Questions about adding a second cat?

[michiganlady]

Not sure if this is where this should go, sorry.

In any case, about 10 days ago, a kitten (8-12 weeks old) showed up in my horse barn. It is extremely friendly and affectionate. Due to its age, I've decided to take it in to be a house cat. I have an appointment set up for Wednesday (7/13) to bring it to the vet and give it its shots and generally get the process started - set up an appointment for a spay/neuter/declaw/etc..

We have a 6 year old neutered male cat in the house at present. As well as a dog. I read that getting the scent introduced first is important so for the past week I've been rubbing this kitten with cloths and leaving the cloths around the house in our cat's favorite spots (under his food bowls/on a window sill/etc.) so he could get used to the smell. He seemed fine with this. No unusual actions.

It was originally the plan that we'd keep the kitten in the barn until it had its shots and was declawed (my parents feel that cats should be declawed to be house cats due to the type of furniture we have). However, last night I went to the barn to feed our horses and came face to face with a 20 lb raccoon that was eyeing a very terrified kitten. So that was the end of that. The kitten, Franki, is now in one of our bathrooms. S/he has the cat carrier with a towel in it, a litter box, and food and water. 

I understand it's generally a good idea to keep cats separated like this for a while anyway. This is fine and our current cat didn't care much that the kitten was in the bathroom. Except this morning I woke up to find that our cat had decided to poop on the carpet outside the door. 

Is this normal? I expected him to take an interest in the noises/sounds from the bathroom but not go to the bathroom outside a litter box. We have three litter boxes in the house so it's not like I took away his only bathroom spot. And he uses all of them so it's not like I took his favorite one, either.

Any insights for me on this whole process? 

 

[ellag]

oh, please don't mutilate that poor kitten for life!! declawing is amputating the first part of their toes. it is very painful and can cause life long problems like not using the litter box, being aggressive and biting. just get several kinds of scratchers and show them to the kitten. we have 6 cats abd our furniture is fine!!

this is a very anti-clawing site!!

 

[raina21]

M michiganlady

Peeing/pooping outside the litter when a new cat is introduced is generally territorial behavior. Its a way of "claiming the house so to speak. Make sure you clean any "accident" he leaves behind with an enzyme cleaner such as Nature's Miracle.

Why is it that you want to declaw the kitten? Declawing is NOT good for ANY cat. It is honestly one of the most inhumane things you can do to a cat.

Please visit this site for more information explaining why declawing is inhumane:

http://www.pawproject.org

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• raina21
• Jul 10, 2016

 

[ondine]

Thank you for rescuing this kitty!

Your current cat is a little peeved at this usurper coming into his territory.  Perfectly normal cat behavior.  He's also probably curious about the newcomer, too.  And who knows?  The bathroom box may be is box of choice for one of his pees or poops  Cats are very into routine - one of mine will absolutely not use one of the boxes we have.  We had to lock him in that room once and he pooped on the floor next to it.  For some reason, he just didn't like it.

You can introduce them slowly, always being here in case either of them gets testy.  I'v used a screen door (or stacked baby gates) in the doorway, to allow both cats to see and smell one another without being able to get to one another.

One idea is to rub the opposite end of a towel on each cat.  Put the towel under the door with the current cat's scent inside the bathroom and the kitten's scent outside.  Feed a treat to each cat on the towel.  This will begin to associate the other cat's scent with good things.

About the declawing - I, too, declawed cats before I learned about it.  It is one of my biggest regrets, to be truthful.  We now have five declawed and three fully clawed cats in our house.  They get along well.  If you are worried about the kitten having claws and the other cat not, you don't need to.

I've found that distraction (and plenty of "legal" scratching places) keeps them off the furniture.

If you do decide to declaw him, just make sure he's an inside only cat.  He would be absolutely helpless outside without his claws (he'd have no defense and no hunting tools)

 

[jennyr]

You have had some good advice so far. Just take it slowly with the introductions. If there is room outside the bathroom door, I would put an extra box there, as the resident cat has an overpowering urge to leave his smell as close as possible to the location of the new cat, to show the newcomer he is dominant. If he does this in a litterbox it will be much easier for you. It won't last once they are familiar with each other.

Here are some more information sources on declawing. There are many things you can do to prevent a cat scratching furniture, as long as you start early enough. I always the most important and effective thing is to provide lots of 'better' alternatives like scratching mats and posts.

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Good luck

 

[msaimee]

When bringing a new cat into the household, it's helpful to give a lot of extra attention to your other cat(s). Purchase some new cat toys, especially catnip toys, and engage in interactive play, like using a wand toy or laser toy. One of the ways I socialize a new kitty into my multi-cat household is to have group play sessions with the cats with a laser toy or a wand toy. Since taking in my 5th cat 3 months ago--a feral kitten--I've been playing with them more than ever before, and they love it. I also got them a second cat tree, so they've made out quite well. If you assure your older cat that he's still the "king" of the forest, and spend more time giving him attention, he will very likely adopt the kitten and become a helpful big brother. I've seen this happen lots of times. He just needs reassurance that he's not being replaced.

