Introducing a new kitten to my resident cat

Hi everyone! So yesterday a coworker gave me her kitten. The kitten (I've temporarily named her Lulu) is an intact female who is about 4 months old, I am planning to get her fixed when and if this relationship works out. The girl did say she was willing to take the kitten back if she REALLY needed to, but know that I am determined to make things work. So far she is extremely sweet and affectionate with me. At this point in time I am keeping her in her own bedroom separated from my resident cat. She has everything she needs separated from him (food, water, a bed, a scratching post, and toys). She is eating and using her litter box and loves on my when i come in, so she doesn't seem overly stressed by the new situation. 

As for my resident cat (Socks) he is a little over three years old and fixed. I have only had him for about 8 months, but he is my baby boy and loves me very much. Very affectionate and loves to play. He had lived in a household with a dog previously and supposedly they had gotten along, but I used to have a roommate who had a dog and they hated each other (had to keep them separated at all times).  She has since moved out and so it was just Socks and I for about the last month. I was told he had never been around another cat.

I just wanted to give some backstory before I went into how the two of them have been acting. Under the (potentially bad?) advice of the girl I got Lulu from, I decided to introduce the two cats immediately and see how it went. There was no outright fighting, or even any physical contact whatsoever. Lulu kept herself away from Socks and would continuously growl and occasionally hiss at him. Some of the time she was doing this she kept a more relaxed pose than I expected (laying down but not overly comfortable). While she was laying down so was Socks, and he would just watch her. Eventually she started to move away from him and he would follow her. It never seemed like an outright chase, but I decided afterwards perhaps I should separate them and go with my original plan to slowly introduce them to one another. I was just wondering the normalcy of these events and if perhaps anyone would have any advice? Today Lulu has been kept put up in the bedroom, I periodically go in and pet/play with her (I have 6 days off from work) and I still pet/play with Socks when I am outside her room. I did the whole feeding them on opposite sides of the bedroom door this morning and they both ate with no problems. 

I feel silly replying to my own thread without any responses yet, but I am willing to get her spayed in the near future, I just need to get paid again and find somewhere to do it around here (I'm not originally from this area) So I don't know if that will help matters at all.

Welcome to TCS

If you could provide more information about where you are located perhaps someone can help you find a low cost place to get her spayed once you get paid.  It seems like your introductions are going well.  It seems like the hissing and growling you mentioned is more communication than anything aggressive.  I have a mult-cat household that has been integrated for years now.  I still witness a little bit of hissing and growling in my household.  Every once in a while one of my younger cats will try to get my oldest cat to play by chasing her around.  She hisses and growls at them when this happens and they do back off quickly. 

Thank you so much for the reply! I live in Flowood, Mississippi. I'm glad that it at least sounds to be going well. I've been really nervous and I don't want them to fight and ruin their relationship before it begins. I was honestly more afraid my boy would be aggressive but neither of them have seemed overtly aggressive. Do you think more controlled meetings would be alright? Or should I stick to the separation for some time.

I think so far it sounds like it's going well for you. I usually separate them for a few days and feed on opposite sides of the door like you. Once I feel the hissing from the resident cat subsides I bring kitten into the living room in a pet carrier and let resident cat check out the bedroom the kitten has been in. Then I let resident cat hang around the pet carrier and sniff each other and of course hiss through the holes. By day 3 I let kitten out supervised and see what happens. If there's is just a small amount of hissing and more curiosity I let them mingle. If resident cat seems aggressive I put kitty back in the room and just keep introducing in small doses. I've done it like this twice now in the past year and a half and by day 3 or 4 I have 2 cats that sleep together. I think you'll be fine!
Also I feel that male cats are big softies when it comes to kittens. I thought my big 15 pounder who was 15 years old was going to be ruthless but he acted like a mother to the new kitten in 3 days. It was so sweet.

