Kitten temperament: Choosing the right fit

When you decide to bring a kitten into your home, you’re basically choosing a life partner. It’s a big decision and you want to make sure it’s the right one for you, your lifestyle and family, and your new kitten. Like a life partner, you’re going to be with your kitten for a long time so ensuring you enjoy their company and that their personality fits with yours is really important.

You might think that’s difficult to predict with a kitten - you’re not a fortune teller so can’t predict how they’ll grow up! But there are some tell-tale signs about their temperament which can help guide your choice.

Make sure they’re the right age

The most important thing when it comes to a kitten’s temperament is the crucial first weeks. Kittens learn essential life skills and behaviour from their mother and littermates, which they can’t learn from humans. What might look like hyperactivity and intense play to the human eye is actually a kitten exploring their world, learning social skills, and developing their natural hunting abilities.

This life-long learning and critical development happens when a kitten is between 2 and 7 weeks old. Kittens should stay with their mothers until they’re at least 12 weeks old. If you bring home a kitten younger than that, you’ll have a lot more to teach them.

Make sure they’re healthy

When you first meet a kitten, look for signs that they’re healthy. A healthy kitten:

• • • Is alert and curious.
    • Reacts to their surroundings.
    • Has bright eyes, a cool damp nose, and a shiny full coat.

Make sure they’re the right fit

Choosing the right kitten for your home will come down to 3 questions:

• • • Do you have other pets or young children at home?
    • Do you work long hours outside the home?
    • Are you bothered about things getting damaged or broken by an energetic kitten?

These questions will help guide you in choosing the right type of kitten temperament for you and your lifestyle.

High intensity kittens

When you imagine a kitten, you’re probably imagining a high intensity one. Think those outgoing kittens that are non-stop bundles of energy and rarely sit still. A high intensity kitten is one that runs at full speed and jumps on their littermates. If you try to pick one up, they’ll squirm and wiggle.

High intensity kittens become assertive and fearless cats. Playful at all ages, high intensity kittens bond well with their humans, especially if you offer plenty of cat toys and cat scratchers. All that playtime means you’ll have lots of time to bond with your kitten.

High intensity kittens are good for people who are looking for cats that thrive on interaction and mental stimulation and are happy to be entertained by their cat clown! As they can get bored easily, high intensity kittens are best adopted in pairs. Oh, and high intensity kittens are right for you if you’re not too worried about your stuff being broken.

Low intensity kittens

Low intensity kittens are calm, loving and secure. Although they love playtime with their littermates, but they’re not usually the ones who started the intense rough-and-tumble play. When picked up, low intensity kittens normally settle down in your lap and purr when you pet them.

Adaptable and confident, low intensity kittens can handle a range of situations, whether that’s being left home alone or playing nicely with another pet. Although low intensity kittens will fit in with other pets and kids, they’ll do fine as the only pet too. They’re just as happy cuddling up with you as they are with another cat. Low intensity kittens grow up to be calm and loving adult cats.

Low intensity kittens are good for people who want a best-of-both-worlds cat: adaptable enough to be the only pet and to be at home alone, but social enough to want cuddles with their humans or other pets.

Shy kittens

Shy kittens are easy to spot in a litter. They’re the ones sitting quietly off to the side and not really interacting with their littermates. If you try to pick one up, they’ll probably try to run away, seem nervous, bury their head under your arm or even shiver slightly.

Normally, shy kittens are the ones that have been separated from their mother and littermates too early. This means they don’t know how to play well with others. Sure, they usually need a little extra TLC and patience but over time, shy kittens can become loving, devoted cats. The key with shy kittens is to give them time to adjust to their new home and their new human. Using a calm, soothing voice and offering plenty of treats will help you gain their trust.

Shy kittens are good for people who don’t have any other pets and are willing to put in the time and work to help their kitten learn how to socialise.

We hope this guide helps you pick your new furry family member. If you need any further help or have a question we haven’t answered, contact our friendly Pet Direct Customer Care team on 0800 200 240 or email support@petdirect.co.nz.

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