New Kitty V. Old Mama

navyydragon

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 11, 2008
Messages
8
Purraise
0
Location
Grinnell, Iowa
My boyfriend and I have been talking about introducing a new cat into our home for a while. I have a 7 year old female cat who went through some trauma at the hands of my father when she was about 4 years old, and has since then been rescued by me and remains a little neurotic. She loves me, but is very wary of new people and sudden movements. I decided it would be good for her to have another companion, since we are not home much due to work.

As luck would have it, we were at our local farmer's market, and a family was giving away a litter of kittens. We bonded right away with a little grey 7 1/2 week old male, and took him home. He has been in our apartment in his own closed off room for 4 days now, and my Mama cat seems to be okay with his presence. We have a vet appointment for him on Wed. and after that we plan to let him out into the apartment for short supervised visits. Our concern is this: He is not neutered yet, and I don't want him spraying all over. I plan on checking with the vet and doing this ASAP. He has, however, been peeing (NOT spraying) in the same spot in his room as well as using the litter box.

Should I do additional litter box training with him before we introduce him to the rest of his world? And what is the best way to go about breaking this bad habit?
 

luvmyfurbabys

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 18, 2004
Messages
642
Purraise
1
Location
VT
Originally Posted by navyydragon

My boyfriend and I have been talking about introducing a new cat into our home for a while. I have a 7 year old female cat who went through some trauma at the hands of my father when she was about 4 years old, and has since then been rescued by me and remains a little neurotic. She loves me, but is very wary of new people and sudden movements. I decided it would be good for her to have another companion, since we are not home much due to work.

As luck would have it, we were at our local farmer's market, and a family was giving away a litter of kittens. We bonded right away with a little grey 7 1/2 week old male, and took him home. He has been in our apartment in his own closed off room for 4 days now, and my Mama cat seems to be okay with his presence. We have a vet appointment for him on Wed. and after that we plan to let him out into the apartment for short supervised visits. Our concern is this: He is not neutered yet, and I don't want him spraying all over. I plan on checking with the vet and doing this ASAP. He has, however, been peeing (NOT spraying) in the same spot in his room as well as using the litter box.

Should I do additional litter box training with him before we introduce him to the rest of his world? And what is the best way to go about breaking this bad habit?
I'm not sure how to stop his peeing issue but I wanted you to know even a neutered male can spray. sorry I cant be more help someone else will come along who will know the asnwer.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

navyydragon

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 11, 2008
Messages
8
Purraise
0
Location
Grinnell, Iowa
well, I think we will just see what happens with the male cat. I have quite a bit of experience with cats, and had a male cat as a child... he didn't have many problems urinating, but occasionally peed in our shoes, but that was when he was old and had been diagnosed with feline leukemia for years. I'm mostly concerned about introducing the two cats, if anyone has any great advice about that. I realize it is totally dependent on the two cats, but all insight is appreciated!
 

mews2much

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 19, 2007
Messages
13,424
Purraise
27
Location
Central Valley,California
My Yoshi was Pts last Jan from Kidney Stones and they think Fip. I was not going to get rid of him no matter what. I can help you with the kitten. Put the kitten in the carrier at first and let them sniff each other. Then you can try doing it in the bathroom. I would watch them though. I do it a little differant with my 16 and 8 year old Cats because they except other cats the same day. It will take time but they could become good friend. He might try to nurse on your older Cat since he is so young. Mine were 3 months when I got them and they tried to nurse on Coco.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

navyydragon

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 11, 2008
Messages
8
Purraise
0
Location
Grinnell, Iowa
We had my cat, Smokey, the one with Feline leukemia, for 6 years after he was diagnosed. He had a chronic cold, but we always gave him love. He will always be in my heart
I will def. try keeping Eli in the kennel and letting Thora smell him before we let him out into the apartment. He is very loud, and I know she knows he is there, also, she has been sniffing around the door to the room where he is, and seems to be fine with that, I just dont know how she will react face-to-face with a new housemate. thanks for the advice!
 

mrblanche

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
12,578
Purraise
119
Location
Texas
The kitten is way too young to start spraying. That won't come until they're more like 4 months old, and that's plenty of time to get him neutered. And he may have been a "barn cat," used to urinating wherever he wanted to. It may just take some time for him to catch on to the litter box.

As to the introductions to the older cat, most older cats have less problem with a kitten than another adult cat. They don't see it so much as a violation of their territory, and they are usually pretty tolerant of the rambunctious attitude of the kittens. Also, they don't feel physically threatened.
 

ilovestripey

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 11, 2008
Messages
24
Purraise
1
Location
i live in the southeastern usa
contrary to what some of these people are saying you should not neuter him before like 8 months of age...he wont spray until he matures which is about 9 months of age...and if you neuter him before then it can contribute to urinary problems...especially if you feed him a great deal of dry food...so ahving him neutrered shoudl only be done once his urinary passages have reached full length and width or he might have a blockage later on in life
 

mrblanche

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
12,578
Purraise
119
Location
Texas
I would say consult your vet. We regularly have 6-month old sprayers at our shelter, and females with litters as young as 5 months.
 

robertm

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Messages
452
Purraise
3
Originally Posted by ilovestripey

contrary to what some of these people are saying you should not neuter him before like 8 months of age...he wont spray until he matures which is about 9 months of age...and if you neuter him before then it can contribute to urinary problems...especially if you feed him a great deal of dry food...so ahving him neutrered shoudl only be done once his urinary passages have reached full length and width or he might have a blockage later on in life
Kindly provide sources supporting your statements regarding spraying and post-neuter urinary problems. Because they run contrary to everything that I (and, I would expect, most others) have ever read, both on this site and elsewhere.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

navyydragon

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 11, 2008
Messages
8
Purraise
0
Location
Grinnell, Iowa
I went to see the vet today, and he said I could have the kitten neutered as soon as 14 weeks.
 
Top