Kitten Guides

Your First Week at Home: What to Expect

Bringing a kitten home is a joyful day — and it is also, for the kitten, the biggest change of their little life. Even a confident, well-socialised British Shorthair will need a few days to find their feet. This is the honest version of that first week: the hiding, the shyness, the reduced appetite and the occasional upset tummy — most of which is completely normal — along with how to help, and the handful of signs that mean it is time to pick up the phone.

Start With One Room

An entire house is overwhelming on day one. Set your kitten up in a single quiet room with their bed, litter tray, food and water, and somewhere to hide — a covered bed or a cardboard box on its side is perfect. Let them come out of the carrier in their own time, sit on the floor and talk softly, and resist the urge to invite everyone round to meet them. There is more on preparing that room in our homecoming checklist.

They May Hide — and That Is Normal

Do not be surprised — or hurt — if your kitten disappears under the bed and stays there. Some kittens are into everything within the hour; others go quiet, shy and a little sulky for a day or two, and you may barely see them at all. This is not unhappiness; it is a sensible little animal taking stock of a new world. Leave them be, keep the room calm, and let curiosity do the work. Sit quietly in the room reading or on your phone, without reaching for them, and let them choose the moment to approach.

The Night-Time Explorer

A shy kitten will very often come out only once the house is dark and still. You may go to bed convinced they have hardly moved, and wake to find the toys rearranged, the food eaten and the litter tray used. That is a wonderful sign: they are exploring, eating and settling — simply on their own timetable to begin with. Within a few days that confidence spills over into daylight.

A Reduced Appetite in the First Days

A kitten who is stressed by the move may eat less than usual, or pick at their food for the first day or two. Keep everything familiar: feed exactly the raw food and routine they already know from us — this is not the week to change their diet — and put the food down somewhere quiet, near their hiding place, rather than out in the open. A little warm water mixed through can make it more tempting. Most kittens are eating normally within a day or two once they feel safe.

An Upset Tummy Is Common

The stress of a new home, new surroundings and different water can unsettle a young kitten’s digestion, and a slightly loose stool or a bout of mild diarrhoea in the first few days is common and usually nothing to worry about. Keep their diet exactly as it was with us, make sure fresh water is always available, and give them calm and quiet — most upsets settle on their own within a day or two as the kitten relaxes. What helps most is simply not adding new stresses on top: no diet changes, no long journeys, no houseful of visitors just yet.

By the End of the Week

Give it a week and the change is remarkable. The hiding gives way to confident play, the appetite returns, and the daytime explorer emerges. Because our kittens are raised underfoot in a busy family home, the sounds of a household are already familiar to them — so once the initial caution passes, most Muggles Mittens kittens settle into family life beautifully. Patience in week one is repaid many times over.

When to Call the Vet

Mild and short-lived is normal; persistent or severe is not. Ring your vet the same day if your kitten refuses all food for more than twenty-four hours, is not drinking, has diarrhoea or vomiting that continues beyond forty-eight hours or contains blood, seems limp, lethargic or floppy, or shows any laboured breathing. When in doubt, it is always better to make the call. And please ring us too, whatever the question — a responsible breeder is on call for the life of the cat, and no question about your kitten is ever too small.