The First 30 Days With Your Kitten: A Month-by-Month Plan

The first month shapes the next fifteen years. This is a practical week-by-week plan for what to prioritise, and what to deliberately leave until later.

Week 1: Settle, do not socialise

The goal is that your kitten feels safe, not that they meet the neighbourhood. Keep them to one quiet room, establish feeding and sleeping routines, and let them set the pace for contact. Full day-by-day detail is in our first week guide.

Also this week: book your vet visit and register the microchip in your name.

Week 2: Health and handling

Attend the vet visit with the health record from your breeder. Begin gentle daily handling of paws, ears and mouth, each followed by a treat. Introduce the brush and nail clippers without necessarily using them. Keep expanding their access to the house one room at a time.

Week 3: Widen the world

Begin short, positive introductions to other household members and pets. Start play sessions with a wand toy — two or three a day. Introduce the carrier as a bed. If you have not already, add a scratching post near where they already scratch. Read our socialisation guide for the detail.

Week 4: Build the routine that lasts

By now most kittens are eating well, using the tray reliably, playing confidently and seeking you out. This is the point to establish the long-term pattern:

• Fixed mealtimes rather than constant grazing
• A play session before bed, followed by food
• Daily tooth brushing, or as close to it as you can manage
• Weekly grooming and nail checks
• Litter scooped daily, tray fully cleaned weekly
• Monthly parasite prevention on schedule

Month 2 and beyond

Continue the vaccination course as your vet directs, book desexing at the age they recommend, and keep socialisation going through the next few months. See our guides to vaccination and desexing.

Troubleshooting the first month

• Not eating after 24 hours — contact your vet; this is dangerous in kittens
• Hiding constantly after a week — slow down and reduce the space they must cover
• Diarrhoea or vomiting — see your vet, particularly if it persists beyond a day
• Not using the tray — check tray cleanliness and location, and rule out a medical cause; see our litter training guide

You are not on your own

Every kitten from us comes with lifetime aftercare advice, so ask us anything — however small it feels. Get in touch any time.