What to Do in Your Pet's First Week Home

This article is general information, not veterinary advice. Talk to a licensed veterinarian about your specific pet's health needs.

The first week with a new pet sets the pattern for a lot of what follows, both for your new pet's health and for your own household's habits around it. Official guidance from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the CDC's Healthy Pets Healthy People program covers the two sides of this clearly: what the animal needs, and what your household needs to do to stay healthy while living with it.

Before the pet even arrives: research the specific animal

The CDC's guidance is direct about doing this step first, not after bringing an animal home: "Before adopting a new pet, make sure it is the right one for you and your family." It recommends researching several specific factors in advance:

• Lifespan
• Size
• Food, housing, and exercise needs
• Veterinary care costs

The CDC also recommends thinking through "your household members and who will be caring for the pet" before the animal arrives, which is easy to skip when a pet is acquired on short notice but matters for avoiding a situation where care responsibilities are unclear from day one.

Find a veterinarian early, not after a problem comes up

The AVMA's pet ownership resources emphasize that a veterinarian is central to responsible pet ownership, not just a resource for emergencies. The CDC's guidance echoes this directly in the context of choosing a pet: "Talk to a veterinarian to determine the best pet for your household," suggesting a vet consultation can happen even before you've made a final choice of animal, not only afterward.

Having a vet relationship established in week one, rather than waiting for the first health issue, means you're not trying to find a vet and explain your pet's full history for the first time during an urgent situation.

Know who in your household is at higher risk

The CDC specifically names several groups who face a higher chance of getting a disease spread from animals to people (called zoonotic diseases): children younger than 5, people with weakened immune systems, people 65 and older, and pregnant women, who face a higher risk specifically from cats and rodents. If anyone in your household falls into one of these groups, the CDC's guidance is to factor this in explicitly when choosing a pet and setting household hygiene rules, rather than treating it as a general precaution that applies the same way to everyone.

Build the handwashing habit from day one

The CDC's guidance lists specific moments when handwashing matters most around a new pet:

• After touching or playing with the pet.
• After feeding the pet or handling pet food.
• After handling pet habitats or equipment (cages, tanks, toys, food and water dishes).
• After cleaning up after the pet.
• After leaving areas where animals live (coops, barns, stalls), even without direct contact.
• After removing soiled clothes or shoes.

The CDC notes that running water and soap work best, but hand sanitizer is an acceptable substitute "until running water and soap are available," meaning it's a fallback, not a first choice, when both options exist.

Set up hygiene boundaries in the home early

Two specific boundaries from the CDC's guidance are easiest to establish during the first week, before habits form the other way:

1. Keep pets and their supplies out of the kitchen. The CDC's guidance states this directly, noting pet supplies should never be cleaned "in the kitchen sink, food preparation areas, or the bathroom sink."
2. If you have a cat, clean the litter box daily. The CDC specifically recommends this to lower exposure to harmful parasites, and separately recommends that pregnant women avoid changing a cat's litter box if possible.

If children are in the household

The CDC's guidance recommends supervising children younger than 5 while they interact with pets, for the safety of both the child and the animal. It also recommends teaching children to wash their hands immediately after playing with animals or touching anything in the animal's environment (cages, beds, food or water dishes), and not to let children kiss pets or put their hands in their mouths after handling an animal.

A first-week checklist based on this guidance

1. Confirm the pet's needs match your household's realistic capacity (time, space, budget) before or immediately after arrival.
2. Schedule an initial veterinary visit rather than waiting for a problem.
3. Identify anyone in the household in a higher-risk group and adjust hygiene practices accordingly.
4. Set the handwashing habit immediately: after handling the pet, its food, or its supplies.
5. Decide now where pet supplies will and will not be cleaned (not the kitchen sink or food prep areas).
6. If there's a cat, start a daily litter box cleaning routine from day one.

Key takeaways

• Research a specific pet's needs (lifespan, size, cost, care needs) before adopting, not after.
• Establish a veterinary relationship in the first week rather than waiting for a health issue.
• Identify higher-risk household members (young children, pregnant women, people 65+, those with weakened immune systems) and adjust precautions specifically for them.
• Build the core handwashing habit immediately: after handling the pet, its food, or its habitat equipment.
• Set kitchen and litter box hygiene rules from day one, since these are easiest to establish before any habit forms the other way.