Introducing my 2 year old cat to a new kitten.

[Sallydally]

I rescued a 10 week old female kitten on Monday after finding out she had been living in someone’s garden and not been given the correct food, bought her home and managed to get her a health check from the vets, first vaccination and worming treatment (poor little mites stomach was so big) Luckily she is healthy so hoping I can continue to help her flourish. My problem is how do I go about introducing her to my 2 year old female cat. They have met but through a slightly open door but every time they see eas he other my older cat hisses and growls. I know this is normal and was expecting it but now I feel really guilty that I’ve upset my resident cat and she’ll never forgive me (She’s the most unloving cat anyway so this is probably the final nail in the coffin for our relationship as far as she is concerned ) she is an outdoor cat and loves sunbathing so spends most of her days in the garden or the small bushy area behind me house but I can’t help but feel she’s not going to want to come home at all now.
if anyone has experience/advise of introducing cats it would be greatly appreciated. I know it’s early days but how long does the hissing last? Will my older cat hurt the kitten? She loves other cats and is very friendly towards them so hoping it won’t take long.

just to add…I didn’t just take the kitten without the owners permission! They were looking to rehome her.

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

I don't know if it would be the same but when we introduced a new kitten to our dog we put the kitten in a pen with an igloo bed so he had a place to hide. Then we just kept an eye on their interactions. But tbh we were pleasantly surprised as our dog immediately took to him and she was so gentle.

Goodluck

 

[Shutterbug99]

The way to do it is to keep them apart for a while (kitten in a separate room if possible) and introduce them gradually via scent. It's best if they don't lay eyes on each other at all at first - although I know that's easier said than done. There are lots of helpful guides online. Here's one:

The Do’s and Don’ts of Introducing Cats to Each Other | Jackson Galaxy

Bringing a new cat home can trigger the territorial panic switch in your existing cat. Follow these time-tested, fundamental steps to give you a significant leg up on the process.

www.jacksongalaxy.com

 

[MaineCoonMama]

When I've introduced cats in the past I've got some wire fencing/ gate stuff from a hardware shop and put it across a doorway, keeping the cats apart. They can see and smell one another but aren't able to touch. I keep them apart for a few days. Of course it depends on their personalities as well! Whatever you decide to do I wish you all the best and lots of happy days with your pets.

 

[disneys]

We introduced 2 new kittens to our older , grumpy cat a few years ago

some tips we found

- set up a kitten base in a room your cat doesn’t frequent with their litter , food , toys and a place to hide and sleep
- leave cloths with their scent around the area where your resident cat goes so they can get used to the smell
- introduce them slowly and start at mealtimes so the resident cat associates them with a good experience
- don’t be disheartened if they don’t take to each other at first .. cats are extremely territorial and won’t take kindly to their territory being invaded … our cats took 6 months warm up to each other but I’d say it took them 2 years to be “friends” who will nap together , play together … they do still scrap though !

hope Those are helpful ! Good luck with the introduction , I found it so tough and had a lot of guilt for our resident cat but it’s worth it in the end

 

[Sallydally]

Thank you for all your replies, we are going back to basics and leaving a cloth with the kittens scent in the lounge so hopefully our big girlie will start to get used to her from there first.
kitten has an assigned room so start of next week I will start wedging the door open and try to feed them from either side maybe? Our 2 year old is a bit of a misery cat so thinking it could take a while.

 

[disneys]

Thank you for all your replies, we are going back to basics and leaving a cloth with the kittens scent in the lounge so hopefully our big girlie will start to get used to her from there first.
kitten has an assigned room so start of next week I will start wedging the door open and try to feed them from either side maybe? Our 2 year old is a bit of a misery cat so thinking it could take a while.

Sounds good - our old boy is a misery guts too and it took a long time .. he spent a lot of time hiding on top of our wardrobe and growling in the first few months you’ll get there …. !!

 

[Raininvain]

I'd just let them get on with it and find their own way through. I didn't have time for faffing about with introductions when I got my old cat back after he went missing for a year. By this point I had a new rescue cat who made some very strange sounds, when the old one returned.
Your 2 year old will be fine and will not run off, its just the shock of a new cat and they don't like sharing because they tend to be very selfish.

 

[Sallydally]

Sounds good - our old boy is a misery guts too and it took a long time .. he spent a lot of time hiding on top of our wardrobe and growling in the first few months you’ll get there …. !!

cats are so funny aren’t they When I adopted my 2 year old I imagined her curling up on my lap and wanting lots of cuddles but she’s the opposite! She does bring me lovely presents though


All the time she’s still hissing and growling do I need to keep them apart? I’m worried she’ll hurt the little one. Her best mate from a few doors up used to come round all the time before they moved and it just the usual hissing from her sometimes but then went back to cleaning herself, never hurt him.

 

[disneys]

cats are so funny aren’t they When I adopted my 2 year old I imagined her curling up on my lap and wanting lots of cuddles but she’s the opposite! She does bring me lovely presents though


All the time she’s still hissing and growling do I need to keep them apart? I’m worried she’ll hurt the little one. Her best mate from a few doors up used to come round all the time before they moved and it just the usual hissing from her sometimes but then went back to cleaning herself, never hurt him.

Don’t seperate them , she needs to growl and hiss at the kitten so that the kitten learns boundaries and who’s in charge , your resident cat likely won’t attack them and the kitten should back down and realise she’s boss … when our kittens were about 4-5 months old they started to challenge our resident cat and they did scrap a bit then but it was never serious and he never hurt them … it’s natural , just let them do what they need to do to establish a hierarchy

 

[Sallydally]

We finally had no hissing and growling yesterday So pleased. Usually our resident cat would hiss and run back outside but yesterday she had a little look at kitten then went off and had her food. Feeling positive with the progress now.

 

[emm]

We introduced 2 new kittens to our older , grumpy cat a few years ago

some tips we found

- set up a kitten base in a room your cat doesn’t frequent with their litter , food , toys and a place to hide and sleep
- leave cloths with their scent around the area where your resident cat goes so they can get used to the smell
- introduce them slowly and start at mealtimes so the resident cat associates them with a good experience
- don’t be disheartened if they don’t take to each other at first .. cats are extremely territorial and won’t take kindly to their territory being invaded … our cats took 6 months warm up to each other but I’d say it took them 2 years to be “friends” who will nap together , play together … they do still scrap though !

hope Those are helpful ! Good luck with the introduction , I found it so tough and had a lot of guilt for our resident cat but it’s worth it in the end

Totally agree with this, I did the same earlier this year. I would also say make sure you feed/pet etc the older cat first as you don't want her to feel put out in her own home. I also gave them dreamies during/after their first meetings
That said, you can just be unlucky with how the cats react regardless of what you do, I have done this on 2 separate occasions, both with the same strategy, once it went well, once it didn't, it is to do with the personality of the cat imo, my new kitten didn't even react when the older cat hissed and growled at him, had he reacted the whole relationship would have been more difficult.
What you need to remember is that, ultimately, they may either get on over time or just kind of ignore each other. My parents have 2 cats and a puppy and the latter is what happened there, which isn't a problem