Cat intro question

[vitaturtle]

I recently adopted a kitten into my existing 1 cat home. Kitten is a boy and the 2yr old cat is a girl. I've been getting them used to each others scent for 1 week so far and its been going great. I currently live in an apartment so I decided to divide the area up with my resident cat's base camp in my room and the new kitten's camp in the living room. I was surprised that they could eat in each other's presence after a couple of days with a screen dividing the two sides. My resident cat is acting normal again after being timid and shy for a couple of days. 

Today I decided to attempt a supervised meeting in the resident's cats room. It was going great, the resident cat was watching the kitten play with a toy all the way into her room. She wouldn't keep her eyes off him. I took turns feeding them both treats as they sat on my bed and they didn't seem to mind. The only time the resident cat hissed and growled was when the kitten got too close to her personal space. It went very well in the morning so I decided to try again right now. Same result but this time  the resident always looked like she wanted to pounce at the kitten. She would run up to him and act like she was going to swat him on the head but luckily nothing happened. It looked really bad and she hissed as well. I stopped the confrontation with a towel and separated them again to give them space.

The kitten is very nice. He usually just wants to play and cuddle. Older cat was a 4mo old feral when i took her in. She did have a sibling but I didnt see the sibling when i took in resident cat. The resident cat is very cuddly now and she likes to sleep with me but is very timid and shy.

Is the confrontation normal behavior? I am new to this so I want to make sure everything is going well. Thanks.
 

 

[cat nap]

Yes, the confrontation is completely normal. The resident cat may just be wanting to establish dominance, over her territory.

And she may also be a little confused by the new kitten's behaviour, since kittens run all over the place, and act unpredictable, at times.

I think you might be slightly rushing the 'cat to cat introductions' a little. But seeing that the newcomer is a kitten, I can totally understand why.

Take a look at some of the TCS Articles, in the Behaviour Section, and especially the one on Cat to Cat Introductions.

 [article="32680"]How To Successfully Introduce Cats The Ultimate Guide​[/article]  

You are basically doing everything right, except maybe need some extra time, in the 'swapping out the cats, to get used to each other's scents in each other's spaces',

and perhaps 'playing with both cats to get them tired beforehand' so that they don't really want to use up all their excess energy at going after one another.

If you can, it would be a good idea to make sure that your older cat and kitten have 'escape routes'

meaning, high vertical spots to jump on to, even tables, side tables, or boxes, so that when one cat feels threatened and frightened,

or even sometimes annoyed by the little one, they can escape and relax, without being bothered by being pounced on, or constantly wanting to be played with, like kittens usually do.

What are your cat's names? And how old is your kitten?

 

[vitaturtle]

Thank you for your reply cap nap. My resident cats name is Tubby and the new kitten is Miso. The kitten is so laid back, it feels like he is the resident cat :lol3:

I believed i passed the scent stage but i dont mind redoing it along with everything else. My resident cat does not hiss or growl when she smells the new cats scent. Ex. When i swap both cats. I did manage to setup a screen window to block off the door between the 2 base camps of the cats. They seem perfectly fine when i give them both treats. They actually get really close, until the point where the resident cat feels like the new cat is going to take her treat. Thats when hissing and growling starts again or when personal space is invaded.

I probably made a mistake of using only 1 toy to play with both cats. Im probably going to end up getting a new toy for my resident cat. The resident cat doesnt really go crazy with the toys like she usually does.

Good thing food is a good motivator for my resident cat.

My only concern is that the resident cat is usually staying low like shes going to pounce and she runs at the new cat corneringf
him and does a swatting motion with her paws. It doesnt usually go well and ends with a hiss and growl.

I do feel like i am rushing it but its very hard when both cats dont like being alone and meowing all the time. I have to sleep in the living room and bedroom.

 

[sivyaleah]

Looks like @Catnap  has given you some very good advice.  

Hissing is not anger, it's based in fear.  When we first were introducing our two the older didn't hiss, but did growl sometimes. The little one was the hissy one but only to us at the beginning, never to him. As long as there wasn't any serious aggressive movements towards the younger one (who was an adult, but at that time was extremely timid) we let them just play it out.  

