I have a 4 yr old Birman cat, will she except a kitten into the house?

Question

I would love another Birman kitten, but would my older one except a kitten into its home, she is a indoor cat and is truley spoilt, i work part time so would not be around for part of the day to keep my eye on them,

Answer 1

As your cat is a house cat another cat would be good company for her. I would suggest a male kitten, as in my experience females cats only tolerate each other and don't really bond.

The most important thing is how your introduce them, get this wrong and they may never bond.

Keep the kitten in a separate room initially and over the next few days change their bedding around so that they get the scent of each other. You can purchase a Feliway Plug-in from our vets and plug that in a few days prior to bringing your kitten home, that will set the mood of your older cat.

Then when your feeling confident let them see each other and have a piece of cooked chicken ( with no bones) to hand.

Keep the kitten beside you on the floor and give him a piece of the chicken and throw a piece to your older cat. Keep a hand on your kitten so he doesn't go charging across the room after her piece.

There may be some hissing and spitting initially from your existing cat but this is natural.

Do not leave them alone together until you are sure they have accepted each other.

However, your cat is more likely to accept a kitten that has brought his kill home to share it with her.

Good luck and I hope this helps you with your decision.

Answer 2

when you bring your new kitty home show her where the food and water is and the litter box. then put her down and let the two cats check each other out. don't be afraid to leave them alone together let the kitten know where the toys are,if your Birman is defensive they will stay out of each others way. depending on the personalities of both cats it can take anywhere from a week to 3 weeks for them to get used to each other. and as cute as the kitten is show both affection and plenty of it so the other don't get jealous. and if you want to spend the day or even half the day to see how they will be get the kitten on you day off or on your way home from work. hope it works out

when we got our kitten we let her eat and drink with the oldest one. don't seperate them thinking that will help them bond. i tried that once and it didn't help

Answer 3

I once introduced a Birman female kitten to a young Birman adult neutered male.

At first i had to supervise them as the adult looked at the tiny thing as if he was going to eat it, but then, Delphine the kitten yelled in a very strange tone once he was trying to bully her, and Concerto (Otto) seemed to understand something. Since then, they were the best of friends for the 18 years of life of Otto. Delphine, aged 20 is doing well.

Sacred cats of Burma have a wonderful character, I'm sure you can get them together with some care.

Answer 4

Most cats will accept a new kitten, it will just take time for them to work out the pecking order, if you're not going to be home, put them both in seperate rooms with things to entertain them until you can supervise their meetings, but she should accept a kitten after a few weeks. My oldest cat is four and Minx my middle cat had kittens seven weeks ago, I kept one and Penne has accepted her easily, but that may be because she's been here since she was born and smells right rather than having been brought in from outside the home and smell all wrong.

Hope this helps and Good Luck with your new kitty

Answer 5

Every cat has its own unique personality and likes/dislikes. For all you know the cat may welcome the kitten, or she may hate it for intruding on her space. Introduce the kitten into your home on a day where you have possibly consecutive days off, or at least a full day off. You can see your cat's response while you're there to save the kitten if needed. Most cats, if they do not like the kitten, will ignore it and stay away from it. But, time changes everything. If your cat didn't like her at first, she may get used to her after a month or so. Just make sure the kitten has her own feed bowls away from your cat...as to make sure your cat never feel threatened by the kitten. Even if she hates the kitten at first, she will tolerate it as time goes on.

Answer 6

We introduced a new kitten into our household when we had 2 adult cats that were about 3 years old. Start by putting the kitten in a room behind a closed door, with food, water, litter box, etc. That way all parties can smell each other. Give the kitten lots of attention, as well as the adult cat. That way each will smell the other on you as well.

After 4-5 days, bring the kitten out into the open with the adult cat in the room. Let them see each other, but don't let them close. Be sure to give each lots of attention again. Do this 2-3 times a day for 4-5 days. During this time, close the adult cat up in a room for a bit, and let the kitten explore the rest of the house. This will let her learn the house, and let the adult smell her out in that area, and get the adult used to the smell of the kitten there. Do this at every phase of this introduction process.

Next, hold the kitten, but let them get close to each other. Be sure to be able to separate them if it looks like a fight is starting. Again, do this several times for 4-5 days, a week, or so.

Finally, let them encounter each other without holding one of them. Be ready to break up fights if necessary. We had ours encounter each other unexpectedly at a corner, and they both spit and hissed and retreated. After awhile, they just ignored other, and continued on.

All through this time, expect hissing and so on. If it seems excessive, drop back a step, and take a little time to let them adjust some more.

Also, feed them separately through all of this. The last hurdle with ours was getting them to eat side by side. Each has their own bowl, and it took about 2 months to get them to eat together.

Good luck - it can be done, but it takes time and patience. As far as your adult cat knows, she is the only cat in the world, and this little furball you want to bring in is some strange thing that may want to take over her territory. Make each change gradually, and you can make it happen.

Answer 7

if you explain to the kitten people and they will let you return it if it doesnt work could be worth a try, maybe starting with the weekend when youre home and can watch them but give them at least a week or two together. i brought a homeless kitten home and my older cat seemed to know it needed looking after and tried to mother it. it worked great.

Answer 8

Only if it pays enough rent.