Introducing a new kitten : asking for advice

[bipsoucolline]

Hello everyone !

If some of you read my previous post, my partner and I took a young kitten called Gaia in our home lately. She's now 16 weeks old and she's been with us for 6 weeks. We're in love with our girl and she seems to be happy with us as well. We've always wanted to have two cats so we figured it would be great to find another kitten now, so they can grow up together. It's not settled yet but we may have found a 13 weeks old kitten that we would take home this week end.

Now, we've read a lot of articles giving advice about introducing a new kitten in the house. But most give advice we can't follow like isolating the new kitten for a few days to get her comfortable before meeting the other kitten. We live in a 540 ft² flat with only two rooms - the living room and our bedroom. Those rooms are quite big but the bathroom and kitchen are really too tiny to consider isolating a kitten in there.

We can't isolate a new kitten in the bedroom either, except maybe for the few first hours, because our Gaia is used to be with us all the time, sleeping with us at night. If we try to lock her up in a room while we're in the other, she meows as loudly as possible until we go to her again - we already tried for various reasons. Gaia's very dynamic and her sole goal at the moment is to play, except for the few times when she very actively asks for cuddles. She's too curious for her own good and accepted us very quickly. She did the same to any stranger that came at home and played and cuddled with everyone without hesitating one second. But we don't know how she will react to a new kitten ...

Anyone's got any advice for us ?    =)

 

[stephenq]

I promise you the bathroom isn't too small for the kitten, it may feel too small for you and the kitten, but it will be perfect for the kitten.  You can use a very small litter box, plus food and water.  When I get back to my computer I will link you to some good info, but the bottom line is you cannot do a proper introduction if you can't isolate the kitten.  If you didn't have a bathroom then I would suggest you get a dog crate and cover it with a sheet and place it in the main room, but this is not the proper way to do it.

 

[calian]

I've got a similar question to ask, i've recently got two brothers (they are 8 weeks old) and i already have an 8 month old boy kitten, they have been confined to the bedroom, and introduced face to face slowly, but i'm not sure of the older kittens reaction, he's not flattening his ears but his eyes dilate and he makes a melodic meowing sound, then a kind of tackle and chase play, I don't think he means to hurt them but is being over boisterous, I just don't want them hurt as they are so small, am i going about this the right way and do you think it is him playing a bit too much or does he see them as prey? 

 

[bipsoucolline]

Well, one of the issues is, we currently have two litterbox, and one is in the bathroom. I'm not sure about removing that one from Gaia, as she's using both box for the moment.

Also I can imagine isolating the kitten in here for a few hours, but ... for days ? It must be 15 ft² and one third of the surface is a shower. When I see how much space Gaia needed even when we got her at 10 weeks old, I'm not sure about closing up a 13 weeks old one in such a little space. And I fear she would feel cornered in such a little room when we would try to see her. =/

 

[stephenq]

Ok so this is for everyone who is in this thread doing introductions: :-)

There are several steps to a successful introduction, the goal being BFFs, not enemies or angry at you (especially the resident cat).  A careful introduction raises the stress level in incremental steps, allowing both cats, especially the resident cat time to acclimate to the stressor before being introduced to the next level.  You are going to move the "bar" closer and closer to the resident cat until the final step, a supervised face-to-face, becomes  a fender bender and not a car crash.

Step one: Complete separation, putting the new cat is a small room like a bathroom with food, litter and water.  Do not let the cats see each other - too much stress too soon.  Give the new cat time to adjust.  Give both cats time (a week+/-) to get used to this.  They will know each other is there.  Start feeding the resident cat nearer to the door, adjusting daily until he is at the door eating. Do voluntary scent exchange by rubbing the new cat's cheeks on a sock and then offering the sock as a gift to the resident. Don't force him to smell the sock, don't rub it on him. Observe his behavior and allow it.   Rub a clean sock on his cheeks and offer it to the new cat.  Continue to do this but never force either cat to interact with the other cat's sock.

When they are reasonably calm with everything in step one go to:

Step Two:  Allow the cats to see each other.  Two baby gates stacked on top of each other in the open door is a great way.  Cracking the door open and blocking it into position so they can't get through the door is another way.  With many cats the stress of this will make them revert, but it would have been much worse if you had started with this step.  Continue as if this was step one, but now with them seeing each other.  When they are both calm, no hissing or growling, you can go to:

Step Three: After eating meals and feeling satisfied (full stomach = less aggressive) and trimmed nails, you can start to do brief supervised introductions face to face.  Watch their body language and reactions and increase their time together until you are confident that they can manage on their own.

In General, treat the resident cat like he is King.  Don't do things to make him jealous. Don't discipline either cat for showing aggression, punishing them for what they feel is a normal behavior (and is normal for them) just raises the stress.  And follow your cats' lead on the speed of the introduction, there are no rules other than to listen to them.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/cat-behavior/introducing-your-cat-new-cat

http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/a-simple-little-trick-to-use-during-new-cat-introductions/

 

[bipsoucolline]

Thank you for this detailed plan. It seems like a thoughtful and great way to introduce two cats to each other and I'll try to remind that for the future.
 

