Introducting kittens to an older cat

kimbyanne

We are getting two new kittens tomorrow and I am starting to get a little nervous about how they are going to settle in with our older cat. We have had our cat for about four or five years, she is an ex breeding queen that we adopted. She can be quite temperamental at times which is why I just don’t know how to approach the introduction.

I have had cats all my life and had done lots of kitten introductions – generally, we just let the kittens out as soon as they arrive and let them wander and meet the other cats – there is usually some hissing and swatting for a few days but after that they all seem to get on. Obviously at night they will be kept separated from our older cat.

We decided to get two kittens so they have each other to play with and will hopefully leave our older cat in peace!

Some websites seem to suggest keeping them separate for weeks and slowly introducing but this seems rather long winded to me?

What are your personal experiences of introducing kittens to an older cat?

antw23uk

Personally I think you have been doing it wrong. Ideally you should keep the kittens in a seperate room with everything they need for at least a week. Your queen will know they are there and this will be more than enough for her to begin with.
Then you should remove her .. perhaps she goes outside? and let the kittens play and explore the house. Let the queen back in to smell the new intruders and where they have been .. you can also swap them round so she can spend some time in there room without them and vice versa and keep lavishing her with praise and attention. Grooming should help and you may want to think of investing in a Feliway plug in diffuser to help keep everyone calm.

Then basically you allow them to meet for short periods and so on but the important thing is to take it VERY slowly. Cats are naturally solitary animals and the majority dont take too kindly to new additions and at best they will tolerate other cats in a multi cat household. You obviously get cats that thrive in each others company but think of this as the exception and not the norm!

Good luck and remember ... slowly does it and if in doubt use catnip and get them all stoned And dont forget the pics

antw23uk

That will teach me for rushig, my post sounds quiet abrupt ... My apologies its not meant to be

Fire_Fox

Hopefully you have selected two male kittens? If you are getting another female be sure to have her spayed well before her first season, some vets will do this earlier than others depending on the size/ weight of the kitten. You may otherwise find your older girl evicts the young interloper. Be warned some cats never accept other cats in the household however careful you are with introductions, but long-winded intros give you the best chance of harmony! Definitely agree try a Feliway plug in on each floor of your home, if this and/ or catnip are not effective on your existing cat you can purchase valerian plug ins now.

kimbyanne

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Hopefully you have selected two male kittens? If you are getting another female be sure to have her spayed well before her first season, some vets will do this earlier than others depending on the size/ weight of the kitten. You may otherwise find your older girl evicts the young interloper. Be warned some cats never accept other cats in the household however careful you are with introductions, but long-winded intros give you the best chance of harmony! Definitely agree try a Feliway plug in on each floor of your home, if this and/ or catnip are not effective on your existing cat you can purchase valerian plug ins now.

Yes, it is two boys. We thought getting two boys was a better option and I generally find male cats more affectionate.

I am going to get some Feliway, we had some before when we first got our older cat - so will get another one to see if that calms the situation.

ac085

Another trick is when to try and feed them in the same room - but quite a distance apart. The idea is that the cats hunger overpowers the bad feeling towards the other cat.
I did this with mine (after exchanging scents by alternating toys and beds etc), they now tolerate each other after 5-6 days. I can put them together and they will playfight happily and we have even had one nap together.
Mine are both the same age (got one at 8 weeks and one at 12 weeks) so I'm not sure how effective or what the time frame would be for kittens and an older cat.
Good luck! I have made sure we have plenty of feliway for the cats and Wine/chocolate/quick easy dinners for the slaves.