Hi There!

dixiebelle

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Hey hey! I'm Dixie! I'm 32 yrs old, from Louisiana, and happily married to my very 1st boyfriend (when i was 13)

19 years later we found eachother again, and got married! Sweet huh?


Anyway, we have 1 beautiful smoky grey cat that we adopted almost a year ago, he is the sweetest! His name is "Kit Kat. " We also have a toy poodle named "Baby dog"....LOL, the kids named them.

And about a week ago, a stray kitten showed up at my door. We've been feeding her, and she is just the sweetest, most precious kitten ever....SOLID WHITE...Just beautiful! She looks about maybe 10 weeks old, and isn't scared of people at ALL! We hold her, and she purrrrs verrry LOUD! LOL

Anyway, when we come inside after playing with her, our cat HISSES at us (he has NEVER...EVER....Not ONCE done this to us....so now i'm kinda scared (I was going to bring the kitten to the vet, get her shots, and de-flea her and bring her inside too, but now I don't know....I'm kinda scared to now, since our cat acted out like that.......

HELP Please, what do i do? Leave her outside, or go to the vet, then bring her in? I don't know WHAT to do.......

any suggestions?
 

coolcat

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Hola y bienvenido a TCS, ...Catulina
y Milky
te saludan!!!
........

(Translate: Hi and Welcome to TCS, Catulina and Milky say hello to you!!!...
)
should to be have lots of patience and try to introduce slow down to each others....

See you on the forums!
 

pintameez

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You need to help them accept one another, there are a few different things you can do to get your Old cat to accept the New Kitten easier.

Put New Kitten into the bathroom or a bed room with her own litter box and food and toys and such, with the door shut between Old and New. Make sure this is not Old Cat's most favorite room, or the only room he usually has his box/food/nap time in, or anything like that, try to pick a "neutral" room.

Old & New may try to get at one another under the door, hiss/spit/fight/growl, that's fine, let them do it. Old Cat will need to assert his dominance and territorialism over New. Keeping the door shut between them is a way of ensuring safety for all while this "testing" phase happens.

Take New out several times a day and play with her in an open room where Old can come and watch but not feel cornered at all. Keep them away from one another bt let Old check the New kitten out.

NEVER scold Old Cat for speaking up against the kitten, let him be assertive, let him speak to the kitten in his own 'words'. If he gets in touble every time the kitten is nearby, he will associate that with the prescence of the kitten and will never accept her. You need to accept that they have their own language and their own ranking system, and let them figure it out.

In my experience, it doesn't take more than a few days for the new kitty to be froaming free throughout the house after the initial 'lock-down phase'. With the door shut between them, they cannot do any harm, but they get used to one another's scent slowly. It will also help to give New Kitten a towel or blanket to sleep on that first night, and then exchange it for one of the Old Cat's blankets, swap them, so each cat can smell the other on an item. When you give the Kitten blanket to Old Cat, praise and pet him, act like it's a good and exciting thing for him to smell the New kitten. Even if he growls or hisses. Ignore it, continue acting like all is well and happy.

Monitor New & Old when they are loose together, of course, for the first couple weeks, to ensure that they are adjusting. Remember that Old Cat lived there first and has the right to protect his home from invaders (as he sees it). He will act out and he is within his rights to do so. Do not encourage him to be violent towards the New kitten but also do not scold him for wacking her once in a while, either, he needs to establish the pecking order, this is the natural way of things.

Feed them separately at first, but gradually closer together (one in each room for a week, then move the new kitten's food closer to Old Cat's usual eating place). Do not alter the routine of Old Cat at all, if you can help it. Same feeding times, same sleeping arrangements, same diet, same everything if you can.

Remember, at least one litterbox per cat in your household. Some cats prefer one box for poop and another for pee, some cats use the downstairs box in morning and the upstairs box at night - they all have their routine and are creatures of habit, if you change the litterbox situation and the cat doesn't like it, you will be sorry.

I believe that with the right amount of preparation and patience and adjustments, any new animal can come to live with any original animal ... cats, dogs, etc.

Good luck! And good for you, taking in a stray who needed a family! It'll be worth it!
 

tierre0

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Hello and Welcome.

A vet's visit for the stray is a must before you bring her inside. You need to make sure she is healthy and doesn't have anything your other kitty may catch.

Introducing them may take a little time but I am sure they will get use to each before you know it.
 

xocats

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Hi Dixie,

Welcome to our community of caring people who love cats. You might want to start a thread about your sweetie's introduction issues in TCS's Behavior Forum.

As you learn your way around our site, if you have questions, click on my username, send a Private Message, I will do what I can to help. Please make yourself at home.

 

addiebee

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Originally Posted by PintaMeez

You need to help them accept one another, there are a few different things you can do to get your Old cat to accept the New Kitten easier.

Put New Kitten into the bathroom or a bed room with her own litter box and food and toys and such, with the door shut between Old and New. Make sure this is not Old Cat's most favorite room, or the only room he usually has his box/food/nap time in, or anything like that, try to pick a "neutral" room.

Old & New may try to get at one another under the door, hiss/spit/fight/growl, that's fine, let them do it. Old Cat will need to assert his dominance and territorialism over New. Keeping the door shut between them is a way of ensuring safety for all while this "testing" phase happens.

Take New out several times a day and play with her in an open room where Old can come and watch but not feel cornered at all. Keep them away from one another bt let Old check the New kitten out.

NEVER scold Old Cat for speaking up against the kitten, let him be assertive, let him speak to the kitten in his own 'words'. If he gets in touble every time the kitten is nearby, he will associate that with the prescence of the kitten and will never accept her. You need to accept that they have their own language and their own ranking system, and let them figure it out.

In my experience, it doesn't take more than a few days for the new kitty to be froaming free throughout the house after the initial 'lock-down phase'. With the door shut between them, they cannot do any harm, but they get used to one another's scent slowly. It will also help to give New Kitten a towel or blanket to sleep on that first night, and then exchange it for one of the Old Cat's blankets, swap them, so each cat can smell the other on an item. When you give the Kitten blanket to Old Cat, praise and pet him, act like it's a good and exciting thing for him to smell the New kitten. Even if he growls or hisses. Ignore it, continue acting like all is well and happy.

Monitor New & Old when they are loose together, of course, for the first couple weeks, to ensure that they are adjusting. Remember that Old Cat lived there first and has the right to protect his home from invaders (as he sees it). He will act out and he is within his rights to do so. Do not encourage him to be violent towards the New kitten but also do not scold him for wacking her once in a while, either, he needs to establish the pecking order, this is the natural way of things.

Feed them separately at first, but gradually closer together (one in each room for a week, then move the new kitten's food closer to Old Cat's usual eating place). Do not alter the routine of Old Cat at all, if you can help it. Same feeding times, same sleeping arrangements, same diet, same everything if you can.

Remember, at least one litterbox per cat in your household. Some cats prefer one box for poop and another for pee, some cats use the downstairs box in morning and the upstairs box at night - they all have their routine and are creatures of habit, if you change the litterbox situation and the cat doesn't like it, you will be sorry.

I believe that with the right amount of preparation and patience and adjustments, any new animal can come to live with any original animal ... cats, dogs, etc.

Good luck! And good for you, taking in a stray who needed a family! It'll be worth it!
Well explained, excellent advice.
 

kluchetta

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I think I've also heard of feeding both cats on either side of the door, so they associate good things (food) with the other cat's scent..
 

babygirl

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Hi and welcome to TCS!
We are so glad you have joined us!

If I can help you with any questions you have about the site, please click on my username and send me a message.
 
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