# Have I done the right thing?



## Azic (Sep 15, 2011)

Hi all, 
New user here and a new cat owner, Nice to meet you all 

I got a 8 week year old Kitten about a month ago, and he has been great, he has grown so much, goes any where he wants inside the house, is loved by both myself and my wife. he sleeps with us at times, we always play with him and we have a fairly big basement flat in central London so he has lots of space and a small court yard for outside adventures.

First Question:
I will not let cats outside becuase its just so Dangerous with the main roads and things I would be a reck till it came home. Is this really cruel to them?

Second Question (could be a long one):
My wife yesterday adopted another kitten as she felt that our existing cat Max needed a friend, her thinking was, if he cant go outside its not fair that he will never have the company of his own kind, I understand this and in-fact we were both so happy to have 2 cats. She had cats all her childhood, I never had any pets but always wanted a cat.

The New cat is 12 weeks old, and we think is a Bengal/Tabby cross, she picked this cat on the sellers/breeders reputation not the breed of the cat, and it was not sold as a Bengal, but the seller said the farther is Bengal and the mother is a tabby, and showed the farther to my wife, the mother was off down the garden.

I want to stress that the breed makes no odds, the new cat Tigger we called him will be and is loved just the same as max.

Please bare with me & thanks if your still reading 

So she got home yesterday, with the new cat in its holder, she had put a blanket that Max sleeps on in the holder to try and get the new cat used to the scent of max, Max is a lovely fluffy cat, we don't know his breed, when we took him to the vet for his shots and to learn how to worm him and care for him the vet said he is just a cat maybe of medium hair length, but his fluffiness will go down as he grows.

So she places the Kitten in his box on the floor and we get Max and with lots of praise/treats and encouragement let him sniff and see the new Kitten in his box.
Then my wife stayed with max whilst I took the new Kitten Tigger to the living room.

To cut a long story short with all the excitement and organisation of settling in the new little one, Max managed to get into the front room...

And to my surprise, they get on like a house on fire, they rough and tumble chase each other. They play fight, the new Kitten is very vocal and very sure of its self, much more confident then Max was at his same age, although they are about a month apart in age. Max being bigger pins down Tigger, but tigger gives as good as he gets. 

I have been separating them at times but I think its becuase I am overly worried about them, but I know 100% its play fighting, and not serious. So far they eat together and sleep together and play together.

I have attached some Pics of them to this post.
Max is the Black cat, Tigger is the other one.

So my question is,
Have I done the wrong thing not making the introduction a lot slower? Am I going to upset max who was I guess king of the hill. 
If I have done wrong, how can I make good on it. we treat both cats the same, Max in truth has been getting a little more than Tigger as we want him to know we love him the same.

Also Max grooms Tigger quite a bit, but also keeps sniffing his bum, is this normal? 

Thanks for reading, and for any advice

Jason


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

Hi and welcome to you and your very sweet kitties 
First question: so long as you provide plenty of stimulation - eg scratching and climbing posts, interactive chasing games, things to kick chase and pounce on - then no, in my opinion it is not cruel to keep your cats indoors. Indeed they should not be let out until they have been neutered in any case nor until they are at least nine or ten months to a year old. If you want them to experience outdoors you can put an enclosure in your garden, cat proof it with secure cat fencing or harness train them. - sorry just had a quick read of your post and realise that cat-proofing or building a run for them aren't practical in your garden but something to consider for the future if you move maybe.
Second question: introductions are usually recommended to be done slowly as you were trying to do with your kittens but sometimes things don't go to plan. It does not sound as if any harm has been done and they have made a good start. As they get a little older and the hormones start to change you may find a little difference in their attitudes towards each other but neutering them should return things to normal.
best of luck with your kittens


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## Azic (Sep 15, 2011)

Thanks lymorelynn
I feel better now,
Our whole home has become a kitty playground at the moment 

3 Scratching posts of various sizes, a kitty climbing frames, my desk / keyboard
every where. Numerous toy mice etc. toys on strings. 
We bought all the toys from the vet, she must of seen us coming 
But its all worth it. 

We will have them both neutered at soon as they can be. I do suspect as you say their attitude may change as they grow, but hopefully they will become best buddies for ever.

Thank You for your help

Jason


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## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

First question: No - it is not cruel - being knocked down by a car is cruel when your owner knew it was almost inevitable. You are doing the right thing.

Question 2: (firstly tabby isn't a breed it is a coat colour - so even if dad was a bengal (probably not though - a lot of BYB call tabbies Bengal because they can get a better price) mum was obviously a moggy who happened to be tabby. . . ) 

They sound perfect for each other - leave them to it. Yes bum sniffing is normal - my lot still do it at 4 years old.


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## ewelsh (Jan 26, 2011)

Hi there and welcome to the world of cat loving.............. you'll wonder what you did with your days/evenings for entertainment before....

I kept my first cat Loulou in for 2 years and she was very happy and had lots of fuss and toys, so your not being cruel keeping them in...

