Hi there
I did this song and dance (introducing a new cat) about three years back, and got very good advice. I'm back again to see if I'm doing it right again! My older cat recently passed away entirely unexpectedly. Our younger cat has been painfully lonely with him gone. So, we've adopted a boded pair of rescue kittens, about 7 months old (both females, my adult cat is a male). The kittens want to interact with the resident cat - They came from a foster and a room full of cats, so they have zero trepidation. It's just getting resident cat used to them.
Like the first time, the kittens are confined to their own room. The very first time I cracked the door so resident cat could sniff (only enough to sniff, not see) he poofed way up, hissed fiercely and bolted. Wouldn't come close to the door for wet food, etc. Flighty and jumpy. I've been encouraging sniffs and limited visual interaction by cracking the door maybe 1/8" - 1/4" and offering wet food at the door crack, and resident cat has chilled a bit. If he catches sight of a kitten, he will still sometimes hiss and sometimes walk away if the kitten has their face smushed up next to the crack, but no over the top reactions.
I let resident cat into the kitten room alone, and while he was initially hesitant, he is comfortable enough to play with me in there. He sometimes approaches the (closed) door cracks to sniff, though often will hiss after a thorough inspection - but still, he's approaching on his own. I don't have a pet gate, so I'm trying to limit interactions to the door crack - The doors, unfortunately, are unable to be seen/sniffed/played under (the touch the carpet) so I open it and hold it at the desired "open-ness" for a bit. Last night I shoved a toy halfway in the crack and all parties seemed content to play with the same toy. Today I had a hiccup by offering a higher value wet food to eat at the door and resident cat got a little food defensive and reacted similarly to his first sniff reaction - So, I'll be moving food back from the door, or offering just his regular dry food. At night, I sit in the kitten room and crack the door, because resident cat seems more willing to investigate (he is my shadow, and very attached to me).
I feel like I'm mostly asking this out of impatience - I know last time, it took nearly 5 full months before our kitten Ori (the current resident cat) was able to roam the house freely, and we've only had these two new girls home for about two weeks. I'm taking it painfully slowly because I don't want to be set back to square 1, or to give Ori a bad experience and ruin the future relationship. I hope at some point in the next coming week(s) to be able to crack the door and leave it cracked like that 24 hours a day for him to choose when to come investigate (it has a door chain, so I can set it to open however much I'd like it to be) but it's still too soon for that, I think. Does it seem like we're on the right track?
I did this song and dance (introducing a new cat) about three years back, and got very good advice. I'm back again to see if I'm doing it right again! My older cat recently passed away entirely unexpectedly. Our younger cat has been painfully lonely with him gone. So, we've adopted a boded pair of rescue kittens, about 7 months old (both females, my adult cat is a male). The kittens want to interact with the resident cat - They came from a foster and a room full of cats, so they have zero trepidation. It's just getting resident cat used to them.
Like the first time, the kittens are confined to their own room. The very first time I cracked the door so resident cat could sniff (only enough to sniff, not see) he poofed way up, hissed fiercely and bolted. Wouldn't come close to the door for wet food, etc. Flighty and jumpy. I've been encouraging sniffs and limited visual interaction by cracking the door maybe 1/8" - 1/4" and offering wet food at the door crack, and resident cat has chilled a bit. If he catches sight of a kitten, he will still sometimes hiss and sometimes walk away if the kitten has their face smushed up next to the crack, but no over the top reactions.
I let resident cat into the kitten room alone, and while he was initially hesitant, he is comfortable enough to play with me in there. He sometimes approaches the (closed) door cracks to sniff, though often will hiss after a thorough inspection - but still, he's approaching on his own. I don't have a pet gate, so I'm trying to limit interactions to the door crack - The doors, unfortunately, are unable to be seen/sniffed/played under (the touch the carpet) so I open it and hold it at the desired "open-ness" for a bit. Last night I shoved a toy halfway in the crack and all parties seemed content to play with the same toy. Today I had a hiccup by offering a higher value wet food to eat at the door and resident cat got a little food defensive and reacted similarly to his first sniff reaction - So, I'll be moving food back from the door, or offering just his regular dry food. At night, I sit in the kitten room and crack the door, because resident cat seems more willing to investigate (he is my shadow, and very attached to me).
I feel like I'm mostly asking this out of impatience - I know last time, it took nearly 5 full months before our kitten Ori (the current resident cat) was able to roam the house freely, and we've only had these two new girls home for about two weeks. I'm taking it painfully slowly because I don't want to be set back to square 1, or to give Ori a bad experience and ruin the future relationship. I hope at some point in the next coming week(s) to be able to crack the door and leave it cracked like that 24 hours a day for him to choose when to come investigate (it has a door chain, so I can set it to open however much I'd like it to be) but it's still too soon for that, I think. Does it seem like we're on the right track?
