Hi everyone! I am not a new cat owner, but I am new to having more than one cat, and doing introductions.
Previously, I had adopted a beautiful orange boy when he was only 8 weeks old, and he was my only cat and I had him up until August when unfortunately, kidney disease took him at 18 years old. Then in October, I lost my mom and decided that since 2023 had too much loss, that 2024 would have gains. So in early January, I adopted a 4 to 5 month old kitten, named Cleo!
Cleo is very loving and affectionate, and as you can guess, full of energy. So much energy. I had originally planned to adopt Cleo's sister along with her from the rescue, however, after she was spayed, she became fearful and reclusive, and her foster mom did not think it was a good idea, and I certainly was not going to argue.
I've realized that Cleo needs a playmate so on Friday I went down to a well respected shelter in my city and met Ramona. Ramona is about one year old and came from a home with five cats. She is also extremely loving, obviously a bit more mellow than Cleo, but still enjoys playing. My thought process was that they were close enough in age, but Ramona was a little bit older and could be a good role model and maybe help Cleo calm down just a little bit, and maybe I could get a little sleep lol.
Anyway, I have been doing the introductions to the best of my ability. Ramona has a base camp in my bedroom, and believe it or not, they have already met face-to-face, sniffed each other's noses and so yesterday they had a good bit of supervised together time. I fed them at the same time far apart, but within line of sight, I did the same thing with some treats. I keep playing with Cleo especially because she has so much energy and is very excited to have a new cat to play with.
That's the problem, Cleo wants to play, and play in the way that all kittens do and Ramona doesn't really seem into it yet as she is still learning about her new home. There has been no violence, I have not seen any signs of real aggression, no ear pinning, no fur standing on end. No batting or swatting, but Ramona hisses at Cleo sometimes when she tries to pounce on her or chase her, or is just in her way. From reading here I know that hissing is not a sign of aggression, but I would be lying to you if I said, it doesn't raise my anxiety a lot. I am, possibly unjustifiably afraid that Ramona will fight and hurt my little Cleo which I really don't want obviously. So I guess my question is how much should I worry about that, I know that I need to continue to supervise them and of course I will, and they will definitely be separated when I need to leave the apartment, but am I doing OK if there's just some hissing? I always try to redirect Cleo with toys and it works every time. I'm just new to all of this and I'm sure most of you with multiple cats have been through it as well. Cleo is very used to sleeping with me and so I have been sleeping in the living room with her since Ramona has my bedroom but I can't do that for too much longer. I'm so tired because I'm not sleeping well out here and I would very much like to, get back to my bed, and do not want to lock Cleo out, but I also realize that is Ramona's base camp. So I would like to try to go to bed with them both free. What do you all think? Yesterday I did get some feliway multi cat and Cleo genuinely seems to be less rambunctious today. I will include some cat tax pictures below. Cleo is the tuxedo cat and Ramona is the black cat. Because I've been trying to supervise them and freaking out at every hiss I don't have nearly as many pictures of Ramona. Sorry about that. Thanks for reading my ramblings.
Previously, I had adopted a beautiful orange boy when he was only 8 weeks old, and he was my only cat and I had him up until August when unfortunately, kidney disease took him at 18 years old. Then in October, I lost my mom and decided that since 2023 had too much loss, that 2024 would have gains. So in early January, I adopted a 4 to 5 month old kitten, named Cleo!
Cleo is very loving and affectionate, and as you can guess, full of energy. So much energy. I had originally planned to adopt Cleo's sister along with her from the rescue, however, after she was spayed, she became fearful and reclusive, and her foster mom did not think it was a good idea, and I certainly was not going to argue.
I've realized that Cleo needs a playmate so on Friday I went down to a well respected shelter in my city and met Ramona. Ramona is about one year old and came from a home with five cats. She is also extremely loving, obviously a bit more mellow than Cleo, but still enjoys playing. My thought process was that they were close enough in age, but Ramona was a little bit older and could be a good role model and maybe help Cleo calm down just a little bit, and maybe I could get a little sleep lol.
Anyway, I have been doing the introductions to the best of my ability. Ramona has a base camp in my bedroom, and believe it or not, they have already met face-to-face, sniffed each other's noses and so yesterday they had a good bit of supervised together time. I fed them at the same time far apart, but within line of sight, I did the same thing with some treats. I keep playing with Cleo especially because she has so much energy and is very excited to have a new cat to play with.
That's the problem, Cleo wants to play, and play in the way that all kittens do and Ramona doesn't really seem into it yet as she is still learning about her new home. There has been no violence, I have not seen any signs of real aggression, no ear pinning, no fur standing on end. No batting or swatting, but Ramona hisses at Cleo sometimes when she tries to pounce on her or chase her, or is just in her way. From reading here I know that hissing is not a sign of aggression, but I would be lying to you if I said, it doesn't raise my anxiety a lot. I am, possibly unjustifiably afraid that Ramona will fight and hurt my little Cleo which I really don't want obviously. So I guess my question is how much should I worry about that, I know that I need to continue to supervise them and of course I will, and they will definitely be separated when I need to leave the apartment, but am I doing OK if there's just some hissing? I always try to redirect Cleo with toys and it works every time. I'm just new to all of this and I'm sure most of you with multiple cats have been through it as well. Cleo is very used to sleeping with me and so I have been sleeping in the living room with her since Ramona has my bedroom but I can't do that for too much longer. I'm so tired because I'm not sleeping well out here and I would very much like to, get back to my bed, and do not want to lock Cleo out, but I also realize that is Ramona's base camp. So I would like to try to go to bed with them both free. What do you all think? Yesterday I did get some feliway multi cat and Cleo genuinely seems to be less rambunctious today. I will include some cat tax pictures below. Cleo is the tuxedo cat and Ramona is the black cat. Because I've been trying to supervise them and freaking out at every hiss I don't have nearly as many pictures of Ramona. Sorry about that. Thanks for reading my ramblings.