A quiet space, familiar food and patient introductions help a new kitten settle in. This first-week guide combines practical preparation with clear reasons to contact your vet. Kittens develop and settle at different rates; there is no fixed day on which they must explore the whole house.
Do not wait for a time limit: If your kitten stops eating, contact your vet promptly. If they have diarrhoea, ask your vet for advice rather than waiting a full day. Difficulty breathing, collapse or struggling to pass urine needs urgent veterinary help. The warning-sign table below explains these actions.
Before Your Kitten Arrives
| Prepare | Check |
|---|---|
| Safe room | Choose a quiet room with places to hide and rest. Secure cables, windows and gaps; remove medicines, chemicals and toxic plants, including lilies. |
| Food and water | Obtain the familiar food and routine. Use easy-to-access bowls and keep water available away from food. |
| Litter trays | Provide accessible trays away from food and water, with litter the kitten is used to. Ask the rescue or vet about a suitable litter if your kitten mouths or eats it. |
| Scratching and play | Provide a scratching surface and suitable toys. Put string and wand toys away after supervised play. |
| Carrier | Use a suitable carrier secured for the journey. Introduce it gently as a familiar place; do not force practice when your kitten is frightened. |
| Records and care | Register with a vet and obtain vaccination, microchip and parasite-treatment records. |
| Insurance | If considering cover, read the policy, waiting periods and exclusions. Never delay a vet visit while arranging insurance. |
Day 1 — Coming Home
- Place the secured carrier in the safe room, open it and let your kitten emerge in their own time.
- Show where the litter tray, bowls and resting places are without pulling the kitten out of hiding.
- Keep early interactions calm and allow them to approach you.
- Watch that they are eating, drinking and passing urine. Do not assume a kitten that is hiding and unwell only needs more settling-in time.
Cats Protection’s new-kitten guidance explains calm introductions and letting the kitten set the pace.
Feeding in the First Week
Continue the familiar food and routine initially. Choose a complete food suitable for growing kittens, offer small meals and follow the packaging and your vet’s guidance on frequency and portions. Make necessary diet changes gradually. Do not use a fixed age table to decide an individual kitten’s diet or switch to adult food automatically.
Keep fresh water available. If appetite changes or your kitten seems unwell, ask your vet for advice. PDSA explains choosing a life-stage-appropriate complete diet.
Litter Tray Setup
- Use quiet, accessible locations and trays your kitten can enter easily.
- Keep food and water away from the trays.
- Remove waste regularly and follow the litter’s cleaning instructions.
- In a multi-cat home, provide one tray per cat plus an extra, in separate locations.
- Never punish accidents. Review the setup, but contact your vet if toileting changes or seems uncomfortable.
Repeated straining or little or no urine is not a litter-training problem to wait out. See the urgent actions below.
Gradual Expansion — No Rush
Keep the safe room available as a retreat. Offer access to more safe space as your kitten becomes confident, rather than automatically opening another room on day three. Some kittens need longer. Supervise introductions to children or other animals and let the kitten withdraw.
Vaccinations and Outdoor Access
Ask your vet to check the actual vaccination record and confirm the remaining doses, follow-up dates and when protection is expected. Indoor kittens also need a vaccination discussion; the course and boosters depend on the vaccines and individual risks. See Cats Protection’s vaccination guidance.
Do not treat a second injection or reaching 13–14 weeks as automatic permission to go outside. Cats Protection recommends that kittens are settled, vaccinated, neutered and microchipped before outdoor access. Discuss readiness and a safe introduction with your vet.
GOV.UK’s microchipping guidance distinguishes the legal requirements: owned cats in England must be microchipped and registered by 20 weeks, including indoor cats. Do not describe this as a UK-wide cat requirement. Keep the registered contact details current.
First Vet Visit — Records and Questions
Arrange a routine check soon after arrival at the time your practice advises. If your kitten seems unwell, contact the practice straight away instead of waiting for that appointment.
- Bring food details and vaccination, microchip and previous-treatment records.
- Ask about the vaccination course and date of the next appointment.
- Ask for parasite control appropriate to your kitten’s age, weight and risks. Do not automatically give another treatment if one has already been given.
- Discuss neutering early. Cats Protection recommends around four months; your vet should confirm suitable timing for your kitten. Male kittens should not routinely be left until five or six months solely because of their sex.
Warning Signs — When to Call the Vet
| What you notice | Action |
|---|---|
| Stops eating or a clear drop in appetite | Contact your vet promptly. Do not wait 48 hours. PDSA: appetite loss. |
| Diarrhoea | Speak to your vet: kittens are at greater risk of dehydration. Do not use an adult-cat observation period as a rule for a kitten. PDSA: diarrhoea. |
| Repeated straining, painful attempts, little or no urine | Call your vet immediately for urgent assessment; inability to pass urine can be life-threatening. PDSA: urinary problems. |
| Difficulty breathing, open-mouth breathing or collapse | Call a vet immediately for emergency help. PDSA: breathing emergencies. |
| Hiding with reduced appetite, low energy or other signs of illness | Contact your vet promptly. Do not wait several days to see whether settling in fixes it. |
| Sneezing or discharge from eyes or nose | Contact your vet for advice, especially if your kitten is quiet or eating less. Do not diagnose the cause from a checklist. |
If you are unsure whether something is urgent, phone your practice or its out-of-hours service and describe what you can see. This table is not a diagnosis or a substitute for individual assessment.
Related: How Much Does a Cat Cost UK | Pet Insurance UK | Cat Breeds UK Guide | Pet Microchipping UK Law — Dogs & Cats
Scope: This article uses the linked organisations’ general guidance. They have not personally reviewed or endorsed this Petz article.
When can kittens go outside?
Discuss this with your vet after checking vaccination protection, neutering, microchipping and how settled your kitten is. There is no universal safe date calculated from a second vaccination. Start gradually when those requirements and your kitten’s readiness have been addressed.
Is it normal for my kitten to hide constantly?
Hiding can be part of settling in, but it does not prove your kitten is healthy. Provide a quiet retreat and monitor appetite, drinking, energy and urine. Contact your vet promptly if these change or your kitten seems unwell; do not wait three days without food or urine.