I second the motion to not get the kitten de-clawed. If you get several scratching posts--some horizontal, and some vertical (you can likely get them cheaper on Amazon or Ebay than at a pet store), your kitten will know to use it. Some posts are catnip scented, which helps. When you de-claw a cat, you're not just removing the claws, but also the bottom digit on their toes, so it is very painful. Also, if your kitten were to ever get out of your house, she would be completely defenseless. The trick is to get the kitten used to having her claws trimmed now while she is very young. All of my cats get their claws trimmed monthly. They don't like it, but they accept it as a part of life. It's not difficult trimming claws, and it takes less than two minutes to do. Also, if a cat is going to be aggressive to another cat, de-clawing won't stop this--the aggressive cat will just bite, instead. So please hold off on doing the de-clawing.

It's wonderful that you've taken this kitten into your home. She likely wouldn't have lasted long outside or in the barn. I hope she brings you and your other cat a lot of joy and happiness. I know each of my rescued kitties have.

 

[catajade]

Thank Goodness you got that baby out of the barn! You did the right thing for sure. Raccoons eat kittens if they are hungry enough. They are usually more interested in their kibble though. I attracted raccoons to my yard when I was feeding a feral cat.  She later brought me 4 kittens and before I was able to trap all these kittens, which was only a few weeks ago. I was terrified for their safety. Thank goodness they are all indoors now away from the coons! They live in my sun room away from my other 5 cats for now. When I kept my sister's cat , my cats peed all over the place for a few days. Once they got used to her they stopped doing it. Thank goodness they didn't do it on my room that has carpet.

As far as declawing a cat. I wouldn't do it to protect furniture. You can buy them a big scratching post. I had to unfortunately declaw one of my cats. I hated to do it though. She was playing way to rough with my other cats. She nearly ripped their faces off. When I saw two of my cats bleeding I decided to do it, but I really really really would have rather not. I still feel terrible about it til this day, but she's fine. I hated to do it even before I knew how bad it is. I guess I just felt it was wrong,  She can never go outside. I don't let my cats out anyway, but there's been a time or two when my grown kids left the door wide open and they got out. 

 

[misty8723]

None of my cats have ever been declawed and none of my furniture has ever been ruined.  I always say if you care more about things than living beings, don't have cats.

 

[ondine]

OK guys, I have to say something here.  WE ALL FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT DECLAWING.

However, this lady came to us for help, not scolding.  We've made our point, so let's give her the advice she sought, OK?  Thank you.

Michigan Lady, pleas accept our statements about declawing for what they are - about declawing, not about you.  The fact that you are willing to rescue this kitty says a lot about your level of caring, so please continue the good work.

 

[Shane Kent]

I had a similar problem. Except I had a 4 1/2 month old cat (Taz) at home and brought a 3 year old cat (Zoe) home from humane society. I had to keep Zoe in a room separated from Taz for several weeks, longer than normal because she had stitches in her mouth. Taz sprayed a bit in our bedroom closet and a spare room. We, my wife and I, did what MsAimee pointed out, we stepped up our playing with Taz and got him new toys to keep his mind off the other cat. It worked out well. We would play with him until he tired himself out. Then when I started coming home smelling like the work cats he did it again, did not like me coming home smelling like other cats. At first I would change my clothes and wash my hands. I thought it was OK for first few days but then I noticed him pacing outside the laundry room where he could smell my clothes. We repeated what we did when we got Zoe and it worked out well again. Now he is used to smelling the work cats on me and I don't need to change. The smell of the work cats on me never seemed to bother Zoe, she is a very laid back cat.

I am not 100% sure if playing with him helped or if it was just the time that went by. Or maybe the playing helps the time pass by.

I hope everything works out well for you, and wish you many happy years with the kitty.

 

[msaimee]

I thought I was giving helpful advice in my post. I never intend to come across as being judgemental or scolding, so my apologies if I came across that way.

 

[Shane Kent]

MsAimee  >> It is a very touchy topic, I am sure MichiganLady will understand you all meant well. I have a friend that does it but I do not. I don't get into it with him as at least he takes good care of his cat and gives it lots of attention. I have met people that get a cat as if it is a toy for their kids, that bothers me much more. Those cats often end up neglected (no attention, etc) and it makes me feel ill when I think of it.

 

[ondine]

I thought I was giving helpful advice in my post. I never intend to come across as being judgemental or scolding, so my apologies if I came across that way.

You are right, MsAimee.  I just suddenly felt like we were ganging up on the poster and it seemed time to focus on helping.