# Introducing a Kitten to a cat!



## shearer140577

Hi all
It is nice to meet so many other cat lovers! 

We need advice and help really as we are a little stressed! 
On Saturday we picked up a 13 week old male kitten to introduce to our 5 year old female cat Missy! We got in on the basis of company for Missy as she used to have an older cat to play with in her previous home 4 years ago when she was a kitten. 
Missy is a rescue cat but very confident, she sees other cats of her patch and is 99% of the time well behaved and loving although can at times swipe. She has free movement around our house and has about 10 different sleeping spaces that she changes all the time depending on mood! She is not a lap cat but at night will sleep on our bed but does not have a blanket! 

We have brought the kitten home and set up his space in the kitchen with new litter tray, bed, toy, bowls and food. Misy has to go through the kitchen to go outside but it is not her space where she sleeps. She eats in a side room of the kitchen where her cat flap is. 

We have made a huge fuss of Missy when she is in and outside, tried to mix the scents with the kittens blanket and made sure that when Missy is in she is the centre of attention. The kitten has mainly played in the lounge but on advice we have spread his scent around the house and let him look in each room. 

Missy has been ok, she will walk around the house and not run off, sniffing loads and has slept in the bedroom as usual. But on face to face meetings she is hissing and growling still after 2 days. 

They have met a few times either with the kitten in a cat basket and Missy watching or through a closed glass door. The kitten seems fine with Missy's scent but Missy is hissing and growling. She will sit in the room with the kitten there in the cat box but only to watch him! 

She has never been a lap cat that will sit with you. She will sit on the window ledge or poof in the lounge but never on you or with you. It always has to be on her terms. 

We are just worried that the hissing will not stop? The last thing we want to do is upset her but we think we have done the process right? The next plan is to have the kitten in the kitchen while we are at work and Missy in her room at the back of the kitchen with access to outside as usual when we are out, no change in routine. The glass door between the two may help them size each other up? 

Help have we done this right, any advice? 

Help?


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## Janee

You have done right! Welcome 

Mixing scents, letting each cat see the other - all good.

It is early days. It may take several weeks before they are cuddling up together, or that may never happen but they will be OK with each other.

Missy sees the kitten as an intruder and is establishing that she is boss. Hissing and paw swatting is part of that - even now after 12 months my 3 do a bit of paw waving at each other (but no hissing).

Although I haven't done it, rubbing talc on to each makes each cat smell the same and might help.


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## shearer140577

Thanks for the quick reply!

I think we will just have to keep trying to encourage Missy. The new arrival seems totally happy all around the house!! Well and tryely settled in!

Fingers crossed.


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## spid

2 days is very early days - give it at least a couple of weeks before you see improvement. As I regualarily say on here - my parents had 2 that fought like mad for 6 months !!!! ANd are now best buddies. And when I say fought I mean fur flying, teeth and blood.

Try a feliway diffuser too.

EDIT: copied form a previous post of mine

_Give it time and patience - it will get there. These things always take time, at least a few days and the rescue should have told you that! Cats that just get on with a new stranger coming into their territory are very very few and very very weird!

Try scent transferal (i'm going to copy and paste now from another thread I answered, so forgive me . .

'I would invest in a feliway diffuser and set that going (it takes a few days to begin to work) it releases happy pheromones into the atmosphere and chills cats out, also try Bachs rescue remedy in their water. Then start scent sharing, rub all the cats with a towel - under their chins, base of the tail, thier pads and rub this scent all over the house, on the walls, on the furniture etc, overlay the scents so they can all smell each other. Do this again but transfer the scent on to the other cats so they smell of each other, swap blankets over so they effectively sleep on each others scent. Then gradually supervise introductions - there is a good page on this website Welcome to the UKRCC too long to type out again but really worth a read about introducing cats to each other. Keep all this going for a while and they should eventually settle, also show your (gentle) disapproval of any aggression so it isn't acceptable in the house '

I'd walk away when Lilly hisses and growls, with a short 'stop it silly' or 'shht'. Once she is quiet come back. Bad behaviour equals no attention. Also I'd make sure that it is Lilly who is introduced into the house as Milly was there first - so keep Lilly in the smaller area and allow Millie to roam around. If this can be done where Lilly can see that Millie is the priviledged one she will assume she is the alpha female and should act accordingly.

