Please help! I'm trying to introduce a new kitten to my cat, but I'm terrified he will hurt her.

charlies mom

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Thanks you for taking the time to read this. I have a two year old raggdoll named Charlie. He is a very energetic playful cat and he loves to be around his people. I thought it would be in his best interest to get a kitten to keep him company and play with him. A week ago today I picked up my baby girl. She is 10 weeks old and very small. Especially compared to my big 20 lb raggie. I have her set up in a safe room with all her resources. I let her settle in for a couple days and she is doing just fine. About four days since her arrival I let Charlie look at her through the cracked door. He didn't show any sighns of aggression, no hissing growling or flat ears. He just seems eager to play with her and curious. So I let him into her room. She seemed very scared of him, arched her back and puffed her tail, she hissed at him. He rolled her around on the floor for a bit, I got scared and I separated them again. Now I'm really scared to let them meet again. I really appreciate any insight in this matter, and tips for introducing them. As of now I'm doing more scent swapping exercises. And Charlie sits outside her door meowing to get in.
 

hbunny

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Have you read the threads on introducing cats?  I just went through this--from February 6th until now.  I was introducing an older (12 yrs) male cat to a newcomer that was a freshly neutered 2 year old male.  I got through it by diligently following the practices in this article, and just reading my older cat's body language.

If I can do it you can do it!  Here is the article, and a link to my threads if you want to read our integration journey.  They just take time, and the majority of it, in my opinion--or at least it was so in my house--is that it is dependent on the resident cat's personality and willingness to accept.  You have a bit of a different situation, with a teeny tiny one meeting a big boy, but the premises are still the same.

My favorite article (and there are youtube videos from Jackson Galaxy that follow the same guide if you want to watch them too):

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-successfully-introduce-cats-the-ultimate-guide

My threads with our journey:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/314186/need-advice-is-my-cat-just-evil-embodied-or-am-i-overreacting

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/325599/7-months-in-update-on-introducing-two-cats

Please keep us updated.  I had to modify many steps in the guide, and my time frame extended far longer than I ever would have imagined, but it worked. I needed a lot of patience, but it all worked out.

 

hbunny

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@Losna   Can you share the thread you shared with me, the simplified guide to introducing cats?
 

losna

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Just look down! It's in my signature. :)
 
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charlies mom

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@hbunny thanks so much for the reply. I put a baby gate up at her door, and have opened it to see each other. she goes up to the gate and the two of them bat each other through the gate, it seems playful rather than agresive. I am still a little paranoid, because the way he looks at her is the same way he looks at prey. am I being paranoid? Have you ever heard of an adult male cat killing a kitten?
 

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I think your introductions are actually going well.  If Charlie was just rolling around on the floor near her  then I don't think he was trying to attack her.  I am not at all surprised that your kitten is the one doing the hissing here. My 6 week old tiny Starbuck did the same thing years ago when I introduced her to my much larger 7 year old brothers. She would puff up and hiss at them like that and they would either walk away or just sit there and stare at her.  If Charlie was rolling around on the floor like he was playing then he was probably trying to tell her he wanted to play.  He would not have put himself in that position if he wanted to attack her. It seems to me like he was just ignoring her hissing at him.  I think if Charlie really wanted to hurt the kitten he would be trying to climb the gate to go after her and not just playing with her through the gate.  
 
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charlies mom

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This is how he sits outside her door when I crack it. He mostly just sits there in bread loaf position and look at her. He also now meows outside her door wanting to get in. Still haven't heard a growl or hiss from him. Hope this is a good sighn. The baby seems anxious to get out of her safe room.
 

