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Hi everyone. I currently have a ~4 year old spayed female cat, and will be bringing home a new ~3-4 month old female kitten next week. I just wanted to get some feedback and advice about how best to conduct introductions in my studio apartment. I did successfully introduce another adult female into my home a few months ago in this same apartment (sadly she passed away since), so I do know the basics, but certain circumstances are different this time. So I thought it’d be beneficial to pick your brains once again! Sorry in advance for the long post...
My apartment is basically one large, open room with a loft where the bed is. Last time I kept the new cat in the bathroom because that is the only closed off “room” in my house. Other than being slightly inconvenient, it worked well—took about 5 weeks for full introductions, but mostly because new cat was semiferal and hid when I first got her, not because of the cats having any major issues.
However this time around I’m hesitant about using the bathroom for a couple reasons:
1) It was fine in summer/fall, but it’s COLD in there now that it’s winter. It’s probably the coldest part of the house when the shower isn’t in use. The floor is cold tiles and there is no heater. I would almost certainly have to invest in an electric blanket or else pile loads of blankets and hot water bottles in there to feel comfortable keeping a kitten in there. I hate being in there just to brush my teeth!
2) It’s tiny. I made it work last time, but it basically required acrobatics to avoid stepping on food bowls or litter box when using the bathroom. With a kitten throwing things around I imagine the mess might get even worse.
3) No fan. When you shower, it gets very hot and steamy, almost chokingly so. Since I live alone, when I had the other cat in there, I just left the door open with a gate on the door when I showered to let the steam escape—but I have a friend staying with me right now and I don’t think either of us are comfortable with that (plus it’d be too cold now to leave the door open!). So probably one person would have to take the kitten out while the other person showered.
4) Maybe not a good reason but... I feel so bad to put the kitten in there because it’s so small and isolated. She’s grown up with people and other cats and I hate to exile her in there. But maybe if I spend lots of time in there with her it’ll be okay.
The other option I have for the kitten besides the bathroom is a large, 2 story crate. The person I’m adopting her from suggested I use the crate. The bathroom is probably bigger in terms of sheer floor space, but the crate does allow her to get higher and to observe the house and goings-on from a safe place (and not feel so isolated and lonely). But I know it’s recommended to first exchange scents for a few days before letting the cats see each other. Crate would kind of defeat the purpose of that and they’d be able to see each other right away. I don’t know that it’s the best idea to just plop new kitten down in resident cat’s territory, even if she’s in a crate. However, I could try putting the crate in the entrance hallway and block the hallway from the rest of the house with a sheet draped over my large drying rack (not ideal if I need to dry clothes, but...). Either way, Chilli can still hang out in her loft or cat tree and observe the newcomer from
above, which she often did when I was introducing the last cat.
By the way, not sure if it would help us decide what to do, but here are the cats’ personalities:
Resident cat Chilli is pretty used to other cats by now and gets along well with them after introductions. She never hissed or growled ONCE during the introductions with the previous cat, just acted cautious. Later, once she realized the other cat was sweet, submissive, and totally in love with her, she settled well into her confident bossy role and enjoyed teaching the new cat the ropes. There were occasional swats and hisses after that but she was very reasonable and forgiving and the two cats got along fine. In her previous home she lived with a kitten and I’m told she did great with him, “even though she hissed at him sometimes,” which seems pretty normal to me.
New kitten’s personality so far seems quite mild and gentle, and shy at first. She doesn’t seem pushy or dominant at all with the cats she currently lives with. So I think as long as I can keep resident cat’s confidence up, I think their personalities should mesh well.
Healthwise, new kitten has had 2 rounds of vaccinations. Resident cat is healthy. I’ll be in touch with my vet to make sure the cats are safe to introduce but based on the kitten’s last vet visit it should be okay. Planning to bring the kitten to the vet for a general checkup after getting her. Her current caretakers are VERY on top of her health and are providing me with all her records and everything.
So, if you’ve managed to read this far... should I use the bathroom or the crate? Or is there anything else I’m overlooking? I would love to just use the crate if you think I can achieve success that way. I know kittens are supposed to be much easier than other adults to introduce to a resident cat, and seeing how successful and peaceful my last adult-to-adult introduction went I am feeling hopeful. But of course I want to do things correctly to make this easier on all of us. Still, the thought of locking my new kitten in a cold tiny bathroom for Christmas makes me sad. I appreciate any advice!
My apartment is basically one large, open room with a loft where the bed is. Last time I kept the new cat in the bathroom because that is the only closed off “room” in my house. Other than being slightly inconvenient, it worked well—took about 5 weeks for full introductions, but mostly because new cat was semiferal and hid when I first got her, not because of the cats having any major issues.
However this time around I’m hesitant about using the bathroom for a couple reasons:
1) It was fine in summer/fall, but it’s COLD in there now that it’s winter. It’s probably the coldest part of the house when the shower isn’t in use. The floor is cold tiles and there is no heater. I would almost certainly have to invest in an electric blanket or else pile loads of blankets and hot water bottles in there to feel comfortable keeping a kitten in there. I hate being in there just to brush my teeth!
2) It’s tiny. I made it work last time, but it basically required acrobatics to avoid stepping on food bowls or litter box when using the bathroom. With a kitten throwing things around I imagine the mess might get even worse.
3) No fan. When you shower, it gets very hot and steamy, almost chokingly so. Since I live alone, when I had the other cat in there, I just left the door open with a gate on the door when I showered to let the steam escape—but I have a friend staying with me right now and I don’t think either of us are comfortable with that (plus it’d be too cold now to leave the door open!). So probably one person would have to take the kitten out while the other person showered.
4) Maybe not a good reason but... I feel so bad to put the kitten in there because it’s so small and isolated. She’s grown up with people and other cats and I hate to exile her in there. But maybe if I spend lots of time in there with her it’ll be okay.
The other option I have for the kitten besides the bathroom is a large, 2 story crate. The person I’m adopting her from suggested I use the crate. The bathroom is probably bigger in terms of sheer floor space, but the crate does allow her to get higher and to observe the house and goings-on from a safe place (and not feel so isolated and lonely). But I know it’s recommended to first exchange scents for a few days before letting the cats see each other. Crate would kind of defeat the purpose of that and they’d be able to see each other right away. I don’t know that it’s the best idea to just plop new kitten down in resident cat’s territory, even if she’s in a crate. However, I could try putting the crate in the entrance hallway and block the hallway from the rest of the house with a sheet draped over my large drying rack (not ideal if I need to dry clothes, but...). Either way, Chilli can still hang out in her loft or cat tree and observe the newcomer from
above, which she often did when I was introducing the last cat.
By the way, not sure if it would help us decide what to do, but here are the cats’ personalities:
Resident cat Chilli is pretty used to other cats by now and gets along well with them after introductions. She never hissed or growled ONCE during the introductions with the previous cat, just acted cautious. Later, once she realized the other cat was sweet, submissive, and totally in love with her, she settled well into her confident bossy role and enjoyed teaching the new cat the ropes. There were occasional swats and hisses after that but she was very reasonable and forgiving and the two cats got along fine. In her previous home she lived with a kitten and I’m told she did great with him, “even though she hissed at him sometimes,” which seems pretty normal to me.
New kitten’s personality so far seems quite mild and gentle, and shy at first. She doesn’t seem pushy or dominant at all with the cats she currently lives with. So I think as long as I can keep resident cat’s confidence up, I think their personalities should mesh well.
Healthwise, new kitten has had 2 rounds of vaccinations. Resident cat is healthy. I’ll be in touch with my vet to make sure the cats are safe to introduce but based on the kitten’s last vet visit it should be okay. Planning to bring the kitten to the vet for a general checkup after getting her. Her current caretakers are VERY on top of her health and are providing me with all her records and everything.
So, if you’ve managed to read this far... should I use the bathroom or the crate? Or is there anything else I’m overlooking? I would love to just use the crate if you think I can achieve success that way. I know kittens are supposed to be much easier than other adults to introduce to a resident cat, and seeing how successful and peaceful my last adult-to-adult introduction went I am feeling hopeful. But of course I want to do things correctly to make this easier on all of us. Still, the thought of locking my new kitten in a cold tiny bathroom for Christmas makes me sad. I appreciate any advice!
