Introducing New Kitten To Current Kitten

Aspen is now 4.5 months old, she’s an amazing kitten and we love her very much. She’s spayed already and usually the chilliest kitten.

Today, I purchased another Persian/Himalayan kitten from the same breeder, same parents as Aspen. I have been reading articles on introduction. We thought Aspen would be excited for a new play mate. We enter our home and as usual, Aspen comes to greet us at the door and we are holding the new kitten. Aspen spots the new kitten hisses violently and runs away. To be honest I didn’t expect that from her.

We obviously have separated them and I got Aspen to her safe space but now she’s freaking out and hissing at me! Is it normal for her to be this angry with me personally? She’s still hissing at me since we got in the door. It’s been an hour. Aspen is literally so nice and calm. I feel like I betrayed her. I really like this new kitten, but I’m sad for upsetting Aspen so badly. Who else experienced this? How long for things to settle? Please advise. I know this is a common question and I’m also reading up but would like to hear from others for some comfort

It is very common. She's young enough that she will probably adapt quickly. Change your clothes, wash the kitten off, and sit quietly with Aspen. In a few weeks you'll be here asking what to do with these crazy kitten running wild.

Kitten + kitten is almost always ok, regardless of what you do, within around a week or less. Because there isn't going to be any actual fighting and things will work out regardless, just letting them do their thing is viable . . . lengthy formal introductions aren't really necessary with two kittens. There is no harm in doing a more fulsome process in line with what you have read about though.

Now there is a thing called redirected aggression, where if a cat is being scared by A, they take it out on B, whether B is another pet or a human. It doesn't mean your cat is mad at YOU per se, it just means they are stressed. It is a normal thing. So while its normal to think "I'll pick up my stressed kitty and comfort them" it is often not a good idea -- just a recipe for getting scratched.

Hellenww said:

It is very common. She's young enough that she will probably adapt quickly. Change your clothes, wash the kitten off, and sit quietly with Aspen. In a few weeks you'll be here asking what to do with these crazy kitten running wild.

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Thanks for this. Changed my clothes and washed up and she seems more comfortable with me already. I was able to pet her a bit and spoiled her with some snacks.

ArtNJ said:

Kitten + kitten is almost always ok, regardless of what you do, within around a week or less. Because there isn't going to be any actual fighting and things will work out regardless, just letting them do their thing is viable . . . lengthy formal introductions aren't really necessary with two kittens. There is no harm in doing a more fulsome process in line with what you have read about though.

Now there is a thing called redirected aggression, where if a cat is being scared by A, they take it out on B, whether B is another pet or a human. It doesn't mean your cat is mad at YOU per se, it just means they are stressed. It is a normal thing. So while its normal to think "I'll pick up my stressed kitty and comfort them" it is often not a good idea -- just a recipe for getting scratched.

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Comforting to hear this. Thank you and it seems like Aspen is sightly opening up to me again. Just gonna take this day by day.

Hey guys,
Hoping you can help me too.. I've had a male kitten (vinny) for 5 weeks, he is 12 weeks old. We always planned to get him a wee girl to keep him company. Millie our wee girl came home yesterday, she is 9 weeks old and he's really not doing great, we introduced them yesterday for a short while and he hissed, growled then after a whe he attacked. She is very shy and timid. We have had them seperated since but I feel sorry for them both as there both not getting our full attention. Please help me

nats9 said:

Hey guys,
Hoping you can help me too.. I've had a male kitten (vinny) for 5 weeks, he is 12 weeks old. We always planned to get him a wee girl to keep him company. Millie our wee girl came home yesterday, she is 9 weeks old and he's really not doing great, we introduced them yesterday for a short while and he hissed, growled then after a whe he attacked. She is very shy and timid. We have had them seperated since but I feel sorry for them both as there both not getting our full attention. Please help me

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Hi, it took 3-7 days but my kittens are legit besties right now. I even took my younger kitten out for an errand and my older started meowing and looking around for her. Kittens will take a shorter time to adjust. There was some fighting with mine and my older was hissing and growling and very aggressive even with the kitten scent on my hands. The fighting was a few days long and it’s all playful now. They cuddle and play all day. It will get better soon I promise. They’re both so happy now.

