Hi everyone - so FH and I just adopted a 12 week old male kitten - he is very timid and loves to be held, but he is also very freightened. We also have a 9 year old female cat - a very sweet cat that was the only pet.
Well my older cat has been hissing at the new kitten - something this cat NEVER DOES. She also swatted at me (something she never does) and is now hiding (something she never does).
I understand that this is going to take some time for the two to co-habitate, however - any suggestions on how to make this process any better?
Should we put new kitten in a room with a closed door at first, then slowly reintroduce the two together or do we just let them both lose around the house and allow things to happen naturally?
My biggest fear is that our older cat will be mad at us for a while and not cuddle us or be friendly to us anymore - is this a real possibility?
soontobecruz
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Re: NWR: new kitten - help!
growing up I always had cats. Truthfully unless one was in danger we just left them to learn on their own. The little one usually got hissed at a lot and would be freightend but eventually the older always gave in and would become almost like a protector and clean the kitten and then they would always play fine.
Sometimes the older one would (I assume) get tired and not want to play as much as the kitten did of course and might hiss, as if to say, leave me alone and the kitten usually did.
Again I am no expert but they always eventually got used to eachother and we never seperated them
stinenandy2010
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Re: NWR: new kitten - help!
your older cat is definitely jealous.
we recently got a puppy, we have had a cat for over a year now. when we got the dog, our cat keep hissing at us and wanted nothing to do with us. after a week, he got much better. and now two months later the two LOVE each other. they even play together, its so cute.
really all you can do is time. i would also recommend if you are holding one cat, have your fh pick up the other cat, this way the older cat knows that someone is still paying attention to her/him. just really try to treat them equally. if you play with one, you have to play with the other at the same time.
good luck!
CloudNine
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Re: NWR: new kitten - help!
We had a cat for almost a year and then brought home a new kitten. What we did was kept the kitten in our bedroom for about 4-5 days with his food and litter box. We then let him out for SUPERVISED exploring. My original cat growled and hissed at him A LOT. You are bringing a new cat into your old cats territory and they need to establish who the dominant one is.
Finally one afternoon I let them battle a little. My older cat approached the baby and smacked him around a bit, I felt terrible but then all of a sudden they warmed up to eachother. I think it allwed my older cat to see that he wasn’t a threat and she is the dominant one. Now they love eachother, they play together and sleep near eachother, clean eachother, its great. They play fight now as well.
You def need time for the older cat to get used to this new visitor. I think it is ok to let them fight a little just make sure you are supervising them and have either a spray bottle on hand to spray them if it gets ugly or even a towel to throw on them. That will shock them enough to stop fighting
mrsdraskin2009
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Re: NWR: new kitten - help!
Keeping them apart is WORSE! Then they will NEVER learn to be around each other.
Hissing is normal. There's nothing you can do. Just let them be.
babsbeark
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Re: NWR: new kitten - help!
i have three cats they are all different ages i just let them smell each other while holding the kitten and then let them play the older cats hissed a few times but after a couple hours they were fine
jcreilly
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Re: NWR: new kitten - help!
Dont worry they will get used to each other I have had cats my life We have one she is 7 and four years ago we bought home another she hissed and would not leave the dining room, well now she is very good with him after two years of ingoring him and three weeks ago my sister bought home another kitten and my cat ingores it she pretends its not there lol but my other cat ( four year old) plays with him. Just give them time he may take afew mths but they will be okay
JAAMS
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Re: NWR: new kitten - help!
Everytime we introduced a new cat, the other ones would do this- they would get jealous and be angry. However, unless the new cat was in danger, we just let them mingle and get to know each other.
If we thought the new cat might get attacked, we would only allow him/her to mingle when we were home and watching. Otherwise, we would keep him/her in a separate room until they starting getting along.
italgal
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Re: NWR: new kitten - help!
If your older cat is an outdoor cat put the two fo them out doors. Cats tend to get along better outside. I have 7 cats. Outdoors they all get along, never hiss or fight. Inside, they tend to get nasty with eachother from time to time. I find that older cats do not like kittens. However they will grow closer in time.
