So my SO and I brought home a kitten yesterday (Augustus) and my 4 year old female Bengal/savannah mix didn’t take it well.
sorry for this long post I’m just really nervous...
We had been gone for 3 days visiting family and Sarabi always is SO happy to see us. She is very affectionate towards us and loves attention. We came home yesterday and while my friend held the kitten in a carrier, we loved on Sarabi and let her smell Augustus on us. my friend set down the carrier so Sarabi could see him and she freaked out: hissed, growled like a wild animal and then skunk around until she could escape to the bedroom.
She refuses to come out from under the bed now. She hasn’t had water since we came home and won’t eat. She did sleep in bed with us last night but she hisses at the smell of the kitten — who sleeps by himself shut in the kitten proof bathroom. I don’t know if she left the bedroom last night, we left the door open so she could go out into the living room and get used to his scent without confrontation
Today we got up and loved on her even though she was hissing, she really wanted to be pet. The kitten heard us get up and started meowing frantically in the bathroom so we got up to go let him out. He was hand raised so he really thrives on human attention and affection and I feel awful leaving him in the bathroom all night.
As soon as Sarabi heard the bathroom open and the kitten whining, she growled and went back under the bed. She has a litter box in the bedroom that’s been in there for 2 weeks in preparation for the kittens arrival. I also added hot water to her dry food and some wet food cause I’m worried about her water intake and I’m hoping the smell will tempt her. I also put her fountain in there to hopefully encourage her to drink more. I shut the bedroom door and I go in every so often to see her and try to coax her out but she isn’t having it.
Later today I’m going to Petco to get a couple feliway diffusers in hopes that will help. I feel like her coming out and sleeping with us was a good sign, even though she hissed and growled when we pet her, she also headbutts into our hand and has her tail up.
She is in the bedroom now. I closed the door and haven’t let the kitten in there at all. I decided to make that her safe space to encourage her to come out.
Am I doing things right? Did I make a mistake by getting a kitten? She grew up with 2 cats and a dog before we got her, but has been an only cat for 3 years. I thought she would like having a playmate as she’s pretty active....
sorry for this long post I’m just really nervous...
We had been gone for 3 days visiting family and Sarabi always is SO happy to see us. She is very affectionate towards us and loves attention. We came home yesterday and while my friend held the kitten in a carrier, we loved on Sarabi and let her smell Augustus on us. my friend set down the carrier so Sarabi could see him and she freaked out: hissed, growled like a wild animal and then skunk around until she could escape to the bedroom.
She refuses to come out from under the bed now. She hasn’t had water since we came home and won’t eat. She did sleep in bed with us last night but she hisses at the smell of the kitten — who sleeps by himself shut in the kitten proof bathroom. I don’t know if she left the bedroom last night, we left the door open so she could go out into the living room and get used to his scent without confrontation
Today we got up and loved on her even though she was hissing, she really wanted to be pet. The kitten heard us get up and started meowing frantically in the bathroom so we got up to go let him out. He was hand raised so he really thrives on human attention and affection and I feel awful leaving him in the bathroom all night.
As soon as Sarabi heard the bathroom open and the kitten whining, she growled and went back under the bed. She has a litter box in the bedroom that’s been in there for 2 weeks in preparation for the kittens arrival. I also added hot water to her dry food and some wet food cause I’m worried about her water intake and I’m hoping the smell will tempt her. I also put her fountain in there to hopefully encourage her to drink more. I shut the bedroom door and I go in every so often to see her and try to coax her out but she isn’t having it.
Later today I’m going to Petco to get a couple feliway diffusers in hopes that will help. I feel like her coming out and sleeping with us was a good sign, even though she hissed and growled when we pet her, she also headbutts into our hand and has her tail up.
She is in the bedroom now. I closed the door and haven’t let the kitten in there at all. I decided to make that her safe space to encourage her to come out.
Am I doing things right? Did I make a mistake by getting a kitten? She grew up with 2 cats and a dog before we got her, but has been an only cat for 3 years. I thought she would like having a playmate as she’s pretty active....