cats together

fabcat

I got an absolutely adorable new kitten last night, he is the cutest thing I have ever seen, the only problem is my other cat hates him. Is this normal for the first time? The girl who gave him to me, said that the older cat will get over it in a couple of days and they'll become friends but its horrible to watch her hissing and spitting so much, I tried my best to give her loads of attention so she knew we still loved her but she seemed very upset. Any Advice?

mjffey

Fabcat,

Nothing to worry about. This is a normal reaction for your older cat. It can take sometimes even months, but they will be fine at the end. It's just a matter of making clear to the new one who's the alpha cat.
We have 10 cats, our oldest one is 23, or youngest 1 year and they all get on very well.

Enjoy your pets

fabcat

They're letting me go home from work early to check on them!!1

Tabitharose

perfectly normal, check out www.kittenadoption.ie for lots of info

RandomOne

I don't think I've had a single cat who didn't resent, or at least treat with suspicion (hiss first, ask questions later) anything new and alive arriving in the house. Bit of a shame since I've had a constant stream of rescued everythings passing through

My current eldest cat (9) hates all and any other creatures. Always has, and I figure by now he always will. But he learns to tolerate those who share the house on a permanent basis with only the occasional swipe if they don't keep their distance. The next longest resident (7) is much friendlier and although he's not too tolerant of being pounced on by puppies and kittens, doesn't hurt them and generally ends up being firm friends.

So, IME worst case likely is they learn to live together. Unless you've got a particularly unsociable one like my eldest, they will probably become friends and good company for each other.

FranknFurter

Perfectly normal (Or should that be purrrfectly normal..........ok, Ill get my coat)....

Believe it or not, we found that giving them seperate litter trays worked wonders, slowly easing them into using one tray by everyday putting a bit from one into the other.
Seemed to calm them for some reason.
But it seems to take their minds off eachother for a while.

Also, I know this sounds harsh and it aint easy, but you do need to completely ignore new kitten for a few days, the more attention you pay it the more pissed off older kittie will be.

b

FlutterinBantam

Cats are territorial and don't like other cats muscling in or "their" territory..hence the resentment...

Thats why they do their spraying thing... unless de knacked.. to mark out their territory... While they may tolerate each other in time most cats will resent another unrelated cat appearing on their patch

Ruu_Old

Good information here. We have a 9 month old kitten and am thinking of getting some company for her at some stage.

Heart_N_Soul

Hi Guys
I got a new kittie 2 weeks ago. My first 2 cats Bonnie and Clyde never had babies, I was kinda upset so I rescued a kitten to complete the family!
Bonnie wasnt the mothering type to say the least, she growls and hisses at the baby (Sam) and runs away from him whenever possible. But when he's asleep she compes over looking all innocent and sniffs around his head!!
Clyde followed him everywhere at the start, and looked at him as if to say "ugh he's weird, why is he so small" !! he protected the baby whenever bonnie was bullying him too!!!
Things havent really improved between Bonnie and Sam yet but she tolerates him. I feel sorry for him though cos he is really hyper and bouncy and always tries to play with her and she just gives him a smack instead:D
Emma

RandomOne

Heart_N_Soul wrote:

I feel sorry for him though cos he is really hyper and bouncy and always tries to play with her and she just gives him a smack instead:D
Emma

There's enough discussion about parents smacking their kids, but my kitten (4 months now) is my daughter's cat's baby. A total alpha-male in the making and before they were separated, his Mum used to lie on him and bite his head to get him to quit being hyper. Serious parental abuse.

fabcat

The older kittie has now surprised the hell out of me, she was really mean to the little kittie for the first while but yesterday, we watched them both lying on the bed. Little kittie had some sleep in her eye and Big kittie went over and licked her clean, then curled round her and they both went to sleep they've been playing with each other ever since, I think big kittie needs to realise that little kittie is a bit small and can't play as roughly as she can, but they seem to be getting along grand....................it is soooooo cute to watch.

RandomOne

Job done mate.

And don't worry about bigger kittie being over-rough, they back off when little kittie squeals and don't really do them any harm ... mine has been squashed by the dog several times already, and as soon as the dog leaps away, the little swine leaps straight at him again. I swear he only squeals so he can gain the upper paw. (You can see his Mum's point can't you)

FranknFurter

Heart_N_Soul wrote:

Hi Guys
I got a new kittie 2 weeks ago. My first 2 cats Bonnie and Clyde never had babies,
Emma

Please please PLEASE get your cats & kittens neutered.
http://www.kittenadoption.ie/neuter.htm
It really is cruel to cats as a species not to.

b

RandomOne

FranknFurter wrote:

Please please PLEASE get your cats & kittens neutered.
http://www.kittenadoption.ie/neuter.htm
It really is cruel to cats as a species not to.

b

It is NOT cruel not to neuter. There may be moral reasons why neutering is a good idea, but it's brutally unfair to judge people as cruel if they choose not to.

Arcadian

As the ad says ''it's nicer to neuter'' I don't see how neutering is a moral issue?

FranknFurter

RandomOne wrote:

but it's brutally unfair to judge people as cruel if they choose not to.

To me, it is a "brutally unfair" act to the cat population *not* to neuter / spay, and I refuse to tippy-toe about things when I have a strong belief.:rolleyes:

Anyways, thats purely my own opinion, but I can comfortably say that it is also the general consensus of the vast majority of responsible cat owners. (Who are not breeding for showing reasons).

*shrug* We probably wont agree on it.

b