# Introducing new kitten to 1.5yr old Cat?



## Grangey (Feb 14, 2009)

Hi all,

Its been a while, and I regret to start off by notifying you all that sadly we lost Bella a at the beggining of december- she was out first cat and we owned her from 6 weeks old, and we guenuinly couldnt have asked for a more obidient, loving, and quiet cat. Unfortunatley she some how contracting some sort of lung infection, which we had treated by the vets at the cost of nearly 1k (more fool me for not having her insured), but unfortunatley came back and there was little they could do for her so they had to put her down at only 2.5 years old  so RIP Bella.

Anyway, Bella left us with a legacy in the form of her daughter Millie who is now 1.5 years old. We got a new kitten on Friday.. Supposedly 8 weeks old but actually I think hes more likely 6 weeks given his size and actions.

Anyway, ive done alot of reading on how to introduce the new kitten to Millie and I would love some feedback and tips as to how to make the introduction go smoother, so heres what ive done so far:

-Knowing we would get another kitten, we closed of one bedroom from Millie about a month ago to get her used to not going in there to avoid any territorial issues.

-The kitten has HIS (we bought a male as heard this would reduce Millies fear of being "replaced" by another female) own room. On the first evening we thought we would test if Millie was one of the 5% of cats that loves kittens at the first sight... No, hissing a couple of times then running off. Fair enough and didnt do this again.

-Have had no other interaction with the kitten at all since, and actually Millie almost acts as if she doesnt remember hes there.

-Brought the carry basket for Millie to have a good sniff around a few times

-Let the kitten roam around the hall way and our bedroom for about an hour or so while we played with millie to try to get his scent around some of the house. No real reaction from Millie on this.

-Moved the kitten into our bedroom for 10-15 minutes and put Millie in the kittens room where she had a good old sniff around, no signs of anything odd (like aggression), but likewise no signs of any purring.

So ealier this afternoon the kitten was asleep in the carrier we brought him in in, so i closed up the front and moved him into the hall, where i got millie in to have another good old sniff to see if over the past couple of days if Millie had started to accept his scent anymore. No luck, she had a good old sniff and saw him through the small gaps in the carrier, hissed again and ran off.

This is as far as ive got so far. Ive heard its good to briefly introduce them every now and then to get them both used to the idea of each other and this what i was intending on doing but likewise I didnt want continual hissing etc to have lasting damage on their potential future relationship at such an early age, so I was really hoping for some feedback from you more experience owners if there are more effective or quicker ways to help the introduction?

I have ordered some "Felifriend" stuff which hopefully will cause some assistance but have never heard of it prior to this research, I was also wondering if the tuna water (ie water the tuna sits in in a can) trick would possibly help (ie rub abit of the water on both the kitten and cat so they actually can only really smell the tuna on eachother which makes them feel more posative and in some cases lick eachother which gets them used to this idea), but not sure if this is wise to do at this stage in case it causes confusion.

Any advice on this would be great as Millie is really a loving cat and we know since the loss of her mother appears to have missed a play mate, so ive no doubt we can get her to grow to love and mother him so i just want to do everything right.

Please help! and thanks for taking the time to read this essay!

Grangey 

PS, just because I know we all love a new kitty, heres a pic of the little guy.. still awaiting a name


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Gorgeous little kitten,I agree he does look younger.I have never introduced a kitten before so have no personal experience to fall back on but this link gets great reviews Living Together - Introducing a New Cat Some of the things you are already doing but there may be more that will help.Regarding tuna water,I have heard people getting good results using talc,I assume the baby,unscented one.Sprinkle it over both kittens and brush/rub it through fur.Hope it all goes well.


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## jomary-austin (Apr 9, 2009)

Oh my lord what a gorgeous little chap!!!

You are doing everything right by the sounds of it and Mille is behaving entirely normally. Don't expect too much of her though, it takes time. Keep briefly introducing them to each other and gradually Millie will get used to the idea and the hissing will stop. She's hissing because she is a bit afraid I think, not because she is aggressive towards him, I don't think she would hurt a little kitten. Maybe put them in adjoining rooms with a door between them for a while so they can sniff each other underneath it and get used to the smells. Make sure you make a fuss of her so she is relaxed and knows she is still top cat and avoid fussing the newcomer in front of her. Always supervise them until you are happy that they are getting on ok. 

You know all this though, you are just a bit anxious in case the introduction goes wrong and it affects their future relationship...I don't think you should worry. I recently introduced a new year old girl cat to a 2 year old resident boycat and the introduction didn't go at all as planned since Cashie forced his way into where Izzy was on the first day, to have a sniff but there were no problems except when she came into my bedroom (Cashie's territory) and he rushed at her but no harm done. She was the one who was hissing at first but after a couple of weeks creeping around each other they really bonded and they LOVE each other now.

Just carry on taking it gently and they will get used to each other, worst case scenario they tolerate each other, best case scenario they will be bestest mates. Don't expect purring yet, it won't happen for a LONG time, ours only purr when they are grooming each other but since they spend most of their time stalking, chasing and duffing each other up, it is a very rare occurance.

Watch him when he gets a bit older though and get him neutered as soon as you are able, keep your eyes open for amorous advances. When Cash first came to us, as a young unneutered male we had all sorts of fun & games that weekend before his operation. Our two geriatric neutered Persian ladies acted like tarts and he was constantly trying to get at them. I would not wish that on anybody (it was very funny though). he was down to the vet first thing on the Monday!

Keep us posted, you have losts of fun to come.


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