Introducing two cats

Hi guys,
My resident cat Tinkerbell is an 8month old persian cross, she is usually really fun, carefree and playfull,
Today we picked up Daisy, our new 8week old persian cross kitten,
I was unaware of the correct process of introduction and introduced tinkerbell to daisy straight away which i know now from reading the behaviour link that I shouldnt have done, i know now I should have separated them and introduced slowly with scent,
Daisy had settled in straight away, eating drinking sleeping using her litter tray, Tink on the other hand is having real "only cat syndrome" issues and is constantly following Daisy and not letting her out of her sight, she is occationally hissing and keeps hitting her with the flat of her paw,
I really need some advice on how to restore the harmony in the house and how to help the become best of friends.
Many thanks

Kittens are pretty forgiving. At that age, the introduction process isn't likely to be too bad or last very long. If you feel like they're actually fighting and at risk of hurting each other, separate them in different rooms for a few hours. Otherwise, I'd just keep an eye on them and see how things develop.

works for me is a screen door. I realize not everyone is willing to do this,but I have an extra bedroom. I hung a cheap wood screen door and left about 2-3 inches at the bottom open. Cats could see eachother, but were unable to touch except through the bottom. Fed them on each side of the door and soon was able to open it without any problems. Works great.

Thanks for your suggestions, its now day their third day together and things have got better, Tinks is leaving daisy (the new one) alone more and when they do interact its more playing as Daisy is giving as good as she gets now eg chasing Tinks tail ect eventhough Tink can still be a bit rough and knocks Daisy over at times, if it gets too rough I seperate them for a short while.

They are eating dinner side by side with no probs and they even travelled in the same cat carrier today when we went to my mums and they were fine, in fact Tink usually meows while travelling and she was perfectly quiet with Daisy in there with her ( think she may have been putting on a brave face so she didnt look like a scardy cat in front of Daisy haha)
Will keep you posted on their progress xx

For me this behavour day 1 sounds quite normal - ie rather good. No need of elaborate isolations... You see yourself day 3 is everything perfect OK.

But one word of warning: Dont cuddle too much with the little one when the resident is looking on. She may get jelaous and give the little one a very needed lesson...


Although with grown up cats, where you arent sure they are friendly or cat-social - ie you suspect they will be unfriendly - yes, I would too recommend precautions.


But normally, with normally friendly cats, a standard procedure may be:

Take away the residents from the room.
Let in the newcomer in that room. Give him time to adapt, search the room etc. Feel safe in there. One hour may be enough, or more if you think it is necessary.
Take the newcomer back in his transport carrier. Let the resident in.
After awhile, if there is no more hissing than some "by duty", you open the carrier, observe and await...
The newcomer comes out when he wants, etc.

We did so with our studs and their visiting ladies. We did never had any troubles, not even with the ladies who werent in heat.(the heat often pauses when under transport).

The ladies could hiss and swing with paws as part of the courting foreplay, but there was never any issues resident - newcomer in the revire.
None of the cats get ever scratched.


Much joy of your new furry friend!

Thanks again for the advice,
I think I may have spoke too soon on day three though! Today is day4 and thay have got into a routine of playing and chasing together for a clouple of minutes and then Tink (8month resident cat) uses an elaborate wresling move and pins the kitten down and bites her leg or neck until the little one yelps.

im not sure weather to leave them to it and hope it calms down or disciplin Tink by closing her in another room for a while, Ive tried both options and thing calm down for an hour or two until they start playing again and Tinks gets carried away again!!!

Originally Posted by danielle177

Tink (8month resident cat) uses an elaborate wresling move and pins the kitten down and bites her leg or neck until the little one yelps.

im not sure weather to leave them to it and hope it calms down or disciplin Tink by closing her in another room for a while, Ive tried both options and thing calm down for an hour or two until they start playing again and Tinks gets carried away again!!!

Click to expand...

ah, this is something else! It is a dominance thing, Tink teaching who is the master cat here. Very typical. They can even be more rough than that.

good you keep a watchful eye, but it is going all right along all the regulamins and rules.
You dont need to disciplin Tink, or even isolate them, as long as Tink doesnt overdo this.

Thanks again for the advice, to update, today is day 8 in the Tink and Daisy household lol, Tink still had mad half hours where she persists in pinning Daisy down, kicking her with her back legs and biting her but these episodes have become less over the past couple of days. Then when that mad half hour is over they are happy to play nicely eg hide & seek, chasing, swing ball with the danggly scrtch post toy ect, Yesterday Tink finished grooming herself and then went to Daisy's basket and started to groom her-bless her, but daisy thought it was another game and grabbed Tink round the head!
Think Daisy may be anoying Tink at times though coz she wants to comtinue their games even when Tink is in her litter tray or eating, in which case i just seperate them for a short while and let Tink use her litter tray or eat in piece, I left them together on their own for a short while yesterday and my house wasnt wrecked when I came back so it must be a good sign haha!!

Sounds like it's going well. They will be fine.

Wonderful!


Some of the teaching lessons may also be a mix with wrestling matches.

Ie, wrestling matches can often be quite rough. Or in any case, appear to be quite rough.
It is sometimes not easy to see if they are wrestling or fighting for real (teaching real hard).

But if you some time do see a REAL cat fight - then you will know the difference between a real fight and a hard wrestling match...