Last Tuesday my family and I adopted a 5 month old kitten from my local humane society. I wanted to adopt an adult, but I wasn't sure if our resident cat, Squee (8 years old), would accept an adult, so we chose a kitten. When we got Squee as a kitten, our older resident cat, Scratch (5 at the time), accepted her immediately, so we were hoping the same thing would happen.
Since I'm posting this thread, that isn't the case.
Let me start off by saying that though we bought a Feliway diffuser, did the scent-swapping trick, tried to get them to eat on opposite sides of a door/play on opposite sides of a room (Squee always refused to both), and allowed Kitten (still unnamed
) and Squee to watch each other from afar, I know we rushed the introduction process (and trust me, I feel bad about that) compared to what most people suggest. That's why I'm wondering if we should just start over with the introductions.
We keep them separated for most of the day, with Squee downstairs and Kitten upstairs. Kitten sleeps in my room at night and Squee is allowed upstairs and downstairs from about 11 pm to 8 or 9 am. Squee doesn't have a problem with smelling Kitten's scent - she doesn't even react when she smells her scent - but she just hates when Kitten comes within 3-4 feet of her. When she's watching Kitten from across the house, she will watch cautiously, but she won't get angry (i.e. hissing and quiet growling) until Kitten runs past or slowly walks up to her.
There's been a few exceptions, though:
1) One morning, Kitten was sleeping upstairs. Squee wanted upstairs too, so I let her up, and she walked up to Kitten. Kitten woke up; Squee touched her nose with Kitten's nose before Squee hissed and ran away.
2) The same morning, Kitten walked past Squee and Squee didn't react. They were about a foot or two apart.
3) Squee was sleeping on a bed downstairs. Kitten followed me down and I allowed her to look around since Squee was sleeping and I didn't think there would be a problem. Kitten jumped up on the bed beside Squee. She woke up and watched Kitten without hissing or growling. A few minutes later, Kitten jumped onto the bed again (further away than the first time) and Squee started hissing at her once Kitten started approaching her. Squee stayed in place for a few minutes before she jumped off the bed and walked around the corner.
4) I didn't see this happen, but it happened while I was writing this: Squee was sitting on one of the basement stairs. Kitten came up from behind and sat down beside Squee on the same stair. Squee didn't notice this for about 20 to 30 seconds. When she did turn and notice Kitten, she looked at her for several seconds before she hissed. She stayed on the stair beside Kitten for about a minute before she slowly walked away.
The bed incident happened this afternoon. About an hour after it happened, Kitten was sleeping upstairs on the couch when Squee scratched at the door to be let upstairs. I let her upstairs and Squee spent the next 4 hours walking around, chirping, and rolling around on the floor like any other day (including rolling on the floor about 6 feet away from Kitten. I guess Squee didn't even notice her on the couch). She spent a lot of time sniffing a few of the toys that Kitten had just been playing with. She even laid down on some of the toys and fell asleep like that!
When Kitten woke up and Squee saw her come near, she hissed as usual once Kitten came too close, but after a while, she turned away and closed her eyes with Kitten about 3 feet away from her.
Anyway, the first couple days after we got Kitten, Squee refused to come upstairs in the daytime without someone picking her up and bringing her up. That changed last night and now Squee wants upstairs every few hours. She doesn't really try to run from Kitten either - now she will just slowly walk to a different part of a room or around the corner from her. I'm not sure if Squee thinks Kitten is gone when she wants upstairs (she will slowly walk around each room, looking for Kitten before she realizes she's not there) or if she is slowly warming up to the idea of a kitten in the house.
As I write this, Squee is upstairs and doesn't want to go downstairs yet. They were watching each other for a while with Squee growling only once.
So after considering all that, what should we do? Does it seem like Squee is coming to terms with her (after all, it has only been six days) or should we start all over and keep them totally separated for much longer and restart the introduction process?
Thanks in advance!
Since I'm posting this thread, that isn't the case.
We keep them separated for most of the day, with Squee downstairs and Kitten upstairs. Kitten sleeps in my room at night and Squee is allowed upstairs and downstairs from about 11 pm to 8 or 9 am. Squee doesn't have a problem with smelling Kitten's scent - she doesn't even react when she smells her scent - but she just hates when Kitten comes within 3-4 feet of her. When she's watching Kitten from across the house, she will watch cautiously, but she won't get angry (i.e. hissing and quiet growling) until Kitten runs past or slowly walks up to her.
There's been a few exceptions, though:
1) One morning, Kitten was sleeping upstairs. Squee wanted upstairs too, so I let her up, and she walked up to Kitten. Kitten woke up; Squee touched her nose with Kitten's nose before Squee hissed and ran away.
2) The same morning, Kitten walked past Squee and Squee didn't react. They were about a foot or two apart.
3) Squee was sleeping on a bed downstairs. Kitten followed me down and I allowed her to look around since Squee was sleeping and I didn't think there would be a problem. Kitten jumped up on the bed beside Squee. She woke up and watched Kitten without hissing or growling. A few minutes later, Kitten jumped onto the bed again (further away than the first time) and Squee started hissing at her once Kitten started approaching her. Squee stayed in place for a few minutes before she jumped off the bed and walked around the corner.
4) I didn't see this happen, but it happened while I was writing this: Squee was sitting on one of the basement stairs. Kitten came up from behind and sat down beside Squee on the same stair. Squee didn't notice this for about 20 to 30 seconds. When she did turn and notice Kitten, she looked at her for several seconds before she hissed. She stayed on the stair beside Kitten for about a minute before she slowly walked away.
The bed incident happened this afternoon. About an hour after it happened, Kitten was sleeping upstairs on the couch when Squee scratched at the door to be let upstairs. I let her upstairs and Squee spent the next 4 hours walking around, chirping, and rolling around on the floor like any other day (including rolling on the floor about 6 feet away from Kitten. I guess Squee didn't even notice her on the couch). She spent a lot of time sniffing a few of the toys that Kitten had just been playing with. She even laid down on some of the toys and fell asleep like that!
When Kitten woke up and Squee saw her come near, she hissed as usual once Kitten came too close, but after a while, she turned away and closed her eyes with Kitten about 3 feet away from her.
Anyway, the first couple days after we got Kitten, Squee refused to come upstairs in the daytime without someone picking her up and bringing her up. That changed last night and now Squee wants upstairs every few hours. She doesn't really try to run from Kitten either - now she will just slowly walk to a different part of a room or around the corner from her. I'm not sure if Squee thinks Kitten is gone when she wants upstairs (she will slowly walk around each room, looking for Kitten before she realizes she's not there) or if she is slowly warming up to the idea of a kitten in the house.
As I write this, Squee is upstairs and doesn't want to go downstairs yet. They were watching each other for a while with Squee growling only once.
So after considering all that, what should we do? Does it seem like Squee is coming to terms with her (after all, it has only been six days) or should we start all over and keep them totally separated for much longer and restart the introduction process?
Thanks in advance!
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