I recently added a new kitten to the household and generally it has been going pretty smoothly. I used the crate method so the kitten would be safe and confined but the resident cat wouldn’t lose access to any of his territory, and they had their first meeting with the door open about a week ago. The two started cautiously playing together within days, and I’ve observed fairly regular social greeting behavior, especially as initiated by Ciaran (resident cat).
But there’s two persistent changes in Ciaran’s behavior around interactions with me. He’s usually a determined lap cat, but since mid-last week, he’s been staying at more of a distance. He’s happy to receive pets, but not really seeking out physical contact or affection in the same way. The other change is the bed-Ciaran usually spends at least part of every day sleeping on the bed independent of whether I’m there. Currently, he’s been avoiding the bed, except for a brief period in the middle of the night. I would consider this a normal rotation of preferred resting spots, except I frequently find him sleeping on the floor right next to the bed.
I’m interpreting these behaviors as some evidence of anxiety or feeling vulnerable in those situations. I’ve tried putting Kismet back in the crate for a few hours at a time to let Ciaran have some alone-time with his territory, but all this seems to achieve is upsetting the kitten.
Compared to the drama some cats go through on introduction, this seems quite minor, but I thought I would see if there were any other ideas to help boost Ciaran’s confidence.
But there’s two persistent changes in Ciaran’s behavior around interactions with me. He’s usually a determined lap cat, but since mid-last week, he’s been staying at more of a distance. He’s happy to receive pets, but not really seeking out physical contact or affection in the same way. The other change is the bed-Ciaran usually spends at least part of every day sleeping on the bed independent of whether I’m there. Currently, he’s been avoiding the bed, except for a brief period in the middle of the night. I would consider this a normal rotation of preferred resting spots, except I frequently find him sleeping on the floor right next to the bed.
I’m interpreting these behaviors as some evidence of anxiety or feeling vulnerable in those situations. I’ve tried putting Kismet back in the crate for a few hours at a time to let Ciaran have some alone-time with his territory, but all this seems to achieve is upsetting the kitten.
Compared to the drama some cats go through on introduction, this seems quite minor, but I thought I would see if there were any other ideas to help boost Ciaran’s confidence.