We kept our Cocoa (younger)  in a spare bedroom at night to ensure her safety until we were totally confident that Casper (older) would treat her nicely.  It took a few weeks of being cautious this way, and diligent watching over them in the daytime before we were sure that they could co-exist.  If we weren't home, we always put Cocoa in her safe room.  

After that, it still took several more weeks before they started to become friends with each other. We didn't push it, made sure Casper was treated as the top cat at all times. I think it was about 6 weeks before they sat on a couch near each other and once that happened, we knew they were over that initial hump of getting to know each other.  Now, it's several years later and they are good friends, Each has moments of being alpha to each other.  Cocoa, who was very shy at first turned out to be extremely outgoing and confident.  They play fight, groom each other, sleep near each other, and seek each other out.  

It can take much longer than one would expect sometimes. A lot of people tend to rush it at the beginning but it sounds like you're doing pretty well with them. Post photos! Would love to see them.

 

[vitaturtle]

Thanks for the reply Sivyaleah, it sounds like I just need more patience and to make sure Im following the introduction steps as best as I can. I separated their food dishes at breakfast -lunch time and had them eat together in the same room for dinner. It went well and I semi boiled some chicken pieces and had them eat up close to each other. It went well and the resident cat didnt hiss at all during the time they spent together.

I did see more chasing from the resident cat and swatting (this time no hissing or growling). It made the little one very scared and he always gives in. I had them together again right now for dinner and it was going well. The resident cat still chased the new cat, but not as much.

Is this normal and do I need to worry about this behavior? Is this considered harassment and what can I do about this? I have them separated again for now because I dont want to stress both of them out right now. None of them urinated or pooped outside their litter box so I am glad for that.

Thanks again for the help and Happy 4th of July!

 

[cat nap]

@Vitaturtle    I think you should take a few steps back and keep them separated by that screen window set-up that you made.

   'Base camps' sound good right now, so that each cat has their own 'safe areas' to relax in.

The whole idea with cat intros, is to lessen each cat's 'flight or fight' response, by using hearing, scent, and sight,...then moving on to 'face to face meetings' ...so that each cat is so familiar, and bored with each other being around, that the 'meeting' is more of a "you've always been here" versus a "you're an intruder in my territory" type reaction.

Very good that your Tubby is food motivated, that will help for all good interactions ending on 'positive notes'.

It will also help with making 'pleasant associations' in both cats, so they look forward to playtime, and eventually being in the same room together.

As for cat toys, you can use anything, such as crumpled up paper into a ball, ping pong balls, long wide fabric belts or ropes, wand toys, inner tubes from paper towels etc.

As long as the cats are being supervised with the toys, then you can determine which is safe...eg. you don't want the little Miso or Tubby eating anything they are not supposed to.

If Miso, the kitten, is very laid back, then the hope is that he won't bother Tubby too much, or try to hassle or play with her constantly. Usually, this depends upon the age and personality of the kitten, but toys are great for keeping a kitten/cat occupied, and tiring them out. Plus it is great exercise for cat guardians, too.

@sivyaleah made further excellent points about...'hissing not being anger, but rather fear'

...having a safe room...observing both cat's reactions closely, not pushing or rushing each step, and treating Tubby like 'top cat at all times'. Tubby has to feel top cat right now, so she does not feel that the little one will be getting any special treatment or added attention.

Tubby cornering little Miso, is a bit concerning, but only if Tubby actually wants to fight with Miso, and hurts him. If she is only attempting to play with Miso, there might be some swatting that will happen.

Just make sure that no fur is pulled, or actual bad scratches happen.

Sometimes cats will quickly swat another cat, if the initial hiss or growl did not make the other cat back away.

Eventually, you might have to put either cat into small 'time-outs' if they constantly bother each other.

At this stage, I would not want Miso to become scared or frightened of Tubby, so that is why I suggest separating them, and slowly doing the steps involved with bringing food bowls closer to screen, playing with each cat, separately and then together, and if constant chasing is happening, then perhaps 'harness training' Tubby, so that she does not constantly go after Miso.  But that would only be after you've tried all the slow steps, mentioned in the articles, and above. Introductions usually take weeks, not days, unless both cats have been around other cats before, and even that can take weeks.

Oh, yes, and post photos like 'sivylaeah' mentioned. (We always love photos.)