Living with Maine Coons

Making Your Kitten Feel Comfortable In A “Safe Area”.

Once a new kitten arrives in its new home, it takes time to transition from being separated from its mother and litter mates to becoming the newest member of your family.  To help your kitten in becoming well adjusted to its new surroundings, we suggest that a separate area away from the rest of the family and any pets be setup BEFORE the kitten arrives.  This will allow the kitten to get used to a smaller area of your home (a room) and allow for exploration in this “safe area”.

You should leave your cat carrier in this “safe area” with the door open and the blanket or towel with the mother and litter mate’s scent.  This will give the kitten a base of operations so that the kitten can sleep or hide in if necessary.  At this time, you should introduce another blanket or towel with the scents of any other pets in your home and place this in the “safe area”.   To assist with the transition for the other pets, you should rub a blanket or towel on your new kitten to get the scent on it and introduce it to the other pets in your household to prepare them for the newest family member.

While the kitten is in the “safe area”, you should try to spend as much time with the kitten as possible, socializing and bonding by giving the kitten the needed attention to thrive.  This will build the kitten’s confidence and make the kitten feel comfortable in their new surroundings, allowing for an easier transition.

Quarantining Your New Kitten and Why?

Your “safe area” should also be used as a quarantine area only if their are other pets in the household.  It is a good idea to quarantine your kitten for at least three to four weeks after their first vet visit BEFORE introducing them to other pets.  The reasoning is simple, kittens can get stressed when they are introduced to their new home and may develop symptoms of watery eyes, sneezing, respiratory distress or failure to eat.

If any of these symptoms continue for 2 days or more, please take your kitten into the vet immediately to see if there is truly an issue.  An issue such as an Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) has an incubation period of up to three or four weeks. Thus even a reputable breeder may not be unaware of this condition in a newly adopted kitten and may not show up on the kitten’s first vet visit.

It’s better to be safe than sorry and preventing additional vet care for your pets already in your home is the goal of this quarantining period.

Quarantine Period Is Over: Introducing Kitten To Other Pets.

During the kitten’s quarantine, the other pets in your home will have been made aware of new visitor in the “safe area” and have had an opportunity to get used to the kitten’s scent. When it’s time for the first meeting, you will want to actively monitor both pets and keep it short. Let both kitten and other pet get used to the scents of each other and let them make the connection of the scent from or in the “safe area”. Be careful not to let your kitten become too frightened or the other pets get too aggressive since this will make it harder for the transition.  Expect some hissing and growling at first but eventually over time your kitten and your other pets will get to know one another.

Just remember, when you bring in a new kitten into your home,  your existing pets have their own established territory and probably will notice the stranger that has invaded it.  It will take time for the all the pets to get used to one another so don’t rush it because it won’t work.  But in most cases, a kitten is small and should be non-threatening to the other established larger pets in your household.

If you follow the above steps, within a few weeks time, you’re kitten will become an accepted member to the other pets within your home.

Good Luck!