Bringing a new kitten into home

[amarshall0919]

Hey everyone. I’m looking for some advice on how to properly introduce a two month old female kitten to a four year old male cat.

Currently, the kitten is living outside on my porch with my chihuahua, Skit. They get along perfectly and love each other. However, cold weather is coming extremely soon. Starting in about three weeks, my fiancé is going to bring her into his apartment. We currently already have a 4 year old cat named Midnight. He is neutered, but does have all of his claws. He is fairly laid back loves belly rubs, and can be picked up at anytime. However, like any other cat, he does get into his super playful moods where he wants to attack everything. He will play bite and scratch, and it does hurt sometimes, especially when it feels like his claws are stuck in me. He weighs 15 pounds, and is chunky. He has had other animals around him before. There was a dog that he disliked, but dealt with. There was also a foster kitten that was only around for a week, but he got very mad. He even used the bathroom in the tub. Finally, there was kitten that showed up around the house that was believed to be an offspring of him. He didn’t care much at all, but didn’t get too close.

My two month old kitten, Smoothie, is extremely playful as expected. She is almost always playing, and loves to play fight with my chihuahua. She jumps on her back, bites at her tail, and grabs her face. My chihuahua loves it, and plays right back. Smoothie is also incredibly adventurous, and has to be under complete supervision most of the time, besides when she is sleeping. She is fearful of nothing.

I have been looking up some information on how to properly introduce the two of them. However, there are some problems. My fiancé’s apartment is pretty small, and he has a roommate. The only place where she could be locked up away from Midnight is the bathroom where his kitty litter is. I do have a large crate for her that locks so that she’s safe at night when I can’t be outside with her. Should I bring the crate instead of her being locked up in the bathroom all day? My fiancé will be gone for work about 10 hours everyday. He lives 20 miles from me, and my family currently only has one car and I’m unable to have one at the moment for financial reasons.I will most likely be able to visit them twice a day when he is at work. Once around 5:00 pm, and the second time after 10:00 pm.

Although it would be easier for me to bring her into my home, I am unable to because my 9 year old cat, King. He is incredibly contrary and cannot stand any other animal to be in his home. When our chihuahua comes in during the winter, he sits and stares at her constantly and will even attempt to attack her. We one time brought some kittens into the house, and he hissed and backed away. They instantly went back outside. We are unable to bring Smoothie in here because I am almost positive that King would seriously hurt her, even under our supervision. I refuse to take that chance.

My questions are as follows:
Will the crate or bathroom be a better option for her? How long should I keep the two of them separated? Should I be worried about how he is going to behave around her? What if even after the amount of time I keep her locked away from him, he still doesn’t respond to her nicely? Is there anything protective wise that I can buy Smoothie? (I ask this because Midnights claws are extremely sharp, and he is probably 8 times bigger than Smoothie. I’m worried that she will attempt to play fight with him, and he will not respond well, possibly hurting her.)

I’m particularly protective of Smoothie because she is the offspring of my recently deceased cat, Milkshake. His life was tragically cut short by living outside, and I want her to be able to live a good safe life, inside.

 

[ArtNJ]

What a little cutie! The legs seem a bit short, almost like a munchkin cat?

A crate can be a tactic used to bring the cat and kitten closer together for a couple of hours late in the introduction. We have had members do that as a final step and have some luck with that. Sticking the kitten in the crate for potentially weeks (sometimes introduction processes can take weeks) is something I can't approve of for quality of life reasons, but I guess its better than what the kitten would have in a pet store and some of those do very well when introduced into a home, so its a possible technique, especially if the older cat adjusts pretty easily. However, in addition to the quality of life issues for the kitten, having the crate in the main apartment puts the kitten really close to the 4 y.o. right away and it could be problematic if the older cat takes the kitten unusually hard and is really stressed. That is why a crate is a better last step -- its a lot more challenging than just smelling the kitten through a closed door when the kitten can't be seen.

A bathroom with the other cat's only litter is a bad move, asking for trouble even if you switch them a few times a day. A bathroom you need to use throughout the day is really really hard, especially if you need to go in there at night when you wake up at 3 am. It can be done with vigilance, but escapes tend to make introductions much harder by stressing everyone out. So you have to be realistic about things -- if its your only bathroom, can you commit to always being vigilant when you go in there for at least a few days? For me, its impossible.

I guess what I would do is this. Put the kitten in the bathroom, get the other litter out into the apartment (this is temporary). Work hard to prevent escapes at the bathroom door. Do some scent swapping, where you take a blanket or something with the kitten's scent to your four year old. See how the four year old acts. If there isn't much reaction except some light hissing when close to the bathroom, and the kitten seems comfortable with you and the bathroom, then after a couple of days do a couple of hours of crate time in the main room and see what happens. Repeat this for a few days unless the older cat seems totally fine, but after that if its just some light hissing now and then and you don't see much stress, you can put them together.