I'm so happy it sounds like it is going well! I've honestly got tears in my eyes haha. I think I'll keep them separated again tonight and feed them on opposite sides of the door again. Socks did get a chance to explore her room after first intros. (He rudely peed in her litter box first, but thankfully that didn't stop her from using it.) I originally wanted another cat because I'm a nurse and work 12 hour shifts (7 days on, 7 off) and poor Socks loses his damn mind when I get home from work. Yelling at me and jumping and wanting attention. I'm hoping they will work past this initial awkwardness so they can be friends. Once again thank you for the reply! If I put new kitten in the carrier for meetings is there anything I should include in it? I'm just worried she will be more scared in there.

ariagator said:

Thank you so much for the reply! I live in Flowood, Mississippi. I'm glad that it at least sounds to be going well. I've been really nervous and I don't want them to fight and ruin their relationship before it begins. I was honestly more afraid my boy would be aggressive but neither of them have seemed overtly aggressive. Do you think more controlled meetings would be alright? Or should I stick to the separation for some time.

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I completely agree with the advice that Molly22 has given you regarding the introductions.  I had the same results Molly22 mentioned when introducing a young six week old under-socialized kitten to my two senior males.  I did not know about proper introductions then.  When I brought Starbuck home we carried her over from our neighbor's place and she jumped out my hubby's arms the minute we walked in the house.  She walked right up to both my males and started hissing at them.  One of them was scared and ran away from her. The other one just sat there and looked at her like this is my house why are you hissing at me. When Tegato did not run away the hissing stopped.  He actually acted like a mommy to her.  He taught her kitty manners and boundaries.  She had no idea how to communicate when she wanted to play with the boys.  She thought chomping their heads was asking for play and Tegato quickly taught her that was not a form of communication.

I am going to do some research and see what I can find for low cost clinics in your area.  I will post links below.  I am getting ready to go out for the night and will do more research tomorrow if needed.

http://www.msspan.org/big_fix_clinic

http://www.msarl.org/?page_id=35

If these are too far away please let me know and I will try to look around some more tomorrow.

I think the big fix clinic would work out well for me, thank you! I'm going to give them a call on Monday to see about scheduling something. I greatly appreciate all the advice as I'm definitely a new cat mom. My own mother always loved cats but we only ever had one at a time. I really took a leap in accepting this kitten from my friend and Google searches only got me so far haha. I'll be sure to post updates as things progress as well.

Socks sounds like my boy who peed in the kitties litter box too! Trying to be the boss I guess
I put a towel in the carrier. She's so young she might just walk in. If she seems afraid of the carrier(like you have to push her in) I would skip it.
Bless your heart for being a nurse! I work with nurses at my job and you guys just amaze me daily. Socks will be so happy that he has a bud when you're working your 12 hour stretch.

Yeah her previous owner said she doesn't like carriers (and I only have Sock's which we haven't used since he went to the vet last). She literally handed to me straight out of her vehicle and I was like "uhh". And thank you! I've only been working for about 9 months. I work in a NICU with the little babies I love it, for the most part. I just hope to move home and do the same thing eventually. I really hope they will be buddies. I'll do a little meeting tomorrow after they've had their wet food on either side of the door and let you guys know how it goes. Going to include some pictures of them just for funsies! I hope it works properly.

ariagator said:

I think the big fix clinic would work out well for me, thank you! I'm going to give them a call on Monday to see about scheduling something. I greatly appreciate all the advice as I'm definitely a new cat mom. My own mother always loved cats but we only ever had one at a time. I really took a leap in accepting this kitten from my friend and Google searches only got me so far haha. I'll be sure to post updates as things progress as well.

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Sounds like things are going well! If you go there, definitely get her microchipped and get vaccines too if you can (assuming she doesn't have them already). 

Her previous owner is gonna give me her vaccination record and I was planning to get her chipped. Do you think they would also chip Socks? I wonder if it is an only while we're fixing them kinda thing. I guess it can't hurt to ask.

ariagator said:

 
Her previous owner is gonna give me her vaccination record and I was planning to get her chipped. Do you think they would also chip Socks? I wonder if it is an only while we're fixing them kinda thing. I guess it can't hurt to ask.

