Introduction Cat to Kitten...HELP!

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spoh

spoh

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Location
, Michigan, USA
Okay so I need some kitty advice. We have a house of pets but only one cat, she is the queen. As mentioned on another thread she too needs a giant size litter box as she is a rather chubby girl to say the least. She tolerates our two bloodhounds, she doesn't bother them unless they get in her face then she hisses and holds up her paw but has never really gotten one of them. When she is in Lucy's(bun) room she will lay on the floor all innocent until Lucy hops by and then she will swat her, again has never had her claws out.

So now my daughter has her heart set on this kitten at the Humane Society. Of course it is the cutest, sweetest, mellow, etc.etc. etc. kitten in the whole wide world. My daughter is 19 so the kitten is suppose to primarily live in her room but I know she will sneak out so introductions have to be made. How do we do this? Belle (cat) has never been face to face with another cat other than through a window and that was loud enough to wake up in the middle of the night. The kitten is getting spayed next Tuesday so we can bring her home Wednesday but they are going to keep her until the following week because we are going out of town next weekend and don't want to leave her or take her with us.

Any advice??? Please???
 
I bet someone like seniorcats will know, but it might also be worth maybe finding a cat forum because that might help you get a wider range of help and advice.
 
How old is Belle?

When I was younger we had one cat, Abby,that traveled with us in Germany, Alaska, Virginia and Ohio. She was used to changes and used to flying with never any signs of stress. As she was getting older we made a big mistake for her sake by bringing a kitten into the house. Abby had only ever had 2 other species in the house with her, fish and a bird, so she too had never came in contact with another cat. We tried our best to bond them by putting them in a closed room and letting the kitten (Holly) walk around. Abby never got along with Holly and all they did was fight which took Abby down hill faster, I believe. Abby then became really sick and was full of cancer so the time came when we had to put her down. We left the house and Holly came up to Abby onelast time which led toAbby hissing as she was leaving the house.

Don't get me wrong,I still have Holly and love her to pieces. But, if I could go back in time and changed one thing I wouldn't of gotton Holly for Abby's sake.For 15 years Abbywas an 'onlychild' and then came along'that' kitten that she never enjoyed. All Holly did forAbby was sadly make her go down hill faster. Holly wasn't an active kitten either, she loved to just sit and cuddle rather then playing. So it's not like she was in Abby's face all the time.

Since Holly came right from a litter and came in contact with Abby, she was rather depressed without a cat in the house. So we went up to the humane society and picked up the youngest cat/kitten they had the time. At the time, the youngest one they had happened to be 6 months old (Jewel) and Holly was a year at the time. Holly really clinged to Jewel and they become buds really fast once Jewel came over her shyness.

We never had anyintentions toever get another insidecat besides the two as they are tight together. Well, plans changed and wegot a phone call the end of Septemberfrom my aunt asking if we'd try to savean orphaned kitten. Needless to say, we couldn't say no and startedhandfeeding the kitten at one day old. Holly and Jewel ignored her for the first few weeks but were upset withus. We tried outbest to keep them in thepicture butit can get tough when you have feedings every two hours around the clock. They started having an interest in the kitten (Ember) once she started moving around but again they didn't 'like' her. Due to theEmber's size (she's11 weeks old and just pushed the 2 pound mark)she's in a big dogcrate with her stuffed animalsor in the closed off kitchen.

So Holly and Jewel (now 6 and 6 1/2 years old)see Ember all the time on their wishes except when bonding time comes. Every night whether it's for 10 mintues or 2 hours, Holly, Jewel and Ember are put into the kitchen/ bathroom/ breezeway area of the house and mingle about their own. They have access to their food and the litter box in this time along with their cat bed. The three girls are gradually getting used to each other and Embermakes them play with her. During this time the humans have to be careful where they step becausecat toys are all over the floor and a tiny flash of fur running loose. The girls seem to be getting along and it hasn't broken Holly and Jewel's bond.

