New Kitten Checklist

Bringing home a new feline friend? Our complete new kitten checklist covers everything you need - from food and litter trays to vaccinations, worming and neutering - to help your kitten settle in safely and confidently.

Welcoming a kitten into your home is exciting – but preparation is key. Following a structured new kitten checklist ensures you cover all the essentials for health, safety and wellbeing.

1. Preparing Your Home

Before your kitten arrives, create a calm, secure space where they can settle gradually. Choose a quiet area away from heavy foot traffic.

Include:

• A bed - a soft, washable bed is important for somewhere your kitten can return to when they need to relax and feel safe.

• Food and water bowls - kept separate from the litter tray

• A litter tray - placed somewhere private away from food and water bowls, and noisy areas in the home. If you have more than one cat, then ensure you have 1 more litter tray than you have cats and place each in different locations throughout the house. This allows your cats to toilet when they need to and reduces the risk of stress related urinary problems.

• Scratching posts - to prevent unwanted scratching. Try and have a few dotted around so your kitten doesn’t have to wander too far to find one.

• A few toys - to provide an outlet for natural hunting behaviour, as well as a chance for bonding between you both.

• Calming support - your pet may find the introduction to a new environment stressful, so it’s worth considering calming support such as a diffuser or spray which can easily be added into the home.

Also watch out for hazards:

• Keep electrical cords tucked away

• Remove small objects that could be swallowed

• Think of it as kitten-proofing in the same way you would baby-proof a home

Introducing your kitten to other pets

If you already have other pets, it’s a good idea to do the following:

• Introduce them gradually and use scent swapping (e.g. bedding) before face-to-face meetings.

• Ensure each pet in your household has their own space and any interactions or introductions, at least initially, are done on ‘neutral ground’.

• This is especially important for cats that often form separate territories. Where your current cat spends most of their time (e.g. sleeping/resting) is likely to be considered their territory, ‘neutral’ ground often includes rooms your cat doesn’t spend much time in.

2. Feeding Your Kitten

Kittens grow rapidly and need higher levels of protein, energy and essential nutrients than adult cats. It’s important you feed them a complete kitten food to meet these needs.

How often to feed kittens

As a general guide:

• Feed 4 meals a day up to 4 months old

• Reduce to 3 meals a day until around 6 months

• Reduce to 2 meals daily at 6 months of age

• Adult cats often graze on food throughout the day, rather than eat all at once. You may find that your cat once in adulthood can have their bowl filled with their daily ration of dry food once daily, so they can graze on this over a 24 hour period.

• Always provide fresh water and remove old food, even if dried kibble, when filling up the bowl.

Wet or dry food for kittens?

VioVet vet, Dr Nicholas Garside BVetMed MRCVS, advises:

Dry kibble is generally better for your cat’s teeth and is easier to store or leave out for grazing behaviour. Complete wet diets are perfectly safe to give though and which to go for is down to personal preference.

Many owners like to use a combination - leaving dry food out throughout the day for grazing and using a once or twice daily wet pouch. Whatever your method, ensure you are feeding as per the product packaging to avoid over or underfeeding your pet.

For example: if feeding 25% wet food and 75% dry, then ensure you only give 25% of the recommended daily amount of wet food as per the packaging for your pet’s age/weight.

When to change from kitten food to cat food

You can transition your kitten to adult food when they are fully grown. The timing of this phase varies depending on the brand and breed, so we advise reading the packaging of your food to work this out. This is typically around 12 months (later for larger breeds like Maine Coons).

Recommended kitten foods

• Purina

• Royal Canin

• If a diet is described as complete on the packaging

High-quality kitten diets may cost more upfront, but better nutrition often means smaller portions and improved long-term health.

3. Vaccinations, Microchipping & Vet Registration

Vaccinations are one of the most important items on your new kitten checklist.

Book an appointment with your vet to discuss their recommended protocols, but most kittens receive:

• First vaccine: 8–9 weeks

• Second vaccine: 3–4 weeks later

Protection is usually complete around four weeks after the final vaccination. Until protection is complete, avoid outdoor access and contact with unvaccinated animals.

