Cat stressed after introduction of new kitten

[ktleigh92]

I have a 14 month old female cat and we recently introduced her to our new addition a 3 month old male kitten.

We only got him 3 days ago but the atmosphere is tense and I inevitably go to bed crying at the mistake I have made. Whenever our resident cat sees the new kitten she hisses and growls. On occasion she will lunge forward at him but there has been no physical contact yet.

We are trying to shower our resident cat with love and affection but she is hiSsing and growling at us also as well as biting and batting. She is just on a very short fuse. It is not unknown for our resident cat to be aggressive towards us when she is overstimulated but it is rare that she will hiss and she has never growled.

Our new kitten is so loving and sweet and craves all of our attention. He wails when left alone so my partner and I are sitting in separate rooms taking turns at loving each of them.

I am getting extremely worried as my older cat is very off her food when she has always eaten like clockwork and polished everything off. She eats Applaws wet food regularly along with a few treats from us but she is now refusing all additional treats and only picking at her food.

We already have a feliway diffuser for our resident cat and have a feliway friends diffuser on the way to help but I am at a loss as to what to do. I think my new sweet boy may have to be rehomed but I'm not sure if I am being too hasty.

Any advice at all would be helpful.

 

[Primula]

You should really have kept them separate for about a week to get used to each's smells but without contact. Keep them separated at night at least. Do not let the kitten sleep with you no matter how much he cries. Rub the scent of them on each other especially around the mouth. Feed the older one treats when kitten is around so she associates him with good things. Be patient - it will work out in time. And keep calm & don't cry. Your female cat is picking up on the tension & blaming the kitten.

 

[kittens mom]

I suggest you go find the My Cat From Hell series and watch them.

You are not alone. The  first night Mercy was home Mook tried to eat through the ceiling in the back bedroom. She then crawled under the covers and hissed and growled at me. And Mercy was crated. We had to cover the crate so Mook could not see her. After a few days she got used to the thing in the crate. And then used to the thing in the crate being the thing on the floor.

We also have 9 week old kittens we've been raising and just now they are out of the nursery and loose in part of the house. Tonight Mook was just fine with one of them sniffing her. I really suggest you watch the MCFH shows.

You'll survive and for the record the first night Mercy was home I was sure I was going to have to rehome her. Just go easy on yourself.

 

[ktleigh92]

Thank you for your advice.

Our older cat does not like cat treats like dreamies etc.. she is very fussy! The only treat she will eat is an Applaws Tuna Steak but she is refusing that too.

We have kept them separate until yesterday But we have French doors and they could see each other through them. Our older cat has her own room where she can escape him where there are no scents of him.

We had a tiny bit of progress last night when our resident cat came into his room and walked around and sniffed. She was very curious. There was still hiSsing and growling but no fighting. This morning she has come in and eaten all of her breakfast so I am feeling a bit brighter which as you said is hopefully helping them to feel less tense.

Thanks again.

 

[Primula]

Thank you for your advice.

Our older cat does not like cat treats like dreamies etc.. she is very fussy! The only treat she will eat is an Applaws Tuna Steak but she is refusing that too.

We have kept them separate until yesterday But we have French doors and they could see each other through them. Our older cat has her own room where she can escape him where there are no scents of him.

We had a tiny bit of progress last night when our resident cat came into his room and walked around and sniffed. She was very curious. There was still hiSsing and growling but no fighting. This morning she has come in and eaten all of her breakfast so I am feeling a bit brighter which as you said is hopefully helping them to feel less tense.

Thanks again.

Sounds very good.

 

[krystalp]

Thanks for posting. I have a somewhat similar situation. My resident cat is an 8 month old male (James)  and I just adopted a 1 year old male (Tommy).  I kept them separate and they didn't  see each other at all for 2 days...did the scent swapping, room swapping, tried getting them to eat by the door and all was going well at first. The new cat Tommy is right at home and ready to play, but my resident cat James is not happy, some of the growling and the hissing has slowed but they have had a few supervised interactions and it does sometimes end with Tommy chasing James. I think he's just playing but James is VERY scared and hisses so then I separate them again, but they're both crying and scratching the door. 

I realize this will take a while and its only been 5 days but suddenly my resident cats appetite has majorly decreased, which I attribute to stress, but he started vomiting too and he has NEVER vomited before. Has anyone ever experienced a cat vomiting due to stress? If It continues I will of course be bringing him to the vet.