My mum and dad once rescued a cat and the fights that ensued where horrific (mum and dad didn't introduce properly)! It took 6 months but they eventually got there and now are inseparable - so it will get better.

EDIT: Remember poor Lilly has probably been through the mill a bit - she been in a rescue centre, been spayed, now is in a new house - she will be scared (not sure if you are going to move her on again) and nervous. She has been kept in a small room for a while and now has a whole house to explore - scary! I'd keep her confined to just the conservatory for a while - keep her out of your bedroom as that is a place for high status cats and could put Millie's nose out of joint. Give her time to settle in herself. The calmer you are the calmer she will be too - if you worry at every hiss she will feel it and hiss more because she won't feel safe - your tension tells her there is something to worry about. Try to get a routine going. It will happen - and soon you will wonder why you were worried.
___________________


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## Victorio

It all sounds like normal cat behaviour and hissing is just a cat expressing itself, afterall cats who are best mates hiss at each other from time to time. 

And time is all it will take, you've dome it all right so they should be fine. I was just saying to my husband that it's taken 6 months for one of our cats to fully accept the puppy and they were cuddled up today - we took some photos. So give it time I'm sure they will sort it out 

Feeding is great to do together get the treats out and feed them together if you can. They really bond that way. Tuna or something when you think they are ready.


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## shearer140577

Thank you all for the advice! Glad we are doing something right! 

We are now letting the kitten (who is now typing with me!) roam when Missy is out and when she is in put the kitten in the spare room where he is happy. The spare room is the smaller room and this will allow Missy to raom the house as usual and make sure she knows she is No 1. We will also keep going with the calm reprimands when there is a hiss! 

This will hopefully let Missy the older cat move around the house and allow the scents to mix! Missy is not touchy feely and hates towels etc, she has never slept on a blanket? 

She seems reluctant to come in today but loves being outside so no difference I suppose and now using the spare room means she can have the whole house as usual! 

We are going to continue with the introductions in the cat box and Missy having a look until next weekend and then start a formal introduction. We will keep trying! 

James and Clare (still stressed!)


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## Leena

I am sure everything will go fine. When Missy met other cats ourdoors they weren´t in her home. But now this newbie is right in the middle of her space. So of course she makes sure she is the boss - the hissing is normal.

Give it a little time. 

Oh, and I´ve used the Feliway spray when our cats have had issues. Calms the situation rather quickly 

Leena


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## Kirst & Leon

Hi all!

Yesterday we rescued a 12 week old kitten and tried to introduce him to our 4 year old cat - lets just say it didnt go too well and we only had 3 hours sleep last night!!

After reading various tips today on the internet it seems we did the introduction all wrong...

We bought the kitten into the house in his carrier, Phoebe was there straight away hissing around the carrier and growling. We left them like this for 15 minutes or so and then we let him out. Phoebe's growling got worse and then she kept running away and then running back to him, hissing panting and growling! (The kitten wasnt really bothered by her, he was just running around and playing with us)

We left them like this for an hour or so and then it was time for bed! We just went about our routine as usual and didnt lock them in seperate rooms - this meant that the kitten followed us straight to bed and jumped up for a cuddle. Phoebe went mad - she always jumps up with us and has a cuddle before we go to sleep, you could tell she was so put out and was sat just outside our bedroom growling.

We let the kitten stay on the bed for about half an hour, then Phoebe came up to the bed and starting really hissing at him and wouldnt stop. We then took the kitten into the living room and left him there (with his litter tray and seperate food bowls) to which he responded by crying his head off and jumping all around the room, making a lot of noise at about midnight!

We then tried to encourage Phoebe to get on our bed and have a love, she responded by hissing at Leon and running off. The kitten carried on crying so Leon decided to sleep on the sofa in the living room with him. He was then fine for the rest of the night, but Phoebe was on the landing outside the bedroom all night and from what i can gather she didnt sleep.

When we woke up we tried to introduce them again but Phoebe was still being very hostile. 

We are both at work today and we have locked the kitten in the bedroom and let Phoebe roam the house as usual.

Very worried about whats going to happen when we get home and where we should go from here? 

PLEASE HELP! We dont want another sleepless night!!