We recommend keeping kittens indoors until they are neutered and ideally until they are beyond a year of age. This is because they can become pregnant from as early as 4 months of age, and they tend to be less streetwise so are at a higher risk of road traffic accidents.

Your vet will also advise on:

• Microchipping (a legal requirement in England by the age of 20 weeks)

• Annual booster vaccinations

• Ongoing parasite prevention

4. Flea & Worming Treatments

Parasites can quickly build up and lead to more complicated issues without regular flea and worming treatments. Routine prevention and treatment is far easier (and less expensive) than treating a full infestation.

Worming

Kittens often carry worms from birth, passed on from their mother.

A typical kitten worming schedule is:

• 2 - 12 weeks: Every 2 weeks

• 3 - 6 months: Monthly

• 6 months onwards: Tailored to your cat’s specific needs, usually as advised by your vet.

Please also see our worming guide - How to Treat Worms in Cats - Vet Tips and Advice

Recommended worming products:

• Panacur Liquid or Paste Wormers - safe for use at any age. Covers roundworms but does not cover tapeworms so it’s advised to move onto a wormer that covers this when your cat starts going outside.

• TermaWorm Wormer - suitable when over 6 weeks of age, covers roundworms and tapeworms.

Flea prevention

Flea prevention is equally important as worming. Even young kittens can pick up fleas from their environment.

Typical de-flea schedule:

Apply your chosen flea treatment as often as the dosing instructions advise, without gaps.

Recommended de-flea products:

• Frontline Spray or FIPROtec Flea Spray - up to 8 weeks old, only fipronil sprays are safe and licensed for use.

• Advantage Spot On Flea Control - once 8 weeks or older.

• TermaFlea Combo Spot On - suitable over 8 weeks and 2kg in weight.

Make sure any product you use is licensed for your kitten’s age and weight.

5. Training & Behaviour

While kittens aren’t trained like dogs, they still need boundaries.

• Encourage scratching posts early to protect furniture.

• Most kittens learn how to use the litter tray from their mother’s but you can help reinforce this by placing kittens in the litter tray after meals and naps.

• Reward calm behaviour and ignore attention-seeking mischief.

• If your kitten carries out unwanted behaviours (such as urine spraying or scratching) then provide alternative acceptable outlets for these instinctive behaviours. This could include placing a scratching post where your kitten scratches or extra litter trays where they are toileting.

• Handle paws, ears and mouth gently from a young age to build tolerance for grooming and vet checks.

Consistency, patience and positive reinforcement go a long way.

6. Neutering

Neutering is strongly recommended in most healthy cats, often considered from around 4 months onwards, depending on your vet’s guidance.

Pros and cons of neutering a male cat

• Pros: Calmer, reduced risk of urine marking, reduced risk of cat fights and prevention of testicular diseases.

• Cons: Anaesthetic risk

Pros and cons of neutering a female cat

• Pros: Prevents life threatening conditions e.g. uterine/ovarian cancer and infected uterus (pyometra), reduced risk of mammary cancer, accidental pregnancy, and prevents seasons.

• Cons: Anaesthetic risk

Note: For a healthy pet, the anaesthetic risk is very low. Unneutered females are very good at getting pregnant too and can have a litter as early as 6 months of age! Keeping your kitten indoors until neutering avoids this risk.

7. Insurance

Vet treatment can become expensive very quickly. While minor issues may cost under £100, surgery, hospitalisation, or investigations can easily run into thousands. Insurance gives peace of mind that you won’t have to choose between finances and your kitten’s health.

A lifetime insurance policy is generally recommended, as these cover long term conditions (such as arthritis or diabetes) year after year. Always check:

• Annual limits

• Per-condition caps

• Exclusions, such as that of pre-existing conditions

Insuring your kitten whilst they’re young and healthy is typically more affordable and ensures the widest level of cover.

Get Ready for Your New Kitten

Preparing for a kitten isn’t just about buying toys and a bed — it’s about building the foundations for a healthy, confident and well-adjusted adult cat.

Explore our full kitten essentials range and make sure you have everything in place for a happy, healthy start.

Written by: VioVet