Resident Fixed Male Cat Resents Female Kitten (8 Wks)

Hi, I have had my cat Indy for exactly a year now, and he has been the only cat in residence. He was adopted from a no-kill shelter where he lived the first 3 years of his life with 106 other cats. He seems to have adapted well to being an "only cat" and is spoiled rotten (toys, ramps, beds galore, etc.).

On Friday (5 days ago), we completely unexpectedly added a 7-8 week old female kitten to our home. Long story short, she was running in traffic on a 4-lane highway, and when she was finally captured, we volunteered to take her (we name her Smokey) home with us. We took her to the vet a couple hours later, and she is healthy (didn't even have worms!) and NEG. We kept her apart from Indy in our sunporch (it's heated), separated by a sliding glass door. So they could see each other, but that's it.

Over the next few days, we let them smell each other through the screen of the sliding door. Smokey seems fine with Indy, she even rolled over and showed him her belly. But Indy hissed at her.

Last night, we opened the screen and let Indy go out into the sunporch (which used to be where we fed him and had his litter box -- those have been moved into the kitchen for now). He search the whole place, sniffing everywhere. Smokey came out of hiding (she is still shy and has to be coaxed out with a ribbon), and went right up to Indy. At first he was okay with that, but when she did it again later, he hissed and took a swipe at her. My husband scolded him for that, but I thought we shouldn't scold him. Which of us is right? We let Indy go back inside, but unfortunately he was too quick and tried to go in when the screen was still closed. He bent his neck and his ear, and cried out 3 times. Of course we immediately went in with him, and soothed him and made sure he wasn't really hurt.

Today I let Indy come out into the sunporch while I fed Smokey, changed her water, and cleaned her box. He mostly ignored her, but when she came close, growled and hissed and swiped at her. He was on the couch beside me when this happened, and I think he actually took a swipe at me, too.

I think eventually they will be okay with each other -- Indy is only 4 1/2 and is still quite playful. But have I rushed getting them face to face? Should I go back to keeping the glass door, or the screen, between them? Smokey hasn't been in the main part of the house yet, and seems content out on the porch (except she meows now and then). Any other suggestions? Thanks for any help...

Totally normal. The reason Indy is acting that way is stress, so scolding is 100% wrong. The kitten might be a little skittish at first, but it is always the older resident cat that gets stressed. I know, weird right? It is what it is.

You are totally right that the fact that Indy is still a youngish playful cat is a huge help and things will probably be fine with time. Your job is just stress management. If Indy is getting super stressed, stretch the introduction out, make sure he has alone time, attention from you without the kitten & somewhere to sleep without the kitten. Elevated/defensible spaces where Indy can retreat help (i.e., big cat tree unless your a carpenter). Tiring out the kitten can help too, because pretty soon the kitten will likely start with the pouncing. Fellaway spray is often said to help with stress from introductions, and one of the mods recommends an herbal collar of some sort.

But you are going to have to let them work it out, and there will likely be more hissing, growling and maybe some swatting. Just remember, it isn't dangerous to the kitten, this gets raised 10-20x a week on the forum, and the kitten never gets hurt, so your job is only to try and keep Indie's stress manageable.

P.S. If things start to go well, expect rough play, with the kitten likely getting pinned and doing some squealing. Thats normal too.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement! Indy has the run of the house EXCEPT for the sunporch right now, whereas Smokey is completely confined to the sunporch. So Indy has plenty of places to be alone, and high places to escape to once we let Smokey into the house.

Thanks for the P.S.! I would have panicked if that happens and you hadn't warned me!

I'm going to try to upload a pic of Smokey, the only good one we have so far (she's either hiding, or moving too fast to get anything but a blurry picture!).

Sounds good! Only issue you might run into with confining Smokey is that he'll get very bored, and *immediately* want to find and jump on Indy when you let him out. Cause, you know, kittens For this reason, I tend to view isolation more of a stress reliever when things get bad rather than a goto. But now that you get what is going on, you'll figure something out...no single right answer, and there may be some issues to deal with no matter how you handle it.

