Kitty introduction?

[hollie ordway]

So the opportunity stumbled upon me to get another cat - ultimately, despite the challenge, I decided to take up the opportunity. The kitty I received is a small female, no more than 10 pounds, and possibly less, named Venus. Venus is an EXTREMELY SWEET tortie, who is about the most carefree kitty in the world. She's friendly with other cats of all personalities (more aloof and playful alike), is great about not using her claws, loves to be picked up and petted, and is great with keeping herself entertained on toys. Her overall pleasant personality lead me to decide to take the chance of seeing if my resident cat, Adonis, would get along with her. As this is the first day, obviously not much has happened. I had placed the carrier down on the floor with Adonis for a moment, and as expected, he did hiss after a few sniffs of the carrier (cardboard carrier, so he couldn't see Venus), whereas Venus didn't react much. I now have Venus in my room with the door closed, and her own litter box and food bowl and some toys as well. Adonis had free reign of the rest of the apartment as of this moment.

While I have read many tip sites on how to introduce cats, I would like some input from the TCS community as to how they introduced their cats, and maybe how long it took? Adonis' personality is more reserved and nervous, and to be honest, I don't know if he's better off being an only cat or not, but I decided I just don't know if I don't try. Like I said, Venus is happy around any kitty, and she's non-confrontational.

I also face a unique problem, in that I am the only one in my apartment. My apartment is decent size, around 650 sq feet, but I only have one room that I can close off at the moment, and that's my bedroom. (The bathroom is much much too small to host my kitty's litter box and food bowl, plus the constant in-and-out might frustrate her.) Since I sleep in my bedroom, and my cats will be separated for an unknown amount of time, do you think it might be smart for me to spend every other night rotating between sleeping in my bedroom and then in my living room on the couch? (Don't worry! It's comfy!) Adonis is used to having free reign of my apartment, including at night, and I don't want him feeling as if he's losing out on being able to climb on me and sleep every night until this ordeal is done.

I also a gone from the apartment for around 11 hours a day. (Which is exactly why I was thinking of a companion cat for my frazzled Adonis.) Is there anything I should know about handling this introduction for when I am gone for the day? Or is it simply let the cats be?

Lastly, how often should I spend time with my kitties each? I am trying to find the right balance between the both of them. Venus seems less bothered by the lack of my presence than Adonis, but that could just be because she's new.

 

[the3rdname]

Two weeks is about standard for keeping them separated.  Some resident cats need less time, others need more.  If you can put a baby gate in the bedroom doorway (that Venus can't jump, obviously) and feed them at the same time on either side- or give Adonis a special treat, just make sure it's something he loves- that will help speed things along.  Start the process a couple of feet back from the gate, gradually bring them closer.  That way Adonis gets to see as well as smell her while associating the new kitten with something positive.  

You'll want to supervise their initial getting-to-know-you sessions.  Never leave them alone together until you're 100% certain Adonis has fully accepted the kitten and isn't going to harm her.  It might be best to begin supervising them together on a weekend, or whenever you'll have several hours or so to watch them interact.  

Rotating between your bedroom and the living room at night seems like a good idea, just be aware that the kitten might take to the arrangement or rebel a little on off nights: scratching beneath the door, meowing, etc.  It could  be confusing to her, but, then again, if she's as independent as you say, she'll probably be fine.  It might make the transition easier for Adonis if he feels you're making an effort to give him plenty of attention.  

Best wishes to you, Adonis and Venus!  Let us know how things progress.  

 

[hollie ordway]

 
Two weeks is about standard for keeping them separated.  Some resident cats need less time, others need more.  If you can put a baby gate in the bedroom doorway (that Venus can't jump, obviously) and feed them at the same time on either side- or give Adonis a special treat, just make sure it's something he loves- that will help speed things along.  Start the process a couple of feet back from the gate, gradually bring them closer.  That way Adonis gets to see as well as smell her while associating the new kitten with something positive.  

You'll want to supervise their initial getting-to-know-you sessions.  Never leave them alone together until you're 100% certain Adonis has fully accepted the kitten and isn't going to harm her.  It might be best to begin supervising them together on a weekend, or whenever you'll have several hours or so to watch them interact.  

Rotating between your bedroom and the living room at night seems like a good idea, just be aware that the kitten might take to the arrangement or rebel a little on off nights: scratching beneath the door, meowing, etc.  It could  be confusing to her, but, then again, if she's as independent as you say, she'll probably be fine.  It might make the transition easier for Adonis if he feels you're making an effort to give him plenty of attention.  

Best wishes to you, Adonis and Venus!  Let us know how things progress.  

