Blind Cat And Big Young Cat + New Kitten....

[Minxrat]

I am getting a new kitten in two weeks. I've been interacting with her/the mum since she was born so she's familiar with me.

I have two cats - Poppy, blind, two and a half and Milo, nearly two. Both are big cats. He is 6kg and not fat, just tall and long. Poppy is 7kg but fat and of course can't see.

I live in a one bed house, the downstairs is open plan.

I'm planning to pick Mindy up on the Sunday morning and spend all week with her, with the exception of when I HAVE to go out (I have a week's holiday).

The thing is, I don't want to have to shut her in the bathroom overnight, but I'm ok with leaving her shut in the bedroom if I'm out of the house. Both Poppy and Milo have free use of my house.

When I introduced Milo to Poppy, we had a bit of hissing, then whacking, then rough and tumble over the space of 36 hours and now they have the odd tiff where he tries to play and she of course can't see him. So Mindy will be his playmate. Hopefully.

I'm just worried because she is literally a fifth of his size at the moment and won't be too much bigger in two weeks time. I don't want her bullied, even accidentally, by Milo. Poppy I suspect will just walk away if Mindy tries to get close.

Any tips for the above re introductions?

 

[ArtNJ]

I think your worried about the wrong thing. Milo isn't going to hurt the kitten, and kittens don't overly mind a little rough play. Sure, they may run or squeal when it gets to be a little much, but you know they are ok with it when they come back pretty quick. You may have more trouble with the kitten and Poppy though. Kittens often don't take no for an answer, and the mere fact that there is one willing cat doesn't guaranty that the unwilling cat won't be bugged. Unfortunately, this really isn't an introduction issue per se and a slow intro wont necessarily stop it from happening.

A home base for a few days is an excellent idea for the kitten. Some kittens can be a bit scared for a few days, and the home base helps them feel safe and may avoid them finding somewhere problematic to hide. In the bedroom, the worst case is that the kitten hides from you under the bed for a bit. No biggy. Even when you are home, having the kitten in the bedroom for at least a couple days is a good idea. You can scent swap, so that Poppy can smell the kitten. May not help much, but won't hurt.

I don't know that you need to do anything more elaborate than that, process wise. A full process is more necessary when the newcome is an adult. Of course, if Poppy seems stressed by the kitten's scent, you could slow things down.

 

[Minxrat]

Don't get me wrong, I'm worried about Poppy too but I'm sort of hoping she may bond with the kitten more than she did Milo. Time will tell I guess! There are places around the house where she can go but the other two are just too big!

I'm going to see the kitten later and I'll take a clean towel with me and wrap her in it so P&M can smell her - I did this with Milo and Poppy, and he used to sleep on her blanket. Thing is, when I got Milo, Poppy could see and she would sit with him whilst he played - she's never been a real playful cat, just likes dangling things so she can chew the string!

Fingers crossed Milo gets his playmate otherwise I'll end up with three cats in various parts of my small house, all ignoring each other! At least when Milo whacks Mindy in the face, she can see it coming and whack him back....

 

[ArtNJ]

If you get stressed by how Milo is playing with the kitten, take a video for us. Its quite possible it will stress you out if you haven't seen an adult cat playing with a kitten before. It can look questionable! Remember to let the kitten be your guide. If the kitten only runs *during* play and does not hide or seem afraid of Milo, there is no problem.

I'm obviously wishing you good luck with Poppy! Don't have experience with blind cats per se, just know that kittens can sometimes really stress older inactive cats out pretty badly. Hopefully having one active willing playmate will help!

 

[Minxrat]

I will. Poppy was only 6 months older than Milo when he arrived at 9 weeks so even though she was bigger, she wasn't as big as she is now.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on Pops, I don't want to think that I've replaced her with a furry eating pooping whacking machine!

 

[Minxrat]

Well Mindy has been with us 11 days. It was a fast introduction and the hissing/growling stopped after one day with Milo but four days with Poppy.

Mindy is just a ball of energy but oh so sweet.

Milo LOVES running around with her. I'm really worried he's doing harm as there is a lot of squeaking but when I rescue Mindy, she just goes back in for more.

Poppy is aware she is there - Mindy will try and lie down with her but as when Milo was a kitten, Poppy will tolerate for about 30 seconds then gets up and walks away.

I am a bit allergic with Mindy but I'm hoping this will pass.

Photos for attention :-)

 

[Tik cat's mum]

Congratulations on your new fur baby it sounds to me like it's all good, I'm thinking mindy isn't getting hurt she keeps going backShe is adorable.