My kitten isn't adjusting. Will rehoming affect a 12-week-old?

While eight weeks is best, it's fine to have Cayde come to your home at seven weeks since you will be at home. That will be great in helping her adjust to her new home, and at seven weeks of age, she will be fully weaned from her mother.

Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Cats tend to be quite adaptable and able to adjust to a new environment well, so I think Blueberry and her kitten will probably do just fine! Of course, every cat is different - some cats love the extra stimulation and socialization that comes with having other cats in the household, while other cats prefer to live on their own and are stressed by having other animals around. You know Blueberry best and might be the best judge as far as how she'll do. If you're worried about how she'll respond, you could always consider this a "trial run", and let your friend know that if your cats don't seem to be adjusting well, you could take them back to find better arrangements. You should anticipate that the first week or two will be an adjustment period and your cats might do a bit more hiding than usual, and initial encounters with the other household cats will probably include some hissing as they figure each other out - but within a few weeks Blueberry and her kitten should be looking more relaxed and comfortable in their new surroundings. Good luck - hope this helps!

Hello. No, I do not think a drive that long will be particularly stressful for your new kitten. Offer food & water up to about an hour before leaving. Keep the kitten crated on the floor of your vehicle ( not the seat ), with a light sheet covering it. This will help to decrease motion stress. While at your parent's house, you will continue to bond with the kitten. You do all the feeding & litter box cleaning, but everyone else can, of course, play with her. She is so young, that once you return home, she will figure things out pretty quickly. Take care.

Hopefully you got your neighbors permission before rehoming the kitten! Cats can have a hard time with change, and the sudden move to a completely new household can be very stressful, thus leading to a change in behavior. As with any new kitten, it is also always a good idea to schedule a first wellness check with your vet to get caught up on vaccines, deworming treatment and check for any potential health issues. If kitten checks out healthy, using something such as a Comfort Zone which is a pheromone diffuser designed to help calm cats during change, and adding in plenty of fun toys, easy access to food and water and litter can help. Giving it some time and letting your kitten settle into her new home for a few days is also a good idea to help her relax.

It can take your kitten a week or two to acclimate to its new surroundings. He has to get used to his new environment and used to the fact that he's not around his littermates and mother anymore. Just keep giving him plenty of attention and affection and he should be fine in no time.

Once you get to the new house, it is recommended to restrict her to one room for 2-3 days and it is also recommended to not let her outside the house for two weeks. keep the cat carrier open in the new house as it will be a comfort zone for her during the first 24 hours. try bringing as much from her stuff as you can to the new house (water and food bowls, scratching polls...).

Kittens best stay with their mommy until they are 12 weeks old. Their mother will teach them what is good to eat and what not, how to hunt, and what to hunt safely, how to groom themselves properly, how to use a litter box, what animal is dangerous to them, how to carefully negotiate this world. The kittens will also need their mother still for psychological comfort, even suckling after being weaned is comfort when something was scary. Staying together with their siblings will teach kittens social skills, they get to play-hunt, play-fight, and have fun with other kittens, it keeps them fit, helps them to develop coordination and muscles. So if you can find homes for them before they are 12 weeks old, tell the new owners that they will get well socialised fit kittens that have no problems, rather than kittens who will cry because they miss mommy and the siblings, do have accidents, and show behavior such as cloth sucking, etc.