Hello! New and needing answers...

[charlcoop]

I'm new to this site, but am looking for answers.

I have a 5mnth year old female kitten called Rita. She's very well behaved, knows her name and will come when called, has been spayed and had all relevant injections and is now enjoying life outside the house (although she is predominantly a house cat, loves people etc..)

When I first went to buy her and pick her up, I went with my boyfriends sister and we each took home a female kitten (biological siblings).

Mine was very playful from the start and hers looked a bit wary. The other cat hasn't had any injections, hasn't been spayed and has stayed in my friends house since she took her home. By the looks of things, although she is well looked after she hasn't been properly socialised.

My friend can no longer care for the cat, so has asked my boyfriend and I to take her.

As we already have Rita, we are worried about what her reaction will be to the new cat (although they are biological sisters, I've read that they won't remember eachother).

Does anyone think that with a bit of time and patience, after getting the 'new' kitten vaccinated and spayed, that we would be able to properly socialise her and train her at 6 months?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[freyaandzelda]

I don't think you'll have much of a problem. She's still pretty young, and the fact that they're the same age will make things easier not only for them, but for you as well. They'll probably be playing together in no time. Have you researched on proper introductions? You'll need to keep the new cat confined to her own room, at least for a little while. Just take it slow, which it sounds like you already know to do. My cat, Freya, although she loved people and dogs she wasn't too keen on other cats. The first meeting between her and a friends cat was disastrous. But when I found Zelda, it took only a week before Freya took over as a surrogate mother and playmate. They're the best of friends now, and it's barely been two months since I found Zelda.

 

[charlcoop]

Thankyou, yes I've read up on introductions.. The only thing is that I live in an open plan annexe.. I've got plenty of land and no neighbours but I won't be able to keep the new cat in it's own room as I pretty much live in one big room.

 

[freyaandzelda]

Is there a friends house you could use for introductions, as neutral territory? I live in a very small house myself. If you stand in the middle of the house you can look inside every room, and only the bedroom and bathroom have doors. I had to keep Zelda in the bathroom a lot that first week when I couldn't keep an eye on both of them. I kept and still have a litterbox, scratching post, and food bowls in there for them. The food bowls are mostly in there so I can keep them separate from the dogs. I don't want there to be any feeding misunderstandings, he gets a little nippy over food.

 

[catpack]

I suggest purchasing a large dog crate to set the new kitty up in. This will work well, especially since it sounds as if she needs some socializing anyway.

You will also want to keep the new kitty indoors only for at least 4 weeks, longer if she has not bonded with you. This will give her time to realize where her new home is. If she truly is a scaredy cat, it may be better to keep her strictly indoors to keep her from running off or being scared off.

I can come back later and post more about confining kitty in a crate.

 

[charlcoop]

okay, yeah my dad has a large dog crate I could use thankyou!

 

[kntrygrl256]

Welcome to TCS @charlcoop. I have introduced cats that have previously been together a time or two and although there is the initial "getting to know you, again" time I didn't have too many problems. It will take a little time for them to remember the scent of the other but the main thing is to make sure you get their scents on each other. Once the new kitten has been spayed and vaccinated she will be less likely to be as scared and timid.

It will be easier to socialize her since your resident kitten is so sweet and loving. It will show her that she will be safe with her new family, plus give her someone her own age to play with.

 

[NewYork1303]

The dog crate method works really well. That's what we used with our two cats. I bet it'll work out well since they are the same age and are siblings. They might not recognize each other, but they'll probably be a good match. 

 

[evamilly]

How did the introductions go?