Question About Introductions..

[GhostieCat]

Hello! I have a few questions. First of all we have two cats that will turn 2 the end of this month. We are adopting a couple more kittens to add to our family. My question is, how do I go about introducing the two kittens to our older ones? I've done this process with one kitten.. I'm not sure if it is handled differently with introducing two new kittens to two resident cats.

 

[rubysmama]

Congrats on your upcoming kitten adoptions! Hopefully all goes well with integrating them into your home. The # one piece of advice would be to take it slow. Cat introductions usually take time, and the resident cats aren't usually thrilled about the newbies.

Here's the TCS articles all about cat introductions. Good luck! Let us know how it goes. And post pics of the kittens when they arrive.

Introducing Cats To Cats
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction
The Multi-cat Household

 

[GhostieCat]

I guess my main question is there any difference when introducing a bonded pair to resident cats in comparison to a single kitten

 

[ArtNJ]

I've only done this exact thing once, but from reading a lot, probably not. There is the theoretical possibility that stress from the newcomer can poison the relationship with the existing cats through redirected aggression, which makes progressing logistically complicated. Seen some posts on it, and it gets confusing trying to think how to help when they live in a small space and can't separate all three cats. Fortunately that isn't terribly common, so you just act as though the two cats will stay buddies, and separate only the kitten, sent swapping between the two areas.

Good chance things wont be too hard on you given that the residents are only 2, but it certainly could be harder than your last introduction since even 2 year olds sometimes get defensive/skittish/stressed around kittens.