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The link provided above should be very helpful to you.  If you have any questions after looking the article then please ask them here.  You are doing a great job.
 

hbunny

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hbunny thanks so much for the reply. I put a baby gate up at her door, and have opened it to see each other. she goes up to the gate and the two of them bat each other through the gate, it seems playful rather than agresive. I am still a little paranoid, because the way he looks at her is the same way he looks at prey. am I being paranoid? Have you ever heard of an adult male cat killing a kitten?
I do think it's going well, but no, you aren't being paranoid--you know your cat better than anybody else---trust your instincts more than anything.  You know your cat and his body language and expressions.  I could read my older cat very, very well, and I know that look you are describing.  His pupils would dilate, he would get this different stance while looking at Shortstack, I just knew when he was about to go on the attack.  The bad thing was this--Wurp would fool us.  He would sit and purr looking at Stack through the gate, actually rub the gate purring and Shortstack touching his nose through the gate, then if we let him out he would all out attack.  Wurp lived his first 7 years outdoors and he would actually kill intruding cats, and I always kept this in the back of my mind.  And he was neutered at 1 year old--he was just that territorial.  I knew better than to trust his purring and sweetie face.  He lies LOL!!

We had the lattice-type baby gates, and we tried stacking two on top of each other.  I mean Wurp is 12, and had shown no interest in climbing them at all.  We kept noticing him just sitting at the two-gate barrier, just studying it.  Watching Shortstack, purring, never making any attempt.  Then one day he scaled the two gates like a pro--almost if he had planned out where to put his feet in advance, and bailed off the top of the 2nd gate directly on top of Shortstack.  There was blood and fur shed, and Shortstack holed up in our fireplace behind the fake logs and peed all over the place, just terrified.  It was like he had studied the gates, planned his attack, and prepared LOL   He is a mean, mean old guy.  That was when we went to 3 gates stacked one on top of the other.

I do NOT think you will have the troubles I had.  I think your guy may genuinely be curious and may even want to play.  But trust your gut--like I said, you know your cat above anything else.  Read the body language and just keep the introduction slow.  A kitten may definitely feel threatened, and a fear response could produce a "prey" stalking or attack in your older cat.  I know that part of Wurp's drive to attack Shortstack was based on the fact that Stack would run from him.  Shortstack stood up for himself one time--and that greatly changed the relationship dynamics.  Trust your gut!
 

hbunny

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This is how he sits outside her door when I crack it. He mostly just sits there in bread loaf position and look at her. He also now meows outside her door wanting to get in. Still haven't heard a growl or hiss from him. Hope this is a good sighn. The baby seems anxious to get out of her safe room.
Absolutely gorgeous! 
 
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charlies mom

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Update. I've been opening the door regularly now. He doesn't attemp to jump the baby gate. The baby has gotten a bit more confident and goes up to meet charlie. At times he seems very chill, and at other times he is batting at her through the gate. It's still hard for me to tell weather it's aggressive or playfull.
 

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It takes time.  I had a long thread some months back about introducing my 12 week old Maine Coon to my 8 year old mixed breed.  It never went too smooth, but ultimately it was tolerable.  The older guy is cranky and ornery.  They go from complete indifference on his part to lunging at her and screeching, but then stopping.  She is as big as he is now.  Sometimes he wrestles with her and seems to bite her.  yet, they never really get into it.  Sometimes she jumps him and then retreats.  Seems to me that the current state of the relationship is what it is going to be.  He is the top cat and he sometimes exerts his dominance.  She tests him from time to time.  Generally he leaves her alone and will brush by her to go to eat or whatever.  I can't ask for much more.  I'm sure they will never hurt each other, which is OK by me.  Good luck.
 
