My Must-Have New Kitten Essentials

Some links are affiliate, so we may earn a small commission at no cost to you. Every purr-chase keeps two very demanding cats in treats. Our policy →

When we first adopted our cats Thelma and Louis (they were found in an Uber, if you can believe that, which is how they got their road-trip names), I wasn’t sure where to start. We had a couple weeks to prepare, and after scouring Reddit and online pet resources I felt like I had a lot of options. Too many options, in fact! We probably bought too much or too little depending on who you ask. And likely did some things wrong. But I’ve learned a lot since then, and have come up with what I think is the definitive list of what you’ll need when you bring a new cat home. Here’s everything, sorted by when you’ll actually reach for it. If you just want the shopping list, there’s a full checklist at the bottom you can save or print.

Buy these before they come home

The one thing we forgot was a carrier. We actually didn’t buy carriers before we got the cats. That was one thing we missed out on, so learn from us and get one ahead of time.

We got a lot of our initial supplies from Petco, and Petco has these cardboard carriers. We brought Thelma and Louis back in those, and they were so small, they were only six weeks old, so they fit. And then we kept buying those, even to take them to the vet as they got older, for the next month or so.

Finally Louis was getting so big that they just didn’t feel sturdy enough. So we got real carriers, which we still use, and they’re really great.

When you shop for yours, get one that opens from both the front and the top. Ours are the soft-sided expandable kind, the airline-approved style, and they’re really great. Lowering a nervous cat in from above is so much easier than pushing one through a small front door while they brace all four legs against the frame. And don’t hide the carrier in a closet between vet trips. Leave it out, open, with a soft blanket inside, so it becomes a normal napping spot instead of the box that only shows up before something scary happens.

Then there’s the litter situation. Our cats were, for the most part, litter trained when they arrived. The very nice woman who was fostering them was using Feline Pine litter, so we used that for probably the first six months of their life.

If you’re not familiar with it, it’s great because it’s a lot cheaper than the pellets we’re currently using, but how it works is the pellets disintegrate once there’s urine, so you kind of have to sift through. I think it’s a good litter, especially on a budget, but I found it a little bit cumbersome. We’ve instead been using the Tidy Cats Breeze pellets, which is a whole system with a pee pad, and I would definitely personally recommend that over the Feline Pine.

Whatever litter you land on, skip the heavily perfumed kinds. That flowery scent is for us, not them, and some cats will just stop using a box that smells strongly of perfume. For the box itself, get one that’s big and open, skip the hood (it’s more for us than for them), and don’t shove it next to the washing machine.

Buy a good enzyme cleaner now, before you need it. Regular cleaners don’t fully get the smell out, and cats will go right back to a spot that still smells like a bathroom to them.

I also really like the veterinary disinfectant wipes, the kind made for clinics and grooming surfaces. We use those if the cats get sick on the floor, or when we’re cleaning up around the litter box. We use those to this day. Those are really great, and nobody tells you to buy them.

For food, we got our cats when they were really little, so what you get depends on their age. The main thing to know: kittens need food made for kittens, not adult cat food, and they need it more often than an adult does.

Whatever age your cat is, find out what they were already eating and start with that same food for the first week or two. A new home is a big enough change without a new diet on the same day. If you want to switch foods, mix the new into the old over a week or so.

For bowls, get small enough kitten bowls, or whatever size fits the age of the cat you’re bringing home. Stainless steel or ceramic beats plastic, since some cats get chin acne from plastic bowls. Set the food a little apart from the water, since a lot of cats don’t love eating right next to where they drink.

In terms of gear, definitely having a couple of cozy beds is great. We went through SO many beds before finding one the cats actually use, a washable donut-style bed. We liked it so much we kept buying them, and now there are three around the house.

My advice? Don’t go big. A huge bed sounds luxurious, but cats curl up in one little corner of it and the rest just collects fur. Get one that’s washable and roughly the size of your cat, and put it where they already sleep, not where it looks cute.

For scratching, get a tall, sturdy sisal post, one that won’t tip when a full-grown cat leans on it, plus one of the flat cardboard ones, since some cats like scratching the floor more than a post. Put the post near where they sleep. Cats love a big stretch right after a nap.

Then toys, such as wands and things like that. If you only buy one toy, make it a wand. Moving the toy like it’s prey beats anything they bat around on their own, every time. Just don’t leave string toys out when you’re not around, because swallowed string is an actual emergency. And you’ll want grooming supplies, a brush, things to wash them with, and nail clippers for the trims every couple of weeks.

Set up the room before they arrive

This part is free, and it’s the most important step. Go smaller than you think. One quiet room with a door, with the litter box, food, water, a bed, and somewhere to hide. Let that be their whole world for the first few days.

We initially kept ours just in our bedroom, but in hindsight, we probably should have kept them in a smaller room.