They sound as if they have hit it off and your very lucky, things may change as they grow up so yes neutering is the best option.

In my experience of cats either they like each other and play together and will always remain friends OR they tolerate each other.

They sound as if they are very lucky kittens and are loved very much........thats all any cat wants.

best of luck and enjoy!


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## kelassa (Sep 13, 2011)

Hiya, I have 2 adult cats that are 1 yrs old and 1 kitten. The adult cats have been indoor cats since they were kittens and even when I leave the front door open if I'm in the garden they don't seem to have any desire to go outside. So in answer to your question I don't think it's cruel at all. Having 2 cats will mean they won't get lonely. You can get really tall cat trees, i think it is good to give them somewhere to climb and sit up high, my cats seem to like that.

With regards to introducing them too early. My new kitten and 1 of the adults are playing and running around chasing each other after only 6 days together! I guess nature just takes its course, and some things will happen quicker than others.


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## babygirls (Aug 22, 2011)

Hi

Your kittens are lovely, Tiggers markings 1/2 bengal or not are wonderful. My kittens are sisters and they sniff alot as well 

and mine will also be indoors with lots of stimulation and hopefully an outdooe run


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## Alaskacat (Aug 2, 2010)

First question - No it is not cruel to keep your cats indoors, as they have never been outdoors they will not know what they are missing and they will be so much safer. As others have said lots of toys and games will keep them interested and another cat is a good choice, I'm sure they'll appreciate the company.

Second question - They seem happy and have a sibling relationship so I wouldnt worry about them not getting on now. My concern would be the stress on their imune system of leaving their Mum (for Tigger), arriving at a new home and meeting another cat so close together. Are they both vaccinated? As they are happy together it would stress them more to seperate them, so don't, but keep a close eye on them, as a stress can make young kittens more susceptable to illness. 
As much as possible I would keep contact with people with cats to a minimum and avoid changes to their routine for a little while so that they can settle in and avoid some of the risk of them catching something. Seperate litter trays would be great, but I expect that they wouldn't be that agreeable to using their own one, so a good few trays regularly cleaned out for a while might help.

I'm sure your kitties will be very happy together and with you and your wife, you are clearly very caring.

Best wishes to you all


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## Azic (Sep 15, 2011)

Hi everybody,
and thank you all for your answers and help.

Well they are getting along fine today, it makes me laugh as tigger wants to eat out of Max's bowl and Max is not that happy about it.

One thing I cant understand and I wonder if anybody could answer this for me?

Max rarely if ever makes any sound, he never Miaows and rarely purrs. Tiger on the other hand, walks around like he is singing. Its not a Miaow sound more like a cricket and pigeon sound. Also when he cant find Max then he starts properly Miaowing? The only noise max makes is a growl like sound and that only happens when I use the printer, he hates that.

Also Tigger has really sharp claws, I mean really sharp and is already climbing up our shelves which stand at over 7ft and curtains, its crazy!! he is a climber all right, though I worried he is going to have a fall. 

Max has had his full Vaccinations 1st round of them including leukemia and has been wormed and flea-ed. We were lucky as the vet said max did not have fleas so its likely he did not have worms.
We are going to the Vet next week for Max's second round of jabs and have booked in Tigger as well so he will get a full once over from the vet 

We consulted with the Vet before getting Tigger and she said it will be fine and that neither are at risk from each other so my wife went ahead with getting Tigger.

Well thanks again and good luck to you all

Jason


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

Hi Jason, welcome to PF!
You have 2 lovely little kittens there and it seems they are already bosom buddies. Most people do find that young kittens will integrate pretty easily with each other.
If you have a court yard garden it may well be possible to cat proof it fairly easily and thus let the cats have the best of both worlds. I guess that now over the colder months you and your wife will not be spending much time outside, but come summer many of us have doors and windows open and it is harder to keep cats totally indoors. I have recently cat proofed my garden and it was not expensive or difficult at all.

As you are in London, I would like to recommend Mobile Pet Foods Ltd who sell most regular brands of litter and cat food, but also Natural Instinct raw frozen food which I can highly recommend.
Looking forward to seeing more pics of the boys as they grow.


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## Azic (Sep 15, 2011)

Paddypaws said:


> Hi Jason, welcome to PF!
> You have 2 lovely little kittens there and it seems they are already bosom buddies. Most people do find that young kittens will integrate pretty easily with each other.
> If you have a court yard garden it may well be possible to cat proof it fairly easily and thus let the cats have the best of both worlds. I guess that now over the colder months you and your wife will not be spending much time outside, but come summer many of us have doors and windows open and it is harder to keep cats totally indoors. I have recently cat proofed my garden and it was not expensive or difficult at all.
> 
> ...


Hi Paddypaws,
Thanks for the link will have a look at that.
In regards to the court yard, as we are in the basement it is kind of a court yard at the back of the building so they can not get anywhere it its more or less like an open air prison cell. No walls they can climb over and no where to go.
We are planning to put cat grass out there for them, we have taken away all the plants out there.

Ill post more pics soon, many thanks

Jason


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