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- Apr 2, 2014
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So just short of two weeks ago I fished a 6 week old kitten, Jiji out of the pool that we are hoping to keep.
We already have a 7 year old cat, Luna. Luna grew up with two sibling tom cats, who passed from old age roughly 1.5 and 2 years ago so she's been the only cat for a bit.
As soon as I got Jiji out of the pool I let Luna see her, kind of hoping that Luna's momma cat instincts would kick in. Luna took a few sniffs and hissed so Jiji was placed in a (very small) kitten safe room.
They smelled each other under the door for a few days and when Luna seemed interested enough, Jiji got a chance to explore the house. Since the first introduction, if the kitten does something she doesn't like Luna will hiss or claw free smack and the Jiji backs off.
We have continued with daily time together. For the most part the kitten just runs and plays and Luna monitors from a distance. They generally come together to boop noses maybe 3-8 times each time Jiji is out and Jiji generally gets 2-5 corrections from Luna.
Wednesday Jiji got a clean bill of health from the vet. The vet also encouraged getting Luna and Jiji together as quickly as possible since Jiji is missing out on some vital socialization not being will her mom.
Luna has a room all to herself that she gets locked in when no humans are home. It houses her food and water and litter box as well as cat trees and windows to look out etc etc. It's closed off by a baby gate when we are home to keep the dogs out of Luna's litter box and food but Luna can jump over it to go in and out.
My family is off for the 4th so we have 3 days in a row we are all home. I would like to move Jiji into Luna's room, both because it has more space for her to run and because the end goal is for Luna and Jiji to share the room when the family is out. Jiji has visited the room every day this week, Luna often watching, without issue.
Yesterday and today I closed the door so they were locked in there together (I stayed with them to supervise). Luna just laid on the floor and the kitten bounced around like a crazy ball of fluff. A few times Jiji would go after Luna's tail and Luna would hiss but not move or anything. Today Luna groomed Jiji! But then Jiji got too forward and Luna gave her a swat.
I am planning to move the kitten's food and litter box in there, as well as all her toys. I am covering the gate with plexiglass so the kitten can't slip through the bars but Luna can still jump out. There is a lot of vertical space for Luna that Jiji can't reach.
My question is, am I moving too quickly? Based on Luna's reactions does it seem like they are getting it figured out? Also, while they are getting used to sharing a room this weekend should I move Luna's food elsewhere or up out of Jiji's reach. Jiji still only eats wet food and Luna has dry so Jiji has sniffed the food a few times but not eaten any of it.
For this weekend Luna will not be locked up at all, we will be home the whole time. She can jump the gate to go in and out but the kitten will stay in the room most of time. Then Tuesday and Wednesday Luna would need locked up maybe an hour or two. Thursday it would be for eight hours. It will be a nice slow build up.
Open to ideas and suggestions!
We already have a 7 year old cat, Luna. Luna grew up with two sibling tom cats, who passed from old age roughly 1.5 and 2 years ago so she's been the only cat for a bit.
As soon as I got Jiji out of the pool I let Luna see her, kind of hoping that Luna's momma cat instincts would kick in. Luna took a few sniffs and hissed so Jiji was placed in a (very small) kitten safe room.
They smelled each other under the door for a few days and when Luna seemed interested enough, Jiji got a chance to explore the house. Since the first introduction, if the kitten does something she doesn't like Luna will hiss or claw free smack and the Jiji backs off.
We have continued with daily time together. For the most part the kitten just runs and plays and Luna monitors from a distance. They generally come together to boop noses maybe 3-8 times each time Jiji is out and Jiji generally gets 2-5 corrections from Luna.
Wednesday Jiji got a clean bill of health from the vet. The vet also encouraged getting Luna and Jiji together as quickly as possible since Jiji is missing out on some vital socialization not being will her mom.
Luna has a room all to herself that she gets locked in when no humans are home. It houses her food and water and litter box as well as cat trees and windows to look out etc etc. It's closed off by a baby gate when we are home to keep the dogs out of Luna's litter box and food but Luna can jump over it to go in and out.
My family is off for the 4th so we have 3 days in a row we are all home. I would like to move Jiji into Luna's room, both because it has more space for her to run and because the end goal is for Luna and Jiji to share the room when the family is out. Jiji has visited the room every day this week, Luna often watching, without issue.
Yesterday and today I closed the door so they were locked in there together (I stayed with them to supervise). Luna just laid on the floor and the kitten bounced around like a crazy ball of fluff. A few times Jiji would go after Luna's tail and Luna would hiss but not move or anything. Today Luna groomed Jiji! But then Jiji got too forward and Luna gave her a swat.
I am planning to move the kitten's food and litter box in there, as well as all her toys. I am covering the gate with plexiglass so the kitten can't slip through the bars but Luna can still jump out. There is a lot of vertical space for Luna that Jiji can't reach.
My question is, am I moving too quickly? Based on Luna's reactions does it seem like they are getting it figured out? Also, while they are getting used to sharing a room this weekend should I move Luna's food elsewhere or up out of Jiji's reach. Jiji still only eats wet food and Luna has dry so Jiji has sniffed the food a few times but not eaten any of it.
For this weekend Luna will not be locked up at all, we will be home the whole time. She can jump the gate to go in and out but the kitten will stay in the room most of time. Then Tuesday and Wednesday Luna would need locked up maybe an hour or two. Thursday it would be for eight hours. It will be a nice slow build up.
Open to ideas and suggestions!