Introducing kitten to resident cat - desperate need of advice

jodiebean · 13-12-2010 6:55pm #1

Hey,

I need some advice. I have one cat called Juggernaut. He is about 11-12 months old now and he is not neutered. I know, I know I've really dropped the ball doing this but I'm making an appointment for tomorrow to arrange this ASAP. He is a very loving and affectionate cat most times. Sometimes he will death pounce on my leg when I'm walking past and sometimes he'll chew on my fingers. I am trying to discourage this behaviour but it's a little harder now. I'll explain why..

Basically we got a new kitten on Saturday. Her name is Rogue and she is about 7 or 8 weeks old. She is incredibly tiny. We brought her into the house the first night and we fed them both a nice big meal then we let them be in the same room as each other. They both sniffed around each other for about 30 minutes. He never hissed or growled or showed any signs of aggression towards her. So we let them sniff around each other and then I set her up in a safe room. She has a bed, scratching post, water and food bowl up there as well as a few toys. Juggernaut has come up and sat at the door pawing it and meowing and never showing any aggression.

We let him in to see her once or twice a day under supervision. We give them treats each time we let them see each other and give Juggernaut tonnes of praise when he isn't attacking. We held them both the first time and let them sniff, then we let them loose on the bed together while me and my partner watched them. He sniffed and she sniffed and then out of nowhere he batted her head and then pinned her down and bit her neck. It has been this way every time I let him see her. No aggression whatsoever until suddenly he will pin her and bite her.

I try to leave them to it to see if he is really hurting her or it's just a dominance thing but when she hisses and squeals I pick him off her and pull him away. I have been spraying him with water when he does this or hissing at him myself.

Each time he sees her he seems to be able to spend more time around her. He won't pay so much attention to her or he will go off and do his own thing for a few minutes but he will still pin her down and bite her occasionally.

Because she is so small I am really worried he will hurt her. I fed them together in the same room and he would barely eat out of his own bowl. He gently bit her neck and hear bottom and then started eating out of her bowl so she ate out of his. I kept trying to get him to eat out of his own bowl but he just didn't want to. Then he started to fight with her again.

He has been sulking and very, very aggressive with me since we brought her home. He has been viciously attacking my hands sometimes when I try to give him a little extra love. This usually happens right after I have let him see her. After an hour of seeing her he calms down, but he isn't half as affectionate as he usually is. He has barely moved from the stairs in the last few days - he really is super sulking!

So I need some advice on this. I have since been reading up on introducing a new cat to a household and I'm wondering if it is too late to start again? Keeping her in a safe room for a few days, then putting her in a carrier and letting him sniff around her. Will this jealous aggressive stage pass? Will he stop biting her neck? How will I go about making them get along or even just tolerate each other? What should I do with him when he bites her? People have suggested that I put him on his own for a few minutes but I'm afraid that will reinforce his idea that he is being replaced. I'm really trying to show him that I still love him dearly.

Any advice would be a fantastic help. I'm really stressed about them getting along. She is so small that he could really hurt her if he wanted to. His bites hurt! I should know!

Heroditas · 13-12-2010 7:20pm

The biting on the neck is a domination thing.
Our male Rocky does that to his sister Annabel and also the recent arrival Susie.
We try and discourage it as much as possible but it's very difficult. Getting him neutered will help but I think the problem with our guy is he was separated from his mother when he was a bit too young so never learned "kitty manners". As a result, he's an awful bully and is extremely possessive if the other two cats get attention from either me or my wife (particularly my wife).

Get him neutered and also when the new arrival grows up a bit, she should be able to stand up for herself a bit better.
The domination should ease off.

In our case, it "only" happens a couple of times a day. Sounds like someone is murdering a cat when it happens and is not pleasant when it happens on the bed in the middle of the night. :rolleyes:

planetX · 13-12-2010 9:09pm

Sounds like they're doing really well actually. Anytime I've introduced a new kitten it's been WW3 for a while. I would keep them apart while your male cat recovers from being neutered, and that will give the kitten a chance to settle in. I wouldn't worry about who eats out of what bowl either, no cat will ever stick to that! Feed them seperately if they need different food.
My older cat used to do the exact same to our latest kitten, the kitten would hide under furniture where the bigger cat couldn't reach. I used to chase the cat away, till one day the kitten ran out and leaped on him and I realised the bullying had switched to play! They got on great then.
Now they're both grown up and don't much like each other:(

anniehoo · 13-12-2010 9:18pm

planetX wrote: »

Sounds like they're doing really well actually.

They do, in a way. With a kitten that size i wouldnt leave them unsupervised AT ALL for at least another month. Tom cats, especially unneutered will push their limits with new cats and especially kittens. Ive only seen very recently of a very sturdy 10 week old kitten being killed by a tom. I was shocked as if you'd seen the size of this kitten you'd be amazed that it was killed the way it was.

You're on the right track with the neutering but keep the hissing and water spraying to a minimum. Let him "test the waters" but if it gets too rough, just remove the kitten (not the tom) from the equation. Let things calm down and start again. He'll eventually learn hes not a threat (or prey) and adapt. Even the most well adjusted, best buddy cats scrap, just wait until the little one can stand up for himself a bit better.

Also, the new kitten is still adjusting himself to being without his mother. Hes innocent and will do things that the tom just wont understand like nuzzling and high pitched meiowing.It could trigger a predatory response in your older cat.

audreyp · 24-05-2011 7:53am

I recently got two adorable kittens and I have one cat at home. He is 3 years old and I am looking for advice how best to introduce the kittens to him. I followed the DSPCA advice when we brought them home, we put the kittens in a safe secure room and fussed over our older cat.

