A quick kitten/adult cat introduction question

[melissa]

We have a one year old kitty, Sebastian, who was acting very bored and a bit sad. So last weekend we adopted an 11 week old kitten, Sulley. The kitten has been in his base camp room, and Sebastian seems ok with some site swapping and smelling him under the door. He will eat treats by the door and play with his laser. When the kitten vocalizes though, he hisses and growls. He tries to reach under the door to the kitten, no dilated pupils, no flattened ears and not using claws. The kitten chirps and desperately wants to meet him and play but he gets growls and hisses every time he gets too close to the crack under the door. Sebastian seems like he’s very happy otherwise, more playful than he’s been in weeks and more loving with us. I’ve got a mesh dog gate I’ll be setting up on the door to the kittens room with another solid barrier above it for safety for their eventual face to face meeting. Sebastian has seen the kitten when we’ve carried him to our bedroom to spend time with him in there with the door closed and he is completely relaxed and no hissing seeing Sulley. So my question after all that background info is: should I wait until Sebastian completely stops all hissing when hearing Sulleys meows before trying a visual meeting through the mesh gate?

 

[suba]

Hi
You are doing great puurfectly!
See what a face to face does. You might want to use a towel etc for each cat to sleep on then swap the towels to the other side. Just to see. You can trade their litter boxes too. and observe.
After a couple of days, I would leave the door open and let them mingle. One will be boss. Keep sprayer with water right there. But let them work it out. Hissing ,spitting isnt bad its a declaration. If you see it getting to fight mode spray them and they should retreat. Be sure each cat has its own area to retreat to. Repeat this a few times. They should settle in. Cats are pretty good in pairs. They will end up besties! I love what you are doing

A broom is also a good tool for any inside animal fight. Never get your body in there. All pets are still animals.

 

[rubysmama]

Usually introducing a kitten to an adult cat goes quickly, especially when the adult cat is still young. And generally an adult cat will not harm a kitten.

Do put the adult cat in another room on with the door closed, on occasion, so the kitten can wander the rest of the home so his scent gets everywhere.

Unless your adult cat seems really stressed, I think the visual behind the mesh should be fine, even though there might be some hissing and growling, which is a cat's way of communicating.

Even after they are doing well together, do expect some hissing/growling and/or rough "play" by your older cat, as he teaches the youngster cat manners. You just don't want the kitten seeming to be scared. If it runs from the adult cat, but then quickly returns for more fun, that is good. It's only if it really seems scared, that you would have to slow down the introductions.

Occasionally it's the older cat that gets stressed, or even scared of the kitten. That would appear as not eating normally, litter box incidents, etc. But that is rare.

Here's a TCS article on the topic that might be helpful: How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat | TheCatSite

 

[susanm9006]

I think they are ready for a visual meeting with the gate. The hissing and growling you have heard so far just might be your older cats fear reaction to hearing an unfamiliar noise/cat and not that he is angry.

 

[melissa]

I have let the kitten out into the whole house while Sebastian was closed in our bedroom. Sebastian has also been in the kittens base camp room a few times while he was upstairs in our bedroom. No hissing when he smells the kitten, just when he hears him for some reason. I’m going to try a brief visual meeting with the gate tomorrow and see how everyone reacts. Thank you all for the advice!! This is a truly great online community of people I’m attaching pics of the kitties because they are, I think, adorable