Kitty Trouble

[BreeAlysee]

I just got an 8 week old kitten today and I previously have a 4 year old cat ( they’re both male ). My parents and I tried sticking them together, the kitten in a cage and the older kitty we let him adventure first. As most can guess their first encounter didn’t go very smoothly. We decided to put the older cat upstairs in my room to let him calm down. After a little while I went upstairs to check on him and all of a sudden he began to freak out on me. He hissed, tried attacking me, and even made noises that sounded like screaming. I researched online that you have to ease the cats and not just throw them together. If there are any suggestions about how to make that happen, it would be very appreciated! Most importantly about how to handle my older cat. Every time I get close to him he tries attacking me and throwing a fit. I don’t know if this is normal or what to do. My parents and I are very nervous and need any help or informations possible. Thank you!

 

[Ardina]

Hi BreeAlysee, first of all, welcome to TCS! It seems that your resident cat got quite stressed by the new intruder. You likely have the scent of the new kitten on you, causing him to react aggressively towards you as well. I would leave your resident cat in a quiet, dark room with everything he needs (food, litter, and water) for a few hours and let him calm down. Don't try to approach him for now. I would also suggest taking a shower and changing clothes to get the new scent off you.

Once he's calm (and this could be in a couple of hours or tomorrow), then you can work on introducing the two of them. Here's a great article on how to do that: How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide. Hope this helps!

 

[susanm9006]

Your cat reacted that way because the kitten, combined with being shut in a room made her nervous and scared. Your older cat may need her territory, favorite places and routines back before she begins to calm down. So if she remains upset while she is shut in the room, then let her out and confine the kitten. She will still be able to smell the kitten from under the door so after she seems to be feeling better you can try bringing something with the kitten’s scent out for her to get a closer sniff. I would then feed both her and the kitten on their own side of the door so they can be close to one another without seeing one another. If that seems to go okay for a few days you can bringing the kitten out and feeding them both near one another. After that you get the two together for some play time and longer periods of time together.