How to introduce my 7 month old cat to a new kitten?

Question

Well, I just brought home my new girl kitten who is only 6 weeks. My old cat is soooo mad. He is hissing, and growling..etc. The lil girl has her own room with all her essentials. I am just wondering how to get them introduced correctly. I still make sure that my old cat gets all his attention. I got the kitten so My oreo won't be alone. They smell and everything. How long will it take? What did you all do?

Answer 1

Hi Cass...cats have a more difficult time making friends as they are territorial by nature. It has to be done gradually in order to help them learn that the other kitty is a friend. Anyhow, here's the advice of how to introduce cats/kittens.

"Slowly" and "Patiently" are the operative words

Although sometimes cats will get along swimmingly in just a couple of hours, you should not be surprised to have a battle on your hands if you try to introduce your new cat too quickly. The time you spend on this all-important process will be saved exponentially by not having to break up conflicts every day. Also, the first couple of weeks can set the tone for the relationship for a long time to come, so "getting it right" the first time will save a lot of hassles later on.

The Steps to Take

Set up a comfortable "safe room" for New Cat. Put her food, water, litter box (not near the food), scratching post, toys, and bed or other sleeping mat there.

Expect a great deal of "hissy-spitty" behavior through the closed door from both cats.

This is natural and normal; they are just starting to explore their "pecking order."

Scent is very important for cats. Let each of them smell the other indirectly, by rubbing a towel on one and letting the other smell it. They will soon accept the scent as a normal part of the house.

Once or twice, switch roles. Put New Cat in the normal living quarters, and let your resident cat sniff out the new cat's Safe Room.

After a day or so, let the two cats sniff each other through a baby-gate or through a barely-opened door. Gauge the rate at which they seem to be acclimating to each other.

When you think they're ready, let them mingle under your supervision. Ignore hissing and growling, but you may have to intervene if a physical battle breaks out. Again, take this step slowly, depending on how quickly they get along. If they do seem to tolerate each other, even begrudgingly, praise both of them profusely.

Make their first activities together enjoyable ones so they will learn to associate pleasure with the presence of the other cat. Feeding (with their own separate dishes), playing, and petting. Keep up with the praise.

If things start going badly, separate them again, and then start where you left off. If one cat seems to consistently be the aggressor, give her some "time out," then try again a little bit later.

The introduction can take from two hours to six months, so don't be discouraged if your cats don't seem to get along well at first. Often the case is that they will eventually be "best buddies."

Factors to Consider

1 - If you are thinking of getting a kitten to keep an older cat company, you might want to consider two kittens. They will be able to keep each other company while the older cat learns to love them.

2- If you already have more than one cat, use the "alpha cat" for preliminary introductions. Once he/she accepts the newcomer, the other resident cats will quickly fall in line.

3- Lots of snuggle-time and attention is indicated for all cats concerned during this period. Remember, the prime goal is to get them to associate pleasure with the presence of each other.
If possible, ask a friend to deliver the new cat to your home, in her cage. You can act nonchalant, as if it's no big deal, then later let your resident cat(s) think it's their idea to welcome the newcomer.

Answer 2

Before you even start introducing them, make sure your new kitten has a clean bill of health from a veterinarian. This means having her tested for the Feline Leukemia and FIV viruses, checked for parasites including internal parasites, fleas, earmites, etc, dewormed (regardless of fecal test results) and make sure she's had at least her first round of vaccines.

Don't be alarmed by the hissing. This happens more often than not! Let them smell each other and catch glimpses of each other under the door for a week or so, or until the hissing subsides. Try putting food treats near the door so they associate good things with the new cat, but only when they are behaving. Reward good behavior only! Take a towel and rub down the new kitty, then use that towel to rub down your older kitty. This will also help get them used to each other's smell.

After the initial hissing subsides, put the new kitten in a carrier and allow the older kitty to walk around it. More hissing may take place. Do this several times a day for a while, again rewarding good behavior.

After the kitties accept each other through the carrier, it is time to let the new kitten out! Supervised only! Reward good behavior again. Allow longer and longer supervised contact time until you trust them enough to leave them together all the time. Occasionally, some people need to go back to the kitten-in-the-carrier trick if fighting starts at this step. But be patient. It can take from 2 weeks to 6 months or more for newly introduced cats to accept each other.

You may hear some people tell you to just throw them together and let them fight it out. I highly recommend NOT doing this. It can lead to serioius behavior problems. It may occasionally work, but the majority of the time it doesn't and then people end up taking one of the cats to a shelter!

If the introduction does not go well, you may want to ask your veterinarian about pheromone products like Feliway. They can help ease kitty stress. Some people swear by it, but it doesn't work for all kitties.