I took your advice, ArtNJ, and let Smokey out of confinement last evening while my husband and I could watch them closely. She loved exploring the kitchen and living room (we kept other doors shut -- didn't want to lose her under a bed!), and was not intimidated by Indy at all. At first Indy just watched her from a distance, but then they began to interact. By the end of the half hour, they were sneaking up on each other and playing hide and seek! Indy did bat her a couple of times, but he didn't hiss or growl while doing it. Progress! We put Smokey back in the sunroom for the night, so Indy could sleep peacefully. I plan to get them together a couple of times today, and keep increasing their time together as long as all goes well. Thanks again for your help!

Progress report: It is now a little over two weeks since we rescued Smokey, and she and Indy are getting along just fine! They play together every day, sometimes roughly (until one of them cries too much). On Monday, Smokey got sick (limping kitten syndrome), and Indy graciously left her alone for two days to recover (he's usually bugging her to play, if she isn't bugging him to). He even groomed her once or twice! She is much better today, and they have been chasing each other around the house all morning! I will try to upload a picture of the two of them I took this morning...

Great result! Indie has a mini-me! I bet Indie's background at a good cats-only shelter helped.

Gradual introduction of kittens is important for this very reason. In a house of nine, with foster babies coming and going, we introduce the fosters very carefully. Most of the males don't mind kittens. Two even adore them. Still, the females don't care much for them, so we have to let the other cats into the room the kitten stays in (usually my bedroom, to the adults' chagrin), a little at a time. I can provide a step by step, if you'd like.

It isn't too late. You can still "reintroduce" them. And, much like alcohol in humans, catnip can be a social lubricant. My husband got two cats who hate one another to become friends that way, haha. There are also stress inhibiting pheromones you can buy that could help. They're prescription free, and you can find reviews for some on this very website.

I know this is not necessarily a reply to your question, but I'm glad things are going better. I am new to this site and having a problem starting my own thread, if anyone can help. I'm trying to integrate two new kittens with two older resident cats, all males, and all in the midst of moving. I'm having a hard time still after two months, and looking for some help/moral support because I don't want to give in and give up the kitties. they have all been alone together in the house quite a bit, but my one older resident cat just stays in a closet when they are out, or hisses and swats them. the other resident cat seemed better, but now is chasing his tail, and being a little more aggressive, he had to be put on meds. I really could use some advise. or help

mistydawn said:

Gradual introduction of kittens is important for this very reason. In a house of nine, with foster babies coming and going, we introduce the fosters very carefully. Most of the males don't mind kittens. Two even adore them. Still, the females don't care much for them, so we have to let the other cats into the room the kitten stays in (usually my bedroom, to the adults' chagrin), a little at a time. I can provide a step by step, if you'd like.

It isn't too late. You can still "reintroduce" them. And, much like alcohol in humans, catnip can be a social lubricant. My husband got two cats who hate one another to become friends that way, haha. There are also stress inhibiting pheromones you can buy that could help. They're prescription free, and you can find reviews for some on this very website.

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Thanks for your advice, but it turns out I didn't need to reintroduce them. I followed "ArtNJ's" advice and started letting Smokey out of the sunroom more often, and it worked. It's been about 6 weeks now since we adopted Smokey, and she and Indy are getting along great! He plays with her constantly, can eat off the same plate (he tries to sneak over and eat her kitten food before she's done), and can sleep on the same chair/shelf. They have groomed each other several times, even tho that sometimes turns into playing if Smokey is in a playful mood. They spend a lot of time together during the day, but also spend time apart, amusing themselves. I don't think this could have worked out any better, considering we hadn't planned on getting a kitten, so didn't have a "plan" in place!

RufusGizmo said:

I know this is not necessarily a reply to your question, but I'm glad things are going better. I am new to this site and having a problem starting my own thread, if anyone can help. I'm trying to integrate two new kittens with two older resident cats, all males, and all in the midst of moving. I'm having a hard time still after two months, and looking for some help/moral support because I don't want to give in and give up the kitties. they have all been alone together in the house quite a bit, but my one older resident cat just stays in a closet when they are out, or hisses and swats them. the other resident cat seemed better, but now is chasing his tail, and being a little more aggressive, he had to be put on meds. I really could use some advise. or help

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I don't have any advice, but you might get in touch with mistydawn on this site, sounds like she deals with this situation all the time...good luck!