I want to stary out by saying that I have only had dogs my entire life, so bear with me if my questions are weird, or if I seem to have a more "dog like" view on behavior. I just am in unchartered territory here and when I would google my million questions i have had about cat care, your site kept coming up and gave me some very good advice, direction and hope. Long story-i will try to shorten it though, lol. Took in 2 pregnant cats and 2 juveniles (which i assume belong to one or each of the adults). They just showed up at my pole barn, weird I know. Kittens were had, most were homed and I now have 5-the original 4 plus 1 kitten now 6 months old. With the wildlife around my home I opted to keep them in the barn for their safety. The moms are separated apart as well as from the youngsters as they were a little crabby with the young ones. The former juveniles are with the kitten, who I guess isn't really a kitten so much anymore. I plan on setting up an area where they can get outside, but enclosed so they are safe when the weather gets better. Can they go back together? Should I reintroduce slowly? I don't know if the mom's crabbyiness was because they were pregnant, or if it was because they wanted the kids to go off on their own. I'm just concerned about someone getting hurt if it's a territory thing. Any help will be much appreciated! Thanks!
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Reuniting a group
- Thread starter cerasaur
- Start Date
Is everybody spayed/neutered? That will help moods and any territorial issues, as well as just being generally good for them. Kittens can reproduce starting at 4-5 months so it's not too early for the little one.
A slow reintroduction wouldn't hurt at the very least. Sometimes cats can be thrown together and get along fine, but usually it's good to do some scent swapping (rubbing cloth items all over one cat and putting the items where the other cat sleeps and eats to get them comfortable with the scent) and brief supervised sessions together before they are allowed to be in each other's spaces all day long. Even cats that know each other sometimes have to be reintroduced if they haven't seen each other for a length of time.
Mother cats don't always enjoy spending time with their children, that's for sure! Kittens are annoying and a lot of work! A 6 month old kitten is not as much work as newborns, but it's still annoying to adult cats because it's so playful and wants to play with every cat it sees. If the adult cats don't appreciate the kitten pouncing on them, though, they'll let the kitten know with hissing and swatting, which is how kittens learn cat social skills. Cats can live together just fine even if they're not best friends as long as they learn to respect each other's boundaries. Rarely, two cats can hate each other so much that it's not safe for them to be around each other, but most aggression issues can be resolved with a really slow, proper introduction. You can gauge how fast to go by how well the cats tolerate being around each other in the beginning. If any serious fighting starts, you can separate and go back a few steps and take things more slowly.
Here's a guide with tips on making smooth introductions. You may have to adapt some of it for the barn setting, but it should give you some ideas: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-successfully-introduce-cats-the-ultimate-guide
Thank you for taking care of these cats!
A slow reintroduction wouldn't hurt at the very least. Sometimes cats can be thrown together and get along fine, but usually it's good to do some scent swapping (rubbing cloth items all over one cat and putting the items where the other cat sleeps and eats to get them comfortable with the scent) and brief supervised sessions together before they are allowed to be in each other's spaces all day long. Even cats that know each other sometimes have to be reintroduced if they haven't seen each other for a length of time.
Mother cats don't always enjoy spending time with their children, that's for sure! Kittens are annoying and a lot of work! A 6 month old kitten is not as much work as newborns, but it's still annoying to adult cats because it's so playful and wants to play with every cat it sees. If the adult cats don't appreciate the kitten pouncing on them, though, they'll let the kitten know with hissing and swatting, which is how kittens learn cat social skills. Cats can live together just fine even if they're not best friends as long as they learn to respect each other's boundaries. Rarely, two cats can hate each other so much that it's not safe for them to be around each other, but most aggression issues can be resolved with a really slow, proper introduction. You can gauge how fast to go by how well the cats tolerate being around each other in the beginning. If any serious fighting starts, you can separate and go back a few steps and take things more slowly.
Here's a guide with tips on making smooth introductions. You may have to adapt some of it for the barn setting, but it should give you some ideas: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-successfully-introduce-cats-the-ultimate-guide
Thank you for taking care of these cats!
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Thanks, I will check that out! The "moms" seem ok together when we let them run a bit-only before feeding when I know they come running back! But when confined next to one another, big mama is a bit of a bully with willow. Willow seems submissive, but I'm always a little concerned she'll bolt if given the opportunity if mama is too mean. Since I can't even approximate the ages of the moms, I would guess that Willow is younger-and may even be big mama's from way before. She was not a bad mother but seemed a little flighty to me, preferring to get away from the kids, never too far but not in a hurry to get back to them either. Big Mama was also rough with the juveniles-but they may be hers from yet another litter (glad I ended THAT cycle!) I will try a slow monitored intro and see what the link you sent has to say as well. Thanks again!
