When To Introduce New Kittens

[duncanmac]

That's why I used the laser pointer so I could stand outside the door.

 

[flojo75]

Ah right I understand now. The laser pen was a good idea because they start playing next to each other & completely forget about their relative dislike/distrust of each other!!
Keep us updated

 

[duncanmac]

Last night I just let them to themselves for about an hour.  I was near by but only hear hissing and a meowch here and there, until the new cat had enough and went to hide under the deep-freeze.  (There's an amazing amount of room under there)  I separated them at that point, mostly because I didn't want Duncan to go there too.  There would be no way to get him out and it would just be a cage match at that point.

This morning was interesting.  they interacted some and then both kind of laid down near, but not too near, each other.  Then Duncan swatted the new cat in the butt so hard it sounded like a face slap.  The two of them have been "boxing" a lot.

Good thing is Barry is moving around the basement - I actually saw him walk in and out of his safe room a couple of times (he was alone downstairs where his room is)  Just a casual walk - not slinking or running.  I think he was looking for the stashes of treats I leave for him because I was just down there.  Got a pet this morning for the first time in a while.  I had to reach in for it, but once I started, Barry was really into it.

 

[flojo75]

It really does sound promising, if they were comfortable enough to lay down nearish each other. Batting & boxing is oerfectly normal & just them establishing a hierarchy. Duncan is just trying to say this is my house & im boss.
Keep lengthening their time together slowly. You are doing everything right.

 

[duncanmac]

Wow - I think we might be almost there.  [As I was typing this, I had to separate them.]

All morning they have been together - playing, boxing, hissing, growling, laying down and ignoring each other.  No major dust ups, but it seems Barry had enough and went to hide, so I separated them to let him relax.  Barry has come out of his room to play a couple of times.  And they have chased each other around outside Barry's room.  Only downside is that it seems that Duncan is trying to keep Barry from leaving his room.  Tonight we will watch TV downstairs for a while and see who comes out to play and cuddle.

Duncan is the orange and white cat; Barry is grey and black.

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• duncanmac
• Mar 4, 2017

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• duncanmac
• Mar 4, 2017

 

[flojo75]

You are certainly getting there especially if they are playing chase, but monitor who is chasing who, as if it's only one cat chasing the other it's a bullying chase & another way to assert dominance.
Also Duncan trying to prevent Barry from leaving his room is again a dominance thing. Be rest assured though that they will in time work this out.

 

[flojo75]

Hey how are things going, you've not posted tonight?

 

[duncanmac]

So it seems like I am battling (but winning) a war on two fronts.

Most obvious, I have to get the cats together in some sort of harmony. That is moving along well. I was going to leave them both free on Saturday night, but something just didn't seem right so they were upstairs/downstairs again. There were one or two really good dust-ups on Sunday so I closed Barry's door and let everyone take a deep breath. Seemed to work. The seem to interact most in the morning after the gates are down and around dinner time. Sometimes it is chasing, sometimes it is hissing and boxing, other times they just watch each other and sniff. But the bulk of yesterday was spent with Duncan ignoring Barry and napping in the front window or on the couch. Seemed to almost forget about him.

When they fight, Duncan seems to back Barry into a corner and bully him. Barry used to run away, but now he is fighting back, so Duncan runs away more. Duncan actually has a small scratch over his eye from a swat (tiny - dot-sized).

The second front is to build Barry's confidence and get him to move around more. I coaxed him out last night with a new toy (Da Bird's mouse toy). Didn't get him far from his door way, but he was out even though he would dart back in if i moved. He also laid down "lounging" and looking at me for a while. After a while I went into his room and gave him a scratch behind his ear - and slowly pulled my hand back to me. He followed right along and enjoyed the heck out of it. Circled around me a few times. Came back for more pets a couple of times and rolled over on his back too.

This morning he was out of his room a lot more. Usually once the gates are down, he runs into his room, this time he was in and out a few times and didn't run away right away when I came in. He has also been coming to the top of the stairs to look through the gates and see what's going on.

 

[flojo75]

You were right to not put them together all night they are way off that at the moment.
The fighting is their way of establishing a hierarchy. Barry is getting more confident in standing up for himself hence him not running away.
Until the fighting stops I wouldn't even consider putting them together all night. Just don't rush things (don't mean to be patronising). With some cats it can only take a week with some 3-4 months or even in some cases they will never get on.
I have a friend who has two male cats & they don't get on & never have done. They have their seperate rooms & never really meet.
You know what you are doing as you are saying all the right things, just take it slowly, it could be that it's going to take a lot longer than you think.