Ashy said:

Hi, it took 3-7 days but my kittens are legit besties right now. I even took my younger kitten out for an errand and my older started meowing and looking around for her. Kittens will take a shorter time to adjust. There was some fighting with mine and my older was hissing and growling and very aggressive even with the kitten scent on my hands. The fighting was a few days long and it’s all playful now. They cuddle and play all day. It will get better soon I promise. They’re both so happy now.

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Aw that's so good they are besties now. When did you let them together? I did last night but after him attacking her, they've been seperated since as he's doing the same--hissing, spitting and growling so I'm worried to do it again as she's so small compared to him did you do anything when they were fighting? I took vinny the male out the room last night as she just cowered.

nats9 said:

Aw that's so good they are besties now. When did you let them together? I did last night but after him attacking her, they've been seperated since as he's doing the same--hissing, spitting and growling so I'm worried to do it again as she's so small compared to him did you do anything when they were fighting? I took vinny the male out the room last night as she just cowered.

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Try swapping their scents on toys and blankets so they can get used to the scent. Try this for a couple of days and feeding them on each side the door ecc. Don’t be alarmed cause there will be more hissing and growling. We would supervise them in a room for short periods of time together, keeping an eye if Aspen my 5 month old would try to attack. The baby kitten was pretty brave though! She stood her ground but did get spooked sometimes. After the short time, we would separate them again. After a few days, we let them have full contact and Aspen continued to growl and hiss and swat at the babies head but after a few days of this the fighting turned into play. They would fight/play fight for days non-stop but at that point we let them do their thing. As long as there’s is no blood or serious biting/swatting, you could try to let them at it a bit in a few days supervised. I get it, it’s super scary and concerning but it absolutely will improve in days to weeks. Don’t be discouraged.

They seem to be sharing toys which is good and in the same rooms as eachother but at seperate times. I just feel horrible as poor vinny has been here longer and I feel like he's the one being left out as I want millie the new girl to get used to the house etc. Thank you so much, your replies have helped me stop worrying so much as I wondered if they would ever get on and I feel so so horrible on both their behalves. We shall leave them seperated tonight and tomorrow then maybe try an introduction tomorrow night for a wee bit see how it goes. It's so scary and because they can't tell you there going to be nice, I struggle to trust them

I felt so guilty because we had to lock Aspen out of our room and she usually sleeps on our bed. She forgave us, just try giving your guy extra attention and snacks. So trust me I know how bad it feels. Aspen was even hissing at me and growling at me then running from me. She looked as if she felt betrayed and hated us. I felt totally hopeless and thought I had to return the kitten, in a week, you’ll be seeing a huge improvement. I was thinking that there was no way with how horrible she was acting that they could possible get along and seriously kittens really do get over it so quick. I was seriously worried about the kittens well being and about Aspen feeling left out but now she’s so happy to have the kitten and they love playing and cuddling. I know it’s scary and even a few days feels like forever but at one point I just Aspen chase the baby and I followed them and pulled her away if she seemed too rough. You’ll slowly see less growls and hissing and swatting and then the fighting will soon be playing and cuddles. I’m so certain it will work out.

Oh my goodness they are so so cute together!! I feel so much better hearing your experience as I feel the exact same so it's good to know it will keep improving. No one can explain how stressful it is your just so worried about them both. This is tonight's progress.. I think it's major progress

nats9 said:

Oh my goodness they are so so cute together!! I feel so much better hearing your experience as I feel the exact same so it's good to know it will keep improving. No one can explain how stressful it is your just so worried about them both. This is tonight's progress.. I think it's major progress

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How cute!! Baby steps can’t wait to hear positive updates.

Everything seems to be going half OK.. He's not spitting as much or growling but still swiping a fair bit. Does Aspen love you again?? I feel like we've changed vinny as he's not affectionate atall anymore, haven't heard him pur since the little girl came home even if she's not in the room, he won't come sit on me anymore.

nats9 said:

Everything seems to be going half OK.. He's not spitting as much or growling but still swiping a fair bit. Does Aspen love you again?? I feel like we've changed vinny as he's not affectionate atall anymore, haven't heard him pur since the little girl came home even if she's not in the room, he won't come sit on me anymore.

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Your timeline sounds normal/similar to mine so far. Each case may be slightly unique but maybe more similar involving younger kittens. I think the swatting will continue for a while and don't be alarmed if you see your older jump or try to jump on the the younger’s back and grab the neck scruff, Aspen would do that and still does it sometimes when they play. They just want to make sure they’re the boss and show some dominant behavior over the other. Even if the progress seems to back track for a moment, it will still get back in line. Don’t worry, it will pass and everything with fall in place. My experience has been about 2 weeks and everything feels normal already.

