It had arrived, as most days tend to.
The updates from Basia (our breeder) in terms of videos and photographs certainly helped build anticipation which is perhaps why we arrived a little early.
It was a pretty brief exchange- due to circumstances, although there was time for a quick game of Grandma’s Footsteps with the little Bengals.
We were given a copy of the pedigree, contract, insurance and saw proof of registration (for more information on these see: Bengal Cat Scams: List of the Top 9 Things to Know to Avoid One).
Both of us felt bad for taking Hazel away from a lovely home and her brothers. Putting myself in a kitten’s… paws, it must be utterly terrifying being suddenly snatched by strangers from all you’ve ever known, not having the slightest clue as to what will happen next.
To make things a little less stressful for her, we put a blanket over her carrier, and she seemed reasonably well settled, curling up for the duration of the journey.
Arriving Home
On opening the carrier in what has become ‘her room’, we got our first good look at our 12 week old Bengal kitten, in the flesh.
Lying at the back of the carrier, a pair of big eyes studied us. She was very beautiful and as I’ve found, photographs often don’t do Bengal cats justice.
We’d read Basia’s information sheet on how to handle a new kitten, plus one or two I’d received from other breeders.
It’s about giving them a sense of comfort, time and space.
With that in mind, we left the carrier open and vacated the room to allow her to get used to her surroundings on her own to and make sense of the scents she was experiencing for the first time.
Basia had given us a blanket from her now old home, plus used samples of litter to ease the transition.
Evening
Together initially, then taking turns, we sat in the room with her, trying to get her to play a little, showing her that we meant no harm, and put her on the litter tray a couple of times so that she knew where it was.
By evening, she was confident enough to thoroughly explore the room- despite me tapping away on my laptop whilst listening to the football/soccer.
She was wary of us, understandably, but in all in all, Hazel’s first day in her new abode had gone very well.
Further Reading:
