Food, Litter, and the Routine She Knows
Start with the practical details of her day as it is now. Ask exactly what food she eats, how much, and how often, and take some of that food home with you even if you plan to change it later, because an abrupt food swap on top of a new home is the classic recipe for an upset stomach in the first week. Ask which litter she uses and whether she is using a tray reliably, what her sleeping arrangement has been, and when she is usually active and fed. Recreate that routine as closely as you can for the first days. Familiar food, familiar litter, and familiar meal times are the fastest comfort you can offer a kitten whose whole world has just changed.
Health Paperwork to Get in Writing
Ask what vaccinations she has had and when the next ones are due, when she was last wormed, whether she has been checked by a vet and what that check found, and whether she is microchipped, with the number and paperwork if she is. Verbal answers evaporate; ask for records you can carry away, and photograph them in the car if originals stay behind. Also ask directly whether any kitten in her litter has been unwell, and whether her mother was tested or vaccinated. These are not awkward questions at a responsible breeder or shelter; they are expected ones, and evasive answers on collection day are information in themselves about where she came from.
What They Have Noticed About Her
The people handing her over have watched her for weeks, so ask what they have seen: is she the bold littermate or the one who hangs back, does she eat eagerly, how does she react to handling, children, dogs, and household noise, and has anything worried them about her? Ask, too, what comforts her, because a shelter worker's observation that she settles against a heartbeat or under a blanket becomes your best tool on her first night. If she came in as a stray or was hand-raised, ask what is known and what is genuinely unknown; honest gaps in her history matter for how you plan her first vet visit.
Ask About Her Mother and Her Littermates
While you have the people who know her early life in front of you, ask about the family you are not taking home. How old is her mother, what is her temperament like, and has she raised litters before? How many littermates does your kitten have, and are they all thriving? Was your kitten the largest, the smallest, or the one being pushed off a teat, and did anyone hand-feed or nurse her through a rough patch? These answers sketch the start she had: a kitten who competed hard for food may guard her bowl at first, and a hand-raised kitten may be unusually people-focused. Both are useful to know before you interpret her behaviour at home.
Bringing Her History Home With Her
Before you leave, confirm who to contact if she is unwell in the first days, whether there is a return or support arrangement, and what paperwork is yours to keep. Then file everything you gathered that same evening, while the conversation is fresh, rather than trusting the glovebox. Her food notes, worming dates, vet findings, and the staff's observations about her character are the foundation every later decision builds on. KinsLe's Transferrable Profiles are designed for exactly this handover: her profile can move to you with her history, records, and routines intact, so the first chapter of her life comes home with her instead of being left at the desk.