Older Cat 9-10yrs Not Liking New Kitten. Help.

[lilaclady2012]

Hi there I'm in need of some help, i have a cat called Sally who is 9-10yrs old we decided to get a new kitten i was thinking at the time it would be good for Sally to have a little friend to play with, i was wrong about that the kitten is so the opposite of sally he wants to play and has loads of energy his name is Raider (husband chose it) when they met the was lots of growling and hissing from Sally i don't have the space in my hose to keep him in a room  so he sleeps in the kitchen i did all i could think of and what i found when researching on how to introduce them cross matching their scents small slow meetings but last couple of days Sally has been hiding upstairs in the corner of my room i did buy a rescue remedy made with holly this was said to calm the cat against an intruder and help with feelings of jealousy I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it but shes not the same, i really don't want to give up the kitten but Sally is the main cat and i don't want her to feel left out.

She is a very timid cat anyway when our daughter is up and downstairs Sally is usually upstairs and comes down when she goes for her nap and then same again at night.

The kitten is also trying to eat Sally's food and he keeps using her litter tray, i read that the should not need to share litter trays, eating areas and sleeping areas, I've made sure this is not the case but I'm at a loss, i love sally dearly she is my baby but i am also starting to get attached to the kitten and my daughter loves him, I don't want to re-home him so if anyone out there can help me i would be so very grateful.

Sorry for the long story ;-)

Thanks

Vicki

Sally&Raider

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I feel your pain, honest I do.  When we adopted "the boys", our Callie was fit to be tied.  She used to attack the door of the room we kept them in

.  this went on for months!  (Five months, to be exact)  But in the end, after doing all the things we were told to do, it all worked out.  They are not best friends, by any means, but for the most part, they co-exist without too many issues, and every once in awhile, the three of them even play a game of chase

.  And our girl was just about the age of your girl when this all transpired.  "the boys" were about 4 1/2 months old when we got them.  How old is your new kitten?  I'm sure he's full of vim and vigor and wants to play, and she wants nothing to do with him, and that's kind of ingrained in cats.

I know you said you have done the scent swapping and some other things, and also that you don't have a place for HIM to call his own.  You don't any have any rooms with doors?  Could he not share your daughter's room, or could Sally not stay in there, or in your bedroom, since she's hiding in there anyway?  Do you  not have doors on your bedrooms.  How about bathrooms?  OR, could you put up baby gates, one on top of another across hallways to create a barrier?  You could even drape a sheet over them if you needed to hide one cat from the other at times? 

Have you seen this particular article?  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats

Another thing that I find helpful and STILL do with mine is to brush one on their head, shoulders or sides (just a couple of strokes), then immediately go to another one and do the same thing without cleaning the brush.  I try to do this a couple of times a day, switching off which cat is first.  This really helps transfer the scent from one cat to the other.

In the meantime, i'm going to ask that your thread to moved over to Behavior, since this is not really a health issue, and the folks over in Behavior may have more tips for you

 

[tulosai]

Regarding the litter tray, as long as Sally is still using it too, it is no big deal that the kitten is using it.  You should have enough trays that they are both comfortable, but as long as Sally is not revolting against the box, you do have enough trays where they are both comfortable.  I would STRONGLY discourage you from taking any action to change that behavior if they are both using the boxes okay- trying to stop the kitten could lead to his eliminating elsewhere.  

How long have you had the new kitten? An adjustment period of 3-4 months  is totally normal.

As for Sally not feeling neglected, teh best thing you can do is make sure you are making time for her and to play only with her each day.

Good luck!

 

[lilaclady2012]

Hi there 

Thank you for the advice Mrsgreenjeens the sleeps in the kitchen at night with the door shut and during the day when he has a nap its on the sofa  he is only downstairs right now, he seems happy at the mo. I dont like the idea of him going into Amber's room ( my daughter would never go to sleep lol)

Raider is bout 9wks old, Sally has always had free roam of the house ever since we moved in closing doors stresses her out, she stays in our room most of the day and is happy there.

I will do the brushing tecnique and see how that goes.

Thanks again for the advice 

Vicki 

 

[lilaclady2012]

Thank you Tulosai

I will leave that alone I'm not sure if he was liking Sally's tray more so have swapped them over and he has her tray and at night i bring the new on in for Sally to use at night only.

Raider the kitten is bout 9wks old have had him for 2wks this Friday.

Vicki