Introduction Question: Resident Cat Doesn't Seem To Realize There's Another Cat

[hesster]

I have a 9 year old fixed male named Gizmo and up until about six weeks ago a very senior female named Willow. They got along great but she passed away unexpectedly, which led to Gizmo becoming very needy and lonely. He spent a week looking for her in my apartment and now wants to be with me constantly. He has lost a lot of his energy and willingness to play by himself and doesn't run around like he used to. Whenever he is not eating or sleeping he is pestering me for attention.

I decided to adopt another cat but a scheduled 3 week vacation during which Gizmo had to be boarded at a kennel prevented me from getting another cat right away. I've been back for two weeks now and things have settled down, so yesterday I visited the local no-kill shelter and adopted a three month old female kitten as a companion for Gizmo. I decided on a kitten because Gizmo is high energy for his age and felt very threatened by new cats at the kennel even though they were friendly. I thought a small kitten would be less intimidating for him.

She's very sweet and not shy, uses her litter box fine. I installed her in my bedroom where the cats are normally not allowed (due to waking me up when sleeping and hairballs under the bed). I had planned on doing the slow introduction but he doesn't seem to notice she's there. He's fine with her smell on me and I've rubbed a sock on her and let him smell it. But all that has happened is him looking at the door curiously a few times, but I'm not sure if he realizes something is up. The idea that a tiny cat is in there might blow his mind.

So my question is, how soon should I move to the next step? Should I let him see her without letting them have direct contact? One day seems kind of soon.

 

[ArtNJ]

Since smell isn't provoking any reaction at all you can see, lets go on to sight. Do you have baby gates so Gizmo can see the kitten but not get jumped on? Failing that, you could put the kitten in the carrier for a bit and let Gizmo in the room. Done right, with treats to lure in, not force, and petting before you close the carrier, the kitten shouldn't mind it, and you don't necessarily need to do it for long. I have a big 2 cat carrier, and recommend the big ones to all, but the kitten should be ok for a bit even in a small one.

 

[Timmer]

I was always the type to let my cats see each other fairly soon and let them dictate how it should go, not what some article or book tells me. After all you are dealing with living creatures here and you know your resident cat. So if you feel comfortable after 24 hours, let them see each other. Honestly, most of the time I have just put my cats together pretty quickly.

 

[ArtNJ]

Yeah, I generally agree Timmer . I feel like introductions don't necessarily help that much when one party is a kitten. I might just like to see if the 9 yr old Gizmo will hiss & growl before letting the kitten roam and possibly jump on him. I'm not really clear introductions help with an older cat that doesn't want to be jumped on and doesn't have the disposition to put the kitten in its place, but I figure if the older cat gets all growly at the sight of a kitten, a slow introduction can't hurt anything. Which I think is what you were saying -- just see where they are at and adjust from there. Some older cats do have quite a bit of trouble with kittens, so its worth going slow if you have an older cat with that issue, even if going slow won't actually do anything to help. I kind of wish I had gone slower with my current set of cats -- even though I don't think it would have changed anything. After 4 years, my older one doesn't ever mean much when she growls at the younger, and once in a blue moon, is starting to voluntarily play with him a bit -- but it would have been nice if it didn't take four years.

 

[littlesoprano]

Possy my resident cat, growled and hissed at the kittens regardless of a closed door or a gate. But when they escaped the one night, aside from hissing and growling, she didn’t change her habits at all. So I never restrained them again.
While she will correct them if they chase her tail or get to close for comfort, she has now moved to being able to touch noses for a second without too much fuss. Still hisses and growls, but as long as the kittens are unphased, it’s not worth worrying about.

 

[Pjg8r]

I would suggest waiting a few days just in case the new one develops a URI. Mine all got along great and my boys actually opened the door where Indie was, but they have all passed around the sneezing and eye goop for a month. They have all had antibiotics and I had to run the boys to the emergency vet for fluids at one point. It’s not just about if they get along in my opinion.

 

[Timmer]

It's too bad sometimes their reaction isn't like ours when we see a new kitten. HA!

 

[hesster]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have a gate I made from coated metal shelving when Willow and Gizmo had their one serious fight and I had to go through the reintroduction process. That's another reason I'm erring on the side of caution. It was over a month of pure hell with Gizmo so terrified of Willow at the start he would pee at the sight of her. Before the fight he had a habit of jumping on her back and biting her neck, which she absolutely hated. I think one day while I was gone she decided enough was enough and let him have it. She was 14 at the time and missing half her teeth and she still knocked the stuffing out of him.

I set up the fence in the bedroom doorway and opened the door. When he saw the kitten through it he crept up like he was stalking her and she arched her back and did the puffy tail dance but she did not run or back down. Then they touched noses through the bars and Gizmo turned and crept back down the hall. Once he got to the end of the hall he stood up, looked around and returned to his favorite hiding spot under the couch cover.

There was no hissing or screeching or swatting so I think it went about as well as can be expected.

 

[ArtNJ]

Agree it went decently, and that your right to cautious in light of Gizmo's history. Maybe do the gate when you can for a few more days get everybody comfortable if possible before the supervised free meeting.

 

[Wile]

It was over a month of pure hell with Gizmo so terrified of Willow at the start he would pee at the sight of her. Before the fight he had a habit of jumping on her back and biting her neck, which she absolutely hated. I think one day while I was gone she decided enough was enough and let him have it. She was 14 at the time and missing half her teeth and she still knocked the stuffing out of him.

I know it's really mean, but I laughed when I read this. It sounds like Gizmo got exactly what he deserved from Willow (you go girl!)

Chuckles aside, he should feel pretty safe with a tiny kitten. Good luck!

