, wait at least four weeks before allowing your adult cat to go outside, to give it a chance to bond to your family.  If your adult cat must go outside, bringing him inside at night does reduce the risks of being killed by predators and cars.  To train your cat to come in at night, set his one daily feeding time during his month indoors to be at the hour when you want him to come inside for the night, and continue to feed him (even just putting out new dry food) at that same time, calling him to come in for his dinner.  You can reinforce his coming in with treats as well.

Meeting the Household
Let your new cat get to know and trust household members, before it must adjust to the entire home — one thing at a time! Sometimes even the most friendly cat needs a few days to feel safe in a new environment.

If you have other pets, don't introduce  the new pet immediately.   Keep your new pet totally separate at  first, in its own room.  For multi-cat households, this separation period should be 14 days to prevent the spread of contagious diseases during their incubation period. Before making any  pet introductions, let the new pet get to know and trust you, and let your other  pets discover they are still loved —  although they smell a new furry one in the house, they are not going to lose their  home and family.

It will take time for everyone to adjust, sometimes weeks or months.  At first, allow your pets lots of time for sniffing under the door to the new pet's room.  Try switching rooms for awhile, and let the new cat explore the house, and let  your current cat spend time in the room,  sniffing around. As they progress, try allowing them to check out each other  through a screen door or sliding glass  door, or other safe ways of exploring  these "strangers". This effort can prevent  an unpleasant introduction that is hard to  recover from. Tempting though it may be, it can be a big mistake to rush this process. The slow approach is well worth the extra time, and you ensure your pets are all happy and comfortable in your home.
 
 

If you find this information helpful, please make a donation to the Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA. You can donate online or mail a check made out to PHS to:

BEST Training
Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA
361 S. Raymond Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91105