As of: January 30, 2024, 3:42 p.m
By: Katharina Winter
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If you want to acclimate a kitten, you should take it easy.
Kittens should not be separated from their mother until they are 12 to 14 weeks old.
A Finnish study of 6,000 kittens has shown that separating them too early often leads to the cats later behaving aggressively towards people and other kittens.
Not only can physical development be impaired, but a large proportion of kittens also struggle with obsessive-compulsive neurosis in adulthood.
You can recognize this, for example, by excessive cleaning or the so-called pica syndrome.
Cats gnaw on everything they find and simply swallow dangerous objects such as plastic, paper or sand.
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It is therefore important to wait until the kittens meet certain requirements before separating them.
By 12 to 14 weeks they should be able to
to get food for yourself,
to go to the litter box,
to properly care for their fur,
Use your own claws and teeth in a controlled manner when playing with your siblings.
Our tip:
It is easier to acclimatize two kittens from a litter.
The siblings have a very close relationship in the first weeks of life.
Separating from their mother is much easier for two of them than for a kitten alone.
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Let the cat arrive in the new home
The big moving day is exciting for everyone involved.
Make sure your kitten has time to settle in.
It's best to first put the transport box in a quiet room and let your kitten arrive.
The kitten may initially react intimidated to the new environment.
Most of the time, however, curiosity soon wins out and your little cat goes on an exploration tour.
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Stick with it when your new addition to the family gets to know other animal roommates.
If an older cat already lives in the household, it can be helpful to collect a scent sample of the new arrival and confront the older cat with it in advance.
For example, you can simply take an old towel, gently rub the new cat with it and take it home with you.
Human and cat children also have to get used to each other first.
Involve your children right from the start: show them how best to pet the kitten, how to play with it and when to leave their new four-legged friend alone.
When settling a kitten into a new home, human parents should take it easy.
© Nakedking/Imago
The right food for your kitten
Until sexual maturity at the age of ten to 12 months, your kitten needs high-quality food that is specially adapted to the needs of kittens.
In stores it is labeled “baby cat food”.
Offer your new roommate different flavors and brands of food, but don't change too often or abruptly.
Make sure your kitten always has access to fresh water and avoid pure dry meals: the daily water requirement of a young cat is 50 percent higher than that of adult cats.
By the way, no-gos for young kittens are cow's milk, cheese and sausage links.
Getting the kitten settled: Tips if the kitten misses its mom
It can take days or weeks for the kitten to settle in with you and feel really comfortable.
Until then, he may miss his mom and his siblings.
You can tell if your kitten seems to be looking for something, meows loudly, eats little, sucks on blankets and pillows and is not curious.
What is important now is that you remain patient.
Try this:
Stay close to the kitten, but do not crowd it.
Let the kitten sniff your hand again and again, this will help it gain trust.
Don't pet the kitten until it signals that it is ready.
A blanket or pillow from the old home will help settle the kitten in.
Ideally, the souvenir smells like its mom.
Try to distract the kitten by repeatedly trying to play with him.
In the beginning you should leave the little cats alone as little as possible: two to a maximum of four hours.
Play with the kitten extensively before you leave.
Then it sleeps through most of your absence.
Once your cat has settled in and is four to five months old, you can relax and stay away for five hours.