Thank you so much! Adonis has been doing a lot of hissing and growling through the door, but I am happy that Venus seems overall unfazed by this - I hope that her relaxed nature might seem less threatening to him and that he ends up not minding her presence. I definitely fear a physical fight between the two, because although Adonis is declawed whereas Venus is not, Adonis is much much bigger than my little Venus. She is very independent, so I'm not necessarily afraid of her being overwhelmed by me being outside of my room (she's been great when I've been visiting outside with Adonis so far.) She is, however, very curious, so I can imagine that the itch to see the rest of the apartment will become huge. She's been going a great job keeping herself entertained with her toys while I'm away or sleeping, and she's even been playing with toys that Adonis had played with before without being weirded out by his smell. Overall, she seems to be taking everything well with her passive, relaxed nature. Adonis is the one showing the mild aggression and uncertainty.

 

[hollie ordway]

Well, this is where I am currently at. Venus is still in my room, with Adonis out in the living room. I am thinking about doing the "scent swapping" thing and rub some of Venus' scent on a clean sock and leave it in Adonis' area of the apartment. Venus shows little to no fear of venturing outside, or even of Adonis when he's being a big grump on the other side of the door. (She had her nose right under the door and was sniffing when he was not even a foot away, and seems so excited to see him... Even when he's growling.) Admittedly, Adonis' growling HAS gone down - beforehand, he couldn't be at the door without hissing and growling. Now, so long as she's not right nose to nose underneath the door, he doesn't react - if he does, it's usually a quick little growl and then he walks away. He wasn't obsessing over the door like he was a couple days ago. They can be feeding right on either side of the door and there is absolutely no hissing from Adonis, which I find really promising. The only issue is I need to be in the same room with Venus for her to eat (Adonis knows what he's doing by now) otherwise she won't eat, which I know is a common thing amongst new cats. I wish I could be on the other side of the door with Adonis when he's there eating with her to praise him.

It's hard, though because I feel like I have to be on Adonis' "side of the apartment" more than Venus' because he seems to be having a much harder time coping with this than Venus, who is confident and just wants to get out and explore, despite the grumbly beast on the other side of the door. 

 But while I can get him to not make a peep when he's feeding on the other side of the door, I'm having a hard time not making him growl when there's not his regular food involved, including treats. When Adonis isn't by the door, however, he doesn't show any sign of distress - no marking, no redirected aggression, nothing. He's still playing and eating just fine. They've even caught glimpses of each other while I was opening the door, and didn't seem too bothered. Do you think it's too early to consider site swapping?

 

[hollie ordway]

I just wanted to give a quick update on how everything's going here in kitty introduction land - today Venus officially met Adonis without a door in between them. While Adonis was definitely not thrilled, it wasn't as bad as it could be. He was doing a lot of hissing and growling, but made absolutely no attempts at swatting at her or trying to pick a fight. She mostly minded her own business, instead wandering around the apartment and checking things out. She immediately took to the cat tree and began to swat at the feathers and play hard with them, and I don't think Adonis knew WHAT to think. (Why is she having fun? She should be cowering under MY DOMINANCE!) I kept the introduction short today, only about twenty minutes or so, and I plan to slowly lengthen their meetings through the week. I managed to even hold Adonis' attention with treats while she was in his presence for at least a bit, so the fact I could distract him was promising. What was more promising is he didn't try and kill her, so that's good. Hopefully his growling and hissing goes down in time.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

That sounds like good progress! 

 

[hollie ordway]

Alright, need some advice:

So I've been letting Venus out after I've been getting home from work, and usually putting her back in before feeding time (Around 8:00.) I've slowly been increasing her amount of time out of the room, and so far it's gone well... Except for the last couple of days. Since letting her out, Adonis has become a lot more ornery. While he was mostly hissing and growling in the beginning, he has now taken to physical altercations. While the "fights" have been less "fights" and more like little spats and scuffles (I was never in fear of them seriously hurting each other), I am a bit confused as to how to react to this situation. Adonis is the one causing the altercations, which isn't surprising, but it's gotten to the point that when Venus is even so much as trying to walk away (or even in the kitchen, out of site of him), he will actually stalk her down just to swipe and tussle with her. Obviously, if it gets too out of hand, I pick Venus up and put her back in her room for the night. But I hear conflicting information on what to do when things like this happen. The first thing I hear is simply to let it be, this will happen, and to stick it out. The other thing I hear is to "start from where you left off," in this case letting them smell each other through the door/crack the door for them to see each other. I don't want it to escalate and get worse, or for Adonis to see her in a negative light, so I'm almost worried about letting her back out again.

Thoughts?