- Joined
- Jul 2, 2015
- Messages
- 73
- Purraise
- 7
Hello! I'm a new kitten mama. I've always wanted a cat but hadn't been able to because of allergies. But a few months ago, I found a tiny stray kitten all by itself outdoors, and decided to take her in. I had no idea about kittens or cats at the time. My allergies acted up a little bit, but I'm not affected by my kitty at all now, for which I'm grateful It turned out that TT was around 5 weeks old when I found her, and she's 13 weeks old now. I took her to the vet right away and she seemed in good health; treated for worms, fleas. It turned out she had an intestinal parasite, and then a URI, so it had been a couple of weeks of meds for these different conditions. She hasn't been spayed yet because she has been on meds, and she's scheduled for one in 2 weeks.
TT has a lot of play-aggression; gnawing on my hands and feet when she's in the mood for play. And while I'm at home for frequently now, I won't be in the coming months. So, I decided to adopted another kitten similar in age, in hopes that TT will have a kitty companion and correct her play-aggression issue a bit. I adopted CC around 4 days ago. I thought of adopting a male kitten because I've read that male/female pairings go over well better, but at the adoption center, I felt that CC's personality, female kitten at 9 weeks old, would be better for TT's temperament. (Well, I had found a male kitten that I thought would match TT's mellow yet somewhat skittish temperament, but I was advised that he's still a bit feral and needs more socializing.)
TT was separated from her littermates while very young, and she hasn't interacted with another cat since I've had her. She's very sweet and careful, she takes her time getting used to situations. She loves shaded hidden areas and has various hiding places that she likes to lounge on. She doesn't actively meow except for food in the mornings, or whenever I'm in the kitchen and she's hungry. She doesn't hiss or bite when she's agitated but she will grumble/growl. I can't pick her up for more than a minute or two before she wants to be let down, but I'm allowed to pet her for a good amount of time while she sleeps with her body against mine when I'm sitting the couch. She loves playing with interactive fishing pole toys and isn't too engaged with playing by herself. When she's in play mode and I want to pet her, she immediately starts to try to gnaw on my hands, or I could be petting her and she turns over on her back so that she can try to gnaw on my fingers while kicking it with her back legs; she's sooo sweet when she's sleeping, but TT in play mode is me trying to distance my hands from her with a toy, and her reaching for my hands anyway. She runs up to me at the door whenever I come home and call her name.
CC was living in the same large cage with her two other litter mates; they'd sleep squished together in a hammock. She has already been spayed, she was spay three days before I adopted her. She's very well socialized, fearless, hammy, and loves being petted and cuddled with, and twists and turns over onto her back because she loves getting her belly rubbed. She plays very well by herself with mice toys and balls. I've isolated her in the bathroom for now so I'm still getting to know her.
TT and CC have already seen each other; it was a mistake on my part. I had intended to do scent introductions first and then eventually have them take a look at each other, but on that first night, when I was taking CC into the bathroom and moving things around, TT and CC caught sight of each other. TT reacted with startled wide eyes but didn't hiss and growl until CC started approaching her to play (her tail straight up in the air). CC, because she's such a ham, just wants to play with TT; I think she misses having companions around her as she had with her littermates. CC ran around the place like it was no big deal, whereas, when TT was initially getting acclimated, she was so careful and tentative about exploring her new digs. TT wasn't having it, and she followed/chased(?) CC around before I could separate them. Since then, I've swapped their scents, and also, have site-swapped a few times by placing TT in CC's safe zone/bathroom and CC in the living room (I'm with CC for 15 min, TT for 15, for a total of 30 min of site swapping a day).
