Introducing tiny 8 week old to my 9 month old

Alcraaig

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Hello! I have a playful 9 month old cat. We decided to get a second kitty (we watched our home camera when we left for a couple days and it was depressing). I have introduced cats to one another many times but never this young. I didn’t think that it would be an issue since my 9 month old is still pretty young and playful. I did the couple days with closed doors, sniffing blankets, and shared mealtimes with the two. Recently we have been introducing the cats to one another in the sense that I hold the kitten while the 9 month old pouts around the room. My 9 month old is hissing and growling at this tiny little thing and I don’t know what I should do. Normally, I would let them sniff each other out...but I’m afraid that my 9 month old will try to attack and hurt my 8 week old who is defenseless. Any ideas on how to tackle this problem? Should I just wait it out and hope it gets better? Or should I actually let my 9 month old come up to the kitty and intervene if it gets really bad. I do have the temporary nail caps on my 9 month old for safe measures.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi! Your tiny one needs to be contained and protected until it has a little more growth and can handle any sort of rough play, but even then you'll want to keep an eye on things so your older kitty doesn't see the baby as a toy. It won't be long, they grow fast :)!
 

ArtNJ

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The 9 month old is extremely unlikely to actually attack. Some sort of biological hard wiring prevents attacks on true kittens. What you are hearing is protest/stress noises, which are somehow not covered by the biological hard wiring. Its all very foreign to us humans, but that is the way it is.

Furballsmom Furballsmom is correct though, that once they do start playing, the 9 month old might be too rough for that age. I mean, generally we tell first timers they don't actually need to worry and the play only looks way too rough, but an 8 week old kitten is massively smaller than a 12 week old. So, at least sometimes, the young adults do play rough enough that it scares even us and we recommend waiting a few weeks.

You could watch them together and see how it goes once the 9 month old calms down, understanding that once play starts, you will still need to watch closely and assess if it is too much. Or you could wait a couple of weeks, which might calm the 9 month old down some as well, and get the kitten big enough that you don't need to worry at all once they start playing.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi! I agree to wait until the kitten is older to do a 'full on exposure' of each one to the other. In the meantime, if your 9 mo is the kind of cat who likes attention/petting/etc. there is a possibility that some of the hissing/growling comes from him/her being a bit jealous of the attention you are giving to the kitten in front of him/her. So, if that is the case, make sure you dote on your 9 mo before and after holding and cuddling the kitten. You might even do the opposite, and cuddle your 9mo while s/he watches the kitten.
 

danteshuman

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Cats are extremely forgiving with kittens! They recognize that they are babies!

I did the ‘my precious’ with the kittens both times. Meaning I let the kitten wander around and play but I also kept the kitten (or the adult cat) within arm’s reach at all times. I also lived on the adult cats and doted on them. However unless you are in arms reach, I would keep the kitten locked in a kitten safe room. ⭐With the 3 minions/kittens I lived in the living room for a month because I didn’t have a kitten safe room & I knew displacing my 2 cats from my room would cause them to much stress. It worked! The wee babies got locked in a bunny cage or a puppy pen with a blanket clipped on top when I slept.
 

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Alcraaig

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Cats are extremely forgiving with kittens! They recognize that they are babies!

I did the ‘my precious’ with the kittens both times. Meaning I let the kitten wander around and play but I also kept the kitten (or the adult cat) within arm’s reach at all times. I also lived on the adult cats and doted on them. However unless you are in arms reach, I would keep the kitten locked in a kitten safe room. ⭐With the 3 minions/kittens I lived in the living room for a month because I didn’t have a kitten safe room & I knew displacing my 2 cats from my room would cause them to much stress. It worked! The wee babies got locked in a bunny cage or a puppy pen with a blanket clipped on top when I slept.
Look at those little babies!
 
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