Slowly we started opening the door to their room thinking they wouldn't venture out. But they did and are very happy in the house. They seem to have no fear. Our cats seems scared of them and hisses and growls at them. The kittens don't seem to mind. One has even stolen his special Almo Nature food from his bowl :-)

I never leave them unsupervised. I read up on this and they say do not leave them unsupervised until they are at least 16 weeks old. Is there anything else I could do to speed the process on or have I done something wrong in the first place?

Anyone any experience with this and how long it could take to get my cat used to the kittens?

I feed my kittens, kitten food and my cat adult cat food, would the adult cat food do any harm to the kittens?

ladyjuicy08 · 24-05-2011 10:41am

You should try feliway difuser i found it calmed d situation when introducing New kitten to my resident kitten now they cuddle up together all the time and cry if separate for any reason vet visit etc

audreyp · 24-05-2011 10:47am

We actually have a feliway diffuser, not sure if it is making a difference. How long did it take for them to like each other?

ladyjuicy08 · 25-05-2011 4:14pm

Within 2 weeks they were the best of friends i dont know if maybe cos they so close in age 3 and 5months when introduced . . . they both males the older has been neutered and the younger due to be done next month the vet also told me when they were fighting at first to let them work it out themselves only intervene if gets really rough Sometimes kitten playing looks rough to us but is only playing

The Sweeper · 26-05-2011 5:06am

audreyp wrote: »

I recently got two adorable kittens and I have one cat at home. He is 3 years old and I am looking for advice how best to introduce the kittens to him. I followed the DSPCA advice when we brought them home, we put the kittens in a safe secure room and fussed over our older cat.

Slowly we started opening the door to their room thinking they wouldn't venture out. But they did and are very happy in the house. They seem to have no fear. Our cats seems scared of them and hisses and growls at them. The kittens don't seem to mind. One has even stolen his special Almo Nature food from his bowl :-)

Sounds like everything's going fine.

It's actually perfectly okay for your resident adult cats to hiss, spit, growl and swat at a newly introduced kitten. How you react to that behaviour is very important - you should distract, pat and reassure your adult cats and ignore the kitten.

You should also be mindful that there's a limit to how much hissing, spitting and swatting you can allow. You need to intervene quick sharp if your adult cat launches himself at the kitten with murder in his eyes. However hissing, spitting, growling and a smack - but it needs to be a smack, not a claws-out attempt to disembowel the kitten - these are all okay.

Biting you need to watch - an adult cat will often growl and glare at a kitten, who'll bimble up anyway because they're a kitten. If they bump the adult they may get a bite. Bites are more serious than slaps. Bites can turn from warnings into punctures very quickly. Those punctures can abscess quickly and turn into vets bills.

There will usually be some biting as the cats get to know each other, but often that's dominance biting - which is a grip and hold, with a certain degree of pressure. Dominance biting is not a snap and puncture. Snap and puncture biting means business and should be discouraged.

It takes an adult cat a few weeks to adjust to a kitten. They can often be supercharged after a meeting - they'll be looking everywhere for the interloper, they can be agitated and basically they're pissed off. There's someone else in their territory, and they're pissed off.

Something like feline rescue remedy, favourite treats and a game are all good to bring in at this point. The rescue remedy is a herbal tincture that you can dribble onto the backs of each ear using an eye-dropper. (I am unconvinced that it's the herbs, and believe it's the effects of the alcohol preservative used as a base for the tincture, but still it's an eyedrop - so less than 1/4 of one teaspoon on each ear!) That can take the edge off the angst. A game of chase with a shoelace or favourite toy can help work out some of the pent-up energy.

Food treats are a good distraction. It's often good to have food on hand when you introduce a new kitten to an adult cat. The treats can be more interesting than the kitten. (Doesn't always work - some cats get so upset they'll refuse to eat).

Always do the introductions in a neutral space and be prepared for your adult cat to be pissed off for a few days / weeks. If he's biting you when you go for extra cuddles, it's because he's still agitated at the recent sight of the kitten. Try treats, a game and rescue remedy to calm him down first, then go for the cuddles.

If the kittens are marauding through the house, and your cats aren't settling, give them a chance by restricting the kittens' access to the house. Kittens get very tired of their small space quickly and want to explore, but it can make your adult cats feel tormented, as though the bloody newcomers are there everywhere they turn. Give your adults a break by giving the kittens a time out in one room with the door closed - even to watch telly for an evening, uninterrupted, with your adults on your lap and the kittens sulking in their own room.

Flojo · 26-05-2011 5:34am

Just wanted to say... Juggernaut and Rogue are awesome names!!

From the sounds of you you're doing really well, keep it up and things will calm down.

audreyp · 26-05-2011 2:20pm

Thanks Sweeper great advice. I haven't tried the rescue remedy yet! I must try and get some this evening. I have to stock up on more food, my kittens really know how to eat!! Though that is good since one of them was very thin.

Boots (our older cat) is doing a bit better. He went upstairs to our bed (where we let him sleep, so spoiled!) and the kittens were in the room. He growled at them, hopped up on the bed and went to sleep. He was accepting rubs which is good. And letting us rub his belly etc. So think its getting a bit better.

Should I keep the kittens separate when I'm in work for the next 5 weeks. (Until they are 16 weeks old) or would it be ok to leave them in the house with Boots? Feel so bad leaving them in one room during the day :-(

planetX · 26-05-2011 3:29pm

I wouldn't leave the kittens with the older cat while he's still growling at them, just in case there was a serious fight while you were out.

Introducing kitten to resident cat - desperate need of advice

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