Can I reintroduce my cats?

I have two cats, and 1 kitten. Zac, my kitten, has been with the household for about 6 weeks now. The 1st 4 were rather tough on him, because he was in poor health, and I kept him seperated from the rest of the family. He gets very lonely without company. He has been free to roam the house for the last 2 weeks.

This has made him very happy, but is becoming a problem for my other boy, Toby. Zac is, shall we say, a tad bit overly energetic. My girl, Lexi, won't take anything from Zac, so he leaves her alone, but Toby is something of a wimp, and Zac is constantly after him. I don't see anything in his behavior outside of normal kitten energy/play, but it is really hurting Toby. Not physically, but I have noticed a marked decline in Toby's mental mood.

I've tried a couple things to get Zac to back off, (hissing at him when he pounces on Toby, distracting him with toys, that sort of thing..) But if I am not there, he just goes at it. And I've started seperating them in the daytime, when I'm not at home, but I really need to find another solution.

I've thought about maybe getting another kitten, one that was Zac's age for him to play with... but worry that maybe both would gang up on poor Toby. And I've thought about trying to 'reintroduce' everyone, and lock Zac up for a a few weeks.. but that seems somewhat cruel, considering how lonely he gets when he can't have company.

If I can't find something that will help Toby, my only option would be to find Zac a new home... and that would break my heart.

I'm hoping someone here would have some suggestions?

Since they have been together for only two weeks, perhaps they are still working out the rules with each other. Try giving them another two weeks before making any further decisions. By then, they should have their interpersonal rules figured out.

And...if you do adopt a new kitten, chances are greatest that they would focus on each other because they would have similar energy levels. They would probably find Toby boring! But, there is always a chance that they both would enjoy pestering Toby.

So...give it a little more time and patience. And...keep us updated on how it is going.

Thanks for the advise. I will give that a try. It's just so frustrating, seeing Toby acting so depressed all the time today.

Today after work I left Zac cooped up for an hour, and Toby perked up a little. It would have been nice, if I hadn't been listening to Zac crying the entire time.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Since there is no bloodshed or claws involved in your situation, I would be inclined to let the cats out together 24/7 and let them work it out. Toby will soon lay down the law- all it will take is one time. If Toby is eating, and drinking and using the litter pan I would just let them be exposed to each other. It isn't fair to Zac to keep him isolated when kittens his age need to be around other cats to learn and interact.