- Joined
- Aug 10, 2019
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Hey All,
I need some help. I'm at work majority of the day so I wanted my older cat to have a friend. And now that I have a house, I thought this would be a great opportunity for that.
I am trying to introduce a 3 month old male kitten to my 2.5 year old female. I am almost at the end of week 3 of the introductions. I've set up a kitten sanctuary in the guest bedroom; baby gate and all. Fed them each from the other side of the door for a week. I've done the scent exchange often enough where the older one stopped hissing. I moved on to visual feeding. This was also successful with no hissing. Hooray for me right?
Wrong.
Then the started the in-person interactions. When they are together, I try to distract them with a toy but my oldest doesn't want to play. Kitten engages in play with the wand but my oldest is kind of stalking him like he's prey. They chase each other around which looks like play but soon is followed by hissing, growling, swatting, and puffy tails. So then I separate them again. But then my oldest one jumps the gate! (tbh, I didnt know she had such mad hops. Lol). If I close the door completely, I can hear the oldest one throw a tantrum.
Kitten never hisses or growls. I know he just wants to play but my older cat, she's the one displaying aggression.
I've got feliaway plugged in, I tried to use treats as reinforcement when they "boop" noses but it always comes back to hissing and growling from my oldest. Can anyone give me advice? Is my older cat an only cat?
Stressed out,
A Cat Mom
I need some help. I'm at work majority of the day so I wanted my older cat to have a friend. And now that I have a house, I thought this would be a great opportunity for that.
I am trying to introduce a 3 month old male kitten to my 2.5 year old female. I am almost at the end of week 3 of the introductions. I've set up a kitten sanctuary in the guest bedroom; baby gate and all. Fed them each from the other side of the door for a week. I've done the scent exchange often enough where the older one stopped hissing. I moved on to visual feeding. This was also successful with no hissing. Hooray for me right?
Wrong.
Then the started the in-person interactions. When they are together, I try to distract them with a toy but my oldest doesn't want to play. Kitten engages in play with the wand but my oldest is kind of stalking him like he's prey. They chase each other around which looks like play but soon is followed by hissing, growling, swatting, and puffy tails. So then I separate them again. But then my oldest one jumps the gate! (tbh, I didnt know she had such mad hops. Lol). If I close the door completely, I can hear the oldest one throw a tantrum.
Kitten never hisses or growls. I know he just wants to play but my older cat, she's the one displaying aggression.
I've got feliaway plugged in, I tried to use treats as reinforcement when they "boop" noses but it always comes back to hissing and growling from my oldest. Can anyone give me advice? Is my older cat an only cat?
Stressed out,
A Cat Mom