Tips to help my cat and new kitten get along! Options

[laurawaterman]

I have a 1.5 year old female cat. Last night I got a 6.5 week old female kitten. My boyfriend insisted that we just put them together and they'd be fine, even though I told him they should meet through a closed door. Needless to say, it didn't work out the way he thought it would. Zoe (my original cat) is not happy. Tigger (kitten) is not in a seperate room, and she's quite happy in there with her food and blankets and toys (and a litter box of course). Zoe is still hissing and growling at Tigger through the door. I just want to know when I should expect her to calm down a little. Also, if I pet Tigger, and then go to Zoe later, smelling like Tigger, she hisses and growles at me.

What can I do to make things run smoothly, and how can I show Zoe lots of love if she's hissing at me? All suggestions are welcome :)

[love.my.cats]

Google cat introductions and try to follow the necessary steps if you can.
A Feliway diffuser may also help calm her down.
I've found with young kittens, if my older cats do get upset about it, they usually calm down within a few days. All cats are different though and some never become friends with the new comer - they usually learn to at least co-exist though.

[kittenmitten]

oh my god, who on earth let a kitten so bloody young go to a new home? Sorry, but it is against the law to sell a kitten so young. As this little one would have not yet even had a full course of vacciantions, you have not done your own cat any favours by mixing them - if the little one has come off the streets, which is hopefully the only reason you have one so young, there are all srts of diseases it might have been exposed to that you might expose your own cat to. cats are not like dogs, you don;t just throw them together and hope for he best. Take a big step backwards, keep the kitten isolated until it has at least had its first (even better 2nd), vaccinations, then slowly introduce the 2 by having one safely in a cat carrier while letting the other one sniff, and also let them each sniff blankets the other has been on. Please slow down. Yu may also find since the itten is so bvery young htat it has no idea about properl;y eating or littering, there is a reason that breeders keep kittens till at least 12 weeks before rehoming, and that is so kittens have learned all the social skills they need from mum nad their littermates, sadly your one will not get to do this, so you may be up for some beahiouval issues down the track, but only time will tell. If this kitten came from a registered breeder and is a purebred, total shame on them for letting one go so early.

Lastly, since kitten is so young, it will not be desexed, this is something you need to do ASAP once the kitten is able to be done.

[Catsfriend]

Oh dear, I agree with kittenmitten on this one. Your new kitten is just a baby, helplessly exposed to an unfriendly, unwelcoming, scary big creature in a new, strange environment. Please, give your new kitten a small place where she can feel safe, even if it is just a basket next to your bed, and make absolutely sure that your unfriendly adult cat doesn't come even near this baby in the next few weeks. I suggest you cuddle up with the baby kitten and warm it whenever you are in bed. You will have to replace the mother and its siblings to this baby, and spend a lot of time playing and teaching this kitten what it needs to learn - most of all, how to develop trust and confidence. Good luck.

[stephm1188]

Hey it happens, don't feel like a horrible person! If you answered an ad saying 'ready to go now!' then presumably you're going to desex your new one and take one more potential stray/undesexed cat off the streets, rather than leaving it for two more weeks and potentially having them dumped, taken by someone less responsible or any number of things!
Whilst I am on the side of 'adopt before shop' too, sometimes the cat finds you and you get little to no say!

Taking in a new kitten from anywhere is risky business, you can't take cats to meet other cats and check if they get along, but I'd say she will calm down, get over it or at very least establish a pecking order so kitten knows she's boss and can steer clear.

I'd agree with kittenmitten though in that there's no rush. Do make sure they have their own space, bowls, litter and don't have to get in each others way, imagine if you got a flatmate who started using your toothbrush and wearing your undies, that's probably not a relationship off to the best start, i imagine it's the same with litter trays and the like.
I can't so much agree with catsfriend saying spend all your time with the baby in your arms and bed etc.
If there's any way to make sure Zoe's nose is right out of joint it'd be paying her less attention in favour of baby, I wouldn't call her unfriendly either, it's a big adjustment! If she's never had a cat friend before, she's probably miffed, and while he sounds lovely and all, make sure you make a fuss of her too. Let her know she's still number one kitty, feed her first, set aside time to make her feel nice and secure. Lots of hugs, chatting to her and acting like nothing has changed, kitten will slot into the routine too, and have his own time I'm sure!

And do go for vaccinations and desexing the second you can, that will make life easier, and everyone is right, you don't want to make poor Zoe sick either, at the very least have your initial vet check, just to make sure baby hasn't bought you a lovely case of cat flu or anything nasty like that, they'll probably be able to give you a bit more advice too. Finding a good vet is the best tool you can have!

She's only one and a half, she is probably still pretty resilient and will come around eventually, and hey. don't fret over the behavioural issues thing either, while it's possible there's not a lot that can be done now and I have a 4 year old cat who showed up at 4.5-5 weeks and he's as happy as a pig in poop. He thinks he's a person/dog but there's nothing to cause concern. Plus having Zoe around when she settles down will probably do him the world of good!

And hey, congratulations! Kittens are so much fun, they will both sort themselves out, all you can do is watch and make sure everything runs relatively smoothly!
Photos too please!!!



Hope I haven't offended anyone, I didn't mean to. Just pointing out what's done is done and you can just look out from here now!

[kittycatcutie]

I agree with the above posts. Very young! It is still too hard to tell what personality the kitten has.

I have had a previous experience. Just introduce them through a screen door when he is a bit older. It is normal for them to hiss or run away. Continuously do that and then put them next to each other (supervised). Do it quickly (don't leave the kitten away for a long time) It is normal for them to attack a little bit as they need to figure out who is boss.

Don't stress :) - at the moment just keep the kitten separate for a while until he isn't such a baby.