I won't come out and tell you 'yes or no' on getting this kitten,it's your choice. I've been in two standings where I've had the cats not get along at all. Now, I've got a special situation where the bonding of three cats seems to be working. But keep in mind,Holly and Jewel have seen this kitten since she was a day old so they were used to her smell and such before they 'met'.

It's a 50/50 gamble. Yes, the kitten might stay in the bedroom with your daughter a lot of the time. But the adult cat will know she's there with the chance to meet her on occasion.

Just some food for thought...

~ Amanda ~
 
I have a cat that also was the "queen of the universe" and she very much disliked other cats. I found that introducing her to a kitten wasn't as difficult as I expected. At first she hissed when the kitten came near her but then I think her mothering instinct took over and she would play and cuddle with her. Now that they are all grown, she pretty much does her own thing and the other two hang out together. She still hates other cats, but I think she sees these two as her babies.

My best recommendation is to let them get to know each other on their own terms. If your cat hisses and leaves, let her go. She will come back and check out the kitten on her own. Don't try to force them to like each other and give it time. If your cat has a favorite spot or bed, keep that as her spot and don't let the kitten intrude on that personal space. I would only interfear if you see actual fighting (which I never did.) The most I saw was hissing and the occasional paw smack.

Had to throw this in:

CIMG0014.jpg

 
Thanks everybody,

Belle is 10 and the kitten will only be about 9 weeks so she is tiny yet. I would think that would work in our favor but I don't know.

Joy
 
Have you introduced kitties before? If not, here's what you do (and I'll add what's applicable to your particular situation):

Put New Kitty in her own room (as you mentioned would occur), with her own stuff (food, water, etc), and continue letting Belle use the whole house (but you said you were going to do all this already).

Let them sniff under the door, maybe even paw (as I'm SURE the kitten will do) under the door. Give that about a week before ANY in-person (kitty) introductions.

Now, bear in mind, the kitten might just irritate Belle to no end...so she'll need spaces she can go to get away when she wants to be left alone. She may just take to the kitten completely at first (as happens most times when you introduce such a young kitty to an older one, but with a senior kitty, as Belle is, you'll need to give her spaces she can go to be alone (that the kitten cannot access).

Slowly introduce them as you would with other kitties...the difference here being making sure to train Kitten EARLY ON to not overwhelm Belle. You won't be able to really start training Kitten until she's about three months old (at the earliest), because baby kittens just aren't trainable, as they don't know up from down most times. Hehe! So, until she's starting to listen to the humans in the house, and starting to get her whits about her, and then start training her. :)

Let me know if you ever need any help! :)

Hugs!

Rosie*
 
Thanks Rosie! I will keep you posted, it looks like we will be bringing her home Christmas Eve so it should be an interesting Christmas.

Joy
 
Well my daughters went to visit the kitten this afternoon, she was at the vets being spayed which means she will be able to come home Saturday. She was suppose to be spayed next Tuesday and come home Wednesday but they said they would hold on to her an extra few days because we are going out of town next weekend. Now that she can come home Saturday we are going to have to figure out what to do next weekend. We have two bloodhounds, a little dog, Belle (senior cat), Lucy (Bun) and a guinea pig. The guinea pig andBellewill be all set for the weekend we can givethem enough supplies to last but the rest of the critters will be cared for by my parents who live next door. How can I ask them to also take care of a new kitten too? We have a extra large plastic dog kennel that will easily fit a litter box, a bed, food and water. I guess I can ask if my Mom minds, we could leave her in the kennel and when she comes over to let the dogs out she could let herout for cuddles etc. I really don't feel comfortable letting her run around the whole time being so new and so little. It was so much easier before they changed things, it was perfect.

If my in laws didn't have a cat I might take her with us but they do and I just don't want to stress things out for everybody over our holiday with them.

Any thoughts?

Joy
 
If it's a nice, big kennel, she should be fine in it. I agree, her being so small, she'll get scared in such a huge area (even though it's just a bedroom, it's HUGE to someone that small). Maybe tell your mom that if she thinks the kitten is stressed, to call you and ask you if she should let her out into the room, and maybe keep the kennel in the room with its door open so she has somewhere to hide if she's scared.

