My cat used to live in a house with her five kittens, another cat, and a few dogs. Being college students, most everyone left the house and I took Jack into my house. She became an extremely different cat, more affectionate and more outgoing. Even though 5 other students live here with me, she is very needy and follows me and my boyfriend throughout the house.
Jack seemed bored, so we decided to get her a playmate. When we brought the kitten home, she made an outburst I was not expecting. She quickly quieted down, but barely allows us to pet her and give her attention. Although she has the entire house to run around in, she usually keeps to my room, a larger bedroom.
I know it will take some time for the two to get adjusted to each other, but I would like to find out if there is anything I can do to make it easier for them. Everything I have read so far has talked about keeping the cats in separate rooms, but I only have one room. There is a spare bedroom upstairs used for storage, but no one is ever in there. I hesitate to put the kitten there, because it is so isolated, but I do not want to stress the cats out more than necessary.
Why does my cat hiss at me and my boyfriend when we try to pet her?
What can we do to reassure her?
How can we ease this transition for both cat and kitten?
Jack seemed bored, so we decided to get her a playmate. When we brought the kitten home, she made an outburst I was not expecting. She quickly quieted down, but barely allows us to pet her and give her attention. Although she has the entire house to run around in, she usually keeps to my room, a larger bedroom.
I know it will take some time for the two to get adjusted to each other, but I would like to find out if there is anything I can do to make it easier for them. Everything I have read so far has talked about keeping the cats in separate rooms, but I only have one room. There is a spare bedroom upstairs used for storage, but no one is ever in there. I hesitate to put the kitten there, because it is so isolated, but I do not want to stress the cats out more than necessary.
Why does my cat hiss at me and my boyfriend when we try to pet her?
What can we do to reassure her?
How can we ease this transition for both cat and kitten?