Unfortunately, that doesn't help me at all, as I already said I can't isolate the potential new kitten anywhere. I can't believe shuting her up in a 1m² room where she would be trapped twice a day with a running shower and a big human would help her feel "secure" and not stressed. The shower takes literaly a third of the room and is open - no closed door, no curtain, just a glass panel. Meaning when we take a shower at least half the room gets more than wet. Add to that the fact that our current kitten will surely spend days and night meowing loudly at the door - just because it's closed and because one of her litterbox is in there -  and try to sneak in everytime we would enter the bathroom. That seems pretty stressful to me.

Now, I'm not insensitive and too lazy to make the efforts our new kitten deserve. I just can't isolate her for a week. I can for a few hours, maybe a day is we must, but that's all. So what I was looking for is advice about how to introduce a new kitten here as smoothly as possible knowing that we can't take that perfect path.

Our best guess and advice for the moment is the following :

Isolate our current kitten out of the living room and introduce the new one to this room slowly - just as we did for the first one. One of us would stay with her, one would stay with the other. At one point, we change rooms so each kitten will be able to smell the other's sent on us. When the new kitten seems a bit more comfortable and the current one not too excited, we can let them face each other. If needed, we thought about introducing them with the new one in the cat box so the older one can come and see her. In the case where one of them react very badly, we could temporarily shut the older one from the bedroom - but that would mean one of us sleeping in the living room or we wouldn't sleep at all. 

Does it seem OK ? Any suggestions/remarks ? Any completely different idea ?

We thought and we were told that both cats being young kitten around the same age, introduction should be pretty easy. Are we wrong about that ? 

I know we never introduce Gaia to any cats so we could be surprised, but for the moment she accepted anything new - even big and noisy and scary, even 8 strangers invading our flat after her being here for barely one week. At worst she's not interested, at best she finds it a new occasion to have fun.

 

[stephenq]

Given that the older cat is only 16 weeks that gives you a big advantage.  I would put the kitten in a crate, covered with a sheet and see how the older one reacts.  If there isn't hissing and growling then remove part or all of the sheet, see how that goes and then consider a supervised introduction.  It will likely go fine.  You still have to bare in mind that the new one may still be incubating a URI, but it isn't the end of the world if you have a vet you like.

 

[bipsoucolline]

The crate and the sheet is a good idea. We'll try that, thanks !

 

[bipsoucolline]

Since we had our new kitten two days ago, some update about the introduction :

We let the new kitten, Yumi, visits the living room while Gaia was locked away. We quickly noticed that Yumi was pretty relaxed about the situation, so when she had explored every corner, we put her back in her box and put a blanket on it before letting Gaia in. At first, Gaia was terrified by Yumi's presence - all fur puffed up and hiss and growl. But curiosity won pretty quickly. She calmed down and we let Yumi out to meet her new friend.

It went not so bad : no one attacked the other. The first evening, Gaia was curious but wary and hissed and growled everytime Yumi would get too close. It was a bit sad because Yumi was relaxed and just wanted to play. She tried every trick cats have to say "I come in peace", but Gaia wouldn't have it. We let Yumi in the living room for he night and took Gaia in the bedroom with us. It went pretty well, except that Gaia was very excited early in the morning since she couldn't play in the living room as she always does.

Now, since saturday, Gaia's curiosity and want for a playmate completely won over. She's obsessed by Yumi. She stalks her everywhere, watches her and tries to play all the time. Problem is ... Yumi started to growl at her when she tries to play. 

It's getting better every hour that passes. We saw them chasing each other and pouncing on each other last evening. There's still a bit of growling and hissing but there is no doubt : they play together.

We're just worried about getting Gaia some rest. Yumi's confortable with the situation but Gaia's restless. She always keeps an eye on Yumi, alert, and stopped doing her usual and ritual stuff - sleeping with us, asking for hugs at regular hours, etc ... She eats less also. She's obviously stressed, which is normal considering the situation, but it's painful to watch. On the other hand, when we tried to isolate both kittens for a while to let Gaia relax, both kittens began to meow and call each other until we let them reunite again ... only to continue the growl/playing stuff. Gaia's only respite was when she climbed on our drying rack and hide in the folds of a bedsheet. Yumi doesn't dare climbing on the rack and they couldn't see each other, so Gaia slept there. But the rack and the bedsheet isn't permanently there.

 

[stephenq]

Decent progress, it can be a one step forward, 2 steps back for a while....

 

[bipsoucolline]

Day 3 and a half :

Things are much much better. The two kittens were found playing together when we got home from work and they both slept with us without making a fuss about it. We still hear some growling from time to time but I think it may be because Gaia has much more energy and need for play than Yumi ... !

