New Puppy & Kitten guides
Practical, veterinary-led guidance on New Puppy & Kitten, following the journey stage by stage. Read in order, or jump to where you are. View all guides
1Should we, and where from?
4 guides
Pet insurance for a new pet: lifetime vs annual, and why timing wins
Of all the admin that lands on you with a new puppy or kitten, insurance is the one that feels the easiest to put off and is actually the most urgent. Not because something is about to go wrong, but because the choice...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Buying safely: Lucy's Law and spotting a bad seller
Of all the decisions you'll make in your pet's first year, where you get them from is the one that sets the most. It quietly shapes their health, their temperament and how the next twelve to fifteen years go, and it's...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
The paperwork decoded: Puppy Contract and Kitten Checklist
Collection day is close, and at some point a folder of paperwork is going to be handed over to you. Or, and this is the part worth watching for, it won't be, and you'll be left wondering whether that's normal. Most new...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 8 min read
Choosing well: breed, rescue, and your real life
There's a particular kind of daydream that comes before a puppy or a kitten. You picture the walks, or the cat curled on your lap while it rains. You've probably got a breed in mind already, or a photo saved on your...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
2Bringing them home
6 guides
Worming and flea control in the first year
If you have ever stood in a pet shop aisle staring at a wall of wormers and flea spot-ons, feeling faintly grossed out and completely unsure which one is "right", this is the article for you. Parasite control is one of...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
The UK vaccination schedule explained (10-week vs 16-week finish)
If you have found this page, there is a fair chance you are confused, and honestly, that is not your fault. The breeder said one thing, your vet said another, a forum said a third, and somewhere along the way you have...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
The first vet visit and the microchip law
Booking your new puppy or kitten in for its first proper vet visit is one of the best things you can do in the first week, and yet a lot of people put it off, either because they are not sure what happens, or because...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
Preparing your home and the first 72 hours
Collection day is one of the most exciting days you will have as a new owner, and if you are anything like most people, it also comes with a low hum of anxiety underneath. You want to get it right. You have probably got...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
FeLV and FIV: should you test your kitten?
If someone has mentioned "cat AIDS" or "feline leukaemia" to you, or you have seen the initials FeLV and FIV on a rescue's paperwork, you might be feeling a jolt of fear that is out of all proportion to what these...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
Cat flu: what every kitten owner should know
Very few things throw a new kitten owner more than the first sneeze. One day you have a bright, bouncy kitten, and the next it has runny eyes, a snuffly nose, and that small, wet sneeze that makes your heart sink. Is it...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
3Is this normal?
6 guides
The puppy blues: it's real, it's common, and it passes
If you have just typed something like "do I still want my puppy" or "I regret getting a kitten" into a search bar, and you feel a bit sick for having done it, please read the next sentence before anything else. What you...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Teething and biting: surviving the land-shark phase
There is a particular moment, usually a few weeks in, when a lot of new owners quietly panic. The adorable puppy has turned into a set of needle-sharp teeth attached to a small body that launches at your hands, your...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Sleep, crates and settling in
The first nights with a new puppy or kitten are, for a lot of people, a genuine shock. The crying starts the moment the lights go off, it does not stop, and you lie there torn between "I should go to them" and "if I go,...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
Litter training and scratching: setting a kitten up right
Two of the things new kitten owners worry about most, missing the litter tray and shredding the furniture, are actually two of the easiest to get right, once you understand that you are not really training a kitten at...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
Introducing your new pet to resident pets and children
The moment a lot of new owners are most nervous about is not the vet visit or the first night. It is the first meeting: carrying a new puppy or kitten through the door while the older dog stares, or the resident cat...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
House-training that actually works
If you are reading this standing over yet another puddle, wondering what you are doing wrong, take a breath. You are almost certainly not failing. House-training is one of those jobs that feels like it should be simple...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
4The window
6 guides
How to socialise before the vaccinations finish
You have almost certainly been given two pieces of advice that seem to flatly contradict each other. One says: keep your puppy off the ground and away from the world until the vaccination course is finished, or you risk...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 12 min read
Titre testing, honestly
Somewhere in the first year, often around the time of the first booster, many owners come across the idea that vaccines are "overdone", that yearly jabs are unnecessary, and that a blood test called a titre test could...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
The socialisation checklist: weeks 3 to 14
If you have read that socialisation matters and felt a small wave of panic about doing it "right", this is the article that turns the worry into a plan. Good socialisation is not a race to expose your puppy to as many...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Preventing separation problems from day one
Here is a truth that catches out a lot of loving new owners: the more time you spend glued to your puppy in the first weeks, the harder you can make it for them to cope when you eventually leave. It feels kind to be...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
Puppy classes: what good actually looks like
A good puppy class is one of the best things you can do for your dog in the first few months. A bad one can do real harm, teaching your puppy that other dogs are overwhelming, or worse, teaching you methods that damage...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
Handling your kitten: the 2 to 9 week window
Most of us think of socialisation as a dog thing: puppy classes, meeting other dogs, walks in the park. It is easy to assume cats simply are what they are, aloof or affectionate by luck of the draw. That is not true....
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
5Growing up
6 guides
When to neuter your dog: the breed and size evidence
Few questions get you more confident, contradictory answers than "when should I neuter my dog?" The rescue said do it before you collect him. The breeder said wait, whatever you do. One vet said six months, another said...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 8 min read
When to neuter your cat: the four-month myth-buster
Let me start with the sentence that matters most, because it is the one an older leaflet, a well-meaning relative or an out-of-date breeder may have got wrong. For cats, the right time to neuter is by four months of...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 8 min read
Growth charts and a healthy weight for young pets
Somewhere in the first few months, almost every new owner asks the same quiet question. Is my puppy the right size? Is my kitten too small, or is that a bit of a belly? You compare them to the littermate photos on the...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Indoor or outdoor: making the decision for your cat
Of all the decisions a new cat owner agonises over, this is the one that seems to carry the most guilt in either direction. Let them out and you picture the road. Keep them in and you worry you are caging a creature...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 8 min read
Feeding a puppy or kitten: how much, how often, and switching food
Feeding a new puppy or kitten ought to be the simple bit. Then you stand in the pet-food aisle, or scroll a brand's website, and you are hit with grain-free, ancestral, human-grade, hypoallergenic, cold-pressed,...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
Body condition scoring: the hands-on check that beats the scales
If a vet has ever run their hands down your pet's sides, pressed gently over the ribs and along the back, and then said something like "he's carrying a bit of condition" or "she's looking lovely and lean", you have...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 8 min read
6The teenager
3 guides
What "done" looks like: your pet's lifetime record
You made it. The animal who arrived as a wobbly, sleep-stealing, expensive little disaster is now, more or less, a functioning adult. The vaccinations are done, the sleepless weeks are behind you, and one morning you...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 9 min read
The transition to adult food and adult care
Somewhere in the second half of the first year, the frantic pace of new-pet life starts to slow. The jabs are done, the toilet training has held, the biting phase is a memory, and your puppy or kitten is beginning to...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Surviving adolescence: when your good puppy "forgets everything"
There is a moment, usually somewhere around six to eight months, when a lot of owners quietly panic. The puppy who sat beautifully at four months, who came running the instant you called, who was basically a small furry...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
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