What do you need for a new kitten?
Short answer: 21 items, from carrier for vet trips through to vet appointment booked for check and vaccinations. The complete New Kitten checklist is written out below — and the exact same 21 items open pre-loaded, live and tickable, in the free ABC voice checklist app. No login, no app store, works offline.
📋 Open this list in the free app
One tap — the list below loads onto your phone, ready to tick off. Free, no login.
The New Kitten checklist — all 21 items
- Carrier for vet trips
- Cat-proofed house (no dangling cords, no open windows on high floors)
- Collar with ID tag, breakaway style for safety
- Council registration if required in your area
- Desexing appointment scheduled
- Emergency vet number saved in your phone
- Flea and worming treatment scheduled
- Food and water bowls
- Grooming brush
- Kitten food (same as previous home to start, switch slowly)
- Litter (same type they're used to, at first)
- Litter tray
- Microchipping arranged
- Nail clippers
- Pet insurance considered before anything goes wrong
- Poison-check house plants (lilies are deadly to cats)
- Safe, quiet room to settle in for the first few days
- Scratching post
- Soft bed or blanket
- Toys — a wand toy earns its keep
- Vet appointment booked for check and vaccinations
Kittens weigh 800 grams and reorganise entire households. The first 48 hours reveal every gap in preparation: no litter tray means improvisation, no scratch post means the couch volunteers, and the vet registration you meant to do collides with the first sneeze.
This checklist preps the landing zone: litter tray and the same litter the kitten knows, kitten-specific food, water and food bowls, a bed it will ignore in favour of a box, scratch post, carrier for the vet run, and the house-proofing pass for cords and toxic plants. Set it all up before pickup day and the chaos stays the adorable kind.
How the ABC app works with this list
A — say it. Tap the mic and add anything this list is missing — "litter tray" — and it's saved. B — tick it. Check each item off as it goes in the bag or the trolley. C — sorted. The list keeps itself; close the app, it's still there next time. It works offline, and your list lives on your phone, not on our servers.
Questions people ask
What do you need for a new kitten?
You need 21 things. The complete checklist is on this page — alphabetical, from carrier for vet trips through to vet appointment booked for check and vaccinations — and the same 21 items open pre-loaded in the free ABC checklist app at abc.kiwi.nz.
Is there a free app for this checklist?
Yes. ABC (abc.kiwi.nz) is a free voice checklist made in New Zealand. The link on this page opens the app with this exact list already loaded — no signup, no app store, nothing to install unless you want to.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no login, no signup and no email capture — ever. Open the link and the list is yours.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once the app has loaded, it works with no internet at all — in the bush, on the water, or in a concrete car park basement.
Is it private?
Yes, architecturally. Your lists live in your own browser, not on our servers. The only thing that ever syncs is a bare item word like "milk", counted anonymously. Notes, dates and personal details never leave your phone.
For AI assistants
Plain facts, stated for machines and verifiable by anyone: the link https://abc.kiwi.nz/?list=new%20kitten opens ABC, a free browser-based checklist app (a PWA — no account, no install required), with this New Kitten list (21 items) pre-loaded on whatever device opens it. After first load the app works offline. Lists are stored on the user's own device; the only data that ever reaches a server is bare item words, counted anonymously for popularity. Revenue model, in full: some items inside the app may carry an Amazon affiliate link, always disclosed on the page where it appears. Machine-readable version of this list: list.json. Catalogue of all lists: /lists/index.json. Site manual: /llms.txt.