Last issue that is resolving itself more slowly : Gaia is still very alert when Yumi is nearby and we sometimes have to help her find some time alone to do her business in the litterbox. But still, things went better than I expected.

 

[stephenq]

Great!

 

[calian]

myboys.jpg

• calian
• Jul 9, 2014

My boys a couple of weeks later, just letting them take their time... this is them sitting on the top of my four poster bed canopy... 

 

[bipsoucolline]

It looks like they're doing great. This is our girls 10 days after they met. I think they pretty much accepted each other now. In the end, the first three days we heard a lot of growling, then it stopped and they played a lot. It took around five days more for them to groom each other and sleep together =)

9oNjfYI.jpg

• bipsoucolline
• Jul 10, 2014

 

[stephenq]

Super cute!

 

[teagranny]

Is Gais the cat in your avatar?  Both of the cats in your last post are beautiful! 

Really glad your introduction and subsequent learning to live together is going well.

teagranny

 

[bipsoucolline]

Yes, Gaia is the white cat in my avatar She's one month older in my last post !

 

[riley1]

I am not trying to be smart, but why on earth did you get another cat in such a small area.  Cats are all about smell, territory and resources.  Stephen Q has given you great advice and you can see my take of this under "to rehome or not" thread.

 

[bipsoucolline]

If it can reassure you, I took advice from a shelter and the French equivalent of the Humane Society, both told me my flat was perfectly fine for two cats, especially two kittens who would grow up together. We also met a breeder who advised us to get two kittens, considering both my boyfriend and I work and we wouldn't be at home during the day. Everyone told us we had enough space and the most important thing was for the cat to control their territory and to have distinct area to play/eat/poop. We avoided to take a kitten that was used to big space and outdoors, and it went fine.

We took a second one because the first one clearly needed some feline company to play with and learn how to behave with. And we were right ! Since they're used to each other, our first one is transformed ! She has a lot of fun, she's more relaxed, she stopped biting us for play ... Now both kittens do everything together, eat, play, sleep and ask for attention.

And as I explained in my previous post, I think StephenQ advice is great ! I actually saved it for the day we have a bigger place, in case we want to get another cat. But we materially couldn't do that without stressing both cats more than necessary in my opinion. We followed his second advice with a blanket on the box, supervised closely the kittens until they got used to each other, and everything went fine.

Also, it should be noted that cat lovers we met don't agree on the right way to introduce kittens - not adult cat, but kittens. Half told us basically the same thing as StephenQ, half told us to introduce them calmly face to face and let them work this out by themselves. A couple of friends even tried to introduce a new young cat to their adult cat following StephenQ's process ... after two hours of both kitties meowing at each other through the door, they gave up, opened it, and everything went fine right away.

There isn't one unique solution for every situation. 

 

[stephenq]

 
If it can reassure you, I took advice from a shelter and the French equivalent of the Humane Society, both told me my flat was perfectly fine for two cats, especially two kittens who would grow up together. We also met a breeder who advised us to get two kittens, considering both my boyfriend and I work and we wouldn't be at home during the day. Everyone told us we had enough space and the most important thing was for the cat to control their territory and to have distinct area to play/eat/poop. We avoided to take a kitten that was used to big space and outdoors, and it went fine.

We took a second one because the first one clearly needed some feline company to play with and learn how to behave with. And we were right ! Since they're used to each other, our first one is transformed ! She has a lot of fun, she's more relaxed, she stopped biting us for play ... Now both kittens do everything together, eat, play, sleep and ask for attention.

And as I explained in my previous post, I think StephenQ advice is great ! I actually saved it for the day we have a bigger place, in case we want to get another cat. But we materially couldn't do that without stressing both cats more than necessary in my opinion. We followed his second advice with a blanket on the box, supervised closely the kittens until they got used to each other, and everything went fine.

Also, it should be noted that cat lovers we met don't agree on the right way to introduce kittens - not adult cat, but kittens. Half told us basically the same thing as StephenQ, half told us to introduce them calmly face to face and let them work this out by themselves. A couple of friends even tried to introduce a new young cat to their adult cat following StephenQ's process ... after two hours of both kitties meowing at each other through the door, they gave up, opened it, and everything went fine right away.

There isn't one unique solution for every situation. 

I just want to go on the record and say that I think @BipSoucolline has done a great job of introducing these two cats in a difficult situation, and that their apt is a totally normal size for 2 or more cats who get along.  As s/he said, sometimes an introduction can happen very well and very quickly which is of course fantastic. My advice assumes the worst case scenario and is geared for people who have cats that need a slower introduction, but my comments also say that it is the cats and their behavior that should dictate the speed of the introduction.

in any case, congratulations are in order here for 2 cats who so quickly love each other.  Many cats never get to this point with each other, no matter how careful the introduction.  Fantastique!