Depends on the kitten really. Some at that age are more comfortable staying in a small space, some are really not happy with it at all. Depends how independent she is as a kitty. :)

Let me know how it goes! Maybe you can try it with her a couple days before you go, see which way she prefers...and go with that. :)

Can't wait to see pictures of your new little sweetheart....

:inlove:
 
maherwoman wrote:
If it's a nice, big kennel, she should be fine in it. I agree, her being so small, she'll get scared in such a huge area (even though it's just a bedroom, it's HUGE to someone that small). Maybe tell your mom that if she thinks the kitten is stressed, to call you and ask you if she should let her out into the room, and maybe keep the kennel in the room with its door open so she has somewhere to hide if she's scared.

Depends on the kitten really. Some at that age are more comfortable staying in a small space, some are really not happy with it at all. Depends how independent she is as a kitty. :)

Let me know how it goes! Maybe you can try it with her a couple days before you go, see which way she prefers...and go with that. :)

Can't wait to see pictures of your new little sweetheart....

:inlove:
Click to expand...
I had thought that we would give it a trial run too. The pictures might be a bit funny for a while, the poor little girl was found behind a store in an alley and was full of burs so she has been shaved. She is a long haired cat so she has this big fluffy head and a shaved body. I haven't seen her yet but my daughter swears she is THE CUTEST! I believe her words were " my heart just melts when I look at her" :inlove:

I will post a pic here as soon as I get some.

Thanks for the help,
Joy

 
Aww...she sounds so adorable. I had a friend that purposely shaved her long-haired kitty that way...complete with a poof at the end of her tail, hehe!

I can't wait to see pictures...and you're so welcome for the help! Anytime!

Looking forward to pics...:inlove:
 
Here you go Rosie, not the greatest pics but you can get the general idea. She is pretty lazy for a kitten, she pretty much wants to snuggle on my daughters been. She not really playing much which has my daughter a bit worried, but she was just spayed Wednesday and is getting adjusted to a new home etc. A friend of mine works at the Humane Society and she guaranteed me that she is healthy so I hope there is nothing wrong. If she doesn't start to do more in the next few days we will be taking her in.

Pickle004.jpg


Pickle003.jpg
Pickle004.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w12/spoh_photo/Pickle004.jpg[/IMG[/url]]

Pickle001.jpg


Pickle002.jpg




Now here is Belle

Belle001.jpg


Belle002.jpg


As you can see the coloring is quite similar, Pickle will have longer hair and hopefully won't be quite so "chubby"

They still haven't seen each other, in fact I don't even think that Belle has noticed.

 
Don't worry too much about the kitten not wanting to do much. Just being spayed, she'll be like that for maybe a week, maybe a couple weeks, when you combine that with her having a new home. She's still also probably adjusting to having a safe environment, as opposed to the shelter (which cats don't view as "safe").

Just keep an eye on her, and let me know if anything changes. :)

I'm keeping a watch out for the thread.

And if it makes ya feel any better...I'm going through a little rebonding with my two kitties, due to Hobbes' recent emergency trip to the vet. So, we're pretty much in the same shoes! :D
 
She does seem to be doing a bit more today but is still pretty quiet. Even when we sit on the floor and try to incourage her to play she will climb on us and want to cuddle. I did buy her a scratching post today that was suppose to be for Christmas but my daughter said that she had caught her scratching the carpet today so I went ahead and gave it to her today. What a smart little baby, I showed her once with her paws and she went to town. It lasted for about 10 seconds and then it was cuddle time.

We are thinking that we are going to take her with us this weekend when we go away but we really aren't sure what would be better. Leaving her here with my Mom, who lives right next door, coming over a few times a day. s\She would pretty much still be on her own but atleast it would be here in her new home, or taking her with us into another new environment but yet she would get lots of cuddle time with my daughter. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive, we will have plenty of room because my husband is going early so we will have two cars. What do you think, leave her home or take her with us?

Thanks for everything,

Joy
 
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