Introducing A New Kitten

[jcuesta]

Hi All,

This may sound like a silly thread but I am asking about how to introduce a new kitten to resident cats? I have a 9 year old and 4 year old and my fiance and I recently adopted a four month old kitten from the shelter.

She currently is in a room of her own but we made the mistake of letting the cats see her when we brought her home. It started with all of them being under the same bed with a hissing match for about an hour followed by about two hours of them being alone under there (we watched of course).

Since that first night, my kitten has had her own room and we let her out occasionally to be around each of the other cats receiving treats and some meals. There has been no actual fighting only hissing and one swat from the resident kitty to the kitten when they all got close together when receiving treats.

Since then, my kitten has been in her room and will not be out unless I or my fiance is there. The other two resident cats are occasionally hissing at each other and I am worried they won't get a long and I will have to re-home the kitten my fiance and I fell in love with. I may be worrying prematurely but any advice would help. I know I started this whole process wrong but I hope I can start all over again?

Thanks.

 

[Wsjkcj1]

At this point you just have to wait. Leave the door open for the kitten to come and go from the room on its own. It will come out more and more as it becomes more comfortable.

 

[Jazhole1]

I dont have three cats but when I introduced my kitten to my cat, I also made the mistake just placing them in the same room forgetting cats are picky.

I kept my kitten in the bathroom with toys, litter box, food and water. I would go in there to hang out with him and leave when he slept. Nala didn't like the kitten at all. After about a week, I swapped their toys and food bowls so they can get used to the other scents. Then, after that I would put nala in a separate room and let the kitten move around the apartment for a few hours. After a week of that I let them see each other, the first day there were some swatting and hissing but after that, they were playing and grooming each other

 

[Jazhole1]

Swatting and hissing will happen when they meet, its the cat showing the kitten they are the top cat. Just keep a close eye on them.