Adult cats don't hurt kittens. Its just a question of how stressed the 4 y.o. will be. A little light hissing and even a get away swat is fine, that can often be worked through pretty quickly. I only did a two day separation the last kitten I brought home because my then 4 y.o. resident is a chill friendly cat and didn't seem all that bothered -- just light hissing. When I allowed them to roam, the 4 y.o. followed the kitten a lot because he needed to know what she was doing, but would still hiss when they got too close, even if it was his doing. Within a few days, they were friends and roughly play fighting. Sometimes its just that easy.

Of course, I've done several intros and wouldn't do such a short process with a kitten and a 4 y.o. if I didn't have the experience to interpret how my older cat was doing. A longer intro is usually better. Four year olds can go either way, and there is really no way of telling how the older cat will react unless he has very recently accepted other pets. If the older cat is really stressed, your either going to have a very tough time or be unfair to the kitten; I can't see any way around that. You can certainly see how the older cat is reacting and may get lucky, but my concern is what if you are actually unlucky and the older cat is really stressed?

I guess one backup plan is trying it with the 9 y.o. If the 4 y.o. seems really stressed, you might consider doing a proper slow introduction of the kitten over several weeks to the nine year old. Adult cats don't hurt kittens and with the space for a proper and slow introduction, you might be surprised. In general, the chances are definitely worse with the 9 y.o., but having the space for a proper slow intro does offset that somewhat.

 

[di and bob]

Yes, most adult cats see a kitten as a nuisance, not a threat. They will hiss, growl, and swat at them, even pinning them to the ground at times, but eventually, they accept them. There is no bedroom with a door to keep her in for a while? Letting him observe and sniff her through the crate is a good idea. it will take a while, but eventually, he will accept her. Males are more laid back generally than females, and friendlier. He might like having a girlfriend around. These things just all take time, and she needs an adult to teach her manners and set limits, otherwise, she will be will be uncontrollable as she gets older. The main thing to look for is if she squeals and runs off but comes back for more when they are together and he disciplines her, everything is normal. If she cries and hides and avoids him, she IS getting hurt.

 

[Talien]

You said there was a Kitten that showed up you thought was his offspring, does that mean he is not neutered? If not get that taken care of and he should be less aggressive, otherwise he may try to mate with her and Cats can get pregnant as young as 4-5 months. Getting her spayed is also a good idea so she doesn't end up pregnant if she gets outside.

Otherwise an active playful Cat is exactly what the Kitten needs to help teach her things as she grows so it should work out fine doing an introduction with your BF's Cat. Take it slow at first and keep her in the crate with a small tray of litter so you don't need to keep letting her out to use the litterbox, and as he starts to accept her you can start letting her out for supervised interaction. You'll know things are fine when he starts grooming her and they play and cuddle together. The only thing you'd need to watch for is like di and bob said if she does not want to interact with him and just runs and hides when he is near, that's a sign he's being too aggressive with her.

 

[flybear]

if you want to use a bathroom you need to put the resident's litterbox to a place where he or she can use it and get a second litterbox for little kitty for the bathroom. Crating a kitten won't be an ideal thing to do for long stretches of time ... Crates are great for transport and scent swapping but too small for kittens and their litterbox. You could however build a Catio out of wire shelf cubes ( use zip ties to re-enforce all corners and in-between seams ) ... we use this system for some fosters. My fosters either staying the bathroom ( where we actually have a play tree and plenty of play things ) with their own litterbox or in a catio to start with and they are ok. You absolutely need more than one litterbox and you also need to places to feed baby and adult cat. You could try an introduction with your grumpy cat ... It is going to be way easier if everyone is spayed or neutered - male cats especially turn into ... little monsters at puberty and don't tolerate other cats around unless it is a female in heat and then again ... become a nuisance ... Not all cats are hyper and scratchy ... I have 5 ... none of them attacks or scratches ... As a rule I never use my fingers or hands to wrestle with kittens ... they tend to confuse us with other cats ... best way to teach a kitten how to be gentle is ... another cat ... How to build your own catio from Cat and Caboodle. This can be used to build an indoor catio - we have a play tree in ours and a litterbox, shelves ...

 

[Mamanyt1953]

This article may help, along with the excellent advice given above!

How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat – TheCatSite Articles

And we really can't say how long it will take. Every introduction is different. It is more a matter of moving through the steps, only going on to a new step when the most reluctant cat is comfortable with where you are at the moment. Some take days, some take months. If you try to rush things, you'll go backwards!