Kitten help

[disneycutie165]

I have been volunteering at the Humane Society this summer and I've really enjoyed it.... Well, it's the end of summer and sure enough I just adopted a 5 month old kitten yesterday! My kitten, Rambo (his name was Ron in the shelter) has been in the Humane society since May 14 of this year. He is finally home and I love him to death. I have a cat that actually used to belong to our neighbor but he kind of adopted us. Needless to say he is not happy about this new addition. Obviously Rambo is used to cats because he has been in cages with different kittens over the past 5 months. But my cat, Hunter, does NOT like other cats. We tried to introduce them- Rambo has been extremely friendly and wants to play with Hunter but Hunter yawls every time we try introducing them. We've kept Hunter outside for now but hope to introduce them officially soon. Does anyone have suggestions on how we should introduce them and when?

[DizneyRox]

Cats are very fickle which is why I wouldn't let one in the house. I've found though all it normally takes is time. Just hope Hunter isn't vindictive, I've heard stories of cats leaving all sorts of surprised for their owners when they feel slighted.

[TheDuckRocks]

All they need is time! Don't make a big fuss over the new kitty and not play equal attention to Hunter. Bring him back in, they will work it out. Yeah, you'll probably get some naughty behavior from Hunter, after all he was an only child. I have never heard of cats not getting along after a reasonable amount of time.

[VWL Mom]

All they need is time! Don't make a big fuss over the new kitty and not play equal attention to Hunter. Bring him back in, they will work it out. Yeah, you'll probably get some naughty behavior from Hunter, after all he was an only child. I have never heard of cats not getting along after a reasonable amount of time.

I agree. The only thing I would add is you might want to keep them separated when no one is home until they are use to each other and Rambo is big enough to defend himself.

[LynBug]

I don't know about cats, but we have had this problem with or dogs. We had one dog, about 6 months old at the time, when we got our second dog, also a puppy. But we went about it the wrong way. They didn't like each other at first. The first dog we had felt insecure with her place in the family and wanted to dominate the younger one to show her place. We did not let her do this, as we later realized we should have. As long as no one is being harmed, it's normal for the animal to want to dominate a new member of the family. It took a couple of months for them to become friends but they're best friends now. It really just takes time.

What I'd suggest you do to formally introduce them for the first time is what we did when we got our 3rd puppy. We let the 2 older dogs outside before we brought the new puppy in. We put the new puppy in a kennel in the living room, and just waited for the 2 other dogs to discover her on their own. Of course they barked and sniffed for a while, but then left her alone. We didn't let them meet face to face until the next day. And again, it just took a while for them to like each other. But we found this way was a better way to introduce a new pet to your other pets than just putting them together right away

[disneycutie165]

Well we've tried more than once introducing them to each other- Hunter is back in the house while Rambo is in my room & Hunter is in our upstairs room. It's not that Hunter doesn't like a new cat around- it's the fact that he is literally scared of Rambo. Every time we've had them come face to face Hunter jumps back and runs back upstairs. Rambo is totally over the whole thing he just wants Hunter to be his buddy. When he saw Hunter running back upstairs he started chasing after him, ready to play. But old Hunter wasn't having that!

[Carol]

Dogs and cats are nothing the same.

They'll work it out. I would not change Hunter's routine at all. He is the #1 cat in the household. The kitten is the one that has to adjust.

I've had many cats over the years, never one at a time. Some are never best friends, but they learn to live together.

[MNNHFLTX]

We've gone through this type of adjustment several times and as Carol said, you have to try and keep Hunter's routine the same. Keeping them in separate areas for a day or two is a good idea. Let Hunter get used to the scent and presence of Rambo without letting the kitten get in his face.

We actually just got two new kittens yesterday and as far as our other cat, having two kittens has been the easiest transition yet. Rather than the kittens bothering our older cat, they play with each other and as such are a source of fascination for him. He'll sit about 10 feet away and just watch them. I'm not advocating getting a second kitten if you don't want to, but you might find it actually makes it easier for everyone.

