I got a new, 10-week/11-week-old kitten a week ago from a coworker, and I was also waiting on another kitten from another coworker. They're adorable little things. I wanted to get 2 kittens so that my resident cat (Amadeus, a 2-or-3-year-old mellow, loving, lean, mean, 13-pound purring machine) would not be pestered with a little kitty pestering him at all hours of day and night.
Temperance settled in wonderfully. She preferred to cuddle in my lap, rather than do silly, totally unnecessary things like explore her new surroundings. (Hah.) She loves her mommy, and even resident kitty Amadeus has slowly warmed up to her, in a kind of "I box your ears if you pounce my tail and I generally ignore you" kind of way. He even shoves his way into my bedroom because he likes being in there, and doesn't mind her presence. And it hadn't even been a week! Tempe learned quickly to fall on her side and look innocent and as nonthreatening as possible after pouncing tails.
Now, with the two kitties doing well, I get the news that baby #2 (D'Artagnan) was ready for his new home. I picked him up Tuesday evening and brought him home... and made the mistake of "Oh, they're kittens, they'll get along soon." I put him in the medium-sized dog crate I have, in Tempe's room. She was fine at first -- "Ooh, a smelly thing my size that won't box my ears, how interesting, OH LOOK A TOY *dashes off*" -- but didn't really seem too terribly enthused about the addition, never mind that she loved playing with another kitty at the foster home holding her for a week. Meh.
Eventually I let him out, and of course, he wanted to say hi to his new sister. Being an only kitten (the rest of his litter died... sad...), I was expecting him to be the one with issues. Nope. Tempe decided she didn't want him near her and started hissing. Hissing eventually escalated to growling when he was near her litter box. Then she just started hissing and growling whenever he came near.
I separated D'Artagnan into the crate and left Tempe roaming in the room, and had to leave for a sleep study that was moved up by 2 weeks. Gah. Stupid idea. Shoulda cancelled. Didn't, obviously. Oh well. And the bathroom was just too hot/humid to leave the new kitty in that night. No central air.
Anyway, I get home at 6 a.m. and Tempe still isn't fond of D'Artagnan. She ignores him for the most part, but when she gets near his cage, she gets all hissy if he tries to say hi. Blah. I set up the bathroom for D'Artagnan, who is pretty happy -- he likes Tempe, he likes the new place, he likes everything. He's not intimidated by hissing or growling whatsoever. (Why are you hissing? I wanna play! Let me paw you!) Boo... I left him in there for the day and most of the night. I went down to Petsmart and got a feliway diffuser and put it in Tempe's room.
Late last night/early this morning, I put the two kittens in carriers and set them side by side. They were fine for a while... until I moved them so they could kind of see each other, and Tempe started directing all her attention to D'Artagnan's carrier and kept growling. D'Artagnan remained unfazed, playing with toys inside his carrier.
I separated them again and went to bed, but not before I got to see Amadeus "playing" with Tempe... generally following her around, etc. Tempe doesn't know what to do becuase she's used to getting her ears boxed whenever she pounces his tail, LOL. It was cute, though. Both cats seemed to be enjoying themselves. But anyway, this isn't about Amadeus at all, who is actually handling everything wonderfully. But he's so wonderful I have to talk about him. B'awwww, Amadeus.
ANYWAY. I'm not sure if Tempe's showing aggression or trying to assert dominance with her new sibling. I was told that young kittens "usually" only took a couple hours or less to become friendly. Obviously not the case here. I'm at a loss of what to do, and I don't want to rehome D'Artagnan, which would obviously be the "easy" way out. I want all three cats to get along! Especially the two kitties, who can play with each other.
hewpppppppppp?
Temperance settled in wonderfully. She preferred to cuddle in my lap, rather than do silly, totally unnecessary things like explore her new surroundings. (Hah.) She loves her mommy, and even resident kitty Amadeus has slowly warmed up to her, in a kind of "I box your ears if you pounce my tail and I generally ignore you" kind of way. He even shoves his way into my bedroom because he likes being in there, and doesn't mind her presence. And it hadn't even been a week! Tempe learned quickly to fall on her side and look innocent and as nonthreatening as possible after pouncing tails.
Now, with the two kitties doing well, I get the news that baby #2 (D'Artagnan) was ready for his new home. I picked him up Tuesday evening and brought him home... and made the mistake of "Oh, they're kittens, they'll get along soon." I put him in the medium-sized dog crate I have, in Tempe's room. She was fine at first -- "Ooh, a smelly thing my size that won't box my ears, how interesting, OH LOOK A TOY *dashes off*" -- but didn't really seem too terribly enthused about the addition, never mind that she loved playing with another kitty at the foster home holding her for a week. Meh.
Eventually I let him out, and of course, he wanted to say hi to his new sister. Being an only kitten (the rest of his litter died... sad...), I was expecting him to be the one with issues. Nope. Tempe decided she didn't want him near her and started hissing. Hissing eventually escalated to growling when he was near her litter box. Then she just started hissing and growling whenever he came near.
I separated D'Artagnan into the crate and left Tempe roaming in the room, and had to leave for a sleep study that was moved up by 2 weeks. Gah. Stupid idea. Shoulda cancelled. Didn't, obviously. Oh well. And the bathroom was just too hot/humid to leave the new kitty in that night. No central air.
Anyway, I get home at 6 a.m. and Tempe still isn't fond of D'Artagnan. She ignores him for the most part, but when she gets near his cage, she gets all hissy if he tries to say hi. Blah. I set up the bathroom for D'Artagnan, who is pretty happy -- he likes Tempe, he likes the new place, he likes everything. He's not intimidated by hissing or growling whatsoever. (Why are you hissing? I wanna play! Let me paw you!) Boo... I left him in there for the day and most of the night. I went down to Petsmart and got a feliway diffuser and put it in Tempe's room.
Late last night/early this morning, I put the two kittens in carriers and set them side by side. They were fine for a while... until I moved them so they could kind of see each other, and Tempe started directing all her attention to D'Artagnan's carrier and kept growling. D'Artagnan remained unfazed, playing with toys inside his carrier.
I separated them again and went to bed, but not before I got to see Amadeus "playing" with Tempe... generally following her around, etc. Tempe doesn't know what to do becuase she's used to getting her ears boxed whenever she pounces his tail, LOL. It was cute, though. Both cats seemed to be enjoying themselves. But anyway, this isn't about Amadeus at all, who is actually handling everything wonderfully. But he's so wonderful I have to talk about him. B'awwww, Amadeus.
ANYWAY. I'm not sure if Tempe's showing aggression or trying to assert dominance with her new sibling. I was told that young kittens "usually" only took a couple hours or less to become friendly. Obviously not the case here. I'm at a loss of what to do, and I don't want to rehome D'Artagnan, which would obviously be the "easy" way out. I want all three cats to get along! Especially the two kitties, who can play with each other.
hewpppppppppp?