 

[hesster]

I know it's really mean, but I laughed when I read this. It sounds like Gizmo got exactly what he deserved from Willow (you go girl!)

Chuckles aside, he should feel pretty safe with a tiny kitten. Good luck!

Oh, he was being a butt and definitely got what was coming to him. He stopped afterward so she finally got the point across and eventually things returned to normal. But for the first couple of weeks I wasn't sure they could ever be together in the same room again.

 

[hesster]

Update...

I have kept the kitten in the bedroom. It has a big walk-in closet where I've put her bed, litter box and bowls. She spends the night in there without too much complaint. I use flushable litter and scoop multiple times per day. No accidents so far. I have not let her out of the bedroom yet as the rest of the apartment still needs kitten proofing. I'll probably do that tonight. She does not like being left in the room by herself and cries at the gate when I leave the room. Luckily she has a tiny voice.

Gizmo isn't quite sure what to make of the room he's not allowed in being invaded by a squeaky midget. He's been peering at her from the hall and approached the grate a few times, but always turns and retreats with a hiss. On the other hand, he is eating and not obviously aggressive towards her. For her part, she's not scared of him at all. She even tries to rub up against him through the bars.

 

[littlesoprano]

My cat Possy had the same reaction with my kittens. I ended up just letting them meet. It went so well, they’ve been free running for a while now. She does hiss and growl at them still, but as gotten to the point she will share the bed with them now!

 

[hesster]

I let the kitten out tonight for the first time. At first I had her in her carrier. I lured her in with treats and then carried her out and Gizmo sat watching her in the cage. Since Willow passed away he has been depressed and has not been very much into playing. The toys and treats he used to love barely get a reaction. He's also a grazer and has been eating a lot less while the kitten eats like she had a hollow leg so it's been very difficult to do any kind of synchronized feeding. I managed to get him to eat one treat while the kitten was in the cage and after about 15 minutes he retreated under the couch cover.

So I let her out of the cage figuring I could let her roam around a bit and keep her occupied with a wand toy she loves playing with. After about 10 minutes she walked in front of the couch and he poked his head out. When he saw the kitten he came out to watch her, and when she saw him she just marched right up to him to rub up against him. He wasn't having any of that, but instead of attacking her he started backpedaling around the room with the kitten following him trying to touch noses. I got her distracted with the toy again and he retreated back under the couch cover. This happened a couple more times before I managed to wear her out and put her back in the bedroom for dinner and a nap.

She's friendly and very bold. She's totally not afraid of him and determined to bring him out of his shell. She's also not put off by his hisses and growls. After I put her away there was this palpable sense of relief. Gizmo is relieved she's not going to attack him, and I'm relieved he's not going to attack her. He seemed less sad and sat on my lap and purred while I petted him for a good hour. . I'm not going to leave them out alone together until he's more relaxed when she's around, but so far it's going better than I could have hoped.

I've attached a picture of the kitten so you can see what a cutie she is. I've decided to name her Mouse.

 

[susanm9006]

Adorable. I would try putting the kitten in a large dog crate where he can see and smell her but still feel safe and let them spend an hour or two that way. She sounds like she going to be quite the outgoing cat and if he can get over his fear, a great playmate for him

 

[hesster]

We're getting there. I let her out again the next day. It was going ok until Gizmo decided to retreat to a different room and Mouse thought he wanted to play chase. Gizmo and Willow used to chase each other all over the house but for some reason this freaked him out and he started growling and screeching, which freaked her out. So I figured that was enough and put her away.

Since then I have brought her out for shorter visits and he goes back and forth from cool with her to "hating kittenses forever."

But we're making progress!

 

[Zigmont]

I put my kitten, Suki, in a kitty play pen, so my big cat, Outlaw (husband named my cat, Outlaw Josie Wales), could see her, but not hurt her. She played very confidently through the mesh sides!

 

[Zigmont]

By the way, your kitties are so cute!

 

[Zigmont]

I let the kitten out tonight for the first time. At first I had her in her carrier. I lured her in with treats and then carried her out and Gizmo sat watching her in the cage. Since Willow passed away he has been depressed and has not been very much into playing. The toys and treats he used to love barely get a reaction. He's also a grazer and has been eating a lot less while the kitten eats like she had a hollow leg so it's been very difficult to do any kind of synchronized feeding. I managed to get him to eat one treat while the kitten was in the cage and after about 15 minutes he retreated under the couch cover.

So I let her out of the cage figuring I could let her roam around a bit and keep her occupied with a wand toy she loves playing with. After about 10 minutes she walked in front of the couch and he poked his head out. When he saw the kitten he came out to watch her, and when she saw him she just marched right up to him to rub up against him. He wasn't having any of that, but instead of attacking her he started backpedaling around the room with the kitten following him trying to touch noses. I got her distracted with the toy again and he retreated back under the couch cover. This happened a couple more times before I managed to wear her out and put her back in the bedroom for dinner and a nap.

She's friendly and very bold. She's totally not afraid of him and determined to bring him out of his shell. She's also not put off by his hisses and growls. After I put her away there was this palpable sense of relief. Gizmo is relieved she's not going to attack him, and I'm relieved he's not going to attack her. He seemed less sad and sat on my lap and purred while I petted him for a good hour. . I'm not going to leave them out alone together until he's more relaxed when she's around, but so far it's going better than I could have hoped.

I've attached a picture of the kitten so you can see what a cutie she is. I've decided to name her Mouse.

Really cute!

 

[hesster]

Well, after about two weeks of Gizmo grumpy grumping he has finally warmed up to her. As I type they are chasing each other up and down the hall. She jumps on his tail, wrestles with him and he even lets her lie down near him. He's back to eating like normal, playing with toys and is his old self again.

Best friends forever! (I hope)