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## saxa21

Kirst & Leon said:


> Hi all!
> 
> Yesterday we rescued a 12 week old kitten and tried to introduce him to our 4 year old cat - lets just say it didnt go too well and we only had 3 hours sleep last night!!
> 
> After reading various tips today on the internet it seems we did the introduction all wrong...
> 
> We bought the kitten into the house in his carrier, Phoebe was there straight away hissing around the carrier and growling. We left them like this for 15 minutes or so and then we let him out. Phoebe's growling got worse and then she kept running away and then running back to him, hissing panting and growling! (The kitten wasnt really bothered by her, he was just running around and playing with us)
> 
> We left them like this for an hour or so and then it was time for bed! We just went about our routine as usual and didnt lock them in seperate rooms - this meant that the kitten followed us straight to bed and jumped up for a cuddle. Phoebe went mad - she always jumps up with us and has a cuddle before we go to sleep, you could tell she was so put out and was sat just outside our bedroom growling.
> 
> We let the kitten stay on the bed for about half an hour, then Phoebe came up to the bed and starting really hissing at him and wouldnt stop. We then took the kitten into the living room and left him there (with his litter tray and seperate food bowls) to which he responded by crying his head off and jumping all around the room, making a lot of noise at about midnight!
> 
> We then tried to encourage Phoebe to get on our bed and have a love, she responded by hissing at Leon and running off. The kitten carried on crying so Leon decided to sleep on the sofa in the living room with him. He was then fine for the rest of the night, but Phoebe was on the landing outside the bedroom all night and from what i can gather she didnt sleep.
> 
> When we woke up we tried to introduce them again but Phoebe was still being very hostile.
> 
> We are both at work today and we have locked the kitten in the bedroom and let Phoebe roam the house as usual.
> 
> Very worried about whats going to happen when we get home and where we should go from here?
> 
> PLEASE HELP! We dont want another sleepless night!!


I had exactly the same problem as you did. 
I brought Bolek in his carrier and just left him like that, heniu was like a halloween cat, hissing, growling etc.
Then we kept Bolek in the bathroom for a day. Heniu was very interested. When we let him out, he was chasing the hell out of the poor new arrival! It took them 2 days to settle. At the end of day one they slept together, even tho Heniu was still chasing him round the house all day, night you name it. They need time. You will see they will settle eventually.


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## draddict74

I'm interested to read the replies here as we got a new male kitten yesterday.

So far the dog is fine with him and if anything the kitten is having great fun chasing the dog ratehr than the other way around!

We also have an adult male and female but the female doesn't really come into the house anymore, I'm opening another thread on this subject, but our male is in the house all the time, he did come and have a nose at the cat carrier yesterday when I bought Ianto in, but that was it, he's steered well clear since then, hasn't even showed his face in the lounge where we have Ianto living for the time being (we have an open plan house and the kitchen just isn't suitable).

Anyway, any ideas on what I can do with my big and little fellow???


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## mallo

Good day all
My wife and I decided to get a kitten, she wasnt too keen at first but after a few weeks of having Bella she was very happy with things and suggested that we get a mate for Bella. Bella was born on the 30th of April 2010.
Bellas mum then got pregnant again and my wife approached the family we got Bella from and asked if they have any boys as we would like a mate for Bella they said yes, and we could have one.
After reading on the internet on how to introduce a kitten to an existing cat we had a bit of a plan. Bella has the run of the house and wasnt too interested in the front lounge so we would set this room up as a room for (little) Leroy we put his food in there and some of Bellas toys that she had lost interest in and went to pick Leroy up on Sunday evening, he was born early September 2010.
We got in the front door and Bella wasnt too interested or bothered about the slight meowing coming from the travel box, we put the box on the floor and Bella came up to it and looked in and sniffed around it.
After a while she walked off so we opened the box and out came Leroy, Bella came back after a while and sniffed around Leroy without much aggression.
After a while Leroy played with one of the toys set up for Bella, Bella watched him for a while and then she came and started playing with Leroy, after a very short while she started swiping with her paws/claws, I separated them and then Bella chased him into the kitchen where her cat Tree scratching post is and he hid underneath the arch. Bella kept on poking him to get a response and he would move back and she would then have another go from the other side.
He eventually cam out and he moved back into the hallway and then she started biting him on his rump of his back, I then had had enough of this so I put him in the lounge and left her the rest of the house.
Bella will sit on me and show affection but she didnt want to as much as usual, I think she was annoyed I had split them up.
We went to bed as usual, we could hear him meowing for a short while once we had gone to bed, but after a short time he stopped.
We got up the next morning made a bit of a fuss about Bella and after a while let Leroy out of his room.
After a while she went for him again with the paws and a small amount of biting, I tried to separate them and after a while I had to go to work and I put Leroy in the lounge again and went to work (as did my wife).
Bella doesnt go outside at the moment, although she has been out previously, we have several other male cats in the area and we dont want a litter on out hands, she is due to go in to be spayed in 10 days so we were trying to keep her in until that, also we are close to a road and I am waiting for a gate between us and the road to try and encourage her to go towards the back of the house and into the fields behind the house.
I came back from work as usual gave Bella a lot of attention as usual and she was waiting for me by the back door as usual, after a while she went upstairs and I sneaked into the lounge where Leroy was and spent some time with him.
I then allowed the two cats together again and Bella was sniffing around him again and after a while was back to her usual carry on.
I am planning to put a piece of mesh up in the doorway to allow the two cats to see one another but to keep them separated to try and allow Bella to accept him.
Are we doing thing correct, I would really like this to work as we have already grown very attached to both cats; I thought it would as they are from the same mother however we are both on edge about this so far as I thought it would be easier.
Bella hasnt hissed or spat at Leroy although Leroy did once that I did know of when Bella cornered him.
I am sorry this goes on for so long, but if anyone can reassure us or suggest any thing to make it easier on us both. :thumbup:
Thanks  
P.s. sorry for stealing this thread..


