Proof first, cat second — and think at floor height
Cat-proofing works when it happens before the cat arrives, because a new cat explores a home in its first hours with a thoroughness you will never see again. Do the sweep on your hands and knees, literally at cat eye level, room by room. From down there you will see the dangling cable behind the television, the gap behind the washing machine, the cleaning spray under the sink in a cupboard that does not quite close, and the hair tie under the sofa — the whole hidden world a cat will find on day one. Anything you would not hand a curious toddler applies, plus a few hazards that are specific to cats.
The non-negotiable hazards to remove or lock away
Certain plants must leave the house entirely, not move to a high shelf: true lilies are dangerously toxic to cats even in small amounts, and pollen on a coat is enough to matter. Cleaning chemicals, laundry pods, medicines, and antifreeze go into cupboards with child latches a cat cannot hook open, since many cats learn cupboard doors within a week. Bundle cables into sleeves or trunking, especially chargers and any cord a kitten might chew, and shorten or tie up blind and curtain cords into fixed loops well out of reach — cord entanglement is a quiet, common killer. Small objects migrate behind doors and into drawers: hair ties, elastic bands, string, tinsel, needles, coins, and children's small toys are all swallowable, and string-like objects are the most dangerous of the list.
Appliances, windows, and the traps cats fall for
Fit window screens that can take a cat's full weight leaning or launching against them, and never rely on a tilted window, which can trap a cat dangerously. Keep toilet lids down until you know your cat, and build the household habit of checking inside the washing machine and tumble dryer and closing their doors — a warm, dark drum is a sleeping place to a cat. Shut the oven and dishwasher promptly, cap open chimneys or block fireplaces, and check recliner mechanisms and sofa beds before folding them away. In the bathroom, move razors and cotton buds out of reach, and in the kitchen, assume the cat will be on the counters from the first evening and store food and knives accordingly.
Set up the safe starter room
A new cat does not need the whole proofed house on day one; it needs one room done completely. Choose a quiet room and put in it a litter tray away from the food and water, a scratching post, a bed, and a hiding place with two exits, such as a box with two doors cut in it. Add something that smells of the cat's previous home if the rescue or breeder can provide it. Let the cat settle there, visit calmly, and open the rest of the house a room at a time over the following days, checking each new room at cat height before it opens. Proofing the garden or balcony, if you have one, waits until the cat is settled and you know whether it is a climber, a digger, or a door-darter.
Splitting the sweep so it actually gets finished
A whole-house sweep fails when it is one person's vague intention, so divide it by room and write it down as a checklist with names attached. KinsLe Care Teams lets you assign each room's proofing and setup duties for your new cat to a specific household member, and each finished task is marked with a timestamp, so on arrival day you can see at a glance that the bathroom latch, the cable sleeves, and the starter room are genuinely done rather than remembered as done.