Introducing kitten to multi-cat house with very aggressive alpha

Hello everyone,

I've had a stray kitten in my care that my boyfriend picked up off the street (he was literally playing in traffic.) I also have four adult cats who have lived with me for about 2.5 years. I've read many articles about introducing kittens to cats and tried as much as I could to follow the directions.

The kitten has been at my house for a bit over 2 months (10 weeks). Fortunately I have a spare bedroom so Onyx (the kitten) has been staying in there. He is totally comfortable and happy. At first I kept a towel under the door to prevent the other cats from seeing him. (The first day my bf found Onyx he showed him to the other cats and of course they freaked out and started hissing and growling). Onyx is now old enough to move the towel and the other cats can see him from under the door. This is really the only contact they have with him, and they are not happy campers.

(I also moved their dishes closer to the door but I don't know if it's a good idea to keep them there at this point.)

Mama is the alpha cat with Midnight at a close second, and they are taking it the worst. Whenever they see him under the door they hiss and growl and take their aggression out on each other or any nearby cat. I have noticed that even when Mama is downstairs away from the spare bedroom she has been bullying the other cats more often. I thought that after 2 months she would at least be able to tolerate seeing him from under the door, but I guess not.

I think I know what I have to do: find a way to keep the towel in place and start over. The adult cats can now smell Onyx's belongings and not hiss (or at least not hiss too much) but seeing him under the door upsets them A LOT. Does anyone have any advice for my situation? Mama is a very sassy, stubborn tortie and I don't see her backing down and letting a newcomer in without a fight.

There are articles at the top of this forum on cat behavior. http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats  has more tips to help you. 

I think backing up a step in the introductions is the way to go.  Are you handy?  Perhaps you can sew something to help keep the towel in place.  I'm thinking similar to some of the draft guards they make.  So one piece of fabric but 2 pocketed sides that contain a pool noodle or something like that and the middle slips under the door.  (Does that make sense?  It's almost 2 am my time!  )

It sounds like the intro process will take a lot of patience for your crew. 

You can try baby gates to keep the cats from getting too close to the door.  Just place the gate outside of the door.  You cats won't be able to get close.  The towel can still be pulled away, but the cats can't get to one another.  Here are a few other links to intros and a video.

http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/a-simple-little-trick-to-use-during-new-cat-introductions/

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/cat-behavior/introducing-your-cat-new-cat

http://jacksongalaxy.com/2010/10/01/cat-to-cat-introductions/

Long story short, I have three female cats who are all 'alpha'...three litter boxes, three seperate living quarters. One cat in one bedroom, the other cat owns another bedroom, the third cat owns the first floor, after all the third cat at was here alone fir the first 12 years of her life.

Mittens, Cassandra, Cameo