Introduce Your Kitten to New Experiences

Kittens are adorable playmates, but they need to be exposed to a variety of experiences while they are young in order to grow into well-adjusted adult cats. Introduce your cat to a variety of animals, people, sounds, smells, and experiences. Take your kitten on short car rides in its carrier and expose it to various appliance sounds in your home to let your kitten grow accustomed to the sounds. Reward your kitten with treats to help it create a positive association with each new experience.

Steps

Exposing Your Kitten To Other Animals

1. Start early. The more a kitten experiences in its first few weeks of life, the more likely it is that your kitten will grow up into a well-socialized cat. The first twelve weeks are the most important for socializing your kitten, so be sure to start exposing it to new animals, people, and experiences early on.
   • Think of all the things you assume your cat will experience in its lifetime and try to expose the cat to it during these first few weeks.
   • If you live on a farm, you might want to consider introducing your kitten to some of the farm animals while it is very young.
   • If you have other pets in your home, let the kitten meet them during these early weeks.
2. Introduce them slowly. If you have other animals in the house (especially older animals), take the introductions slowly. Let the other animals smell the kitten on your clothes and hands before you bring the kitten in. And let the kitten smell the other animals on you.
   • Don’t try to force the kitten to interact with another animal until it seems ready. Kittens are naturally curious, so it should become ready to interact after a short period of time.
   • Avoid forcing your other animals to interact with the kitten if they seem resistant. Let all the animals warm up to each other at their own pace.
3. Control the new animals and protect the kitten. Remember that kittens are quite tiny, so you may need to take some precautions to ensure the safety of your kitten. This is especially true when you’re introducing the kitten to larger animals. Hold the kitten protectively in your lap or your arms and allow the other animal to sniff it (and the kitten to smell the other animal). Let them interact in supervised encounters until you are certain that the kitten will be safe with the other animal.
   • If you have a big dog, it may mistake the kitten as prey. So be very careful with the introduction and monitor their interaction constantly. Keep your dog on a leash during the initial interactions.
   • If you have horses or cows, they may accidentally stomp on the kitten.

Socializing Your Kitten With Other Humans

1. Invite guests over for short stays. You want your cat to get used to other people coming over to your house, so you need to start inviting guests over early. Ask some friends over for shorter periods of time – like for dinner or for a couple hours in the afternoon – so your kitten can get used to the door opening and strangers coming into the house.
   • Ask your friends to bring treats for the kitten so that it associates strangers with a positive experience.
   • Practice ringing the doorbell or knocking and then giving your kitten rewards before the guest actually arrives. This way your cat will already have a positive association with the sound.
2. Invite people over for longer visits. In addition to short visits, you want your kitten to grow accustomed to having people in the home for longer visits. Ask a family member or friend to come stay for a couple of days so your kitten can experience this while it is young.
   • Again, ask your visitor to bring a treat for the kitten.
3. Introduce the kitten to children. Your kitten will probably encounter both adults and children during its lifetime. You should try to expose your kitten to small children while it is at the socializing age. Instruct the children to handle the kitten very gently and not to force the kitten to do anything it doesn’t want to (like sitting in their lap, being carried around, or getting dressed up in costumes).
   • Small children can often be a bit rough with animals, so be sure to monitor the interaction closely.
   • This will also help your kitten learn how to interact with children as it grows up.
4. Let the kitten move at its own pace. Don’t force the kitten to interact with new people if it clearly doesn’t want to. Sometimes kittens don’t like to be held by strangers and you shouldn’t force them. Let the kitten become curious on its own and start exploring while the guests are there.
   • Encourage your kitten to interact with the guests, but never use force. Entice your kitten with treats and playtime instead.

Introducing New Experiences

1. Expose your kitten to a variety of sounds. Think about all the sounds you expect your kitten to experience as it grows up in your home and expose your kitten to them early on. Close doors loudly, play music, use the blender, turn on the hairdryer or the vacuum cleaner, and do all the things that make noise in your home.
   • Remember to give your kitten treats and encouragement whenever a loud noise happens so that it doesn’t get too scared or create a negative association in its mind.
   • Try placing your cat’s food bowl next to the washing machine so that it will grow accustomed to the loud noises the machine makes and associate it with the positive experience of eating.
2. Show your kitten a variety of landscapes. Make sure that your kitten is exposed to many different surfaces in your home. Help the kitten up and down the stairs. Show the kitten how to use the doggy door (if you have one in your home). Take your cat outside into the grass if you expect it to be an indoor/outdoor kitty.
   • Be sure to encourage your kitten with positive reinforcement when it explores places you want it to go. And discourage the kitten from going places you want it to avoid (like on the table or kitchen counters) by removing it from the location and distracting it with a toy or a treat.
3. Introduce your kitten to the cat carrier. Adult cats often don’t like being put in cat carriers, but if you introduce your kitten to the experience when it is very young it may handle it better as an adult. Put the carrier out where your kitten can see it and get inside on its own. Feed your kitten near the carrier and put treats inside. This will help your kitten associate the carrier with positive experiences.
   • Once the kitten is used to the carrier, place it inside and carry it around for short periods at a time.
4. Take your kitten on car rides. If you live in a place where you will have to take your cat on road trips or in car rides to the vet, make sure you let your kitten experience this when it is still young. Put your kitten in its carrier and take it on short car rides. Be sure to give it treats during and after the trip and encourage it with praise during the process.
   • If you take public transportation often, bring your kitten with you for a short ride on the train or bus in its carrier.

Related Articles

• Introduce a New Cat to Other Cats
• Socialize Your Kitten
• Introduce New Pets
• Introduce Solid Food to Kittens

Sources and Citations

See also

• Keep a Cat Calm During Fireworks
• Know if a Cat Is Stressed
• Form a Bond With an Angry, Scared Cat
• Calm Down a Kitten