Have a new cat? Help give them a smoother transition to your home.

While it’s not something I recommend without a lot of research and thought into it, cat adoptions spike a lot over the holiday season. Check out my post on Holiday Pet Adoption tips which applies all year long. Don’t get a pet if you’re not ready for a lifetime commitment of love. So what happens once the glow of the holiday lights has dimmed and furriest family member is trying to adapt to it’s new surroundings and family? We humans play a big part if not the most important part in helping our pets adapt to being a happy and healthy member of the family.

Say hello to our Oliver, whom we adopted about four years ago, during the holidays but only after we had thought long and hard about it for several months. He is one of the happiest and loving cats, heck pet we’ve ever had in the family.

Here are some tips we hope you will find helpful for yourself and of course your favourite feline/s:

• Let them hide: Cats love to sneak away to a favourite spot, especially when they are still weary of their new surroundings. Creating areas for your new cat to hide out by moving your couch out from the wall a few inches or pulling your bed covers down until they hit the floor is ideal so your cat can enjoy some alone time.
• Stock the pantry: Pick up a few necessary items prior to introducing your cat to his or her new home, but don’t go overboard as you’ll want to learn your cat’s personality and preferences. It’s important to have wet and dry food options, along with separate food and water bowls, to set up an eating station.
• Privacy, please: Everyone in the family deserves a little privacy and your cat is no different! Make sure you place the litter box in a quiet spot and away from your cat’s eating station. A litter box lined with 3-4 inches of Arm & Hammer ™ Clump & Seal ™ litter is a must have for a 7-day odour-free home—guaranteed.
• Lighten the load: Your groceries are heavy enough to load out of the car, now Arm & Hammer ™ Clump & Seal™ LightWeight litter contains the same amount of uses as our regular clumping litter, at half the weight, so you won’t need to worry about lugging heavy litter around with you. This is a life saver for me as I’m the one usually picking up the litter. I appreciate that it’s dust free as I have allergies and any dustiness sets off my sneezing.

• Prepare for playtime: Having different types of toys on hand is a great way to engage with your cat and determine his or her play habits. A scratching post is also essential—cats need to wear down their nails, so be sure to have this in place or your furniture will see the result.
• Spend some quality time together:  In the beginning, visit with your cat frequently but for short periods of time. Visiting can mean interacting directly with your new cat in the form of play or petting, or quietly reading a book or chatting on the telephone in the same space as your new companion.

Oliver wants to you to know that we utilized a lot of these tips when we first adopted him and that’s part of why it was such an easy transition for him to join our family and be the happy, fun loving, cuddly cat that he is today. We hope you find the tips as helpful as we did and that you all have a happy life together, all nine lives too 🙂