Need help introducing new kitten!

[Lo12]

I brought home a new kitten about a week ago. I have an 8 month old girl at home already. I live in a one bedroom apartment so it is kind of hard to not notice that i had the kitten enclosed in the bathroom as she will cry when i leave her in there. I kept her in there for a few days and did some scent swapping during that time. The older kitten knows shes in there and has been sniffing and sticking paws under the door.
When i go inside the bathroom my resident cat will cry and scratch at the door. So i decided to let her see the kitten enclosed in a carrier. There was some hissing and growling, the kitten didnt seem phased. I tried again the next day and there was no hissing or signs that she was mad. Did the same the next day and they were sniffing each other and kind of pawing each other thru the carrier so i decided to let the kitten out in my bedroom with resident cat where there is a dresser the kitten can hide under where older cat cant get to. They seemed to be playing pawing and chasing each other but then my older kitten started tackling the baby and i know this is normal but the kitten was crying and resident cat wasnt letting her go, there are no injuries but it seemed to be aggressive to me. I separated them and have the kitten baxk in the bathroom. When i go in there now resident cat will trill and paw at the door. Im not sure if shes trying to get to me because she is jealous im with the baby or wants to play more with the kitten.
i know this seems like a rushed introduction but i have been unsure of what to do. Should i go back to stage one and only allow interactions under the door?
i feel bad either way, one of them seems upset if im not with them and i live alone so am unable to keep both busy at the same time.

 

[Meowmee]

You're doing the right things. You can slow it down a bit and keep doing the scent swapping etc. longer with kitten in the bathroom. When they are together only do shorter supervised interaction until you feel it's ok. Try treats, eating together and playing together etc. As long as your older kitten is not injuring the baby it is ok. It's normal for them to tussle and for the older cat to discipline the younger kitten.

 

[rubysmama]

How old is the new kitten? Generally introducing kittens to young cats (your RC is really still a kitten herself) goes quickly.

About the older kitten playing rough with the new one, as long as there's no fur flying or bloodshed, or that the younger kitten doesn't seem really scared of the older one, things are probably ok. If she squeals when the older kitten plays rough, and runs and hides, but quickly comes back for more "fun", things are probably fine. So just keep doing what you're doing, but probably don't leave them alone without a human to supervise till you're sure the older kitten won't be too rough.

If the kitten seems scared, or runs and hides when she sees the older one, or there's fur flying or bloodshed, that's more concerning, and you probably do need to slow things down a bit.

Here's the TCS article on How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat | TheCatSite

Plus Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing? [Answered] - TheCatSite

 

[Lo12]

How old is the new kitten? Generally introducing kittens to young cats (your RC is really still a kitten herself) goes quickly.

About the older kitten playing rough with the new one, as long as there's no fur flying or bloodshed, or that the younger kitten doesn't seem really scared of the older one, things are probably ok. If she squeals when the older kitten plays rough, and runs and hides, but quickly comes back for more "fun", things are probably fine. So just keep doing what you're doing, but probably don't leave them alone without a human to supervise till you're sure the older kitten won't be too rough.

If the kitten seems scared, or runs and hides when she sees the older one, or there's fur flying or bloodshed, that's more concerning, and you probably do need to slow things down a bit.

Here's the TCS article on How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat | TheCatSite

Plus Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing? [Answered] - TheCatSite

Thank you for the reassurance!
The new kitten is 2 months, I was told, she looks a bit younger to me to be honest.
And the 8 month old, Hallie, is a tortie so she does have an attitude.
I believe they are playing because there is no hissing or growling happening. It just worries me because she is so much bigger and not sure if she knows how rough she is being or if it’s intentional. The baby does come back for more tho and will flop on her back and swat so I feel those are good signs from everything I have read this far.

 

[Kris107]

Keep their nails trimmed and help older one with rules. A loud no or knock it off and then protect the kitten. Maybe even time outs. Older cat needs to learn hard bites on little one isn't okay. Since kitten is a lot smaller, give her places she can hide that bigger cat can't get to. If kitten is coming back for more then it is play. Also help kitten with rules too though if she relentlessly pesters older cat.

