Good day, Here is my story. I have an 8 year old Maine Coon Cat and her name is Abbie. She has always had the roam of the place since I got her at 6 months old and never had another addition until now. A friend of mine takes care of Feral Cats and there was a kitten that was being mishandled by the fellow cats. I decided to take it home. The kitten unfortunately is about 5-6 weeks old. At this moment, I think it is a female but could be wrong. I name her Oreo. She is such a cute black cat with white undercarriage spots and white paws. At first the kitten was standoffish, hissing at me but within a couple of days I worked my cat magic and it comes to me.
The first thing I did wrong was put the kitten down in a cat established home because everyone i know would tell me to do so. I thought it was wrong because first of all the kitten is young and it doesn't know where it is at. Plus, my Abbie didn't like it. So I right away made my bedroom the safe zone because it has a lot of room and child proof it all. I have toys, cat bed, litter box(new one just for her), food and water dish and scratching post that hangs on the wall. It was hard spending time with the kitten at first because it was cry and wouldn't come to me. I would grab for it but i didn't think that was the right thing to do because it was scared, so I would sit in there. So first day was keeping both cats away from each other. So I did a little investigation, Okay a lot of reading on what the proper way of introducing the cats together. So I did the scent thing, not on the kitten but on Abbie. The Kitten being scared would soil on itself so I put a shirt underneath it and kept changing shirts and bringing the scent out to Abbie. Of course on what I read she hissed/growled. It was expected. Because the kitten is so small I didn't want to leave the kitten alone in the room all day. So I brought out my cat pen that I bought for Abbie(that she hates) and put Oreo in it. I put everything that I would have in the safe zone room in to the cat pen in the living room with me and Abbie. The kitten loved it, I think it made her more lovable towards me. She comes to me. She is playful and like I read I am her mother. So first day I let her in it and roam around, she stayed mostly in one spot. Abbie of course would sit on coffee table and look down at her and hiss and growled, Abbie swatted the kitten once but not hard due to the kitten saw another cat and said "wow a friend", and Abbie wasn't haven't it. Then Abbie would walk away and look outside at the birds, periodically watching the kitten for hours until bed time which is 5pm and I put the kitten in the room. From 5 until bed time for me is Abbie and Tara time. So second day or third day, kitten is back in the cat pen, but more joyfull and running around, so that makes Abbie more nervous and she goes down and hiss and growls, hits her once, but now the kitten is growling back. Abbie then does this twice, she rubs on the carpet and then shows her belly to the cat but not in an aggressive movement. He tail was beating hard, her ears weren't hung back. Let me tell you, I know when my Abbie is pissed and she wasn't that. She actually came on the floor next to me and sat with me next to the pen.
I lost sleep and weight(lol) over this because I want things to go right, they may not end up friends but could tolerate each other. I want to make sure am i doing things right. I have always been one at a time cat person but when I see an animal in need my heart bleeds. Please help! Thanks. I attached the video in question on if I am heading in the right direction. Sorry so lengthy.
The first thing I did wrong was put the kitten down in a cat established home because everyone i know would tell me to do so. I thought it was wrong because first of all the kitten is young and it doesn't know where it is at. Plus, my Abbie didn't like it. So I right away made my bedroom the safe zone because it has a lot of room and child proof it all. I have toys, cat bed, litter box(new one just for her), food and water dish and scratching post that hangs on the wall. It was hard spending time with the kitten at first because it was cry and wouldn't come to me. I would grab for it but i didn't think that was the right thing to do because it was scared, so I would sit in there. So first day was keeping both cats away from each other. So I did a little investigation, Okay a lot of reading on what the proper way of introducing the cats together. So I did the scent thing, not on the kitten but on Abbie. The Kitten being scared would soil on itself so I put a shirt underneath it and kept changing shirts and bringing the scent out to Abbie. Of course on what I read she hissed/growled. It was expected. Because the kitten is so small I didn't want to leave the kitten alone in the room all day. So I brought out my cat pen that I bought for Abbie(that she hates) and put Oreo in it. I put everything that I would have in the safe zone room in to the cat pen in the living room with me and Abbie. The kitten loved it, I think it made her more lovable towards me. She comes to me. She is playful and like I read I am her mother. So first day I let her in it and roam around, she stayed mostly in one spot. Abbie of course would sit on coffee table and look down at her and hiss and growled, Abbie swatted the kitten once but not hard due to the kitten saw another cat and said "wow a friend", and Abbie wasn't haven't it. Then Abbie would walk away and look outside at the birds, periodically watching the kitten for hours until bed time which is 5pm and I put the kitten in the room. From 5 until bed time for me is Abbie and Tara time. So second day or third day, kitten is back in the cat pen, but more joyfull and running around, so that makes Abbie more nervous and she goes down and hiss and growls, hits her once, but now the kitten is growling back. Abbie then does this twice, she rubs on the carpet and then shows her belly to the cat but not in an aggressive movement. He tail was beating hard, her ears weren't hung back. Let me tell you, I know when my Abbie is pissed and she wasn't that. She actually came on the floor next to me and sat with me next to the pen.
I lost sleep and weight(lol) over this because I want things to go right, they may not end up friends but could tolerate each other. I want to make sure am i doing things right. I have always been one at a time cat person but when I see an animal in need my heart bleeds. Please help! Thanks. I attached the video in question on if I am heading in the right direction. Sorry so lengthy.