Integrating new kitten isn't going so well...

[sierramist]

Hi everyone!

The kitten we found and adopted earlier this summer has been living in my office/studio space for the last couple of months, as she got acclimated, spayed, and over a couple of health issues. I work from home so I'm in there a lot each day, and make a point to have playtime with her each night.

In the meantime we've taken our time spreading her scent into the "main house" where we have our three cats — trading blankets/toys, and even letting the new kitten roam over there once or twice while they were in a separate room. We brought the kitten over in a crate initially and there was some hissing and apprehension, but nothing unexpected. We gave treats and reassurance. Multi-cat Feliways are plugged in as well.

My office is connected to the house by a mud room, and I've let the kitten wander in there as well so they could sniff each other under the door. We figured the next step would be to let her into the house and see how it went. So I opened the door and immediately the new kitten chased one of our other cats (the youngest and most curious) all around the room until we could get a hold of her. We then separated them again for a while, and kept scent swapping.

We tried again yesterday, allowing the kitten into the main house, and she did it AGAIN — chased the same cat, all over the house this time, before we could do anything. I don't think it was play? The resident cat, normally sweet, outgoing and fearless, seems traumatized. Since the incident she's hiding in the bedroom under the bed some of the time, will come out to eat and such, but is very jumpy and won't go back into that main room on her own. The other two cats tolerated her fairly well, not getting too close, but also did not hiss or chase/be chased. But the new kitten is now back in the office until we can figure out what to do next.

First — How do we help the resident cat get over the trauma of being chased? Perhaps just time will ease her back into seeing the house as a safe space again?

Second — How do we try to introduce her again, without re-traumatizing the cat who was chased? At this point I'm not sure of the best way. Start all over again, with her in a crate? I'm afraid now they'll never get along, and I was hoping they would be closest since both are similar in age.

Third — The new kitten CAN be a little aggressive, though we'd only seen this so far with people. She acts SO sweet sometimes, wants attention/pets, but will turn on a dime and bite you. She's not totally comfortable with being held and touched in certain areas, even chin scratches. She does LOVE to play and will act up on purpose in ways she knows will get your attention (knocks things off, gets in the plants, climbs shelves, etc.) so you'll play with her. Only every once in a while will she lay on my lap, and that's when she's super sleepy. I'm trying to make her more well-adjusted, but any tips would be appreciated!

 

[ArtNJ]

Its almost certainly play on the part of the kitten. Many kitens are PITAs and dont care, at all, whether the other cat wants to play or not. Growling will not deter them. Many cats, especially older ones, react with what appears to be fear despite the massive size difference, hissing, fleeing, and sometimes swatting. This is a big and common problem when introducing kittens to older cats that have some years on them, but occassionally you see it with younger adults as well. After you've done what you can vis-a-vis an introduction process, you mostly need to let them work it out.

Sounds like if you want to try more introduction process, the only thing you could add is a visual access step -- a gate that cannot be jumped over. Letting that run 24/7 for a few days can be very helpful, but I don't know that its terribly affective for this particular issue. If introductions are mainly to address "stranger danger" -- well I'm not sure that not wanting to be jumped on has much to do with stranger danger. Maybe there is an element of it in there, and if you can work a gate, it can't hurt.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Try some calming products - that might help everyone except your little terrorist (said with love )

I don't know, we're talking about a kitten after all and it's not as though they respect boundaries other than when mama cat or another adult cat lays down the law, but there might be something here;
How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat – TheCatSite Articles

And also;
How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat – TheCatSite Articles

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Also, don't just scent swap. SITE swap. Put the resident cats in the kitten's room, while the kitten is allowed to explore the rest of the house. That way, all of the house smells like all of the cats mingled.

 

[Bri5]

My girls had a tougher time acclimating to each other than any of the boys did to eachother or to the girls.

 

[sierramist]

Hi all, thanks for your input.

I really don't think the chase was play, since the kitten's tail was fluffed out. It really seemed to be aggression?

Btw, I should have mentioned that the "kitten" is approximately 10 months old, so she's basically the same size as the resident cat, who is approximately 2.5 years old. And yeah, I think being both female probably isn't helping!

But even just this morning, when the resident cat was approached by me coming from the same door where the chase incident started, she either was triggered by that or smelled the kitten's scent on me (or both) — then hissed, growled, and lashed out at one of our other cats who was nearby. This behavior is totally unlike her at all. I had never even heard her hiss until the confrontation with the kitten. It makes me sad she's had this sudden personality change and doesn't seem to be able to relax completely.

