Your new kitten: a guide to the first six months in India

International Cat Care calls the first six months of a kitten's life very important, the equivalent of a child's first ten years, and says the kitten could be with you for 15 years or more. What you do now shapes how it copes with handling, visitors, travel and the vet for the rest of its life.

Cats Protection says kittens need lots of extra care and attention in their early months, and notes that every cat is different. If no one is home for most of the day, if you have very young children, or if you want to know a cat's character before you commit, an adult cat may suit you better. Our guide to getting a cat covers adult cats.

Kittens grow fast. International Cat Care puts sexual maturity from five months, so neutering, netting and a vet plan need to be in place well before then.

International Cat Care says you simply need to provide a tray and litter in an easy-to-reach place and the kitten will usually use it. If it seems unsure, has accidents or goes somewhere else, place it in the tray from time to time, usually after a meal or after it wakes up. Never punish an accident; it only teaches the kitten to be afraid.

Keep the tray clean. Kittens avoid soiled trays, and dirty trays can spread infection. Scoop out solids, and urine if the litter clumps, at least once a day, and wash the tray thoroughly at least weekly with hot water and washing-up liquid or a cat-safe cleaner, well rinsed. Some disinfectants, including phenolic ones that go cloudy in water, are toxic to cats.

As the kitten grows it will need a bigger tray, about one and a half times its length from nose to the base of the tail. Avoid scented litter, liners and self-cleaning trays. If your home has more than one floor, put a tray on each. In a multi-cat home, the rule is one tray per cat plus one extra, and the kitten should always have one of its own.

International Cat Care says kittens have small stomachs and must be fed little and often: kittens aged eight to 12 weeks need at least four meals a day, kittens of three to six months at least three, and young cats over six months at least two. Check the pack for the amount, and ask your vet to check your kitten's growth at each visit.

Feed a good quality complete kitten food. The booklet notes that a home-made diet is very hard to get right for a fast-growing kitten, and that raw diets are not complete for kittens and can carry diseases that make both cats and people ill. Cats are obligate carnivores and cannot thrive without meat, so a kitten cannot be vegetarian.

Keep feeding the food the kitten came with at first: a sudden change on top of a new home can cause tummy upsets and diarrhoea. If you need to change it, mix the new food in gradually over three to seven days. Put water away from the food bowl, with a second water bowl elsewhere. Skip milk and curd, which upset many cats, and keep onion and garlic dishes out of reach.

International Cat Care puts a kitten's sensitive period between two and seven or eight weeks, and Cats Protection gives two to seven weeks. Many kittens are past it by the time they come home, but there is plenty you can still do, right through adolescence.

Introduce new sights, sounds and people slowly. Play recordings of children, a pressure cooker whistle, a mixer, doorbells and traffic at low volume while the kitten eats or plays, and raise the volume over days. Let visitors sit quietly and offer a treat rather than reach for the kitten. Make the carrier a good place by leaving it open at home with treats inside, and International Cat Care recommends regular vet visits in the early months, with lots of rewards, so the clinic is not only about injections.

Always let the kitten choose to approach or retreat. If it seems timid or anxious, stop and ask your vet, who can refer you to a qualified behaviourist. Never push a scared kitten to face what frightens it.

Before the kitten explores the flat, net the balcony and every window that opens: kittens can be seriously hurt falling from windows. Ask your society in writing before fixing netting outside. AWBI's 2015 guidelines say a society cannot ban pets by vote or bye-law and apply the same to cats as to dogs; our page on pets in housing societies explains what it can ask.

A kitten should not be left alone for long, and it should not go to a cattery or boarding before its vaccines are done and your vet agrees. If you must travel in the first months, someone staying in your home, or several drop-in visits a day, keeps meals on time and the tray clean. A Petym sitter will meet your kitten at a free meet and greet first, follow the plan you write and send a daily photo update. Petym is not taking bookings yet; it opens city by city once sitters have passed its checks.

The first year costs more than later ones, and the cost depends on choices you can plan for: the kitten food you choose, litter and trays, the vaccine course and boosters, deworming and flea control, neutering, a microchip, netting, toys and scratching posts, and care when you travel. International Cat Care notes that the first year is the most hazardous, and that insurance, where available, is priced on breed, where you live and the cover chosen.