Answer 3

I just did this with my neutered male 7 month old cat. When the new kitten (10 weeks) was first in the house, we kept her in a room with the door closed. He laid with his nose at the door all day, and would occasionally cry and was very jumpy. We put a baby gate in the doorway, and a couple times a day we would open the door and one person would sit with the 7 month old on one side, and one person would sit with the 10 week old on the other side. And they'd sniff eachother and hiss or growl every once in a while. The older cat seemed to have no interest in jumping over the gate even though he knew he could, but the kitten tried a couple of times after she was more comfortable. After a couple days of doing this, they were trying to play with eachother through the gate, and the 7 month old had stopped his hissing completely (the 10 week old still would occasionally), so we started letting them out in a common room together. They would bat at eachother with their paws (no claws) but preferred to stay where one was inside something, or under or on top of something, so there was some semblance of seperation. This hesitation lasted a couple of days. Now, we are still keeping the kitten in a seperate room when we aren't around, but when we are around they will run around and play together, and they seem to know to get away from each other if it gets too rough (the youngest is actually the rough one). But we do interfere if there is loud hissing or meowing just in case. When there aren't anymore of these occassional hissing/meowing fits, we will let them stay together without keeping as close an eye on them. We also tried spraying felliway around the doorway to the room where the kitten is being kept, and that seemed to lessen the stress and jumpiness a lot with both cats. Also, when you let the cats in the same room together, make sure it isn't the room where you are keeping the kitten or a room the older cat considers is "his", and make sure non of the older cat's toys are around in case he is protective of his things. Just so you know, my cat loves the kitten now and is so thrilled to have someone to play with (the kitten wants to play, but still gets a little scared since her playmate is 3 times her size). He cries when the kitten gets put back in her room.

Answer 4

Your old cats behavior is not abnormal most cats get frustrated when you bring a new kitty into the mix. Give them sometime together and sometime apart since you said you have a room for the new kitten. This allows your cat to get used to the scent of the other cat in your home. It wont happen overnight but they will get along. Your old cat is just protesting in the hopes that you will get rid of your new little guy and he/she will be the only cat in your house and in your life again. Make sure when the cats are together you are there to supervise. Eventually they will play and may even sleep together. I have 3 cats so I understand how it can be at first. When I brought my third cat home he was 7 years old and both my other cats were adults as well I thought it would be hard to make them get along but I kept them seperated for a good week or two and when they finally got in the room together they were used to eachothers scents and played almost right away. This may not happen with every cat but it is a good sign that one of the most important things is for your old cat to get used to the new cats scent around the house. Good luck I know your cats will become the best of friends.

Answer 5

I am facing the same problem with my 4 year old cat and a 4 month old kitten. The key is to TAKE IT SLOW. I started off with the kitten in a room where the crack under the door was big enough so her scent could go underneath for my cat to smell her. Then I gradually introduced them to each other for a few minutes at a time, making sure not to force them on each other and providing ways for them to escape if they felt threatened. Another good thing to do is to provide rewards, like allowing them to have canned food but only if they eat near each other, which builds their relationship or allowing them to play with a toy they love when in the same room. It might take a few weeks, but just take it slow so you don't push them on each other and cause a negative reaction, because it will stick for both of them.

Answer 6

ok i had some cats that did this also, i now that it doesn't sound like the right thing to do but just leave them alone. they will bond over time, the only thing that i did when i had my cat introduced to my other cats was when she started growling orhissing just pick him up tell him no and then set him back down again, and if he still is doing it after you do this then give him a tap on the nose and tell him no, and if he is still doing this then skoot him away from her spank him and tell him no. and if none of this works then the other thing that i suggest is that you get two kennel cages put one cat in one and the other in the other kennel cage, and then set the cages next to each other to where they can see each other and maybe they will learn to deal with each other that way. good luck to you. hoped i helped you.

Answer 7

Do not let the kitten out of the cage for awhile. Let the older cat come around the cage in order to get use to the kitten....Pretty soon things will be great

Answer 8

When I got my kitten and first brought her home, my dog wasnt to happy. The place where we got my kitty suggested to rub an old rag over the kitten and then let your other cat/dog sniff at it to get smell the cat's scent.This is supposed to help the dog/cat get used to the new kitty.
Worked for me and I hope it works for you!

Answer 9

The way I did it was put a little perfume (mine) on each pet so we all smelled the same and just let them sniff and work it out. People will say to keep one in a crate but who has time? Just keep watch at first that the little one doesn't get too beat up. A little is ok, what else are younger sibblings for?? ;)

Answer 10

I have introduced many cats to one another over the years. Really, all it takes it time. The older one (which is not old at all) will learn to love having a play mate.

Just try to keep an eye on them and don't let them fight to hard. They will play fight a bit and that is okay. The little one will have to learn who is boss and it will.