Do you think if we put the kitten away somewhere and let the resident cat roam in HER space, that might settle nerves? Of course, I'm not sure she'd even go over there now at all.

For now I'm considering just keeping them separate for a time, until the resident cat (hopefully) returns to normal and there's harmony in the main house. Then maybe we try again. My husband could build a gate or something for the door frame so they could see each other through it, but now since there's such apprehension over that area I'm not sure if that would be a good idea?

I did buy one additional Feliway plug-in and am going to put it in my office space near the doors, hoping that helps with the kitten's behavior too and maybe makes it a more calming area.

 

[ArtNJ]

Ah, at 10 months it is a lot more possible its aggression yeah. When you said kitten, I was thinking younger. A gate sounds like a great idea. Has to be high enough to prevent jumping. Some pics in our guide:

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles

With a gate up, hissing is fine. Let them get worked up, and see nothing bad comes of it. Get it out of the system.

 

[Alldara]

sierramist Hi Sierra! I think for your cats, you might need some steps in between sniffing under the door and full access to one another. Is there a screen door there where they can have sight? They can watch one another play.

It's also best if all are relatively worn out during intros.

You can also do feedings or treats with one another with sight but not access, if this is appropriate for your cats.

For the first few intros where they have access to one another, I would have the kitten playing with a toy and have another person using other toys for the other cats if you think that would be best.

Lastly, you can try letting her meet your resident cats one at a time by allowing them to come to her space. Start with the most curious and willing cat to meet her or the one whose personality is most playful with other cats or matches the kittens. Again...play with them. Toss toys or treats or use a wand toy. Put lots of catnip around.

The next first time she has access to the house, have the resident cats site swap in her area so she can get all her "big house" excitement out without bugging them. Then they will smell the kitten all over their space and begin to learn she is family.

 

[sierramist]

Whew, okay. So — an update:

We bought a screen and attached it to the door separating the kitten's space from the rest of the house. This lasted literally a day before the kitten barreled through it at full speed (pulling it up from the floor) to chase one of the resident cats. *sigh*

So yesterday we tried the "rip the Band-Aid off" approach and just let her into the main part of the house. The 2-year-old female resident cat she had chased continues to be the biggest issue. That cat hid, then got chased again, then LOTS of growling and hissing if the new kitten gets remotely close to her. She tries to cower under the bed or in a room as far away as possible, and this lasts for hours.

The other two resident cats didn't love the kitten by any means, but also didn't fully retreat or completely freak out. Each of them had a short interaction with the kitten displaying the behavior I'd normally expect — curiosity and a little hissing, but not a full hissy fit (ha ha). We fed treats the entire time, though the kitten wasn't really into them.

Today we tried again, and let the kitten into their space to roam. Pretty much the same result — the kitten looks around, isn't terribly afraid, settles in like it's her house — but the 2-year-old just can't handle it and hides and hisses from afar.

So I bring the 2-year-old into the kitten's space, to see if the swapping of smells helps. She growled and hissed and cowered the whole time, and even lashed out at me, and she's normally a very docile cat. I hate to see her this way and gave up for the day.

Do we keep trying? I'm at a loss and haven't had such a difficult time integrating cats before. The kitten is definitely assertive and aggressive, which doesn't help. I may need to keep her as a studio/office cat only if this doesn't work out, which isn't ideal at all. Any other ideas?

 

[tiggerwillow]

It sounds to me like maybe the kitten's temprament is wrong for the 2 year old, to be honest. It's like with humans - no human gets on with every single human we ever meet.

 

[sierramist]

It sounds to me like maybe the kitten's temprament is wrong for the 2 year old, to be honest. It's like with humans - no human gets on with every single human we ever meet.

Yeah, I'm thinking her temperament isn't good for any of them. As an only cat I think she'd be great, but with others she just gets too aggressive. We tried yet AGAIN this morning and she crazily chased one of my older resident cats, a gentle 10-year-old that has seizure problems. Not playing, but with tail fluff and full-on anger, backing him into a corner in fright. That makes me way too nervous, as he can't handle a lot of added stress. So I'm stopping the integration, at least for now.

*sigh* Unfortunately that means she'll have to stay an office cat, or we'd have to rehome her — which doesn't seem likely right now, when allll of our local shelters are beyond capacity and begging for adoptions.