 

[Meowmee]

Thank you for the reassurance!
The new kitten is 2 months, I was told, she looks a bit younger to me to be honest.
And the 8 month old, Hallie, is a tortie so she does have an attitude.
I believe they are playing because there is no hissing or growling happening. It just worries me because she is so much bigger and not sure if she knows how rough she is being or if it’s intentional. The baby does come back for more tho and will flop on her back and swat so I feel those are good signs from everything I have read this far. View attachment 492479View attachment 492480

Lovely kitties I love torties, the little one is so adorable and I noticed that she is polydactyl, my Syb was too. If the kitten is coming back and jumping on her, I would say this is totally normal. Just keep an eye on it and take it slow.

Byron used to swat Angie on the head numerous times- you could hear it, but he never hurt her and she was relentlessly, jumping on his rear end about five seconds later. The older cat knows what to do, and will not get too aggressive with a younger kitten, but they also will discipline them. As long as there are no bite wounds or bleeding, etc. scratches etc. it’s good.

Then Angie, who was also a feisty tortie, once swatted kitten Ari off of a table because he dared to drink some water from her cup. He didn’t even do anything. He never saw it coming and he looked like what the hell happened She didn’t hurt him though and in the end they were OK…he was a foster kitten and sadly I had to give him away to be adopted. Wizard loved him and was like his father.

I’ve seen some cat kitten introductions on IG which were so funny. One lady who had all oriental and Siamese cats adopted an all white oriental shorthair kitten. The kitten was screeching and growling at everybody(cats) in the house, big-time…. Lol- I was laughing my head off. But in the end, everything was good, and they all ended up sleeping in a pile together.

 

[Lo12]

UPDATE: I think we are all friends now
Hallie is also grooming the baby’s bottom at times. Do we think I can let them have free roam of the house together or keep interactions short?
Ps: if anyone has name suggestions I’m not sure what to call her. I was thinking Ginny, Jovie, Annie, or nugget lol


https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e9g2KjmTkcT6hzyxioHUIEAw

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0f8Zv2oaBr2HmsG_-mgwCqUYw

https://share.icloud.com/photos/07aKLu1Vropf1ZrwJn15fDdHQ

 

[rubysmama]

Awww... they're so cute.

At only 8 weeks, the new kitten is going to look teeny next to your older kitten, so the play fights will seem miss-matched till she gets bigger. But all you posted sounds good. And as Meowmee said, the older kitten will try to discipline the little one to teach it cat etiquette, so it could look a bit rough at times.

 

[Meowmee]

UPDATE: I think we are all friends now
Hallie is also grooming the baby’s bottom at times. Do we think I can let them have free roam of the house together or keep interactions short?
Ps: if anyone has name suggestions I’m not sure what to call her. I was thinking Ginny, Jovie, Annie, or nugget lol


https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e9g2KjmTkcT6hzyxioHUIEAw

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0f8Zv2oaBr2HmsG_-mgwCqUYw

https://share.icloud.com/photos/07aKLu1Vropf1ZrwJn15fDdHQ

Can you post the pics directly here? Maybe a video. If you think it’s OK I’m sure it’s OK but I would still just keep an eye on them. I like Ginny, that’s a cute name.

 

[Lo12]

This is the only way I’m able to post the videos

 

[rubysmama]

This is the only way I’m able to post the videos

It's showing that you have to sign in. Can you maybe try uploading them to Youtube. Those usually work.

 

[Lo12]

It's showing that you have to sign in. Can you maybe try uploading them to Youtube. Those usually work.

- YouTube

- YouTube
https://youtube.com/shorts/Px2m952kzD4?si=F091PcJSjgSUJQIq
- YouTube

 

[Meowmee]

I think it’s OK. I think you’re older cat is a little bit heavy-handed with her so you should still just keep an eye on it. I don’t think she’s actually trying to hurt her though. Good to tell her to tone down a bit too.

 

[MariaMed]

awww they are so cute! They look okay to me. Good on you to stop it when it got a bit too much for the kitten, right way too. Without a raised voice just a 'hey maybe back it off a little'. Things will level off when the kitten gets a bit bigger and older. They look like they are going to be good buddies

 

[epona]

I remember when Radar and Sonic (both RIP) were young, there was a similar age difference - Radar was 9 months old and Sonic was 3 months old when we got Sonic.

Radar was very playful with Sonic and a little rough, ok quite rough - it was clearly meant in play rather than aggression or intention to cause harm, but we did decide on balance to not leave them together unsupervised until the size difference between them wasn't so great.

 

[Lo12]

Thank you everyone ! I think we are heading towards a good relationship they are taking turns chasing each other around the house but will continue to supervise