Introducing a New Kitten

6 years ago

Good morning all. I could use some advice and a pep talk.

We recently adopted a new female kitten - she is now approximately 12 weeks old. We have had her for almost 3 weeks now. She is adorable and absolutely fearless (which worries us).

Our older male cat (6 years old now) is not excited. He is a very high strung little guy (like Prozac high strung) so we have taken it super slow. For the first 7-10 days he went into a mega pout. Didn't want to eat (even his goodies). Hardly used the litter box. Acted totally abnormal and just sort of pouted. The good news is that he is now back to his normal self.

They have not acutally "met" yet - we have kept them separate. We havea constant sort of cat rotation going so that she has access to different rooms when he is not in them. We want her to know the house and to get him used to her smell.

He is interested in her and will watch her under the door to whatever room she is in - but he won't acutally approach the door or swat at her underneath.

They have seen each other, usually with one of us holding her. Once you get her about 3-4 away from him he will start the hissing/growling and gets very aggitated.

I know that at some point we have to let them get close to each other but I am terrified that he will attack and hurt her.

I would appreciate any tips, advice, etc.

The funny thing is that this is by no means the first time we have been through this. I posted here like 17 years ago about the same topic. But now that we are back in it, I am completely freaked out again!!

HELP!!

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Comment (1)

annztoo
6 years ago
You're taking the right steps in keeping them separated and letting him slowly adjust to her. Trying to keep his usual routine such as eating, playing with you & access to his favorite sleeping spots, is very important at this time. Once they begin sharing the same room you may want to also introduce a new cat tower so one can watch the other from a vantage point.

I wouldn't try to introduce them by holding her and coming closer to him since that's stressful for both of them. It's best to let them get used to each other on their own terms by allowing them to see each other thru a plastic partition, screen or cat gate. If he doesn't charge her or act like he wants to attack her when he see her thru a barrier, then you should then start feeding them near the barrier so they can see each other while they eat. Start about 6 feet away and over a few days move the bowls closer to the barrier.

Introduction to a cat that has ruled the household doesn't always happen quickly so be prepared to carry out the introduction for a few more weeks....and maybe even months.

I brought in a young kitten 2 years ago and my 8 yr old female wasn't thrilled. She gradually reached a point she would sit and watch the kitten play but wanted nothing to do with her and the kitten learned to avoid the older female. At five months the kitten came into heat and after that the older female went into 'kill mode'. It's been 2 years now and the young (smaller) female will briefly stand her ground with growls and swats but if she turns, the chase is on. We keep them separated and rotate them to different parts of the house/deck but every now and then there's an escape. Fortunately, I will now hear growls instead of fighting screams if the older female makes it into the room with the younger one.

Sorry for the long history, but just want to stress that it may take longer than you think for them to adjust to each other.

As I've said on other posts, check out the tv show and website of Jackson Galaxy 'My Cat from Hell' for more tips on introducing cats.
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