My Kitten and its problems, paw pads, introduction, etc...?

Question

Hello ! I have recently purchased a very cute 8 week old kitten and love him to pieces.

I have a few questions though that some of you experts might be able to help with.

1) One of his paw pads seems to have turned partly black (was all pink) could this be a bruise? and if so will it heal itself, or is there another possibility?

2) My other two cats (6 and 7 years) are having difficulties adapting to the new arrival. Any tips on how to help things work out easier and how long can I look at this stand off continue. Should I let them all just run around in the same room. Will my cats kill the kitten given half a chance?

3) I am looking to get him a female play mate, any tips on how to choose the perfect partner?

Thanks !!!

Answer 1

Hi there! Congrats on the new kitten!

#1 The pads are fine... Just mult-colored. :)

#2 I know it's hard... but try to give it some time. I introduced 6 Katrina kitten rescues into a 6-year stable, established pride household of 7 adult cats and it took 3 months for everyone to settle. I was quite the nightmare. I can laugh now, but I was not laughing then.

#1 most important thing... every cat in the household must be spayed and neutered. Un-fixed cats will fight forever once it starts. Get your cats fixed.

Try using Feliway Spray around the house in areas they frequent and/or the Feliway Diffuser Plug-In to calm them. It's expensive but it does tend to calm "some" cats. Not all, but it's worth a shot.

Rescue Remedy Natural Stress reliever is another product you can try. You just put a few drops in their mouths or 10 drops per cup of water in their bowls to calm them. Make sure you change the water daily if you put it in their bowls. It works for a few of my high stress cats quite well.

Make sure you are not forcing newly introduced cats to use the same litter boxes. You should have one for each cat plus an extra. And they should all be placed in separate areas so that no one cat can guard the boxes.

Same with the food. Keep their food and water separate as well so they don’t feel like they have to compete, and one cat can’t guard. Place separate bowls in separate rooms, even going so far as to make sure the bowls are nowhere within the line of sight of the other bowls.

Starting the introductions over again could help as well. Put the new kitty in it’s own room with everything a kitty needs - food, water, litter box (not near the food), scratching post, toys, and it’s bed. Let them smell and play footsie through the door for a few days. Go in and spend time with new kitty often. Try rubbing towels on new kitty and give the towel to the old kitty to rub and sniff, and visa versa. This is called scent swapping and cats normally do it to things they possess. You’re just helping them along by using a towel between them.

After a few days switch the kitties areas for a few hours. Put new kitty out in the house and old kitty in new kitty’s room for a few hours. Again, scent swapping. But don’t let them meet face to face yet.

After you have done all this and are feeling confident… try letting them sniff each other face to face through a cracked door. A baby gated door floor to ceiling is great too. Once you feel they’re ready… allow supervised contact. Expect hissing and growling but ignore those behaviors. Only intervene when there is real physical contact.

Go slow here and don’t push them. Remember to praise them when they are good with each other with lots of pets and reward them with treats.

During the first meeting make it fun and keep them busy. Playing, petting and feeding. You want them to associate pleasure with being near each other.

If things go bad… separate and start all over. It can be a long process, but eventually they will learn to love each other. And if they don’t at the very least, they will learn to tolerate living together.

Good Luck! I know how frustrating it is. I have been there and thought I was never going to get everyone calm. But eventually it happened. It just took time.

#3 I have found that neutered males of the same age are the best pairing! Male to female works... but Male to male when neutered seems to be loving to each other. And if you are going to get another kitten for him... do it now and try not to stress your 2 older cats anymore then necessary. If you intro the 2 old to Two new at the same time... you would be better off then trying to intro a 4th cat once you get these three established.

Good Luck to you!

Answer 2

You need to introduce all new animals very *slowly*. Keep them in different rooms and let them just smell each other under the door for no less than several days. Give each cat something with the other cat's smell on it to help each get used to the other via scent. After no less than several days, bring the new cat out IN ITS CARRIER, slowly and only for a few minutes at a time to give everyone a chance to see each other. Do this for a few minutes every day for as many days as it takes for everyone to get calm about the entire thing. If there is still discomfort from any of the animals, then go back to the separate rooms; if there is no discomfort, then open the carrier and give the new animal a CHOICE to come out or not. If it doesn't want to or others won't let it be, go back to separate rooms.

This may be enough but in my experience truly good and safe results take much longer than a week or so. You have to let them get so curious about each other that they are all BEGGING you to let them be together. For this reason I do the separate room thing for several weeks, letting them work their way up to seeing each other as I go in and out of that room. After 4 to 6 weeks, most will be so happy to finally see what all the hoopla is about, aggression will decrease and curiosity will increase. MOST of the time. There are exceptions; sometimes a cat needs its own room if it is not the only animal in the house.

Answer 3

Pads often start off pink in kittens and turn black - or vice versa!

Unlikely your older cats will kill the kitten, but don't leave them alone unsupervised in case they beat it up. Given time they should get used to each other!

The perfect playmate for your kitten will be any other neutered young cat! Keep it in mind that al cats are very different - your kitty may not WANT a playmate, a lot of cats are very solitary. You'll also then have 4 cats which is a lot - please bear costs in mind (not of food etc, but if/when any of them get ill).

For future reference, please be advised that if you are ever worried about the health of any animals, Yahoo Answers is NOT the place to turn. There aren't many experts on here, or there may be people pretending to be experts to give you wrong advice on purpose!

Do get the kitten neutered, especially if you get it a playmate - cats can become pregnant from 4 months of age.

Chalice

Answer 4

The change in the pads is normal enough.

Be sure to give attention to the 2 older cats also.. even hold and pet them at the same time as you are petting the kitten... if they will allow it.

Your kitty will probably want anothe male to play with.. they usually buddy up with **like kind**....

Good Luck
sew

Answer 5

Yes - color and white can have multi colored paw pads. Our black & white bicolor has mixed pink and black pads.