# Introducing a new kitten to our 1 year old cat



## eludethedude

Hi,

Last year we got our first kitten, a runt of the litter who was very timid to begin with, it took her 3 days to eat or toilet, almost 2 weeks before she befriended us.

She is now very well loved, looked after and in some ways spoilt, she would come to our attention every time either of us come home from work, always loved a fuss, sleeps at the foot of our bed or under it and is very much a lap cat.

She has free roam of the house (excluding the living room unless we are home) and the enclosed garden but is generally an indoor cat, and has been spayed.

On Friday we bought home a 7 week old kitten who took to use brilliantly from the word go, we bought her home in a cat carrier directly from her first vet checkup and registration, the older cat ran upstairs once she had noticed the newcomer, occasionally visiting downstairs to hiss or moan.

The new kitty has been very well fussed and began eating, purring and continuing on as a cat owner can only wish, but with us carrying the scent of the newcomer, our older cat will not allow us to fuss her without hissing or otherwise displaying her disapproval.

Our vet advised us about careful introduction and the pecking order between them which needs to be established and that the scent of both should be crossed around the house.

I fear we have made 2 vital mistakes over the last couple days:

1) On the second day I put them both in the room together, the kitten didnt mind but the elder went into a bit of a frenzy and I suffered with a few scratches, I gave up rather quickly leaving her even more annoyed with me. Ive since learned this could have long lasting effects?

2) We then decided to bring the new kitty upstairs to the bedroom to spread the cent where she spent a couple of hours, the elder has since refused to return to the bedroom. I fear weve now neglected to respect the elders territory and establishment and further disrupted our attempts to introduce them.

My partner and i work long hours and the newcomer was intended as a friend and family member both in and without our presence.

The new kitten has slept in the living room every night with her own bed, litter tray and food, the elder has her own and toys, non of which has been moved from their original places.

We are really concerned that not only have we overly fussed the newcomer, increasing her expectations, we have disrupted the elders routine, territory and perhaps warped her views towards us and the newcomer.

We have decided to put the newcomer in the living room for longer periods of time while trying to encourage the elder to re-establish her surroundings (heres hoping) while once a day leaving the living room door open so they both have a daily opportunity to meet and greet.

Any further tips / advice would be fantastic.


----------



## gloworm*mushroom

My advice would be to give this kitten back to its mum for another 6 weeks. But I doubt that will happen. 7 weeks is INSANELY young to leave its mum. 8 is literally the bare minimum and really shouldnt be, ten should be minimum. 12-13 is preferable.

You say you work long hours, a kitten this age needs a lot of time and attention, so I would be looking at taking some time off to look after and introduce these cats. It is still such a tiny baby it is not safe to be alone around your other cat, and I wouldnt want a kitten that young locked up alone away from other cats either.


----------



## donnadimps

Things will improve. I had a similar problem a few years ago ( tho unfortunately dont have any of the cats now ..explained later).
We got Sophie as a rescue cat aged approx 1 year old , had been thru quite an ordeal and similarly was initially very timid but grew to trust and love us. When she was about 7 we got another female rescue cat aged approx 6months...Poppy. The hissing went on for days. Sophie did not like this new member of the family and her nose was right out of joint. She sulked. wouldnt come to us for petting. We just carried on as normal ...didnt change the routine..fed them both TOGETHER and stroked her(sophie) when it suited her. We did make a point of NOT over indulging the new cat when she was around...rather we only gave cuddles when she was out...and vice versa If there was a spat we left them to it and usually the younger cat backed off ( pecking order) We only split them once. 
One day about a month after getting the new cat (Poppy) I came home to find them both lying on my bed with Poppy grooming Sophie both happily purring. 
All seemed well until about a year later Poppy went missing. She was eventually seen 2 weeks later not far away , looking healthy etc ...acknowledged me when called but wouldnt come to me . I kept going back to the area and came to the conclusion she was obviously being cared for...so gave up trying to get her home. I have heard that cats like to be "top cat" and as there was already a "Top Cat" (Sophie) then Poppy went out to establish her own territory. That was all about 9 years ago and I sadly had to put Sophie to sleep last year. Next week I am getting a new kitten as the time feels right ...but I have the problem now of introducing her (Harley) to an established dog ( mitsi) oh well happy days  but good luck with your 2 cats ...im sure they will eventually find mutal respect for each other xxx


----------



## BSH

Your kitten is very young and will need lots of regular care & checks, including feeding at least 4 times a day at present. Ideally it should have stayed longer with its mother but what is done is done now.

