I have an established kitten, he is 6 months old, neutered we named him Houdini. He is a playful cat but he only likes to be touched or petted on his terms. He has been with us for 4 months and overall he is well behaved.
Six days ago we got our second kitten, he is a beautiful little 8 week old Bengal cross and we named him Zoro.
(see below for pictures of them both)
I did a lot of research on introducing a new cat cats and I thought Zoro would work mesh well with Houdini. It turns out that Zoro may be a little too playful. He jumps around a lot and I can tell that Houdini is put off by Zoro's boisterous nature. So now I do supervised visits only when Zoro is sleepy so he is less likely to jump on Houdini and freak him out.
Below is the procedure me and my girlfriend took, please read it if you have the time. I think we did well...
Day 1 to 2: I closed off the room Houdini uses least and I isolated Zoro in there. During this period I would stroke Zoro with a sock and let Houdini smell the sock. He showed no aggression towards the kittens smell (I heard some cats show aggression just at scent). I also let Zoro smell Houdinis scent.
Day 3 to 4: I put up a wooden barrier at the door separating Zoros room from the rest of the house. This way both of them could hear and smell each other but not see each other directly.
Day 5: I put up a baby fence in place of the wooden barrier so they could now see each other. Apart from about 3-4 hisses initially from Houdini this went very well. Houdini stopped hissing and relaxed. He seemed slightly putt-off but overall he was his old self.
Day 6: Yesterday was day 6, I allowed a supervised visit. Things did not get out of hand at all. There was no growling, hissing or spitting. Houdini is not even arching his back and his hackles are not raised.
There is however a problem. Houdini will take random swipes at Zoro. I cannot tell if Houdini is trying to hurt or just play. It seems like his claws are tucked in and there is no hissing accompanying the swipe. It almost seems like he is just playing around as I would think cats do.
I am lost here because the guides say if aggression is shown spray with a water bottle and make a lot of noise. However, I do not want to spray Houdini if he is just playing. How can I tell if he is swiping to cause damage or swiping just to play? (swiping might be the wrong word as it doesn't look like Houdinis claws are out)
Also what should I do right now? The guides do not give much detail on what to do from this point. Should I continue with supervised visits?
Please help I am really unsure and I would sooner give Zoro away to another family then have any harm come to him.
Zoro
Houdini
Six days ago we got our second kitten, he is a beautiful little 8 week old Bengal cross and we named him Zoro.
(see below for pictures of them both)
I did a lot of research on introducing a new cat cats and I thought Zoro would work mesh well with Houdini. It turns out that Zoro may be a little too playful. He jumps around a lot and I can tell that Houdini is put off by Zoro's boisterous nature. So now I do supervised visits only when Zoro is sleepy so he is less likely to jump on Houdini and freak him out.
Below is the procedure me and my girlfriend took, please read it if you have the time. I think we did well...
Day 1 to 2: I closed off the room Houdini uses least and I isolated Zoro in there. During this period I would stroke Zoro with a sock and let Houdini smell the sock. He showed no aggression towards the kittens smell (I heard some cats show aggression just at scent). I also let Zoro smell Houdinis scent.
Day 3 to 4: I put up a wooden barrier at the door separating Zoros room from the rest of the house. This way both of them could hear and smell each other but not see each other directly.
Day 5: I put up a baby fence in place of the wooden barrier so they could now see each other. Apart from about 3-4 hisses initially from Houdini this went very well. Houdini stopped hissing and relaxed. He seemed slightly putt-off but overall he was his old self.
Day 6: Yesterday was day 6, I allowed a supervised visit. Things did not get out of hand at all. There was no growling, hissing or spitting. Houdini is not even arching his back and his hackles are not raised.
There is however a problem. Houdini will take random swipes at Zoro. I cannot tell if Houdini is trying to hurt or just play. It seems like his claws are tucked in and there is no hissing accompanying the swipe. It almost seems like he is just playing around as I would think cats do.
I am lost here because the guides say if aggression is shown spray with a water bottle and make a lot of noise. However, I do not want to spray Houdini if he is just playing. How can I tell if he is swiping to cause damage or swiping just to play? (swiping might be the wrong word as it doesn't look like Houdinis claws are out)
Also what should I do right now? The guides do not give much detail on what to do from this point. Should I continue with supervised visits?
Please help I am really unsure and I would sooner give Zoro away to another family then have any harm come to him.
Zoro
Houdini