So Aspen’s behavior was superrr weird when this all came down. She was like a different cat all together, which made me sad. She wasn’t sleeping in our room anymore, even with the door open. She seemed like this independent loner, pretty cold towards me even kind of avoiding me. Didn’t really want me to pet her, didn’t greet me at the door when I’d come home ecc. I tried to give her some space and reach out if she looked interested.

I’ve been spoiling her a bit with treats and toys. I started petting her while she was sleepy or asleep and she was purring again and seemed happy. It looks like things are starting to get back to normal this week for me. She came and sat on my lap the other day, letting me pet her, rubbing herself on my legs, purring more frequently. She came running to the door when I got home today.

I think it’s just this adjustment phase and it should pass soon they’re just trying to sort everything out and figure their role with all these changes. I think these last couple days, she was finally herself and I am relieved! I am confident you will experience the same. Don’t get discouraged if it takes another week or so, I’m sure every cat needs different adjustment periods. I don’t think there is any rule or certain time period for each phase.

Yeah that's what we're getting today, no hissing spitting or growling but vinny is being very aggressive to her neck, any time he does it, I spray him with water then put him out the room for a couple of minutes as she just freezes and then he won't let go. It's so hard I thought we were making major progress so hopefully tomorrow is better. We have made such a big fuss of him, more treats, new toys, he's still getting free rain when she's the one put in a seperate room when there not supervised. She really wants to be his friend and he is the complete opposite. It's scary how similar our kittens are behaving so I'm really hoping for an outcome like yours. Any time I'm home I've been allowing to let them together with me there but it's beginning to get a little disheartening. I really just want them to be able to get along. I'm glad he will get back to himself as ifs horrible, he was such a loving cuddly kitten and we haven't seen that since millie has been home. We have only had her since Monday so hoping it improves majorly over the weekend

Do you leave aspen when she was jumping on the younger ones neck?? We tried that once and vinny really wouldn't let go so had to get him away..

Please don’t get discouraged yet, trust me, I was so stressed and disappointed too. It sounds like you’re doing your best and have everything under control as it can be.

At one point, I “let them at it” with supervision and caution. I wasn’t overly worried because it didn’t seem like she was seriously hurting the kitten as long as there is no blood, crying out or hair flying, I allowed some contact. Atlas seemed okay with the fights and would hold her ground. I did let some of the neck grabbing and fighting continue to a degree. I think it made Aspen feel like she’s the boss or something. If Atlas showed discomfort, I would stop it and shortly let it continue again for a bit if they both seemed okay. Maybe it helped Aspen get over it and lose interest in the battle.

At this point it’s totally fun-play for them so I allow the neck grabbing since Atlas puts up a fight in return and enjoys pestering/starting these play fights. They just lick each other and cuddle after so it’s all friendly.

I think you should keep doing what you’re doing. You’re doing a good job. Seems like Millie is a great kitty too, I think she’s worth being patient for. Aspen seriously acted like she hated me with passion and even attacked my hands when they smelled like the kitten. I was like do I return Atlas??? Then she acted disinterested in me and now she finally loves me and wants to cuddle and play. All will work into place with a bit of time. I think it’s so good for them to have a play mate. They both enjoy the company, must be great for the long-term minus the current stress.

nats9 said:

Yeah that's what we're getting today, no hissing spitting or growling but vinny is being very aggressive to her neck, any time he does it, I spray him with water then put him out the room for a couple of minutes as she just freezes and then he won't let go. It's so hard I thought we were making major progress so hopefully tomorrow is better. We have made such a big fuss of him, more treats, new toys, he's still getting free rain when she's the one put in a seperate room when there not supervised. She really wants to be his friend and he is the complete opposite. It's scary how similar our kittens are behaving so I'm really hoping for an outcome like yours. Any time I'm home I've been allowing to let them together with me there but it's beginning to get a little disheartening. I really just want them to be able to get along. I'm glad he will get back to himself as ifs horrible, he was such a loving cuddly kitten and we haven't seen that since millie has been home. We have only had her since Monday so hoping it improves majorly over the weekend

Do you leave aspen when she was jumping on the younger ones neck?? We tried that once and vinny really wouldn't let go so had to get him away..

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Any improvements this week?