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Definitely ask! Some places will and others won't.

Update: when I was leaving after cleaning Lulu's litter box she decided she was done being in her room and wanted to come out for a visit. They met up pretty close to the door and there were some meows exchanged before Lulu started hissing a little. Socks didn't mind, he moved past her and started exploring her room. She, in turn, started exploring the rest of the apartment. I gave Socks some treats for being so good and tried to give her some but she wasn't interested. He kinda cornered her in my bathroom eventually, but not in a menacing way, he just seems curious what she is doing. He has yet to hiss at her or growl. I picked her up and set her down with a clearer exit and she went to explore again. I ended up giving them wet food fairly close to one another and they both ate a bit. Now Socks and I are sitting on the floor while she is on the other side of the room cleaning herself and growling intermittently. I'm a little worried she will bully him! Haha

Another update: I put Lulu back in her room before I went to bed. This morning we had some wet food and meeting time again. I think she's trying to establish herself as top cat, which I find hilarious because she is half the size of Socks. She continues to growl at him and has bopped him when he gets close to sniff her. He doesn't overly mind, just lets out whiny little meows. He has yet to growl or hiss back. One of the times she was being like this he got on his back legs and raised a paw but didn't hit her. The threat was enough to make her lay down. They have both run at each other after shaking their little booties and it always ends in Socks getting hissed at and looking dejected. I have been giving him treats and petting for being so patient with her. He really seems like he wants to be friends but she is being so mean to him haha. Does everything still sound to be going okay?

I do not sense any aggression from either of your cats.  It sounds like Lulu is just complaining when it comes to Socks.  It seems like Socks is really laid back with her.  Lulu's behaviors is a similar to how my Starbuck acted when I adopted her as a baby kitten. Lulu does seem to want to be top cat even though she is smaller.  Starbuck was only a tiny 6 week old baby and tried to dominate two large 9 year old males.  Eventually one of my boys stepped up and taught her manners.  Tegato started pinning her to the floor with his paws when she was being a brat.  She would complain and he would ignore it and let go when she calmed down.  They became very close during this time.  When you saw Socks raise his paw to her that may have been him trying to decide if he should bop Lulu for being a brat.  It is normal behavior.  Your introductions are going well still.  If Socks did not want to be around Lulu he would have left the room when she was in there instead of hanging out with you while she was in his space. It is great the Socks is curious about Lulu already. Just continue to give it time and do the supervised introductions.  If Socks does get sick of Lulu bullying him and stands up to her do not be surprised if things get noisy between them. If this does happen and you are not sure if it is a problem please feel free to ask questions.

Thank you for the reply! I apologize for posting so much, I'm just an anxious cat mom with little cat intro experience haha. I'll continue with the supervised visits and post again if something happens that I'm unsure of.

Hi there! I don't know much about cats and just joined this site today but definitely get her chipped! I work at an spca and the amount of calls we get about lost indoor cats is insane. It's very hard to get them reunited as well unless they're chipped.
Getting them chipped is basically a shot, they put it in a needle and just inject it into their scruff so it doesn't need to be when they're getting fixed! I've actually held animals for microchip insertions and they take 2 seconds. They're a godsend in the shelter world! So easy to get your cat back to you if anything happens.

Sounds like things are going well! They are super cute. I love the white whiskers on the black and white! Socks is probably getting a kick of this little girl trying to act tough. My kitten Juniper would do that little Halloween kitty puffy monkey tail sideways pounce at Smokie and he would just sit there and watch her. The one thing that freaked him out was when Juniper was not paying attention, she run into him when chasing a toy. He would hiss and swat at her but after 2 weeks he got used to it. Every once in a while he showed her who the boss was just like Catlover73 said so don't worry about those little spats.