Both TT and CC eat right by the door. TT has been reluctant, and while she does eat right by the door, she only eats half of her food; she'll eat from my hand literally an inch away from her food bowl, but she won't eat from her food bowl after a couple of bites. CC doesn't care, she eats wherever and whenever she's hungry; she sometimes purrs and rubs her body against the door because she can't wait to play with TT. TT is almost entirely on wet food, and likes dry food as a treat (I tried free-feeding dry food, but TT liked it too much and would eat the dry food over her wet food, so I took it away). It looks like CC has been on free-fed dry food, with a small amount of wet food twice a day, and I've been trying to get her on a mostly wet food diet, which I think she's also a little reluctant of but she's eating well. So, I have been enticing them by placing dry food right near the crack of the bathroom door, and TT will reach for and eat the dry food that's under the crack of the door with CC right in front of her on the other side, but TT's reluctant about her wet food for some reason.
They can reach their paws in under the crack of the bathroom door, and do so without hissing. I've opened the door a little bit so that they reach in with their paws through the opening. TT hisses and growls once or twice, but that's it. TT also sometimes sits right by the door and watches it as if to guard it from CC coming out. If I'm in the bathroom playing with CC, TT will be sitting right outside the door half the time, sticking her paws under the door sometimes. TT is curious by CC and sniffs her when she can, but is easily startled when CC reaches for her, either to play or in being defensive. TT approaches CC very cautiously, but CC is fairly unfazed but I think she's feeling a bit more wary now. This is where I'm starting to get more unsure. Because, they're eating by the door, they're reaching their paws for each other by the door opening in more of a curious way, though it can escalate to be more fight-y way, which I try to stop. I tried to have some supervised play time with the both of them today. CC was easily distracted by the fishing pole toy, but TT had her eyes trained on CC, which wasn't that bad, because CC was distracted from being her hammy self to TT, and thus, aggravating/startling TT.
But are supervised play times too soon? Should I wait until TT is fully comfortable to eat her food? Or until they stop pawing at each other at the door? When would be the right time to move on to a screen door so that they can fully see each other as they eat next to each other? I feel mostly focused on helping TT feel acclimated, because CC seems like she's ready to play and interact, but are there other things I should be doing for CC (of course, other than giving her general care, attention, and food)? I'm not really sure how long to keep up with this separation until it feels right for TT; how will I know when she's ready? I bought Feliway spray and have been spraying it on the door once a day, but I don't really know if it's helping. I also feel guilty that CC is being isolated in the bathroom, she must feel so lonely! Especially because I'm not in there with her as much as I am by my desk, while TT has free rein of the place to sit next to me or sit by the window or whatnot. I feel like CC has so much play and cheer in her and she's not getting as much of it from me or TT that she can. Thanks to folks who've taken the time to read this. I'm pretty puzzled as to my next steps.
TT has a lot of play-aggression; gnawing on my hands and feet when she's in the mood for play. And while I'm at home for frequently now, I won't be in the coming months. So, I decided to adopted another kitten similar in age, in hopes that TT will have a kitty companion and correct her play-aggression issue a bit. I adopted CC around 4 days ago. I thought of adopting a male kitten because I've read that male/female pairings go over well better, but at the adoption center, I felt that CC's personality, female kitten at 9 weeks old, would be better for TT's temperament. (Well, I had found a male kitten that I thought would match TT's mellow yet somewhat skittish temperament, but I was advised that he's still a bit feral and needs more socializing.)
TT was separated from her littermates while very young, and she hasn't interacted with another cat since I've had her. She's very sweet and careful, she takes her time getting used to situations. She loves shaded hidden areas and has various hiding places that she likes to lounge on. She doesn't actively meow except for food in the mornings, or whenever I'm in the kitchen and she's hungry. She doesn't hiss or bite when she's agitated but she will grumble/growl. I can't pick her up for more than a minute or two before she wants to be let down, but I'm allowed to pet her for a good amount of time while she sleeps with her body against mine when I'm sitting the couch. She loves playing with interactive fishing pole toys and isn't too engaged with playing by herself. When she's in play mode and I want to pet her, she immediately starts to try to gnaw on my hands, or I could be petting her and she turns over on her back so that she can try to gnaw on my fingers while kicking it with her back legs; she's sooo sweet when she's sleeping, but TT in play mode is me trying to distance my hands from her with a toy, and her reaching for my hands anyway. She runs up to me at the door whenever I come home and call her name.
