Introducing a New Kitten to Your Older Cat

I adopted the cutest kitten, however my 13 year old female cat is not a happy camper. It has been almost a month and she is still hissing at the kitten. I followed the advise on this site and kept them separated the first week. I do make a fuss over the cat and try to give her extra attention. Any other hints to help her accept kitty, or am I doomed to her never accepting the kitten?

By Rose Smith from Malvern, PA

Answers:

Introducing a New Kitten to Your Older Cat

I don't know what sex your kitten is, but it's best to get a kitten (or cat) of the opposite sex. Hopefully your kitten is a male. My daughter was given a kitten and its a female. Her adult female won't accept it (it's been 6 months) and she's still hissing at her. But her male cat couldn't care less and leaves her alone. (07/28/2009)

By Cyinda

Introducing a New Kitten to Your Older Cat

I have brought in two kittens to my home during the past couple of years. I have had a 13 year old kitty as well (recently passed away). I must say she was accepting and she was my nervous girl too. But remember your 13 year old is a senior and the kitten has tons of energy. Your older kitty is also teaching, talking, and letting the kitten know her place in the household chain of kitty command.

That said, it took about a year for my oldest cat to accept two 1 year olds I had brought in together. By accept I mean they tolerate each other. In a multiple cat household there will always be moments of quiet, moments of play, and moments of hissing. Cats have their own personalities and will eventually learn to live with each other and tolerate each other. If you are lucky they will cuddle and like each other. Sometimes, like in our relationships, the most we can hope for is that they tolerate the existence of the other cat in the house. It is okay for this to happen. It is okay for them to roll around, chase, hiss, etc. with each other on occasion.

I would just make sure each of your kitties have a "safe" place to call their own. Each one of my cats have a spot where they can sleep on their own spot. One has a dresser in my craft area and I put a small blanket there to make her comfy. Make sure that the food bowls are shared nicely otherwise get another bowl and same for litter boxes. Make sure you give them equal time with your love and attention. Hugs and Purrs. (07/30/2009)

By Dorina

Introducing a New Kitten to Your Older Cat

I have a rescued adult female, whom I found when she was about 18 months old, living in an industrial park and hungry. Possibly she had kittens, but we couldn't find any due to the nature of the surroundings. I had to trap her with a SPCA trap. She was terribly aggressive with my other cat, attacking her by jumping on her back. It took two years of getting accustomed behind doors (they occupied different floors), then another year of getting them acquainted through a screen door installed on the opening of my home office. After 5 years, she is still somewhat aggressive to the other cat, who is older, and chases her. But mostly they coexist in peace.

Now I'm introducing the kitten to the aggressive one by keeping the kitten behind the screen door. The kitten and the older cat occupy the office space behind the screen door and are going through the usual feline introduction dynamics, but those two will be just fine. The kitten bristled the first time he saw the more aggressive one, and she slunk away to a safe haven, so I believe that in a couple more weeks, when the kitten is 14 weeks old, I will attempt to bring them together--totally supervised, of course. (08/01/2009)

By marsha walker