If you are one of the lucky people that are welcoming a new cat into your home, rejoice! You are embarking on a journey of love, appreciation, gratitude, and friendship for you and your feline. We are happy for you and hope that you will shop at your local pet supplies stores in Ann Arbor, Chelsea, and Ludington in Michigan to get all of your cat needs: food, treats, toys, bedding, supplements, and beyond.
But what about when you first welcome them home? How can you ensure that they get settled quickly and comfortably so that you two can start bonding right away?
The Wags hive mind has come together and created a quick list of tips to welcome a new cat home that you can use for these occasions. Keep reading to learn how to welcome your new cat into your life.
Tips To Welcome a New Cat Home
Make Sure Your Cat Has a Space for Themselves
A safe, quiet, private sanctuary for your new cat will provide them with the comfort, security, and safety that he or she needs to become more familiar with the people, scents, sounds, and atmosphere of your home.
Make sure their room is truly theirs! If you have other cats or other dogs, try to ensure that your other pets can’t get in to bother your new cat. When you welcome them to your home, playing with your new cat all day is going to be tempting, but they do need some time to themselves in order to properly get settled.
The cat’s safe space should have food, water, places to hide or climb, bedding, litter, a scratching post, and toys to make them feel at home. Call us or visit your local Wags to Wiskers Pet Supplies store in Ann Arbor at 2270 W. Stadium Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103, or in the Chelsea, MI area at 1192 S. Main St, Chelsea, MI, 48118, or up north in the Ludington area at 4815 W. US-10, Ludington, MI, 49431 to pick up any of these cat essentials!
Getting to Know Your Cat
In the first few weeks that your cat is home, you can visit their safe space frequently for short periods of time. You can interact directly with them by playing, petting, or reading a book aloud or chatting quietly on the phone in their presence so they get used to the sound of your voice.
Nervous, anxious cats may growl, hiss, twitch its tail, or pull its ears back so if you recognize any of these signs, give them some more alone time. Trust that they will come around!
A little-known tip to get them used to your presence is to provide a shirt or something with your natural scent on it and put it in their safe space.
Once you and your new cat have established the trusting foundations of a relationship, you can consider opening up the rest of your home to the cat. You should do this when you can supervise them, and of course, be wary of other pets you might have. Don’t give your new cat too much to take in all at once, especially if they are skittish or anxious. Be wary of rooms that have hiding places that are inaccessible to humans (these are found particularly in unfinished basements or sometimes kitchens).
Introducing Your New Cat to a Dog or Cat
Our best tips for allowing dogs and cats to meet new cats all involve prioritizing the safety of your pets. Having two adults in the room to manage the situation and supervise each animal is a good idea. Having your pets on leashes or in carriers to smell each other first and keep an eye out for signs of aggression is also a good idea.
If things don’t go well the first time, it’s not the end of the road. You should do these incomplete meetings two or three times before fully letting your pets greet each other.
Until the two parties are fully comfortable with each other, always supervise their interactions. Using cat doors or dog gates in the house is useful for creating separate spaces for the two until they reach a point where they are safe to interact without your presence.
Tips for Kids
For young children, welcoming a new cat home can be one of the most formative experiences of their young lives. Learning to love and care for their cat can create the habits, responsibilities, and emotional outlets than many young children need. We have some tips for you to help with younger kids, pretend like this is the cat speaking to them!
Your house is completely new to me, so I am usually feeling nervous and shy.
Please be patient with me because it takes me time to get used to new places and people
Don’t chase me until I am ready to play
Smelling everything (including you) means that I am learning about my new home
I might get scared easily at loud and unexpected noises
If I hiss or jump, that’s my way of saying “I’m feeling scared”
Sometimes I just need quiet time to myself to nap and be calm
Please don’t interrupt me when I am using my litter box
If you carry me don’t forget to make sure all of my legs are being held or else my tummy will get squeezed and it will hut
If I scratch you while we are playing I am sorry
Please don’t pull my tail and don’t pet me too hard, I am much smaller than you
Don’t let me outside, even if you think I won’t run away. I could get scared and bolt.
Close the door behind me! I can be sneaky and am very curious about things that I don’t know about
Tips To Welcome a New Cat Home
Conclusion
What other ways have worked for you when you welcome a new cat to your home? We would love to hear from some of our Wags Fam on what has been good or bad signs, habits, or behaviors for your new cat. We hope you are able to learn some things from this list of tips to welcome a new cat home for the next time you visit our local cat adoption agencies, and we hope to see you in our stores for any of your pet supplies needs!