What do I need for a new kitten?

Before they arrive

• Litter box, bigger than you think, low sidedOne and a half times their body length. A tray a kitten has to climb into is a tray they will eventually stop using.
• The litter the breeder or shelter was usingChange it later, one gradual switch at a time. Changing everything at once is the most common cause of a kitten going on the carpet.
• Two bowls, kept away from the litter boxCats will not eat next to where they go. Different room if you can.
• A carrier that opens from the topTop-loading means you lower them in instead of posting them in backwards. This one decision saves you years of vet-visit wrestling.
• A scratching post taller than they can stretchSisal, heavy enough not to tip. If it wobbles once they will use the sofa instead — and the sofa becomes the habit.
• Somewhere high to sitA shelf, a cat tree, the top of a wardrobe. Cats settle faster when they can get above the room.

The first 48 hours

• Start them in one roomNot the whole house. One room with the tray, food, water, a hiding box and you. Open it up over a few days.
• Leave them alone when they hideThey will come out. Sitting on the floor reading aloud does more than trying to coax them.
• Show them the tray after every meal and napPut them in it, let them out. That is usually the entire training.

The first week

• Vet appointmentVaccinations, worming, and a weight to measure against.
• Play with a wand toy twice a dayTen minutes each. A kitten that hunts a toy is a kitten that is not hunting your ankles at 3am.
• Get them used to the carrierLeave it out, open, with a blanket in it. A carrier that only appears before the vet becomes a thing they run from.
• Handle the pawsSame reason as a puppy. Claw trims are a five-second job or a fight, and you decide which now.

Can wait a month

• A second litter boxOnce you know their routine and where they spend time. The rule is one per cat plus one, but it can wait a fortnight.
• A cat treeFine to wait until you have seen where they actually like to climb.
• CollarOnly ever a quick-release safety one, and not until they are settled.

Do not buy this

• Covered litter boxes, for a nervous kittenThey trap smell and remove the escape route. Plenty of cats are fine with them, but not one that is still settling in.
• MilkAdult cats lose the enzyme for lactose. Water.
• DeclawingIllegal in much of the world and an amputation of the last bone in each toe. A post and regular trims solve the problem it claims to.
• Laser pointers as the main toyThere is nothing to catch at the end, which some cats find genuinely frustrating. Finish every laser session on a real toy they can pin.