Cat Behavior Explained: The 5 Stages Of Introducing A New Cat Into Your Home

Congratz! You’ve decided to adopt a cat and give it a good home. And, after much contemplation, you’ve selected the perfect feline to welcome into your home. So, how do you best prep for the big moving day?

First off, check to see that you’ve got everything your new cat will need.

The next step is to properly introduce your new cat into your home. That’s right. Your home may be safe and secure, but kitty doesn’t know that. In fact, for now, it’s a scary place still, filled with strange smells. Compare it to being dropped in the middle of Moscow, where nobody speaks your language, you don’t know any of the local customs and where you don’t know your way around or what to expect around the corner. That’s pretty much what your house feels like to a new cat. Hardly the welcome you want to give your future companion. So what can you do?

If you were in Moscow, you’d want a safe haven, kind of like a base of operations, before discovering the city, right? A hotel, where they make an effort to speak a language you understand and provide you with what you need, like a warm bed to sleep in? The same is true for your new kitty:

Select a small room in your home, away from the hustle and bustle of your household, and without big noisemakers, such as the washer and dryer. This will minimize the amount of new stimuli the cat will get to digest. This room will be your cat’s new home for a while.

Put down a clean litter tray on one end of the room and a food bowl as well as a water bowl on the other end. A scratching mat and a cat bed are nice additions.

Make sure there are some hiding spots, like under the bed, or put in a box where kitty can hide. If the cat is scared, she will be grateful for this option. Put in some safe toys as well. Make it welcoming, as you would want your hotel room to be.

Ready your cat carrier, and ask the person you’re getting the cat from to provide a blanket, towel or sweater, which either contains the smell of the ‘old’ owner or the kitty itself, something that will smell familiar, to put in the carrier when you go there to pick up kitty. That’ll already help immensely. Consider it the equivalent of the family pictures that you carry in your wallet.

When you go pick up your kitty, introduce yourself properly to the cat. Hold out your hand and let her sniff you. Take some time to pet her if you can. Don’t forget your cat carrier and ask for the blanket. It’s also smart to ask the person for some of the food the cat was eating at their place as well as some of the sand she was using as this too will be familiar to the cat and make the transition easier. Try not to interact with her too much yet after putting her in the cat carrier, as that will just add extra stress

Once home, leave the kitty in the cat carrier for a moment. If you have other cats, or pets, do NOT let them go near the newcomer. You'll have to introduce them properly later on. Meanwhile, pour the sand in the litter tray and the food in the food bowl. Make sure the water bowl is filled. Then, put the cat carrier in the middle of the room, open it and stand back. Let kitty come out herself. If she doesn’t immediately, that’s fine. Let her determine the pace. She might want to sit in the carrier for a while. Once she comes out, let her sniff your hand. If she greets you with her tail up, you’re good. See if you can point her to where the litter tray is, so she instantly knows where to go. If not, do so later. Leave the cat carrier wide open in its place. It still contains those familiar smells and many cats use it as a cat bed to sleep in, where they feel safe.

And now for the hard part…

Leave the room. And close the door. That’s right. Give kitty at least an hour to scout the place out and come into her own. Then, check up on her and see how she’s doing. If she’s still in the carrier or fled under a closet, leave. She’s still acclimatizing and your presence is only going to stress her more. There’s a lot to take in, strange smells, different furniture and an entirely different environment. Remember, cats are territorial and you just pretty much dumped her in a completely different place than the one she calls home , where she felt safe. If she comes up to you to greet you, feel free to pet her and get to know her. Don’t pick her up yet. If she seems completely comfortable with her surroundings, you can take a seat with her in her room and get to know each other a bit.

Each cat is different. Kittens usually need only like 3 hours or less to acclimatize before they’re ready to explore the rest of your house, much like kids often want to go and see what the rest of the hotel and Moscow itself has to offer. Adults often take longer to settle in. Some will take a day, others will need 3 days, and those that weren’t socialized properly can take up to a week or longer. If the cat is extremely skittish and frightened, it might help to plug in a feliway diffuser.

At all times, let the cat set the pace. Better to stay a little longer in the room than to force things. I know this will be hard to explain to your kids, and you too will be anxious to meet kitty. But give it time. She’ll be with you a lifetime and you want to make a good impression, don’t you? Also, avoid being in there with *everyone* at once. Let the cat get to know you one at a time and check how comfortable she is with the amount of people that come into her room.

Check if the cat has used the litter tray and eaten its food. That’s usually a good sign. A cat is at its most vulnerable when eliminating. And most cats aren’t able to eat when severely stressed. If kitty is purring happily in her cat bed, and comes up to greet you or even scratches the door to be let out, it’s time for the next phase.

Go into kitty’s room and greet her. Then open the door. Stay by the door and wait. The cat will either bolt out and go explore happily or hesitatingly check out the door and stand next to you. Feel free to encourage her to check out the next room. Leave the door and the path to the ‘safe’ room open. Sit down somewhere in the room kitty’s exploring. Give her time. Your presence will soothe her. At any time, if she’s had enough, let her go back to her safe room, close the door and try again an hour later.

Introduce one room at a time, at her own pace. Keep the set up in the ‘safe’ room for another couple of days with the door open, until you’ve noticed that she no longer requires it. You can ease the process by feeding her some treats in the new unknown rooms as well as provide some play, to help her unwind.

Additionally, once kitty’s all settled in, don’t forget to mix the food and sand you got from the previous owner with your own. Start by first mixing in 1/4^th of the new food and sand into the previous food and sand, next 50-50, then ¾ , before you make the full transition. This ensures that the cat won’t suddenly become averse to using the litter tray (if she does, back up and go back to the old sand, to try again). Food wise, it ensures that the cat’s digestive system has a chance to catch up with the change and the stress of it all, lessening the chances of vomiting and diarrhea.

Lastly, don’t forget to get your new kitty checked by the vet!

Enjoy your new companion ;)