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## draddict74

Well, I am very sad to report that since we got out little male kitten Ianto last December, we have moved house.

The adult female that we had chose to stay away completely, right up until we moved, when I got the advice that it was better to leave her where she was, providing the people that lived in that house were happy to have a new pet! I checked and they were so we left Kitt there and moved house with the dog, Parker and Ianto in tow.

About 2 months after we moved Parker just stopped coming home, we looked everywhere for him and called countless pet rescue centres looking for him but never ever found him. Now, 4 months later we have decided to get a new kitten.

This one is a female and we will be getting her in a weeks time but I am terrified that Ianto will run away like Parker eventually did when we got Ianto...

Any help on this would be really appreciated. Ianto is male and has just turned 1 and the kitten is female and will be 8 weeks when we get her.

Thanks!


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## draddict74

draddict74 said:


> Well, I am very sad to report that since we got out little male kitten Ianto last December, we have moved house.


I'm not sad to report that we moved house, I'm sad to report that we lost Parker!!!


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## mallo

Next progress when we put the two of them together Bella initially licks Leroy and then Leroy wants to play so gets his claws out and I think Bella sees this as a threat and it then turns into a fight and I end up separating them.
We are not leaving them together unsupervised yet but I hope we will be able soon, I think time will help also as Leroy gets bigger hopefully he will stand his ground.
Bella is due to be spayed next week perhaps that will calm things down a bit.
I have managed to get a sheet of mesh I was thinking of putting it up between the two cats in separate rooms and to see what happens.
I hope they can manage to get along
If anyone has any suggestions it would be much appreciated as we are starting to pull our hair out (never mind the cats fur........):scared:


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## mallo

A month on I am pleased to report that Leroy has settled in very well, Bella seems to have accepted him well, to the point that both have been cleaning each other.
They are sharing the litter tray and at present we are keeping them in (as Leroy isnt old enough to go out) and Bella at present isnt as interested to go out as she was. The only thing that the vet said that until we get Leroy neutered that he might get on Bellas nerves however she hardly seems too bothered and is very laidback about most things, we will see.
I hope things carry on in the same theme..


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## jomary-austin

Oh my lord you are going to have SO much fun until Leroy is neutered! I will never forget introducing an un-neutered 7 month old male cat to our 2 geriatric neutered old ladies. It was hilarious. Rosie just glared at him and he never went near her again but Holly started him off by weeing in his litter tray which obviously gave him some ideas and he would not leave her alone after that. He kept trying to mount her all weekend. He even tried to have his way with my arm because Holly had been sat on me and my sleeve smelled of her.

Needless to say he was straight down to the vets on Monday morning and the issue resolved itself!


