# Introducing new kitten to 1 year old cat - please help!



## missg0s0e (Feb 10, 2015)

Hi all, I'm new here and hoping someone can offer some advice. I have a 1year old neutered male kitten, Jeff. He's generally well-behaved although he is VERY vocal and seeks attention (mainly mine, not my husband's!) pretty much constantly if we are both in the house and he is awake (to give you an idea, I can't remember the last time I went to the loo on my own). My husband works away a lot so most of the time it has just been me and Jeff.

In a well-intentioned - if perhaps not entirely sensible - move we decided that another cat might help the dynamic in the household to give him company while we are out, that kind of thing. I didn't think he'd accept an older, more dominant cat, so we now have an 8 week female kitten called Daisy. 

Jeff is NOT happy. Daisy arrived with us on Friday, and since then she has been mainly in our spare room (the room Jeff tends to spend the least amount of time in). When she first arrived, Jeff was very anxious and spent a lot of time pacing the house and miaowing. We got a feliway plug in and he is a bit calmer now but he will not tolerate me spending any time in the spare room with the kitten. As I type this he is yowling and hurling himself at the door. I'm at my wits end - we will need to introduce them properly at some point but I'm terrified he will hurt her. 

For her part she seems quite happy, the room is big enough for her to explore and she seems content but she is starting to respond to his (fairly anxious/aggressive) presence outside the door and I'm worried she will start to get stressed. I've tried feeding them on either side of the door, cracking the door slightly to let them see one another, and I'm pretty much constantly taking towels and blankets in and out to let them get used to each others' smell. I've got a big play crate coming tomorrow to try to let him see her in an environment where she is safe but I have to think of her well-being too and I just don't know what to do! (I'm also probably a bit sleep deprived due to early morning miaowing sessions). 

Can anyone offer any advice?


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

If he's yowling anxiously/aggressively outside the door I wouldn't move on to letting him see her yet.

What happens when you feed them either side of the door if the door is closed? Does he relax and eat the food?

If you sit outside the door with him does he still get upset? Will he play and eat treats with you beside him outside the closed door?

If you remove the kitten from the room and put her in another room will he go into the kitten's empty room? Will he eat his food and play with you in there without the kitten present?

I would slow down on the introductions until he is relaxed with all of the above.


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

A couple of good links:

Integrating Kittens with Cats

Intercat Relationships | Cat Behavior Associates (particularly the 'introducing a second cat' section.)


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## missg0s0e (Feb 10, 2015)

Thanks @ameliajane those links are very helpful. 

I think he's getting there very slowly - he's kind of ok as long as I'm on the right side of the door (the one with him on it and not the kitten). He will eat the food outside the door if he is hungry, and he will let me pat him/give him treats outside the door, as long as Daisy is not meowing or scratching at the other side of the door. 

I will try moving her out into another room tonight to see what happens when he is allowed into her room. Poor wee Jeff, he's so confused!


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## Isisini (Jun 3, 2014)

Hello!

Just to say we introduced our fairly needy adult cat (four years old) to a female kitten (11 weeks old) last summer. It was stressful! Like you I was completely sleep deprived and was really questioning whether we had done the right thing.

To offer you some comfort, it did work out eventually. Now a year on, I would say they are mostly pals (they sleep together, groom each other, and play together) but the kitten does occasionally annoy our older original recipe cat and they don't spend all their time together: he is definitely less sold on her than he on him. We spoke to a behaviourist when things were tricky in the beginning and she felt the male cat -> female kitten was generally the least aggressive cat dynamic with the most hope of harmony so fingers crossed! Here are things that helped us, above and beyond the usual stuff about taking things slowly...

- In general, ensuring your home has a feeling of cat abundance. That means your cats shouldn't have to fight over toys, beds, food or human interaction. This means the first couple of months could be quite painful as while they are separated you will need to spend lots of time separately with both cats!

- Make sure you have lots of places for your cats to hide or be private. E.g. we cleared the top of one of our wardrobes and it is now our older cats favourite place to sleep when he wants some alone time from the kitten. This is totally natural.

- Minimise 'chasing' spaces in the house. These are open spaces like the living room where fighting could easily start and the cats can't get away. One really easy temporary way to do this is collect some cardboard boxes, big and small, cut a few cat sized holes in them, cover them in Feliway and scatter them in the room. Looks messy; is only temporary. We found this 'cat fort' was a great way of building up their interactions with each other as there were plenty of spaces to hide, perch, or play, and if they destroyed it it was not the end of the world.

- If some parts of your house are especially important to your cat (in our case, our bedroom/bed), try and keep this sacred for them. Our 'kitten' (now a cat) still sleeps in the study, which is all she has ever known. She's perfectly happy in there with all her things and a comfy bed. Our boy cat gets to sleep on our bed at night, which means he gets at least eight hours a day of exclusive human time and bed sleeping time. Keeps his stress levels down.

- If your boy cat is protective of food, try feeding them separately. We still feed our cats in separate rooms and probably always will, as the kitten was always trying to get into his bowl, which was stressful for him as he is a rescue cat and has never quite got over having to scavenge for his dinner. Now she's learned that at dinner time she waits and then trots upstairs for her meal.

Sorry epic post! But hopefully some of these suggestions work out for you. All the great advice about taking things slowly and keeping them separate to start with is completely crucial too.

Good luck and hope it works out.


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

Love the scattered cardboard boxes suggestion to reduce open space chasing - not seen that one before.

I've actually been going through this process myself for the past 6-7 weeks. It is pretty stressful even though things have progressed well and I'm very lucky in that my older cat now shows no aggression towards my kitten but my kitten is _very_ fixated on chasing (playfully) my older cat - if she gets the opportunity - which does then upset my older cat.

I can see how a room full of boxes might really help.

I'll be trying that - Thanks!


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## Tortoisekitty (Feb 11, 2015)

Personally I'd keep the two apart for a while, and keep switching the blanket of their beds. That way they'll get used to each others scent. Then gradually allow the kitten to roam while you watch over the two of them. Any sort of violent behavior and i'd remove the kitten immediately. 

It take a lot of time and effort to introduce a new kitten to a cat, sometimes i've seen it go without any problem at all and others where the older cats has literally been ripping out it's own fur due to stress.

My best advice would be to take it slow with the two of them and eventually in time the two will be sure to get on.


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## missg0s0e (Feb 10, 2015)

I realised I never checked back in to thank you all for the advice. I now have two very happy cats. Never thought at the start we'd get here. Thanks again!


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