Considering Adding New Kitten--Question About Resident Cat's Behavior

curiouscat

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My husband and I have a 6-year-old cat, Ansel. We are seriously considering adopting another kitten. The only room we have in our house to designate as the kitten's room for the introductory period is our spare bedroom.

Ansel is a very Curious Cat.
He is not too timid, and he's pretty persistent. What is the likelihood that he would approach the closed spare room door and determinedly try to get into the room where he knows the new cat is? We are a little concerned that he will scratch the carpet or the door to the point of major damage. Is this possible, or is it more likely that he will stay well away, out of wariness?

If it is possible, what would you recommend to prevent the situation? I don't want to give the impression that we value our carpet higher than our cat(s), but we'd just like to take steps to avoid this if we can.
 

goldenkitty45

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I don't think he would scratch the door/rug all that much, but he will be curious. Males usually accept a new cat/kitten a lot quicker then females, so you shouldn't have too many problems.

I would sprinkle some corn starch baby powder on both cats and rub it in to smell the same.

On face to face meetings (after a few days), put a dab of vanilla extract on their noses. Expect hissing and maybe a little growling, but they soon should be friends.

Until they get along, do no let them together unsupervised.

Post pictures of your cats when you can - we love seeing pics
 

epona

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When we got Sonic and had him in the bedroom, Radar didn't scratch up the carpet too much he mostly rolled around on the floor making trilling noises. Sonic however did some serious damage to the bedroom carpet by the door (it was the only decent carpet in the house!
) so I would say that it is a possibility.

The best thing I can suggest is to get some offcuts of carpet and use them upside down as mats either side of the doorway during the transition period, they make good scratch mats in any case.
 
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curiouscat

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Thank you both for your suggestions. We also thought of using those plastic chair mats or hallway runners, and a Google search shows me that other people have done this before. That may do the trick.

I'm just so nervous about the prospect of disrupting our "domestic bliss". I've read many posts and articles (including the one on this site) about introducing cats, but I'm so worried it will go wrong and everyone will be unhappy.
 
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curiouscat

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P.S. This is our Ansel. He is a "big boy"--about 16 lbs. Athletic, though, not overweight.
 
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