Second No Barrier Between Cats
Do they each need their own litter box?
Give each cat his or her own litter box and add an extra one. They should have their own bowls, beds and hiding places unless they choose to share.
Supervise The Cats Without A Barrier
You should, however, keep a barrier nearby; something handheld, like a large piece of cardboard.;If theres the slightest sign of stalking or hard staring, you should distract and redirect the cats by showing them the fishing rod toy or other toys or treats. Be prepared to respond quickly to any potential aggression using the cardboard to separate them.
If you feel theres a chance theyll have a fight, its better to have a piece of cardboard to put between them if the fight breaks out rather than reaching down with your hands, Maxwell says.
End playtime on a happy note by rewarding them with treats. You can gradually increase the amount of time you allow your cats to be in the same area together, but always keep them under close supervision.
It may take a while before you feel comfortable leaving them unsupervised. Until then, in between supervised sessions, the new cat is closed in their room, but continue to allow the new cat some private time to explore and move about the house daily .
We want things to work out, but it may take more time than we think, says Wildman, noting that you may have to go back a few steps in the process. Patience almost always pays off with cats.
If one cat hides more than usual, urinates outside of the box, or grooms herself to the point of hair loss, those are signs that she is unhappy or stressed, and you may need to spend more time working on positive reinforcement with the baby gate between your cats, Maxwell says.
Before You Take Your New Cat Home
- Set aside one room for your new cat away from the resident cats favourite place.
- Have at least one comfortable sleeping area, one hiding area such as her carrier box, crate or a tent bed, a litter box, a water bowl and a food bowl.
- Plug-in a Feliway® diffuser. You can get one at your veterinarian office. It reproduces cat facial pheromones that are pacifying to cats. It will help lower their stress. Its a good idea to have a diffuser in the new cat room and somewhere in the house where the resident cat spends time.
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How Much Energy Do They Have
Its a good idea to adopt a cat around the same age and/or who has a similar energy level. For example, it may seem like your 10-year-old cat would benefit from the excitement a kitten brings into the home, but its more likely your older cat will be consistently bothered by the kitten who wants to play all the time.
Set The Cats Up For A Positive Relationship
The last part of a successful introduction is making sure that the home environment has enough of everything for every cat, i.e. enough litter boxes, scratching posts, water bowls, food bowls, hiding spaces, comfortable resting spaces, toys and human attention so that the cats do not feel in competition for any of these resources.
Its also important that there be enough high resting spaces for the cats . Cats love to perch and this helps them to feel safe in the home. Also, high resting spaces increase the amount of territory in the home, which makes peaceful coexistence among cats more likely.
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How Long Does It Take For Cats To Get Along
The process of making cats get along is something that shouldnt be rushed. While you wish that your cats would become buddies in an instant, it is important to respect your cats pace without pressuring them. This process takes anywhere from a few days to several months and there is no definite period to know for sure.
What you can do is to let each of your cats feel your love and support throughout the introduction phase. That way, theyll be able to adjust to the new situation more smoothly, no matter how long it takes.
Watch For Signs Of Stress
As your cat and kitten get used to spending more time together, keep an eye on their behavior. Warning signs that you need to go back a few steps include:
- Urination in inappropriate places
- Aggression
- Abnormal grooming
If youre concerned, speak to your vet, and ask them if theres anything else that you can do to reduce the stress or anxiety in either or both cats. You may find that your cat and kitten will start to try and work out where the boundaries with each other are. They may play fight, spend time pouncing on each other, or compete for their toys.
Watch that none of these interactions escalate into violence. Hissing and puffing up their fur is an indication that your cats may start fighting, so at this point, end the interaction and allow them both to go back to their own safe spaces before trying again later.
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If Youre Able To Adopt Two Kittens The Same Age Size And Energy Levels That Is Often The Best Way To Help The Kittens Get Along With Your Adult Cat
How To Get Your Cat To Like Your New Kitten. Veterinary Recommended As Seen On TV Satisfaction Guarantee 5 Star Reviews. Ad FELIWAY MultiCat Uses Cats Language To Enable Cats To Get Along. Place a t-shirt or a piece of your clothing that contains your scent in the safe room.
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Help your new cat get to know you. You can get your older cat to like your new kitten by starting with proper introductions. You build the new kittens confidence up by getting her used to her safe room for a week at least playing positive reinforcement pats and treats will assist.
Fresh Step Clean Paws Helps Keep Paws And Your Home Clean With Low-Tracking Litter. Ad Theyre Already in Your Heart Now Welcome them Home with Everything Your New Cat Needs. In addition to regular cat food feed the cats extra-special treats near the door as well like tiny pieces of tuna salmon cheese chicken or liver.
Fresh Step Clean Paws Helps Keep Paws And Your Home Clean With Low-Tracking Litter. Make sure there is an extra litter box number of cats 1 so if getting a new kitten and you. This also allows the new cat to explore a different section of your.
6 Tips For Preparing To Bring Home Your New Kitten Life Cats Kitten Checklist Cat Supplies List Dog Supplies List
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Bringing Your New Cat Home
- Cats feel safe when surrounded by their own scent. Place towel or bedding she has been sleeping on in the carrier box so that she has familiar scent during the trip.
- Once home, take your cat to her room right away. Do not come into contact with the resident cat.
