Introducing a new kitten to my adult cat

[knightrider922]

I’ve never had so much trouble introducing a kitten to my cat pack before… I’ve had several cats over the years and have never taken the measures I’ve taken with this sweet kitten I brought home about 9 days ago.

Currently, I have one outdoor kitty, one indoor/outdoor kitty (who doesn’t care too much about the new addition - one hiss and that was it), and an indoor kitty who has been the only indoor kitty since I got her. She is absolutely petrified of the new kitten and has been spending a lot of time hiding in the basement on a shelf in the laundry area behind detergent and such.

the kitten has been living on the main level in a bedroom and I’ve brought her blanket out for smells… they’ve met under the door…I’ve brought her out many times a day in the kitchen and they saw each other through a baby gate… I’ve switched rooms once although that is difficult as older kitty (who is only 3) won’t let me catch her when kitten is out. Older kitty has run into the basement and I even tried shutting that door and let her try to figure out the new one. Kitten does nothing to older kitty, but older kitty will run from end of the house to the other if kitten even enters a room where she is located. Its the strangest thing.

I think I’m about to give up… I feel like my older kitty wants to be an only cat… but at what point do you throw in the towel? The person who rescued this kitten will take her back and there are one or two potential interested parties… but I’m baffled…

Is 9 or 10 days enough time to expect them to get along? I’ve never encountered such an issue before. When I got my older kitty though, I brought her home from the shelter with a kennel mate whom I found a home for and since then she has only known the current cats. I feel like its not fair of her to expect her to live with this new kitten… or does it take longer?

[Rain]

That does sound like a rather extreme reaction from your 3 yr old kitty. However, 9 days isn’t a long time… I often take 3 or 4 weeks to introduce a new cat to the household. (We do a lot of fostering)

Since your kitty is showing fear rather than aggression, that would give me more hope. Do you have a large room where you can have your fearful kitty at one end, and then keep the kitten occupied with a lot of play at the other end? That way your fearful kitty can “watch” from safety without having to interact. If it goes well, keep the session short, like 5-10 min, and repeat often. Also, can you close the basement door so your older cat can’t run down there?

I would think that eventually your fearful kitty will learn that the kitten isn’t a threat. But… I have encountered a few cats who are simply “set in their ways.”

[altermetoday]

I would not have guessed it would take that long to acclimate a kitten to a household… interesting. i was thinking of getting another kitty this year so good info!

[Simkie]

I’ve had kittens in the house since late August and the big kitties–two 3 yo females who lived with older kitties when they were younger, but it’s been just the of them for over a year now–are JUST NOW beginning to accept the kittens. They still sometimes hiss but it’s the “get off my lawn” type hissing instead of the “Ima gonna kill youse” type hissing.

As long as everyone has plenty of room to get away and the older cat isn’t actually violent with the kitten, I’d give it more time. If you can, keep some space “safe” for older kitty where baby can’t access. Make sure she’s comfortable eating and pottying and that you’re giving her some special 1:1 time every day.

I’ve also found the multicat feliway helpful.

[BEARCAT]

I foster kittens in the summer, and my 2 year old cat is not too thrilled about it. She will have nothing to do with them and run away from them for several days. One thing that has helped is to put kitten in an upside down laundry basket (so they can’t escape) in the middle of a room and let my cat investigate.

[danacat]

@knightrider922

I think I’m about to give up… I feel like my older kitty wants to be an only cat… but at what point do you throw in the towel? The person who rescued this kitten will take her back and there are one or two potential interested parties… but I’m baffled…

I think it is really up to the cat / cats (their innate individual personalities) as to whether or not they will ever just ‘get along’ or be best buds or hate each other forever. All dynamics are possible, and we humans can only initially offer the best possible introduction scenarios. After that the cats themselves will ultimately decide how things are going to go and how things will remain.

I have a 4 year old female (former feral) who I’m sure would rather be the only cat. She is in a constant hate relationship with one of my males (younger than her) who stalks her and viciously swats at her (I run interference on a daily basis) but I doubt that a real cat fight would ever happen – they just have an annoying personality clash for some ‘cat’ reason known only to them.

On the other hand she tolerates my other male who in return tolerates her. The two males adore each other.

Enter new girl kitten a few weeks ago: I did my part – best possible introduction scenarios to all – and female is exhibiting the same ‘you’re going to hate me’ behavior as she does with my younger male, and he in turn is exhibiting some half-hearted hate behaviors toward the kitten; some swatting and chasing but with some love thrown in.

My other male (boss of the entire clan) loves the new kitten and she loves him, so at least there’s that!

Certainly new kitten has presented some challenges, and at this point I have no idea how she and the other male and female will be towards each other as the weeks/months pass. But live together they must as I don’t have an ‘out’ option with this kitten. She’s here to stay.

So…if you truly don’t want to upset your current pack (your female in particular) with a new kitten, and being that you have a soft landing for kitten elsewhere, I don’t see any harm in throwing in the towell and letting her go to another great home.

But if you choose to keep her, then only time will tell IMO as to what your pack’s dynamics will ultimately be. It really is up to the cats. No way to force harmony, you can only encourage it = what will be will be. Us being baffled = not baffled at all from the cat’s point of view.

[RRRewind]

Here’s an article that may provide value to you:

https://petpattern.com/blogs/cats/how-to-introduce-a-kitten-to-a-cat

[CanadianTrotter]

She’s fearful not angry, give it more time.

When the kitten is busy elsewhere try taking her to the couch or your favourite chair on your lap for a bonding session a couple times a day. Kitten will eventually find the two of you and investigate and by that time you should have her calm and purring on your lap. If she tries to jump down and run away try to gently convince her to stay while keeping kitten at arms length, this will also teach the kitten boundaries and good behaviour. That will give her time to observe kitten in the safety of your arms and lap and show her that you accept the kitten. This may not work the first few times and she may just jump and run, but be consistent and keep trying.

Good luck and have fun with your new kitten!

[HPFarmette]

Consider Feliway.