Cat and new kitten

Hi all, I'm new here and seeking some advice...

In May I adopted a 2 year old spayed female from a pet store (I know I know, I'm bad but she was too cute...) and KC then became ours. She was a breeder cat, she had 2 litters of kittens just to sell them... well since we bought her at 7.5 pounds she is now 13 and on a diet. What can I say, we love with food.

My husband and I decided to adopt a 6 week old kitten we named Ozzie, and we werent aware of the proper "how to" to get them to meet so they are already co habitating and already seen each other.

KC wasnt very happy buit seems to be coming around, aside from all the hissing and growling, she seems curious and nosy. Ozzie is a ball of fire and wants to scrap with anyone and anything, being the orphaned kitten he is it's not surprising.

Since he is so small he spends the nights in the bathroom and also in there when no one is home and we bring him out when we are here to supervise w/him a KC. I know we didn't do it the best way now, but whats done is done... what I need advice on is what I can do now to help them get along and/or possibly bring out KC's maternal side because I think that is the roles they are going to play since he is so young and she has been a "mommy" before.

And also, she really likes to hiss and growl at him is it normal? She swats but they dont seem to either really touch him or hurt him.

Today is day 2........any suggestions?

I would seperate and re-indroduce them.
This thread should help you http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67321

I also unwittingly introduced my cats to each other immediately. The hissing, growling, and not leaving them alone together unsupervised stopped at day 4 and they were playing like best friends by day 7. However, they were both young, it may take more time with your cats due to their age discrepancies. You should probably do reintroductions.

Most people will say to try to keep them seperated as long as it takes for them to get used to each others scent. However I believe that they get used to the scent pretty quickly and keeping them apart is just prolonging everything. It took my cats about a month to get along and begin playing together. When they first started playing my resident cat would still growl but as long as things didn't get too physical I'd let them be. I would continue to do what you're doing, keep them seperated when you can't watch them but while you're around let them out together. In my experience I've found that as long as one of the cats isn't hissing then you've got a 100% chance of them getting along eventually. Your resident cat is just being territorial and as soon as she realizes that the new kitty isn't going anywhere she'll wisen up. Be sure to give her lots of love (resident cats tend to get jealous of the attention the new kitty gets) but not when she's growling or hissing because she'll start to think that you're rewarding that behavior. It's going to take some time, period lol. Once my cat's stopped hissing at each other I started to leave them alone for short periods of time and I found that that really speeded things up. I think my resident cat was afraid to play with the new kitties because a) she thought I'd punish her and b) she was being territorial. Good luck!

Originally Posted by lizch6699

Most people will say to try to keep them seperated as long as it takes for them to get used to each others scent. However I believe that they get used to the scent pretty quickly and keeping them apart is just prolonging everything. It took my cats about a month to get along and begin playing together. When they first started playing my resident cat would still growl but as long as things didn't get too physical I'd let them be. I would continue to do what you're doing, keep them seperated when you can't watch them but while you're around let them out together. In my experience I've found that as long as one of the cats isn't hissing then you've got a 100% chance of them getting along eventually. Your resident cat is just being territorial and as soon as she realizes that the new kitty isn't going anywhere she'll wisen up. Be sure to give her lots of love (resident cats tend to get jealous of the attention the new kitty gets) but not when she's growling or hissing because she'll start to think that you're rewarding that behavior. It's going to take some time, period lol. Once my cat's stopped hissing at each other I started to leave them alone for short periods of time and I found that that really speeded things up. I think my resident cat was afraid to play with the new kitties because a) she thought I'd punish her and b) she was being territorial. Good luck!

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I totally agree with everything above. I sent you a PM back as well, before I had read this thread. I think continuing to do supervised visits is a good idea, but keep him in the bathroom when you're not home until the supervised visits are growl-free and relatively comfortable. And don't worry, chances are it will work, it'll just be a little while longer. It is only the very beginning, after all...when I brought Milo into my household, I started to feel really encouraged around the end of the first week that everything would be OK!

Too funny, one of my cat's 'offical' names is milo too. Our other cat is Otis hehe. We just call her baby girl though

the keeping apart is for the protection of the resident cat if you bring a kitten or a stray into the house before getting the cat vet checked. As I try to impress on people who ask me, the introductions go much smoother if the cats are separated by screen, and not a solid door. It really depends on the two cats and how the owner handles his or her own stress during the time, but separation is a safe thing to do for the cats right at first.

I do agree with keeping them seperated until you know the health of the new cat. And a screen door is a great idea if you have one available. I also agree that seperation is a good thing at first but some people insist on keeping them seperated until the hissing and growling stops which could take a month or more. I let my cats start interacting after 4-5 days or so.

Originally Posted by lizch6699

Too funny, one of my cat's 'offical' names is milo too. Our other cat is Otis hehe. We just call her baby girl though

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Hehehe, I LOOOVED that movie when I was a kid!!! Always wanted to name a cat Milo after obsessing over the movie as a child.

ETA: the screen door idea is great!!! Would let the cats sniff and see each other while they each feel safe because they can't get through to each other!

Ozzie (the new kitten) has already been vert checked, dewormed, shots, etc. We adopted him from a local shelter/humane society where he was being fostered. He was found with 2 siblings who later died, they estimated his age at 2 weeks when he was found. He is now about 5 weeks, still has blue eyes and all.

I wasn't able to take him until he was properly checked out so I know he's a healthy little boy, in fact he gets a Drontal tomorrow.

As an update, they have been getting along much better, doing a chase around the house and lots of sniffing. Since he hasn't had a mommy to reprimand him, it's becoming my job until KC can hopefully take over, but she is such a pushover.

Still in the bathroom at night and when we are not home, and it seems to really be working and KC is hardly growling or hissing, unless he is being the feisty boy and trying to bite her tail.

Her attitude has changed and I think she is trying to mask the fact that she wants to play with him, so as to not feed his ego... it's quite interesting watching them interact, it's like a soap opera. And they are starting to play together, even if it consists of chasing each other around.

Ozzie is one gigantic ball of fire and willing to spat and bite a cat 6 times bigger than he is, he's so fearless... I hope he grows out of it!