hi everyone,
I just adopted a new 8 week old female kitten last evening. I already have a 7-8 month old neutered male that I adopted in July '07. When I picked up my new kitten last night I was told not to worry about introducing the cats and I didn't have to seperate them or anything. I have been researching today and it seems that I was given false info. So last night I brought the new kitten (Mia) home and let her out of her crate. She is not shy at all and wanted to explore and play immediately. My other cat (Ty) was very interested and came right over. He hissed only once right away and he looked almost scared of her for a bit. She pretty much ignored him and explored. I fed them both in seperate dishes right next to each other. Mia ate right away and Ti sniffed her and joined in eating pretty quickly. I thought this was great. But after eating Ty started swating at her and running up to her and pouncing on her. He would not take his eyes off her and stalked her everywhere she went. Sometimes he would sniff her and they'd touch noses, then sometimes he'd run up to her and pounce and swat. He wouldn't hiss tho. She could care less about his swating and continued exploring and playing. Once or twice he pounced and bit her and she yelped and I yelled and broke it up. I did not know better and I scolded Ty when he attacked her. She also used his litter box and he didn't seem to like that, but he wined a bit then used the box himself. It is very hard to seperate them because I live in a one bedroom apartment with my fiance. But last night I locked Ty in the bedroom with us and the new kitty got free roam of the rest of the house. She really likes attention and is very affectionate and friendly so she cried for awhile when we shut her out. Ty would make noise and cry back like he really wanted to see her more. Today when I got up I let them see each other and Ty did start with the swatting and wrestling/biting. The weird part is on the last attack from Ty I ran over and picked up Mia and she was purring. It's almost like he's playing - like she's a toy to him, but it seems too rough for the tiny kitty. He's 8 lbs and she's teenie. I set up Mia in the bathroom with food and her own litter box and bed and fed them both seperately and they ate. I locked Mia in the bathroom and went to work, where I still am for the next few hours. I am sorry this is so long but I am just really concerned that I handled it wrong last night and this morning and really really want my kitties to get along. What should I do when I get home??
Thank you so so much - Sasha
I just adopted a new 8 week old female kitten last evening. I already have a 7-8 month old neutered male that I adopted in July '07. When I picked up my new kitten last night I was told not to worry about introducing the cats and I didn't have to seperate them or anything. I have been researching today and it seems that I was given false info. So last night I brought the new kitten (Mia) home and let her out of her crate. She is not shy at all and wanted to explore and play immediately. My other cat (Ty) was very interested and came right over. He hissed only once right away and he looked almost scared of her for a bit. She pretty much ignored him and explored. I fed them both in seperate dishes right next to each other. Mia ate right away and Ti sniffed her and joined in eating pretty quickly. I thought this was great. But after eating Ty started swating at her and running up to her and pouncing on her. He would not take his eyes off her and stalked her everywhere she went. Sometimes he would sniff her and they'd touch noses, then sometimes he'd run up to her and pounce and swat. He wouldn't hiss tho. She could care less about his swating and continued exploring and playing. Once or twice he pounced and bit her and she yelped and I yelled and broke it up. I did not know better and I scolded Ty when he attacked her. She also used his litter box and he didn't seem to like that, but he wined a bit then used the box himself. It is very hard to seperate them because I live in a one bedroom apartment with my fiance. But last night I locked Ty in the bedroom with us and the new kitty got free roam of the rest of the house. She really likes attention and is very affectionate and friendly so she cried for awhile when we shut her out. Ty would make noise and cry back like he really wanted to see her more. Today when I got up I let them see each other and Ty did start with the swatting and wrestling/biting. The weird part is on the last attack from Ty I ran over and picked up Mia and she was purring. It's almost like he's playing - like she's a toy to him, but it seems too rough for the tiny kitty. He's 8 lbs and she's teenie. I set up Mia in the bathroom with food and her own litter box and bed and fed them both seperately and they ate. I locked Mia in the bathroom and went to work, where I still am for the next few hours. I am sorry this is so long but I am just really concerned that I handled it wrong last night and this morning and really really want my kitties to get along. What should I do when I get home??
Thank you so so much - Sasha
Does she not like him doing that or does she try to play with him back? When you get home, go into a room and shut the door with them and let them get to know eachother but don't force them onto eachother, and if it gets to rowdy then break it up and tell the older cat "no no!" if he starts it. But don't shun him out, be sure to show him that he is still very important to you.