CC was living in the same large cage with her two other litter mates; they'd sleep squished together in a hammock. She has already been spayed, she was spay three days before I adopted her. She's very well socialized, fearless, hammy, and loves being petted and cuddled with, and twists and turns over onto her back because she loves getting her belly rubbed. She plays very well by herself with mice toys and balls. I've isolated her in the bathroom for now so I'm still getting to know her.
TT and CC have already seen each other; it was a mistake on my part. I had intended to do scent introductions first and then eventually have them take a look at each other, but on that first night, when I was taking CC into the bathroom and moving things around, TT and CC caught sight of each other. TT reacted with startled wide eyes but didn't hiss and growl until CC started approaching her to play (her tail straight up in the air). CC, because she's such a ham, just wants to play with TT; I think she misses having companions around her as she had with her littermates. CC ran around the place like it was no big deal, whereas, when TT was initially getting acclimated, she was so careful and tentative about exploring her new digs. TT wasn't having it, and she followed/chased(?) CC around before I could separate them. Since then, I've swapped their scents, and also, have site-swapped a few times by placing TT in CC's safe zone/bathroom and CC in the living room (I'm with CC for 15 min, TT for 15, for a total of 30 min of site swapping a day).
Both TT and CC eat right by the door. TT has been reluctant, and while she does eat right by the door, she only eats half of her food; she'll eat from my hand literally an inch away from her food bowl, but she won't eat from her food bowl after a couple of bites. CC doesn't care, she eats wherever and whenever she's hungry; she sometimes purrs and rubs her body against the door because she can't wait to play with TT. TT is almost entirely on wet food, and likes dry food as a treat (I tried free-feeding dry food, but TT liked it too much and would eat the dry food over her wet food, so I took it away). It looks like CC has been on free-fed dry food, with a small amount of wet food twice a day, and I've been trying to get her on a mostly wet food diet, which I think she's also a little reluctant of but she's eating well. So, I have been enticing them by placing dry food right near the crack of the bathroom door, and TT will reach for and eat the dry food that's under the crack of the door with CC right in front of her on the other side, but TT's reluctant about her wet food for some reason.
They can reach their paws in under the crack of the bathroom door, and do so without hissing. I've opened the door a little bit so that they reach in with their paws through the opening. TT hisses and growls once or twice, but that's it. TT also sometimes sits right by the door and watches it as if to guard it from CC coming out. If I'm in the bathroom playing with CC, TT will be sitting right outside the door half the time, sticking her paws under the door sometimes. TT is curious by CC and sniffs her when she can, but is easily startled when CC reaches for her, either to play or in being defensive. TT approaches CC very cautiously, but CC is fairly unfazed but I think she's feeling a bit more wary now. This is where I'm starting to get more unsure. Because, they're eating by the door, they're reaching their paws for each other by the door opening in more of a curious way, though it can escalate to be more fight-y way, which I try to stop. I tried to have some supervised play time with the both of them today. CC was easily distracted by the fishing pole toy, but TT had her eyes trained on CC, which wasn't that bad, because CC was distracted from being her hammy self to TT, and thus, aggravating/startling TT.
But are supervised play times too soon? Should I wait until TT is fully comfortable to eat her food? Or until they stop pawing at each other at the door? When would be the right time to move on to a screen door so that they can fully see each other as they eat next to each other? I feel mostly focused on helping TT feel acclimated, because CC seems like she's ready to play and interact, but are there other things I should be doing for CC (of course, other than giving her general care, attention, and food)? I'm not really sure how long to keep up with this separation until it feels right for TT; how will I know when she's ready? I bought Feliway spray and have been spraying it on the door once a day, but I don't really know if it's helping. I also feel guilty that CC is being isolated in the bathroom, she must feel so lonely! Especially because I'm not in there with her as much as I am by my desk, while TT has free rein of the place to sit next to me or sit by the window or whatnot. I feel like CC has so much play and cheer in her and she's not getting as much of it from me or TT that she can. Thanks to folks who've taken the time to read this. I'm pretty puzzled as to my next steps.