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## mallo

Hi jomary-austin
Thanks for that information, I am not really sure I wanted to hear this though.:thumbup:
So far they seem to be getting on fine; I havent had Leroy trying to have his way with my arm!! Yet!!, and I hope it doesnt get to that!!:eek6:.
Leroy will be going down to the vets in the New Year, to sort him out, I hope it may calm him down a bit as he can be a bit of a live wire at times, not like his sister, who would hardly say boo to a ghost, but its nice that they have their own characters it make for interesting times!! 
Sorry for not replying before now but I havent been in front of a computer for several weeks.


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## Rosie8

Introducing 7wk old kitten to 5month old kitten

Hi, I have a 5 month old kitten whom I took on to save him from a boisterous dog and a home where there was not much love given to him. After just a few months together he is still very clingy and follows me everywhere, always wanting to be sat close to me. He also suckles on my clothing whenever and wherever he can; I believe he was taken from his mum at a very young age, maybe 5 to 6 wks of age. I am now looking at taking on another kitten who is just 7 wks old because I can't stand to leave him where is currently is....this will definitely be the only one I will be taking because two cats is enough in my situation with work etc.

My concerns are that the clingy 5month old maybe extremely jealous and not easily accept the 7wk old kitten.
Will they just get on because they are both so young or will it cause added problems? 

I think it could also be some extra company for the older one and they could maybe grow up nicely together?

Any advice or suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks


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## Rosie8

Rosie8 said:


> Introducing 7wk old kitten to 5month old kitten
> 
> Hi, I have a 5 month old kitten whom I took on to save him from a boisterous dog and a home where there was not much love given to him. After just a few months together he is still very clingy and follows me everywhere, always wanting to be sat close to me. He also suckles on my clothing whenever and wherever he can; I believe he was taken from his mum at a very young age, maybe 5 to 6 wks of age. I am now looking at taking on another kitten who is just 7 wks old because I can't stand to leave him where is currently is....this will definitely be the only one I will be taking because two cats is enough in my situation with work etc.
> 
> My concerns are that the clingy 5month old maybe extremely jealous and not easily accept the 7wk old kitten.
> Will they just get on because they are both so young or will it cause added problems?
> 
> I think it could also be some extra company for the older one and they could maybe grow up nicely together?
> 
> Any advice or suggestions greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thanks


Thought I should add that the older kitten of 5 months of age also suckles on my clothing whenever and wherever he get the opportunity...waking me up doing so....think he believes im his mum?


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## Saera

I've been reading advices on this thread and it's been very useful! Except that since I live in an apartment, I don't really have an extra room to confine the new kitten in. Our resident cat pretty much roams all over the house so we had to make do with the bedroom as the kitten's "sanctuary". 

However, our resident cat does like to come to bed with us when we go to sleep at night. So every night, we had to put the kitten in the living room with his bed, litterbox and food/water dish, and let our resident cat move into the bedroom with us. We let her out the next morning and do the switch. 

In the meantime, we're also doing scent sharing to ease the process (towel, room scent, etc). Our resident cat doesn't seem to mind the scent, she just hissed and swiped a couple of times at the kitten when he's in close range (got him scared and running under the bed )

I'm not sure if its ok to do what we're doing now, till both cats get along (and I really hope soon cause the poor kitten meows for attention when we leave him in the living area for the night). 

Also gonna get Feliway spray to try that out. So that spray goes all around the house? 

Thank you for any feedback, and for the advises already given on the thread!


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## KezBeth

Hia, me and my family have recently got two abandoned kittens (both male, no more than 7weeks) that my uncle found at the side of the road, he could not find anyone who they belonged to, so they came 2 us. I have a 3year old Female cat (whose a road side rescue as well ) called Dindin. Well the kittens came as a surprise so we didn't have much time 2 prepare. Every time Dindin and kittens meet they Hiss, spit and go nuts at each other. The kittens are not keen and Didin seems to hate them and runs away. We thought she would like more company as we recently lost our other male rescue. Any advice how we could help them all bond? Didins getting plenty of attension but is only happy looking at them from afar.
PS we also have a overly friendly dog who just loves company and she'll really wants 2 make friends with the new kittens but their both having none of it


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## chillminx

Hi, you need to introduce the 2 new kittens slowly and gradually to the resident cat and to the dog. Here is an article giving useful advice.

You will need to go back to square 1 and start from the beginning with them.

Integrating Kittens with Cats

and also advice on how to introduce a kitten to a dog

How to Introduce a Kitten to a Dog | eHow


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