Introduction to a new kitten

[Aloha]

Hi,
My 5yo female cat has always been fearfully, shy and not very active. I have adopted a 14weeks old make kitten 4 weeks ago.
For the first 2 weeks, he had his own room and each cat only new of each other from smell.
My older cat was curious and shy but not aggressive,her behavior showed no sign of stress.

2 weeks ago I have let the kitten free in 1 part of the apartment while the older had the other side, they can see each other through a glass door.

Since, the older cat is following me around, wants to go where the kitten is.

She is hissing and aggressive through the door, wants to come close to him as long as I hold him and will suddenly grawl.
Any advice?

 

[ArtNJ]

Thats not necessarily bad. Hissing/growling + curiosity is like "I'm watching you, dont try anything!" It can fade relatively quickly and even turn to friendship. In fact, my last intro had this, and this phase only lasted 2-3 days.

Personally, I'd trial face to face. Fighting is impossible as adults do not attack kittens with intent to injure. At most they will do some "get away from me" swats. So there isn't a lot of risk to seeing how it goes. If you get more than a swat or two, you can backtrack with no harm done.

If the trial shows that the older cat has cautious curiosity, following the kitten and hissing/growling, but not doing anything physical, thats fine, I'd let them work it out. Your more likely to have a problem if the kitten is totally fearless and tries to play, ignoring the hissing and growling. That can really stress some cats out.

Anyway, thats my take on it. Some would say go longer with the glass door. But your not getting hissing through the glass door, your getting hissing and growling when actually displaying the kitten, which is basically face to face. And that is normal. Face to face is always a step up, and no matter what you do, it can produce hissing and growling. So its not at all clear that the glass door can do any more work.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Take a peek at this article. How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat [A Guide] - TheCatSite

Actually, you are not doing badly, considering that you have a shy cat, who will be slower making friends, and a female. They can be a bit territorial. Even after neutering, their instincts are to protect their territory from interlopers so that future kittens will be safe. The UPSIDE is that this IS a "future kitten," so she'll certainly get over it all and accept the newcomer with just a bit of time and patience.

And yeah, exactly what A ArtNJ said!

 

[Aloha]

The older cat is more aggressive through the door than face to face. She would hiss and attack from underneath the door trying to catch his legs.
But she doesn't do that face to face.
The kitten isn't showing any sign of fear and is very playful and wants to meet her.
I once let the kitten roam free in the living room with my oldest on the balcony,looking at him and she jumped and went straight to him

 

[ArtNJ]

The older cat is more aggressive through the door than face to face. She would hiss and attack from underneath the door trying to catch his legs.
But she doesn't do that face to face.
The kitten isn't showing any sign of fear and is very playful and wants to meet her.
I once let the kitten roam free in the living room with my oldest on the balcony,looking at him and she jumped and went straight to him

Yeah, most kittens do that. Not likely to change, unfortunately, and it does make things a bit harder. Normal though!

If the older cat is still that bothered through the glass door then another week or two may make sense. I'd stop doing the hold the kitten thing near the older cat though. When your ready for face to face, you should give it a full go, let them be together until/unless something goes meaningfully wrong.

The only real deadline is that you don't want to run out of kitten time and have the kitten be perceived as an adult, which makes things harder. But a couple of weeks to see if hissing/growling through the glass stops won't hurt anything.

 

[danteshuman]

I might try a dab of pure vanilla extract on the back of each cat’s neck. Put a litter box in the living room do each cat can mark the same box. Switch cat beds or scratchers. Basically help them smell more alike.

I might try one face to face meeting with her in a cat tree. See what happens. Hissing & growling is fine. The clawless bap on the kitten’s head is good for ghe kitten, it teaches them manners. If it is not very aggressive then let them interact with close supervision for an hour or two every day (distract the kitten with wand toys.) If it is bad then slow the introductions down. Cats are gentle with kittens and accept them a lot more. You have 1 more month of kitten grace which is why I would try the face to face. If you are nervous get a large 4 foot by 3-4 foot piece of cardboard. If a unlikely fight breaks out, separate with cardboard. If they do the death glare separate with cardboard & remove 1 cat.

Either way I would do the feeding exercise with the closed door between them, every day. Jackson Galaxy has a YouTube channel thst tells you how to do it.

 

[Cf24248]

Personally, I'd trial face to face. Fighting is impossible as adults do not attack kittens with intent to injure. At most they will do some "get away from me" swats. So there isn't a lot of risk to seeing how it goes. If you get more than a swat or two, you can backtrack with no harm done.

This is an unsafe take. It's NOT impossible. It's unlikely, yes, but as someone who's watched an adult cat attack a kitten to the point of blood and stitches over territory in a house (without any provocation, this was a kitten the adult cat knew and said adult cat was subsequently checked and cleared of health issues), adults absolutely can and will attack with intent to injure - even if it's not frequent. It's still something to be aware of when doing introductions, being lax and thinking it can't happen is how cats get hurt.

 

[Kris107]

The adult cat seems curious which is good. Don't rush it. I agree that to some degree, the adult cat will teach the kitten some boundaries. Kittens are wild but cat will say when it is unappreciated or out of hand. Must be 100% supervised.

 

[danteshuman]

That was why I recommended the cardboard divider in case of a fight or a prefight stare off. That state is cat speak for “I’m going to kick your a**” So if a stare down starts, block the line of sight…. then remove one cat.

 

[Alldara]

The older cat is more aggressive through the door than face to face. She would hiss and attack from underneath the door trying to catch his legs.
But she doesn't do that face to face.
The kitten isn't showing any sign of fear and is very playful and wants to meet her.
I once let the kitten roam free in the living room with my oldest on the balcony,looking at him and she jumped and went straight to him

Leg-catching can be play...she can want to play but be too fearful to play which can cause the hissing.

How was the rest of her body language? Can you post a video of it?