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charlies mom

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They had a face to face encounter today, my husband and I both played with each cat separately while they were in the same room. They ignored each other for about 10 minutes, playing with their own toys. When we put the toys down he went in and tackled her, he bit her and she screamed. I freaked out so we separated them. Even though it looked a little vicious to me she didn't look hurt at all after the incident, and she aproached him again shortly after. I would love to hear another persons take on this. I'm sorry if I'm being annoying with all my replies. This is he only place I can talk to people who care as much about cats as I do. Thanks x
 

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They had a face to face encounter today, my husband and I both played with each cat separately while they were in the same room. They ignored each other for about 10 minutes, playing with their own toys. When we put the toys down he went in and tackled her, he bit her and she screamed. I freaked out so we separated them. Even though it looked a little vicious to me she didn't look hurt at all after the incident, and she aproached him again shortly after. I would love to hear another persons take on this. I'm sorry if I'm being annoying with all my replies. This is he only place I can talk to people who care as much about cats as I do. Thanks x
You are not being annoying at all with either your questions or replies.  This is a community of cat lovers that enjoy helping others. The best way to learn new things is to ask questions.  Please continue to reply and ask as many questions as you need to.

If she is not showing any signs of being scared after being bitten and tackled then I would not read too much into this yet.  What happened right before the screaming started?  Was there any hissing or growling before the biting and tackling?   It is possible that Charlie is trying to teach the baby boundaries or manners.  I remember the first time Tegato did this to baby Starbuck and her screaming scared the hell out of me. I had the same reaction you did and separated them.  The 2nd time this happened I noticed Starbuck was being a brat before Tegato tackled her and pinned her to the floor.  He was trying to teach her manners. Starbuck was screaming because she did not like or understand being told no. Starbuck was a tiny 6 week old kitten and Tegato was a 9 year old fully grown male that had not been around a kitten since he was one.

It is also possible this was re-directed play on his part that was just a little to rough.

I am going to look for some articles that may give you some insight in to what happened today.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-stop-playtime-aggression-in-cats

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/re-directed-aggression-in-cats

I am going to bed now since I have to work in the morning.  I will check on this thread when I get breaks at work.
 
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govtlawyer

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I agree with the above poster.  I can tell you that watching what seems to be aggression by the older cat toward a defenseless kitten is very distressing.  I went through months of anxiety about this.  However, if she comes back and he does not seem to be trying to kill her (fur flying and extreme screeching and howling) it is just an adjustment phase.  There are boundaries to be made and a structure to develop.  Watch them and separate them if necessary, but give it some time and try to have patience.  Continue to post and ask others - that's good.  It will more than likely turn out OK.  I know it is hard on you.
 
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charlies mom

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Thank you for the support. Before the tackle and biting started they were each playing with their own toys. When we put the toys down, Charlie aproched her slowly, there was no growling or hissing, he went in for a sniff and then started the tackle and biting. She rolled over on her back, he was biting her belly and neck, maybe even her throat. It happened very quickly. Her screams sounded like she was in pain. But like I said I didn't see a scratch on her after. And she was immediately back to her sassy self, even approaching Charlie again (this time through the baby gate we have set up between rooms).

Up until now I haven't heard a single hiss or growl from him. She hissed at him the first couple of times they saw each other, but I feel like that was out of fear, and she has since become a very brave little kitten.

The thing that scares me is just the fact that if he wanted to he could seriously harm her, just because of the size difference in them. And those kitten screams will haunt my dreams lol.

Again thank you to everyone who has replied, I really appreciate it.
 
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catlover73

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Your babies are both adorable. I was dealing with the same size difference you are facing here. How are they both behaving this morning? You are still doing a great job with the introductions.
 

hbunny

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@Charlies Mom   They are both so beautiful!  I completely agree with @catlover73   

Our altercations were TRUE altercations with screeches and yowls before the attack......yours does sound like either he is trying to teach boundaries and "cat manners", or maybe he got a bit overstimulated with the play and redirected.  I had to be careful with play when we started our first face-to-face sessions.  It really seemed to overstimulate my older cat, which led to him attacking the younger.  We finally stopped the playtimes, and started doing treats and brushing at their "together" times, or gentle petting sessions and treats.  We still make a point to have playtimes separately with each one, while one is asleep somewhere else in the house we play with the other.  It gets a bit too close for comfort if they both get wound up at the same time.
 
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