Introductions can go well but can be fraught with problems. Gradual introductions, the use of scenting the smell of the cats in the house and sight-only contact are the first steps to take.

There will be lots of other threads on here re: introductions so a search may help you. Google may help also. Here is a site with info to get you started:

Introducing Your Kitten To The Family

Good luck.


----------



## eludethedude

Hi,

Thanks for your replies.

We thoroughly appreciate 7 weeks is young but there are valid reasons for this, before she came home we took her to register at the vets to ensure she had a clean bill of health and we were happy she was confident and developed enough to be separated under the circumstances, the vet being happy with all this and gave us a little advice.

The older cat has now come back to the bedroom and I aim not to bring the kitten up into her territory again until she works her way into our cats home. 

We have a couple more days off work for this transition, is there any idea how long the hissing from our elder cat likely to continue? As it stands the kitten is getting a good amount of fussing while the elder refuses due to the scent.

How long should we expect to wait before we can leave doors open between them?

When / If this time comes, can we then leave them unattended or is this likely to get malicious?

There is a lot of conflicting information around this.

Sounding here like were looking after a couple of children but we want them both to be equally as happy even if it means adjusting focus or routine for long term improvements.

Sorry to ramble on, thanks again for the help.


----------



## BSH

eludethedude said:


> How long should we expect to wait before we can leave doors open between them?
> 
> When / If this time comes, can we then leave them unattended or is this likely to get malicious?
> 
> There is a lot of conflicting information around this.


It really depends on the individual cats. Some will accept incomers more readily than others. You need to judge each abd every day whether you can proceed on to the next step of the introduction process.

Essentially it is smells only, followed by visual, no contact exposure to each other followed by supervised contact followed by unsupervised contact.

If things do not go accordng to plan then go back a step and start again. It took just a week to introduce my new cat (an adult) earlier this year to my two cats (juveniles) but it could take weeks to months with some cats, hence the reason for conflicting information. There is no set pattern and you must adjust the process to suit your cats behaviours and responses.


----------



## Philski

My personal experience - keep them separated for longer than you think is necessary. When I brought home my two Mau kittens nearly three years ago, I tried introducing them straight away to Triftji, my moggie who'd had my place to himself for 18 months, since his brother died. It didn't go well - he hissed and ran away.

I kept them separated for the next two months - moving the kittens to different rooms every couple of days and leaving Triftji free run of everywhere else. This way Triftji had plenty of time to get accustomed to their new scents - and I firmly believe that eventually his curiosity got the better of him, once he had become accustomed to the new smells. I think that scent plays a huge part in the interaction between cats, possibly the _most_ important part. If you can get the cats to get used to each others smells without the stress of face-to-face confrontations, then you're most of the way there. But take your time, there's no need to rush it.


----------



## eludethedude

Hi,

Thank you all for your great advice, we have taken it on board, spreading the scent but no forceful introductions.

We've left doors open when supervised and our elder cat has now accepted both us for carrying the scent and the scent around the house, now allowing us to fuss her.

We've had to take a few steps back rather than rush the situation as suggested in this thread which seems to of worked significantly, the elder is very curious of the new cat and will sometimes watch her from the stairs but she still runs away 50% of the time.

Its day 4 and I am please with the progress, looking forward to the day i come home and they are cuddled up together 

I will come back and let you know how it goes.
Thanks again for the advice.


----------



## Philski

Good luck, I would love to hear how it goes. By the way, my avatar picture was taken on the day that I finally allowed the two boys to meet Triftji properly - they spent a couple of hours getting to know one another in the garden, and then all crashed out together on my bed!


----------



## BSH

Glad to hear things are going well introducing your new kitten. Patience is a virtue and will reap rewards 

We will be going through the same process in a few weeks again, so can empathise


----------

