New kitten checklist

What’s on the checklist

• What to buy: the food the kitten already eats, wide bowls, a litter tray with familiar litter, a sturdy carrier, a bed, a scratching post, hiding places, toys and grooming tools.
• Kitten-proofing: gaps behind appliances, washer and dryer doors, windows and balconies, cables, lilies and other toxic plants.
• A quiet safe room for the first days, with the litter tray away from food and water.
• Pickup day and the first weeks: the carrier in the car, letting the kitten come out in its own time, small regular meals and slow introductions.
• The first vet visit, documents and records, house rules and a “who does what” table.
• US Letter and A4, with fields you can fill in on screen and a tick box for every item.

How to use it

1. Print it a week or two before the kitten arrives and start with the shopping list and the home check.
2. Ask the breeder or shelter which food and litter the kitten is used to, and for a blanket that smells of its first home.
3. Set up the safe room the day before: bed, bowls, litter tray, hiding places and a scratching post.
4. Agree on the house rules with everyone, children included, before the kitten arrives.
5. Tick items off as you go and take page 2 to the first vet visit.

Why the safe room comes first

A new home is a lot for a small cat. Cats Protection and International Cat Care both advise starting in one quiet room and opening up the rest of the home step by step. A kitten that can hide, eat and use its tray in peace settles in faster.

What the checklist leaves to your vet

There is no vaccine schedule, deworming dates or doses here: your vet sets them for your kitten at the first health check. The checklist makes sure you arrive with the breeder’s or shelter’s papers and your questions written down.