Cat introduction

[Sarafina126]

Noodles is a 4 year old cat and her previous companion (older cat) passed over the summer. They got along really well and I could tell Noodles missed having another cat while I was at work.

I just got a five month old kitten (Nicolas) from a rescue Friday night. All has been going well, Noodles can hiss sometimes through the door of Nicolas' room but that is to be expected. I planned to keep them separated and slowly introduce but Nicolas slipped through my feet this morning and Noodles immediately hissed, growled, and chased Nicolas around the living room. She also hissed at me when I picked Nicolas up from under the coffee table.

He is back in his room now and both seem calm. I am leaving with him for 2 nights for Christmas and then restarting the process when we come back home.

I know introducing cats can be tricky but should I be worried? Noodles is normally a very calm and sweet cat. With the older cat she would play a little too hard with her but was never aggressive. Nicolas seems to have a similar personality to hers when Noodles was a kitten.

Any advice would be great.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Accidental 'meetings' happen. The best thing to do is to simply move forward with the introductions as planned - and make every effort you can to prevent Nicholas from getting out of his room until you - and the cats - are ready to move to that step. The less accidental encounters they have, the better.

 

[Aileen666]

Noodles is a 4 year old cat and her previous companion (older cat) passed over the summer. They got along really well and I could tell Noodles missed having another cat while I was at work.

I just got a five month old kitten (Nicolas) from a rescue Friday night. All has been going well, Noodles can hiss sometimes through the door of Nicolas' room but that is to be expected. I planned to keep them separated and slowly introduce but Nicolas slipped through my feet this morning and Noodles immediately hissed, growled, and chased Nicolas around the living room. She also hissed at me when I picked Nicolas up from under the coffee table.

He is back in his room now and both seem calm. I am leaving with him for 2 nights for Christmas and then restarting the process when we come back home.

I know introducing cats can be tricky but should I be worried? Noodles is normally a very calm and sweet cat. With the older cat she would play a little too hard with her but was never aggressive. Nicolas seems to have a similar personality to hers when Noodles was a kitten.

Any advice would be great.

I thought introducing cats was the most stressful thing ever and I will never try that again. Ever. My boy cat passed over a year ago leaving my 14 year old ( at the time ) by herself. I waited a year and went to APL 3 times before I settled on a cat I thought might be perfect. I watched all of those Jackson Galaxy videos and read online and watched other videos preparing . I did the blanket swap , room swap , put the screen up etc. well the new day kept fighting my cat so I took him back to the APL. I will never do that again. However , both of ny sisters just throw new cats in the mix and let them fight it out and eventually ( 6-7 months later they get along or tolerate each other ). I still have one cat but she will just stay lonely lol. I will never do that again

 

[ArtNJ]

A 4 year old won't actually hurt a kitten. Its better when they are a bit aggressive rather than oddly afraid.

Rarely, the older adult will be so vigorous with swats that you wonder if its really really true that they won't hurt the kitten. But even chasing and swats means "I want you gone" rather than "I'm going to kill you". So its not that bad, and they can get over it.

But a longer intro process would be a good idea. You don't really want to go a month or more though, because its very desirable for the kitten to still be perceived as a kitten. That eliminates actual fights with intent to injure, so you can let things play out a bit more. So you give them a week or two, then see how they can do together.