If your cat comes from a shelter or foster with a blanket or anything that smells like their old home, keep it. Some people also swear by a plug-in calming diffuser (the Feliway kind) for the first few weeks. It’s optional, but it’s cheap insurance if you’ve got a nervous cat, and you plug it in a few days before they arrive.

Before you open up the house, walk it once assuming your kitten can reach anything and will try to eat half of it. Get toxic plants out of reach or out of the house (lilies especially are a true emergency for cats, and the ASPCA keeps a full rundown of the rest worth worrying about), tuck away dangling cords and blind pulls, put away anything stringy, and child-lock the cabinets where the medications and cleaning supplies live. Kittens are toddlers that can reach the ceiling.

And when the big day comes? Put the carrier down in that room, open the door, and let them decide. A lot of cats bolt straight under the bed. That’s normal! Hiding is how cats calm themselves down.

Hang out on the floor, keep things quiet, and let them find you. Some cats are out in an hour, some take days, and both are fine. Once they’re eating, using the box, and coming over to say hi, you can start opening up the house one room at a time.

One honest note from our house, because whatever habits you set in those first weeks are the ones that stick. When ours were kittens, I would go over and pet them while they ate, the idea being to get them used to people being around their food.

Well. Thelma now PREFERS to be pet while she eats, and Louis loves being personally walked over to his food. That one’s kind of our fault. Socialize your kitten, absolutely. Just know whatever routine you teach them is the one you’ll be living with.

Don’t panic about the occasional accident, either. We had read, and it is absolutely true, that kittens are sort of used to peeing if they see a pile of clothes or a pile of blankets. They will sometimes have the urge to urinate.

I remember one time we had a fluffy blanket on one of our bedroom chairs, and Thelma and Louis were climbing over the chair, and all of a sudden we looked over at Thelma, and she had this really blissful look, her eyes had closed, and she was, of course, peeing on the blanket. It went all the way through the chair. I’ll always remember that little look on her face. But for the most part, they’ve really never had any other accidents past that. So keep the tempting blankets and laundry piles up while your cat is little, and don’t panic when one slips through.

Wait on these until you know your cat

A few things everyone tells you to buy on day one are better bought later. We initially used water bowls, but since then we’ve gotten the fountains, which we’re big fans of. We have two in the house, and they’re still out and getting daily use. Cats apparently drink more when the water moves, so a fountain is worth trying once your cat is settled.

I will say it depends on the cat. Thelma went through a stretch where the ONLY thing she wanted to drink out of was a fish-shaped bowl with a little turtle toy in it. (No, I don’t know why. Cats!) Start with bowls on day one and add a fountain once you know who you’re dealing with.

The same goes for the other splurges: a bigger cat tree for real vertical space, a puzzle feeder (great for a food-motivated cat like Louis, ignored by the rest), and more beds and scratchers wherever your cat keeps choosing to settle. None of it has to happen the first week. You can find the specific products we actually use on our shopping list page.

Don’t skip the microchip

Yes, the microchip is so important. Get it done at the vet (or ask if the shelter already did it), and then register it with your current contact info, which is the step everyone forgets. An unregistered chip can’t bring anybody home. Even a strictly indoor cat can slip out a door one day. We’d add a breakaway collar with an ID tag as a backup, and keep a good, clear photo of your cat’s face on your phone. Hopefully you never need either one!

The New Kitten Essentials Checklist

Here’s everything in one place, grouped the way you’ll actually shop for it. Save it or print it for the store.

Category	What to get
Coming home	Carrier that opens front and top Breakaway collar and ID tag
Litter	Litter box, big and open, no hood Litter (Tidy Cats Breeze, or Feline Pine on a budget) Litter scoop and a litter mat Covered pail or waste bags Enzyme cleaner and vet disinfectant wipes
Food & water	Kitten food, wet and dry (the kind they already eat) Food and water bowls, stainless or ceramic Treats Water fountain (add later)
Comfort & scratching	Washable, cat-sized bed A blanket that smells like their old home Tall, sturdy sisal post Flat cardboard scratcher Cat tree or tower (add later)
Play & grooming	A wand toy Crinkle balls, a tunnel, a few solo toys Brush and comb Cat nail clippers Toothbrush and toothpaste Shampoo
Health & to-do	Pick a vet and save the ER vet’s number Vet checkup, shots, and a feeding plan Flea, tick, and deworming meds Any meds they came home needing Microchip registered with your info Clear, full-face photo on your phone Kitten-proof the house (lilies gone, cords and meds secured) Look into pet insurance

Want to go deeper? Our full New Cat Checklist guide walks through every item on this list, with the exact products we use and a printable checklist to take to the store.

Three years in, you’ll have your own version of this list. You’ll know your cat sleeps in the one bed you almost didn’t buy, has opinions about a bowl with a turtle in it, and outgrew the post scratcher you still can’t bring yourself to throw out. We certainly did, and the cats turned out great.