 

[chrisszy]

I had a fereal cat and adopted a kitty from shelter and I kept them apart for 2 days and then let them be together and the fereal cat chased her a lil but tht was it now there best friends and they love each other.

 

[duncanmac]

I had a fereal cat and adopted a kitty from shelter and I kept them apart for 2 days and then let them be together and the fereal cat chased her a lil but tht was it now there best friends and they love each other.

Yeah, well that ain't happening here. I thought I would get lucky with a 5 month old kitten and a shy 10 month old, but the little kitten is trying to be the boss and the new guy is just getting his swagger back. The fighting started last night.

Last night, Duncan cornered the new cat in his room and for the first time the cats seemed to wrestle. I let it go for a little bit then hit them with the spray bottle. (BTW, the spray bottle is only used in two situations: Fighting cats and when Duncan bites us in bed in the middle of the night. It has been quite effective on the biting.) I maybe could have let them go a little longer, but I split them up afterwards.

Barry is coming out of his room on his own to explore with me doing other stuff downstairs, sometimes with Duncan loose but Duncan usually herds Barry back to his room. When Duncan is not around, these are short little forays that usually end with him running to his room, but he takes a little more time each time before he runs back. At night and during the day when the cats are separated, Barry explores the basement and sleeps on my recliner or the windowsill. There are times when Duncan will just sniff at Barry or lay down nearby and other times when he's swatting, hissing and growling. They seem to start calm and then the tension builds up. It is also worse if I give too much attention to Barry and sometimes any attention is too much.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Are they both neutered?

 

[duncanmac]

Resident cat is not neutered yet - he gets snipped on the 16th. New cat is neutered and apparently a TNR cat based on his clipped ear.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Resident cat is not neutered yet - he gets snipped on the 16th. New cat is neutered and apparently a TNR cat based on his clipped ear.

I would slow down on introductions until about a month post-neuter. As it is, your boy is hardwired to defend his territory.

 

[duncanmac]

I would slow down on introductions until about a month post-neuter. As it is, your boy is hardwired to defend his territory.

I know this is going to happen at the cats' pace, but of course I would like it to move as quickly as possible. Right now they interact for maybe and hour in the morning and two in the evening. Our best choice for a safe room for Barry is a small bathroom where it is hard for him to play and hard to interact with him without being right on top of him. I can't see keeping him locked up in there for another month but expect that they will be separated upstairs/downstairs for most of the day for another few weeks.

Right now, togetherness ends when I go to work or when I notice too much aggression or agitation in the cats.

 

[flojo75]

It might be worth going back to the start & introducing them for 10mins & then separating them. Then eek it out little by little as they go longer tolerating each other. Only lengthen it by 5 mins each time but do 10 mins for a week then 15 for the next & so on.
As for the fighting as soon as they start split them up straight away, don't let it go on. As soon as you see the signs of a fight about to start that's the time to seperate them for that meeting, then do again later & try & do it a couple or three times a day.
By the sounds of it you need to be prepared to be in this for the long haul.

 

[talkingpeanut]

I think things will drastically improve once both boys are fixed

 

[duncanmac]

It might be worth going back to the start & introducing them for 10mins & then separating them. Then eek it out little by little as they go longer tolerating each other. Only lengthen it by 5 mins each time but do 10 mins for a week then 15 for the next & so on.
As for the fighting as soon as they start split them up straight away, don't let it go on. As soon as you see the signs of a fight about to start that's the time to seperate them for that meeting, then do again later & try & do it a couple or three times a day.
By the sounds of it you need to be prepared to be in this for the long haul.

Starting over seems a little extreme, at least at this point.  I'll have to keep my eyes on them and make sure the aggression doesn't get out of hand, but this was just one incident.  I jumped on it pretty quick once it started - and it could have been just them boxing loudly - I didn't want it to go to far, and I didn't want to reach in there bare handed either.

Usually what happens is Duncan stalks Barry, swats, hisses and boxes with him a little bit and then runs away.  A lot of times, I'm there with treats keeping the peace and distracting them. If I notice and increase in fighting, I'll have to keep them more separated.

 

[duncanmac]

I think things will drastically improve once both boys are fixed

I expect the same thing.  I'll just have to wait it out.

 

[flojo75]

Yeah that sounds a good plan, going back the the start is always there as an option though.
Never go in beat handed to a cat fight you did the right thing.
Keep me posted & you'll get there I'm sure of that