First of all, I’m so happy I found this forum, I’ve been reading so many threads the past few days.
Secondly, please forgive me for any mistakes in speiling, as English is not my first language and I live in Europe.
So, on friday I got two new kittens. I already have 3 cats, two boys (13 and 11) and one Lady (13). My mum is our neighbour, so the female has more or less adopted my mum, but goes back and forth. The two boys have my hubby as their person. My baby, the brother of the 11 yo, had to be put to sleep two years ago, so ever since that I haven’t been the main human for any of the cats. We have plenty of space, and the cats also get to go outside.
Anyway, the two kittens are female, 12 weeks old. Ever since we got them they have been staying in their own room. They are getting on amazingly, not scared at all, loving, social and purring. I have been doing the intro as described here, with letting the old cats get used to the smell of them and giving them time.
The boys have been sniffing around, and doesn’t really show any signs of agression. They will sniff for a while, then run away. One of them darted into the kitten room when I was leaving it, he froze, and when the kitten started purring, he bolted out. They seem to be doing ok, eating and doing their old routine. And they gradually stay close to the door longer, without running away. They will both eat in front of the kitten door. I’m being slow with the boys, because they are big boys (7-8 kg each) and one of them can be protective of his humans. However, he doesn’t show any clear signs of agression or stress. The ears can go backwards, but no hissing, growling or puffing, like he does when he is ready to protect his humans.
The female seems mostly to be unbothered. She is most intrested in smelling the door, will eat in front of it with no problem and aboved anything seems to want to go in to the kitten room. Since she has been so cool about it, I let her see one kitten through a crack in the door yesterday. The kitten purred, the adult put her paw in and smacked a little without claws, and the kitten was stilling purring. Yes, she is a weird little purrer. No hissing from the old lady. Since it seems to be going Ok, I let her have a short face to face with the kittens today. The kittens ran around, one hissing once, but most of the time they were purring. One seems very intrested in getting to know the old Lady, who was keeping her distance. If it got to close she would hiss, and then the kitten would stop and just look at her. I only gave them 5 minutes, before the kittens went back into their room, and the adult got treats and praise. She seems a little insulted with me, but not much more than she does when I get a new furniture.
So, does it seem to be going Ok? I’m so scared of doing something wrong or rushing it. I have done intros before, but that was kitten-kitten, resident cat who had kittens or something to that effect. So kittens to older cats is new to me.
I’m thinking I will maybe let the kittens meet one adult at a time, and taking some more time with the boys. Probably because their size is making me a bit more stressed. But do you all think it would be Ok to give them another face to face with the female tomorrow? Seeing that it went Ok, and neither cat seems stressed or angry after the meeting?
If you have any advice, I would be happy to hear them.
(I gather from reading here that letting the cats go outside is a bit more unusual here, so just to point that out, the kittens doesn’t go outside yet. They will stay inside for a good while yet.)
Secondly, please forgive me for any mistakes in speiling, as English is not my first language and I live in Europe.
So, on friday I got two new kittens. I already have 3 cats, two boys (13 and 11) and one Lady (13). My mum is our neighbour, so the female has more or less adopted my mum, but goes back and forth. The two boys have my hubby as their person. My baby, the brother of the 11 yo, had to be put to sleep two years ago, so ever since that I haven’t been the main human for any of the cats. We have plenty of space, and the cats also get to go outside.
Anyway, the two kittens are female, 12 weeks old. Ever since we got them they have been staying in their own room. They are getting on amazingly, not scared at all, loving, social and purring. I have been doing the intro as described here, with letting the old cats get used to the smell of them and giving them time.
The boys have been sniffing around, and doesn’t really show any signs of agression. They will sniff for a while, then run away. One of them darted into the kitten room when I was leaving it, he froze, and when the kitten started purring, he bolted out. They seem to be doing ok, eating and doing their old routine. And they gradually stay close to the door longer, without running away. They will both eat in front of the kitten door. I’m being slow with the boys, because they are big boys (7-8 kg each) and one of them can be protective of his humans. However, he doesn’t show any clear signs of agression or stress. The ears can go backwards, but no hissing, growling or puffing, like he does when he is ready to protect his humans.
The female seems mostly to be unbothered. She is most intrested in smelling the door, will eat in front of it with no problem and aboved anything seems to want to go in to the kitten room. Since she has been so cool about it, I let her see one kitten through a crack in the door yesterday. The kitten purred, the adult put her paw in and smacked a little without claws, and the kitten was stilling purring. Yes, she is a weird little purrer. No hissing from the old lady. Since it seems to be going Ok, I let her have a short face to face with the kittens today. The kittens ran around, one hissing once, but most of the time they were purring. One seems very intrested in getting to know the old Lady, who was keeping her distance. If it got to close she would hiss, and then the kitten would stop and just look at her. I only gave them 5 minutes, before the kittens went back into their room, and the adult got treats and praise. She seems a little insulted with me, but not much more than she does when I get a new furniture.
So, does it seem to be going Ok? I’m so scared of doing something wrong or rushing it. I have done intros before, but that was kitten-kitten, resident cat who had kittens or something to that effect. So kittens to older cats is new to me.
I’m thinking I will maybe let the kittens meet one adult at a time, and taking some more time with the boys. Probably because their size is making me a bit more stressed. But do you all think it would be Ok to give them another face to face with the female tomorrow? Seeing that it went Ok, and neither cat seems stressed or angry after the meeting?
If you have any advice, I would be happy to hear them.
(I gather from reading here that letting the cats go outside is a bit more unusual here, so just to point that out, the kittens doesn’t go outside yet. They will stay inside for a good while yet.)