Cheaper by the dozen...(sorry, it's along post)

I have been on the breeder's board and the pregnant cat & kitty board. Now I am moving on to behavior because my questions pertain to kittens and adult resident cats.

I currently have 12 cats in my house. I have 4 resident cats....(listed in order of their adoptions)
Sera....4 years
Ashton....10 years
Mallory....4.5 years
Dottie...2 years (she took over Sera's role as alpha cat when we got found her a year ago)
Our cats are great friends to each other and are very spoiled.

I took in Veruca (1 year) 8 weeks ago. We now have her and her 7 kittens (7 weeks) here. We are planning on keeping Veruca and 1 kitten for sure.

I am trying to socialize the kittens with my resident cats. Veruca has been spending time with our family several hours a day for several weeks now. That is going fine except Dottie doesn't seem to like her. I think Dot is just trying to let her know she is in charge. Veruca doesn't have a problem with that unless there are treats being passed out. Veruca is a weaning mother who wants all the treats she can get!

I brought Elvis, who is the kitty we're keeping, downstairs to meet our cats. Surprisingly, my cats are our not being too nice. Ashton was the exception. He went right up to politely check him out but Elvis got scared. Sweet Ashton just backed up and laid down so Elvis know he wouldn't hurt him. Dot and Sera hissed at Elvis and stalked him for a bit. After a while they went about their business but they hissed and growled if he came too close.

Today I brought down Elvis and 3 other kitties. Pretty much the same thing. Dot and Sera hissed and scared the kittens. Ashton wanted to check them all out but as he did that today, the kitten hissed and got Veruca's attention. Veruca calmly went up to Ashton and swatted him in the face. Now Ashton is hiding under the table. Mallory came across a kitten and hissed in it's face too.

I don't know if I should keep Veruca secluded when I let the kittens out so she doesn't over protect them or beat up my cats. And should I let Dot, Sera, and Mallory work things out with the kittens? I don't want to make these kittens scaredy cats though.

Is this all normal? I am looking for any suggestions/knowledge on this type of situation. 3 of the kittens will be going to live in multi-cat households and 1 is going to live with a couple small dogs so I want to get them used to other animals.

ps: 4 resident cats have are declawed. Should I be concerned if they get in a fight because Veruca and kittens have claws?

It all sounds like perfectly normal behavior to me.

If your declaws are front paw only, you should be fine on that as well.
My crew is a mix of clawed and declawed as well.

You can expect your resident females to act this way for possibly a while.
You can also expect a few minor skirmishes as everyone learns their place in the pecking order.

Let them have their skirmishes, but be close on hand with a towel to throw on them should it turn into an actual battle.

It also sounds to me like you just might be pushing the territory envelope - too many cats causes stress among all of them, and all those females together with a new litter (subject of jealousy among many female cats) may be too much for some of them to deal with. Can you back off all the introductions (kitty-wise) for a bit and let them reclaim their own spaces without having to be nervous about kittens invading, or more good behavior being expected of them, etc?

I agree with larke, take it slow with the kitty introductions. Other wise everything is normal. When I was younger we had 13 cats (12 female 1 male, some declawed some not) and it all sounds very familiar. Like the previous said, let em sort the pecking order out. Good luck, I remember how fun those days were lol.

Originally Posted by Larke

It also sounds to me like you just might be pushing the territory envelope - too many cats causes stress among all of them, and all those females together with a new litter (subject of jealousy among many female cats) may be too much for some of them to deal with. Can you back off all the introductions (kitty-wise) for a bit and let them reclaim their own spaces without having to be nervous about kittens invading, or more good behavior being expected of them, etc?

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The reason I was letting the kitties out of their room is because it was suggested on the kitten and pregnant cat board that I start sociallizing them. The kitties with homes (3) will be ready to go next week. I don't have much time left if I going to do this at all. I am really nervous about it anyway because I have a big 2 story house with places kittens could get hurt. Is it necessary to bring the kittens around the cats if they are not even going to be living in this house?

Of course not, and nothing is 'necessary' in that sense, more a matter of what works for you as long as they are safe and you can still function!

Originally Posted by Larke

Of course not, and nothing is 'necessary' in that sense, more a matter of what works for you as long as they are safe and you can still function!

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Thanks for your help. Maybe I'm stressing out too much about this. I seem to do this at every turning point of the kittens' development.