[Niecyboo]

A friend of mine got a new kitten about 4 months ago, because her only remaining cat, Sophie, had been so lonely since its "sister" had died. Sophie seemed to hate the kitten for weeks. My friend was actually thinking of having to return the kitten (she was in tears). I kept telling her to give it time. All she could do was keep them separated by a large clear baby gate (which worked wonders), and hope for the best. It took close to a month before they could be in the same room, and Sophie still would hiss whenever the kitten came near her. Slowly Sophie started tolerating the kitten, until my friend could actually trust them alone. They still didn't seem like friends, but then, when her kitten went in to be Spayed, Sophie just wandered the house howling and crying, looking in all the kitten's favorite spots. The next day, when the kitten came home, Sophie hissed at her, swatted her and ran away. LOL.

4 months later, Sophie tolerates her new sister, who is constantly attacking and wanting to play, and no longer seems bothered by the whole thing. I tease my friend, who was sure they would never be able to be in the same room. Sophie did have a few "accidents" at first, but she is notorious for showing her displeasure for ANYTHING by peeing out of the box, so that wasn't a surprise. It may seem to take forever, but slowly they will at least tolerate each other, no matter what it seems like now.

[Jeri Lynn]

It definately takes time. I have four cats that were all introduced into our home at different times. Scarlett O'Hara is the matriarch and she hissed at first at each new kitten, but then she began mothering them. Georgie is the only cat we've had that has had a litter and although she was good with her kittens, she has no tolerance for the other cats, she just ignores them and only wants human attention.
Annie the Boy Cat is lovable and keeps to himself most of the time but he does not bother the other cats, sometimes they play and chase each other. Belle our youngest likes to chase them all. It took time, but it all worked out.

[Drachengeist]

The key here is to let the older cat get used to the younger at her own pace. There are two ways to do this. One is to just let them be and after a couple weeks even cats set in their old ways will decide its not quite worth the effort to run as far or get as upset when the younger one is around. As some of the folks here have said, depending on how "traumatized" she was at the first meeting it may be months before the hissing and posturing stops. As an aid to speeding this process, anything that allows them to smell, see, hear the other cat without allowing the younger, friskier kitty to fully interact will help. This can be a child gate (watch out most kittens can climb/jump more than you think) or another is to get one of those little pup-tent style cages and put Rambo in it in the middle of the room for a couple hours at a time. There will be a lot of purposeful ignoring from the older cat and pitiful meowing from the wrongly incarcerated but it really does speed things up and is easier to take than the protracted version with free run of the house.

[brivers222]

Having owned cats all my life I have to say that I found one item that you can get at your local petstore / walmart that will help out the introduction problems. My older cat 15years old and my newest addition 6 weeks old kitten were not fond of them... I did the whole keep them seperated and let them adjust but it took years before they adapted to each other. My younger cat would get very violent with the older one and this was cause for concern. A friend mentioned that there is this calming Collar you can get that pretty much tames that cats and help them feel comfortable with the surroundings. Its called the "SentryHC Good Behavior Calming Collar for Cats" basically it mimics the pheromone that the mother cat produces to calm and reassure her kittens. Cats recognize these pheromones throughout life. It mimics the natural way to help cats cope with new and fearful situations.

They last 30days so you have to get a new one each month. However, after 30days of use, i took it off my cat and the behavior seems to have stuck...its like I got a new mellow kitty!

I swear to you that my cat is a totally different cat... he went from biting others to being the most laid back cat i have ever seen. he is no longer aggressive and is accepting of almost everything. In fact, we had to take in my aunts dog for a few days while she was in the hospital. Before the Collar he would run down stairs and hide on the biggest pile of boxes he could find. This last time he actually stayed up stairs and several times went nose to nose with the dog. Amazing to say the least.

They run around $14.99 but i found some at Walmart for like $8.99. While he doesn't have one on at the moment, if i know some stressful environment will be coming up (a trip to the vet, visitors, and even a NEW ANIMAL ADDITION) i will put it on him.

Granted your older cat seems to be the one that is more aggressive, It wouldn't hurt to have both cats wear one at first while they are getting used to each other.

they also sell cat treats with the feline pheremon in them so if you didn't want the collar (i don't know why you wouldnt as its constantly producing) you can give the cat treats once in a while. I have heard of people doing this when they go on long trips or something... I just assume the logic of "set it and forget it" with the Collar


I can't recommend this enough!!!