Cats find their way by smell, by the space they know and by routine. In a new home none of that exists yet, and the most common reaction is to hide for the first few hours.
So the rule is to start small: the cat stays in one room first and only later gets the rest of the house. A small space is easier to learn, and any problem shows sooner.
Before the arrival
Choose a small, quiet room with a door where the cat can stay for the first few days. A bedroom or a little-used study will do. Avoid the living room, the kitchen and through-routes, where there is constant noise and movement.
Set that room up before you collect the cat, with the minimum resources:
- Food and water, in separate bowls.
- A litter tray, with the litter the cat is used to, if you can find out which.
- A bed or a blanket.
- A hiding place, such as a cardboard box on its side or a covered bed.
- A sturdy scratching post that does not tip over when the cat leans on it.
- Safe toys, with no loose strings or small parts that could be swallowed.
Where things go matters as much as what they are. The litter tray should be away from food and water: a cat tends to avoid a tray placed next to where it eats. Change the water every day. The hiding place should be in an accessible corner, where the cat can go in and out without passing the door or the people.
Check the house at a cat's height too, since a cat jumps and squeezes into unexpected places:
- Windows and balconies closed or secured with mesh. Tilt-and-turn windows are a risk of their own: the cat tries to get through the gap, gets trapped by its body and can be badly injured.
- Electric and charger cables out of reach or protected.
- Hair ties, thread, needles and other small objects put away, because they can be swallowed.
- Medicines, cleaning products and insecticides shut in a cupboard.
- Plants checked before they are within the cat's reach. Lilies should not be in a home with cats: every part of the plant, including the pollen and the vase water, can cause serious kidney damage.
Have a hard carrier that closes securely for the journey home. After the arrival, leave it open in the room with a blanket inside: it becomes another place to retreat to and stops being only the box for trips to the vet.
The first day
Take the cat straight to the prepared room, put the carrier on the floor and open the door. Do not pull it out. Let it come out when it wants to, even if that takes hours.
Stay nearby without insisting. Sit on the floor, speak softly and let the cat come to you. Do not chase it or pick it up against its will, and put off visitors. If there are children, always supervise contact.
It is usual for the cat to spend much of the first day hidden. What matters is whether it drinks, eats and uses the litter tray: those are the signs that settling in is starting well.
The first days
Keep fixed times for food, for cleaning the tray and for play. Predictability helps the cat understand that the space is safe.
Give it the same food it was eating before, in the same amount; ask whoever hands it over which one. Moving house is already a big change, and changing the food at the same time raises the risk of digestive problems. If you want to switch food, do it later and gradually, mixing the new with the old over several days.
Scoop the litter tray every day. A dirty tray can lead a cat to go somewhere else.
Open up the rest of the house when, in the first room, the cat:
- eats and drinks regularly;
- uses the litter tray;
- sleeps outside its hiding place;
- explores the space and approaches people without obvious signs of fear.
Open one room at a time and leave the door of the first room open, so the cat can go back. Keep the litter tray, the food and the water in the same place during this period.
If there is already another cat
The introduction is done in stages, which can take from a few days to several weeks:
- Separation: the new cat stays in its room and the resident keeps the rest of the house. They do not see each other.
- Scent swapping: swap blankets or beds between them.
- Controlled sight: let them see each other through a mesh screen or a door left ajar and wedged, briefly, ideally while they eat or play.
- Short supervised meetings: in the same room, for a few minutes, with a person present and a way to separate them.
- Gradual living together: lengthen the meetings, and only leave them together unsupervised after several calm meetings in a row.
Move on when both cats eat, play and rest normally at the stage they are at. Go back a stage if there is hissing, growling, chasing or fighting, or if either stops eating or using the litter tray.
Each cat should have its own resources, in different places: food, water, bed, hiding place and litter tray. The practical rule for trays is one per cat, plus one. That way neither cat has to pass the other to reach what it needs.
Health and legal duties in Portugal
Book a vet appointment for the first few days and take the health booklet you received with the cat. The vet assesses its general condition, checks the microchip and sets the vaccination and parasite plan that suits that cat, its age and whether it will go outdoors.
In Portugal, cats must be microchipped and registered with SIAC, the national companion animal register. When a cat changes owner, the transfer of keeper must be reported to SIAC within 15 days, with the consent of both the previous and the new keeper. Agree with whoever hands the cat over how you will do this before you take it home.
Warning signs
Some shyness in the first days is expected. The signs below are not. Contact a vet if the cat:
- does not eat or drink;
- does not use the litter tray;
- is lethargic and does not react to its surroundings;
- vomits persistently;
- shows signs of pain, such as staying still and hunched, reacting badly to touch or crying unusually.
A cat that tries to urinate and cannot needs to be seen immediately, even out of hours. If in doubt, phone the vet and describe what you saw.