Introducing new kitten to older kitten

[Meggie14]

Hi, I’m new to this site and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice please. We have a 3 month old Maine coon, lovely adorable ginger female, very loving but goes absolutely nuts a few times a day when she plays . Last week we brought home an 8 week old kitten, another female. She is adorable also. She has her own room, as does the older kitten. We have gradually tried to introduce them over the last few days. We started by allowing them to sniff each other through a very large animal carrier - it’s a large dog carrier, mesh all around - so they could safely look at each other. the older kitty hissed and growled for about 3 days but now she goes up to the carrier and wants to play. We have been doing this for a few days now and we allow them to spend a short time together - about 10 mins each day, supervised. The younger kitten is more than happy to approach the older kitten and wants to play but the older one starts by swiping which looks like play but then progresses to grabbing her and kicking at her with her back legs. It concerns me that this may be her thinking the younger kitten is a mouse and may hurt or even kill her. neither cat hisses or growls but the younger one will start to retreat and meow. I must stress that when this happens we separate them straight away and playtime stops for the day. Does anyone have any advice for me please

 

[Remi&RiRi]

I've provided lots of links that may be helpful. As you said your kitten just wants to play and cannot yet read the unfriendly signals your older cat is sending. They definitely need more time to acclimate to each other. Her grabbing the younger kitten and kicking her is what cats do to get stress out. It can either be playing or fighting but with such a small kitten she can’t defend herself yet. And with the hissing and swatting it is more likely fighting. I get what you are trying to accomplish with the crate but it may still be a little too soon to allow them to have full access to each other. Instead of using the crate you may want to try feeding them on opposite sides of the door for awhile so they can associate each other’s smell with good things like food. Then when a couple days go you crack the door and allow them to see each other for a bit each day. While you keep them in separate rooms you can let them play with the others ones toys or give them something with the others scent. The introduction process can be very tedious and may go on for a month or so but if it can help the cats mellow out with each other its always worth a try. I found that you really have to stick with it if you want good results. We had to reintroduce our cats multiple times. Their were still a couple of spats once we allowed them to have free roam of the house but they occurred less and less with time. Best of luck
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction – TheCatSite Articles
New Cat & resident cat not getting along
Suggestions for acclimating new kitty
Help me with a successful introduction please!

 

[catsknowme]

Welcome to TCS! It sounds as if your older MC is bored. MCs are an energetic, VERY intelligent working breed - sometimes called the Border Collies of the cat world.
I used retired fishing poles and lunge whips (for horses) to use as extension wands for wand toys. My MC (R.I.P.) needed numerous sessions of across the room dashes and aerial leaps (easily over 5 ft into the air). Laser pointers also helped to use up that energy. Additionally, I harness trained him (he was very reluctant to wear it at first but responded well to treats). He also needed lots of mental stimulation so I put a medium dog crate (at his peak, he was 25#, long & lean, very muscular) onto a baby buggy frame and would wheel him to the city park and take him for strolls in his harness & to meet up with kids. He loved kids, especially babies & toddlers, but my grandkids didn't get to visit nearly often enough.

 

[Meggie14]

I've provided lots of links that may be helpful. As you said your kitten just wants to play and cannot yet read the unfriendly signals your older cat is sending. They definitely need more time to acclimate to each other. Her grabbing the younger kitten and kicking her is what cats do to get stress out. It can either be playing or fighting but with such a small kitten she can’t defend herself yet. And with the hissing and swatting it is more likely fighting. I get what you are trying to accomplish with the crate but it may still be a little too soon to allow them to have full access to each other. Instead of using the crate you may want to try feeding them on opposite sides of the door for awhile so they can associate each other’s smell with good things like food. Then when a couple days go you crack the door and allow them to see each other for a bit each day. While you keep them in separate rooms you can let them play with the others ones toys or give them something with the others scent. The introduction process can be very tedious and may go on for a month or so but if it can help the cats mellow out with each other its always worth a try. I found that you really have to stick with it if you want good results. We had to reintroduce our cats multiple times. Their were still a couple of spats once we allowed them to have free roam of the house but they occurred less and less with time. Best of luck
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction – TheCatSite Articles
New Cat & resident cat not getting along
Suggestions for acclimating new kitty
Help me with a successful introduction please!

Thank you very much, I will try everything you mentioned. My older kitten doesn’t hiss or growl anymore but when she sees the other one she darts straight for her and swipes and grabs her.

 

[Meggie14]

Welcome to TCS! It sounds as if your older MC is bored. MCs are an energetic, VERY intelligent working breed - sometimes called the Border Collies of the cat world.
I used retired fishing poles and lunge whips (for horses) to use as extension wands for wand toys. My MC (R.I.P.) needed numerous sessions of across the room dashes and aerial leaps (easily over 5 ft into the air). Laser pointers also helped to use up that energy. Additionally, I harness trained him (he was very reluctant to wear it at first but responded well to treats). He also needed lots of mental stimulation so I put a medium dog crate (at his peak, he was 25#, long & lean, very muscular) onto a baby buggy frame and would wheel him to the city park and take him for strolls in his harness & to meet up with kids. He loved kids, especially babies & toddlers, but my grandkids didn't get to visit nearly often enough.

Hi, yes she is very energetic and gets lots of play. My son is using a clicker to train her to fetch which is working well also. We’ve tried the harness but she goes absolutely crazy when we try to put her in it. We’ve tried doing it with two of us but she fights herself out.

 

[catsknowme]

Training and fetch are excellent! I suggest the teaser because the toy on the end needs to imitate live prey. If you aren't in an area where "nature takes her course" frequently, it might be useful to watch the hunting portions of nature videos. Basically, it's the unpredictability that really lets a cat use those skills of observation and prediction.