Just introduced new kitten to my 4 year old cat, what now?

[catquestions232]

Hello guys!

I just finished introducing my new 10 week old kitten to my 4 year old cat. I got the kitten this Tuesday and have been socializing them through the bathroom door and a baby gate. Today, 5 days later, I finally took the kitten completely out and let my cat fully meet her.

All in all, it went great. There were a few hisses and a couple of soft slaps, but otherwise nothing too bad. As of now, my cat is sleeping under the Christmas tree super relaxed while the kitten sprints around the room in front of her.

My question is this....should I separate them tonight while we sleep, or allow the kitten to stay out? Should all of their interactions be supervised for a while? If so, for how long?

 

[ArtNJ]

Supervision isn't strictly speaking necessary, because adult cats don't attack kittens. It also seems like your 4 year old is not going to be seriously stressed, so it looks clear to let them work things out. There could still be some hissing for a few days, but things will shake out soon enough.

My guess is your headed for an actual friendship. Not guarrantied, but things look good so far. If you've never seen an adult cat playing with a kitten, it can look pretty flipping scary, so feel free to come back and ask questions, but its going to be fine. The kitten can be your guide -- its fine if they squeal, run or hide -- as long as they come right back in a few minutes and act like nothing happened. Basically, a lot of times the older cat makes them a bit uncomfortable in the heat of play battle, but thats as far as it goes.

 

[catquestions232]

Supervision isn't strictly speaking necessary, because adult cats don't attack kittens. It also seems like your 4 year old is not going to be seriously stressed, so it looks clear to let them work things out. There could still be some hissing for a few days, but things will shake out soon enough.

My guess is your headed for an actual friendship. Not guarrantied, but things look good so far. If you've never seen an adult cat playing with a kitten, it can look pretty flipping scary, so feel free to come back and ask questions, but its going to be fine. The kitten can be your guide -- its fine if they squeal, run or hide -- as long as they come right back in a few minutes and act like nothing happened. Basically, a lot of times the older cat makes them a bit uncomfortable in the heat of play battle, but thats as far as it goes.

That's awesome! Maybe I'll leave her out tonight then.

The kitten is being respectful, which is good and seems to know who's boss. She will run after her toys when I throw it, but when it gets too close to my older cat, she'll do a little squeak and leave it.

I haven't ever seen an adults cat play with a kitten, and I'm sure I'll be back with questions! I've been trying to be as hands off as possible. The adult cat is being gentle. The slaps have no claws, and are relatively soft. The seem to just be corrective. I'm letting her discipline the kitten as long as its gentle.

Is there anything else I should worry about? I've had more dogs in my life, and I know you have to be careful with not letting the puppy go near the older dog's food bowl as they can get aggressive. Is the same true with cats and their litter boxes/food?

 

[ArtNJ]

Not really -- if they are fine they are fine! Just make sure to read about kitten proofing your home:

Kitten Proofing Your Home: 13 Practical Tips – TheCatSite Articles

Beyond that, the scary looking playing is something that comes up frequently. If your cat was one, they are always stupid over-enthusiastic with kittens, and the kitten would be doing a ton of squealing and running, but some four year olds control themselves pretty well. My current cats were introduced at these ages (kitten and 4 y.o.), and the kitten hardly squealed at all. Often, at 12 weeks, she seemed to win the wrestling by doing crazy fancy moves! Just be aware that play biting is normal, and that if the big cat flops on its back and rakes the kitten with the back paws (which looks super scary with a kitten) that is practicing the classic cat defensive position and fine.

Oh, one last thing -- I've read kittens stomachs are too small to get by on three meals. So you may need to do some private feedings or at least adjust somehow.

 

[sivyaleah]

Is there anything else I should worry about? I've had more dogs in my life, and I know you have to be careful with not letting the puppy go near the older dog's food bowl as they can get aggressive. Is the same true with cats and their litter boxes/food?

Most of the time, in my experience, cats have no problem sharing litterboxes nor eating from each other's food dishes.

It's best to feed them on opposite ends of a room, not next to each other, if possible. They will appreciate the space while eating. In our house, our older one will sometimes eat from the younger one's dishes if she happens to like what's in it (which isn't much - they have different diets for the most part). The younger one, has never eaten from the older cats dishes. She just seems to know that it's not her eating place and won't even if she likes the food in it.

The kitten will need to eat more than the adult cat. Kittens are eating machines and should be allowed to eat as much as they want until about a year old when you can start cutting back. I was utterly shocked how much they eat, was totally unprepared for it. All my adult cats would eat about 6 ounces wet a day but the kitten was plowing through easily 10 ounces wet and, some kibble.

There should be 3 litter boxes for 2 cats so they have options. Preferably larger, open boxes so they can see if the other is coming in and avoid ambushes.

BTW, I personally would not leave the two of them together at night to roam around together. Kittens can get themselves into tons of trouble alone all night without supervision. If you have somewhere to keep the kitten overnight, a spare room, etc. that would be better for a few more weeks until you trust the kitten more and, also trust their relationship. Our older cat wasn't very fond of the kitten for a long time and even though she was never aggressive with her, she certainly was hissy and growly at times. Giving her some space to chill out without the kitten around was necessary so we kept the kitten in a "playpen" overnight in a separate room, This allowed the older one to spend time with us uninterrupted by kitten energy!

 

[Lulu&Finn]

When we got Finn he was 2 lbs. Lulu was one year old and 10 lbs. It was very scary to watch them play. I had no idea that happened, and so violently. I didn’t leave them alone for a long time. One because Lulu got herself into so much trouble when she was a baby and two, I found it hard to believe they were truly playing. But they were.

Now that Finn is bigger it’s something they do multiple times a day. They also snuggle together.
I saw someone mentioned the litter box. I have three boxes right now. They use two and they both go in each. I will be getting rid of the 3rd. They don’t use it.