Feeding the proper food is an important part of keeping your kitten healthy. For the first year of his life, he will be growing fast, so will need extra nutrition to keep up with the demands of his development. Feed him a cat food made especially for kittens, or a cat food meant for both adult cats and kittens. Food made only for adult cats will not provide all the nutrition he needs.

Canned food is better than dry, because it provides more meat, which your little carnivore needs, and it also contains more moisture. Read the label, and try to choose a food that does not contain any grain.

Your new cat will also need a litter box. Make sure her box is easy to get to, and show her where it is. Also check that the sides are not too high for her to easily climb in and out. Don’t use clumping clay litter while your kitten is still a baby. It can be dangerous for her if she ingests it, and it could even kill her. The best litter to use for a kitten is something like World’s Best Cat Litter, which is all natural and made from corn.

The next thing you need to do is kitten-proof your house. Kittens are curious and likely to get into everything. Make sure yours can’t get into anything that will hurt him. Keep drawers and cupboard doors closed, especially the cupboards where you keep cleaning supplies and other chemicals. If your kitten is a chewer, you may have to put plastic covers on the electrical wires.

Also, many plants are poisonous to cats, so make sure your kitten can’t get to them to eat them. And be very careful with reclining chairs, because your kitten could easily be crushed in one.

Kittens have lots of energy and love to play. Make sure your kitten has enough toys to keep her from getting bored. Also make sure the toys are safe, and have no small pieces that can break off for your kitten to swallow or choke on. Spend some quality time playing and interacting with your cat every day. This should be fun for both of you, and will help you and your kitten bond.

You will also need to provide your kitten with a scratching post. Scratching is natural for cats, and you want your cat to scratch the post, rather than your carpet or furniture. A sisal or cardboard scratching post would be a good choice.

Taking care of a new kitten can be a challenge, but it should also be lots of fun. As long as you provide your new kitten with a healthy diet and a fun, safe environment right from the start, you should have many happy years together. You may find that you like taking care of kittens so much that you can’t wait to go out and adopt another one!

1. Appearance. This is one of the easiest ways to choose a kitten’s name. If your kitten is grey, you might name her Smokey or Misty. A black and white tuxedo kitty might be called Tux or Jeeves. If your cat has mitts on his feet, you could name him Socks or Boots.

2. Personality. This will take a little longer, since you will need some time to get to know your kitten better before choosing a name. If you have a very vocal, talkative cat, you might call her Gabby. If your kitty is a little genius, you can call him Einstein. A calm and placid kitten (is there such a thing?) might be named Serena.

3. Pairs or groups. Perhaps you have more than one kitten who needs a name. In that case, you might choose themed groups of names, such as Thelma and Louise, John and Yoko, or Larry, Moe and Curly.

4. Your favorite drink. There are many beverages that also make good kittens’ names. Kahlua would be a good name for a black or dark brown kitten. Other cute names include Gimlet and Mojito.

5. Famous people or animals in history. You could name your kitten Elsa, after the lion in Born Free. Or Cleopatra, after the queen of the Nile. Or if you or your little guy has a philosophical bent, you could call him Spinoza.

6. Famous people or animals in literature. How about Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights (or the famous cartoon cat)? Or Titania from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream? Or you could call your great little guy Gatsby.

7. Mythology. You could always name your cat after a mythological god or goddess. Some possibilities include Zeus, the king of the gods, or Athena, who is said to have sprung from Zeus’s head, or perhaps Persephone, the queen of the underworld.

8. Celebrities. There are plenty of celebrities you could name your kitten after. How about Elvis (Presley) or Angelina (Jolie) or Miley (Cyrus)? Or you can name your kitty after one of your personal favorites.

9. Places. Is there a city or country you’ve always wanted to visit, or perhaps a place you’ve been that you loved? You could call your cat Dakota or Paris or Dallas.

10. Foreign names. It doesn’t even have to be a real foreign name. Maybe it just sounds like one. You can call your cat Pepe or Vladimir. Or how about naming a Siamese kitten Mei Tu (”me too”)?

There are so many ways to come up with cute names for kittens. You can name them based on how they look, how they act, or famous people, places or things. You’re limited only by your imagination. Now, see if you can come up with some great kittens’ names of your own.