Bad transition for older cat

navyydragon

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My boyfriend and I have been introducing a new kitten to our seven year old cat for the last week and a half. We keep the little guy in a kennel at night in his own room where the older cat can't get into, and the kitten is not allowed in our bedroom as that is Thora's domain. At first, she would smell around the outside of the door and then go about her business. I figured this was good, since none of her behaviors had changed and she still seemed comfortable knowing another cat was around. Things turned bad when we started bringing him out for short supervised visits. Thora seems interested in him, and cautiously approaches him, but when he gets too close, she will hiss at him and then run away, and things aren't improving. Now, she will follow him around, corner him, and bat at him. We are worried to leave them alone, and I can't think of anything to make this easier except time. If you have any suggestions on how to avoid these aggressive confrontations, please help!
 

hwc

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That doesn't sound that bad, so far. Actually, what you describe sounds like things are going pretty darn well. I'd probably take off the reins a little more.

We introduced a kitty to a 14 year old cat a few years back. It took a while until they quit taking a very wide berth around each other. Early one, we experienced what you seem to be -- where the older cat seems fearful of the kitty. Our older cat would hiss and run in the early going.

It always remained a bit of a sinister relationship as there were stylized behaviors that were hard to interpret. For example, the old cat would lick the bejeezus out of the little kitty. It seemed loving, but I actually think it was more dominatrix type behavior... kind of like marking the whole kitty as his territory.

There was also some very ritualistic chasing play, instigated by both cats. It always seemed to be, "OK, I'll play with you but you just keep in mind that I really don't like you one bit..."

In any case, I don't think that a bit of batting and hissing is at all unusual at this stage. If you can even get them in the same room, you are probably doing OK. I would set your sights on tolerating each other as your baseline goal. If you get more than that, great.

PS: You've got a heck of a good college in your town.
 

clpeters23

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I've introduced many a kitten to an older cat and it's gone pretty much as you described. One good thing about a kitten is they're not typically seen as a "threat" to an adult cat. Kittens are persistant and are usually just interested in playing and should eventually break the resistance of the older cat.
You could also try a Feliway Diffuser too. It may calm things down...
 

stephanietx

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It took well over 6 months for our older cat to even tolerate our newer cat. Then, it took about a year to year and a half for my older cat to return to her normal self after Hannah came along. Be patient. Give your older kitty lots and lots of love and reassurance. Always remove the younger kitty and "stand up" for the older kitty. (It's his territory that's being infringed upon anyway!) Use the Feliway diffusers. They work wonders!
 
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navyydragon

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Originally Posted by Zane's Pal

I considered Grinell for myself; I ended up going to Lawrence, however.
My sister went to Lawrence for a year! I myself did not go to Grinnell, but my boyfriend is an alum.

Thanks for the advice on kitty. I guess I am just anxious for them to be a happy family, Thora (older cat) has had a troubled past, and does not deal well with change, but I love her with all my heart and want her to be happy. New kitten (Eli) is your typical kitten- he does battle with everything in the house.

We have someone coming this weekend to check on them, so I think I will close Eli off in a room with food/water/litter/etc and she can let him out if she wants to babysit for a while.
 

shanynne

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Originally Posted by navyydragon

My boyfriend and I have been introducing a new kitten to our seven year old cat for the last week and a half. We keep the little guy in a kennel at night in his own room where the older cat can't get into, and the kitten is not allowed in our bedroom as that is Thora's domain. At first, she would smell around the outside of the door and then go about her business. I figured this was good, since none of her behaviors had changed and she still seemed comfortable knowing another cat was around. Things turned bad when we started bringing him out for short supervised visits. Thora seems interested in him, and cautiously approaches him, but when he gets too close, she will hiss at him and then run away, and things aren't improving. Now, she will follow him around, corner him, and bat at him. We are worried to leave them alone, and I can't think of anything to make this easier except time. If you have any suggestions on how to avoid these aggressive confrontations, please help!
Aside from its kennel at night, does the kitten have his own safe zone during the day? If not, I would put the kitten in an area where he can be safe from the older cat. Make sure the kitten has his own /food and water and litter box with him in his safe zone. The litter box should be small enough so that the kitten can easily get in and out of it.

Whichever room you decide to put the kitten in, you will need to let him out occasionally so he can have a chance to explore the rest of your house a bit to help him feel at home. When you do this, put Thora in the kitten's area while the kitten is out exploring. This will give Thora a chance to smell the kitten's area and to get used to his smell. When you do this avoid Thora spotting the kitten so there is no confrontation. You may have to do this patiently for about a week.

When you do allow them to see each other, keep the "visits" short and supervised, making it clear to Thora that yes you love her but that you love the baby too. Putting a drop of vanilla on the back of their tails and neck will help tremendously because they will both "smell" the same and this will help them accept each other faster.

If you don't have vanilla you can always give them a very light quick spray with your cologne. It has to be a very very light spray (you don't want their fur getting wet in any way because of the alcohol). Make sure to hold the bottle at least 2 feet away from them, if you do this.

The idea is to get just enough of a scent on them to trick them into thinking they smell the same. Using the vanilla is preferable though and that too just a tiny little drop.

You also mentioned that you are keeping the kitten out of your bedroom because it's Thora's domain. This is fine temporarily, but it can't become a permanent situation as this can cause division between them. In time one of the two will become the "alpha" cat and they will sort things out between themselves. You can't interfere with that and you can't restrict one but not the other.
 
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