The New Kitten

Hi everyone. My wife and I have 2 cats currently, one about 2.5 years (unsure since she was a rescue) and the other 1.5 years old. A few days ago we introduced a kitten into the house with some not so good results. We both work and do not have the time to do separate them as the new kitten would be alone much too often for our tastes. Plus, we had no issue introducing the other two cats to each other so felt it would work again.

Well, obviously since I'm asking for advice, it did not work out well. The kitten is agressive towards the oldest, and the 1.5 year old is aggressive towards the kitten. Also, the 1.5 year old who had "adopted" my wife as her human will now walk away and become out of reach of my wife when she goes to give her affection . I'd appreciate it if anyone has some ideas that may help out or experience with this kind of thing. It's been 4 days of this fighting and ignoring and my wife and I are heartbroken over the effect this little one is having on our usually loving felines.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Malkyn

We both work and do not have the time to do separate them as the new kitten would be alone much too often for our tastes. Plus, we had no issue introducing the other two cats to each other so felt it would work again.

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Isolate the kitten and let some semblance of normalcy return for your 2 resident cats. I'm sorry that the kitten would be alone for so long and I wished that it didn't have to be that way, but it will be a lot better for everyone long term.

Once peace and harmony has returned somewhat, do a slow introduction of your alpha cat to the kitten (from your brief description, that might be the 1.5 y/o). Here's a link to introducing cats (many more on google): http://www.thecatsite.com/Behavior/4...cing-Cats.html

It is really tough to isolate a very young kitten alone for long periods of time, but it's a lot safer for the youngster to be alone while you're not there working on the introduction. Go as slow as it takes. Give a lot of love to your current cats. When my husband and I were introducing our newbie, one of us would stay with the resident cat while the other would bond with the new cat.

First things first - isolate that kitten!

How old is the kitten and is he/she neutered/spayed? I agree to separate the cats and supervise and slowly introduce them when you are home.

Also you can:

1. Wash all the cats in the same shampoo.

2. Sprinkle all the cats with cornstarch baby powder.

3. Put a dab of vanilla extract on their noses.

All of the above would make them all smell the same to each other.


BTW what sex is the new kitten? Resident females take a lot longer to accept new cats/kittens then resident males.