Hello! I've been lurking here after bringing home a second cat, and was hoping for some advice and guidance on our particular issue.
We have a ~7 month old cat Bob who we adopted at 10 weeks. Prior to that, he was in a foster home with his litter. He's been an absolute angel, loves to hang out with us and be social. We didn't get two kittens at that time as Bob is our first cat and we were very nervous, but with it going so well we thought we would bring home a second kitten for him.
About 5 days ago we took home a 6 month old kitten, Harry. He is very sweet and loves to play and is very friendly. He was in a house with other cats so he has no problem with Bob.
We've been following the guidance in introductions: keeping them separated, letting them peek or smell each other through the door, exchanging scents. There was some hissing from Bob at the door, but no other signs of aggression. We did two quick intros yesterday, again with some hissing but no aggression. Harry would love to just play, and Bob just stared at him and hissed once or twice, and then we separated them.
Today my spouse was leaving Bob's room and I was holding Harry in the hall outside it when Bob came out. We didn't think he would since has been so cautious, but when he came out I took Harry downstairs to separate them and started to play with him. Bob came down too, which was very surprising! Harry tried to approach him to play a few times, very slowly and meowing a little, and Bob hissed and backed up. I was able to distract Harry and get him upstairs with a toy, but then he went back downstairs and approached Bob, who was sitting at the foot of the stairs. They touched noses and then Bob hissed. He turned around to walk away and Harry jumped on him, I think wanting to play. I don't believe there were any claws out, especially given how cautiously Harry had been approaching Bob. It probably scared us more than anything else - Bob threw him off (he is a few pounds heavier!) and we broke it up and I took Harry upstairs.
Both seem fine now, Bob is sleeping next to me in his room and Harry is back playing.
We are so stressed about this, which I know is normal, but we really love Bob, and now Harry, and want them to get along. We would not have introduced them like this today except that Bob did it on his own, and since he is way more of the cautious cat we followed his lead. It was going really well until Harry jumped on him. Did we completely screw up their introductions? Where do we go from here?
Thank you for your help - this forum has been really helpful to us, even as lurkers, and as new cat owners it's very comforting to get advice from people who know such much!
We have a ~7 month old cat Bob who we adopted at 10 weeks. Prior to that, he was in a foster home with his litter. He's been an absolute angel, loves to hang out with us and be social. We didn't get two kittens at that time as Bob is our first cat and we were very nervous, but with it going so well we thought we would bring home a second kitten for him.
About 5 days ago we took home a 6 month old kitten, Harry. He is very sweet and loves to play and is very friendly. He was in a house with other cats so he has no problem with Bob.
We've been following the guidance in introductions: keeping them separated, letting them peek or smell each other through the door, exchanging scents. There was some hissing from Bob at the door, but no other signs of aggression. We did two quick intros yesterday, again with some hissing but no aggression. Harry would love to just play, and Bob just stared at him and hissed once or twice, and then we separated them.
Today my spouse was leaving Bob's room and I was holding Harry in the hall outside it when Bob came out. We didn't think he would since has been so cautious, but when he came out I took Harry downstairs to separate them and started to play with him. Bob came down too, which was very surprising! Harry tried to approach him to play a few times, very slowly and meowing a little, and Bob hissed and backed up. I was able to distract Harry and get him upstairs with a toy, but then he went back downstairs and approached Bob, who was sitting at the foot of the stairs. They touched noses and then Bob hissed. He turned around to walk away and Harry jumped on him, I think wanting to play. I don't believe there were any claws out, especially given how cautiously Harry had been approaching Bob. It probably scared us more than anything else - Bob threw him off (he is a few pounds heavier!) and we broke it up and I took Harry upstairs.
Both seem fine now, Bob is sleeping next to me in his room and Harry is back playing.
We are so stressed about this, which I know is normal, but we really love Bob, and now Harry, and want them to get along. We would not have introduced them like this today except that Bob did it on his own, and since he is way more of the cautious cat we followed his lead. It was going really well until Harry jumped on him. Did we completely screw up their introductions? Where do we go from here?
Thank you for your help - this forum has been really helpful to us, even as lurkers, and as new cat owners it's very comforting to get advice from people who know such much!