- Keep her inside the carrier box until you are in her room with the door shut.
- Place her box or other hiding area in a corner of the room and place the carrier box beside it. Open the door.
- Do not force her to come out. She may be scared and stressed by the new environment.
- Leave her alone in the room. Allow her to settle down and come out on her own.
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Senior Cats And Overactive Kittens Dont Mix Well
Older cats, especially seniors aged 7 and above, are more likely to be sedentary. In their teens, especially late teens, senior cats may also suffer from a variety of degenerative health problems including loss of sight, loss of hearing, arthritis and dementia.
These older cats may become very stressed by the presence of an active kitten. In fact, the kittens running around and constant attempts at play could stress a senior cat to the point of causing additional illness.
Think long and hard before introducing a kitten into a home with a senior cat. It may just not be worth it.
If you must do so, make sure the older cat has places where she can hide away from the kitten. When the kitten is young, this could be a place thats higher up too high up for the kitten to climb. Later on, it could just be a selection of places in which the older cat can find some peace and quiet.
Provide the kitten with other outlets for all that energy. Get plenty of toys and dedicate time every day for interactive playtime with the kitten. Its your job to tire out the kitten not the older cats.
Give Your New Cat Some Alone Time To Explore
Your new cat needs to be able to safely investigate the rest of the home. This will help them feel more secure in their new surroundings.
Twice a day, with your resident in their room, open the door to the new cats room for an hour. This will allow the new cat to explore on their own terms and learn about their new environment.
In doing so, your new cat can deposit their scent and also encounter the resident cats scent.
This is nice extension to the scent swapping that was started with the sock.
Make sure each cat is relaxed and calm before moving on to the next step.
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Informally Introduce Your Kitten And Cat
When both cats seem ready to meet face-to-face, without a barrier between them, bring one cat into the room and engage it in active play and/or with treats. Enlist the help of another person, and have them bring the other cat into the room and do the same.
Closely monitor each cats body language for warning signs such as hissing, growling, arching, skittishness, hostile actions, and signs of distress. Be ready with blankets to quickly and calmly separate them should either cat become aggressive.
Keep the introduction short, rewarding each cat with praise and treats. As the cats begin to tolerate and accept each other, gradually increase their time together.
As your kitten and cat begin to interact freely, continue to pay close attention to their behavior. Normal, non-aggressive play may include pouncing, running, rolling, batting, hiding, chasing, and competing for toys and attention. Be prepared to separate them quickly should playful behavior evolve into aggressive fighting.
Depending on both cats temperaments, the introduction process will take at least a week possibly much longer.
Be patient with your kitten and cat as they get acquainted. Reward them for appropriate behavior. Before long, your kitties will hopefully develop mutual respect and maybe even a lifelong friendship.
Free Access Without Supervision For Short Periods
Free unsupervised access for short periods of time can occur as long as there is no negative behaviour between the cats during the physical access but supervised contact stage. Once commenced, free unsupervised access should be as frequent as possible. At other times the new cat is still kept separate. If friendly behaviours are seen between the new cat and the resident, they can be kept together for increasingly longer periods although always make sure they have access back to their own parts of the house. At this stage, it is particularly important that each cat has its own resources in separate locations from each other and from the resources of the other cat in the household as this will help prevent the cats from feeling in competition with one another.
If you are struggling to successfully complete this introduction process or the cats experience a breakdown in an initially good introduction, it is a good idea to seek professional help. Contact your vet who will be able to provide you with advice or refer you to a qualified behaviourist.
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Tips To Build A Relationship
Be patient as your cat adjusts to a new kitten in your home. Cats can be territorial, and your older cat may feel threatened at first. Give them time to relax before you force them to interact with a new kitten.
The first meeting. When you first bring your new kitten home, allow your cat to sniff and see what the kitten is before putting them down or taking them out of the carrier. This gives your older cat the respect of checking out the new companion before the kitten is released into their territory.
Allow space. Its a good idea to keep your pets separated from each other at first unless supervised. Consider dedicating one room of your home to a new kitten. This gives them a chance to explore safely without having free-reign of your entire house.;
Encourage bonding. Give both cats treats at the same time to provide the opportunity for positive interaction. This also gives your cat the chance to see that your kitten is the same as them just smaller. Put their food bowls close together, but dont make them share. Of course, they may just eat out of both bowls, but thats okay.
Play with toys like feathers, balls, and laser pointers to get your cat active and excited. This will help them to relax and give your new kitten a chance to earn their trust and attention, too.
Let Them Get To Know Each Other’s Scent
On the day of the arrival, keep your existing cat apart in another room, also surrounded with her favorite things. Bring the new kitten into the house, give her a quick tour to start the process of acclimatization and then settle her into her own room.
Only now should you allow the resident cat out of her room . Let her smell your hands, covered with the scent of the kitten, and give her treats to comfort her and build an association between the new smell and ‘good things happening’.
Gradually introduce the kitten’s scent into the household over the first few days, swapping food bowls and bedding. As soon as they are both comfortable with each other’s scent, allow them individually to explore the other’s territory, whilst still keeping them apart.
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Get Your Cat Used To The Kittens Scent
Once both cats seem comfy and cozy in their new spaces, they can start getting to know each other in a passive manner. This means the cats should be able to hear and smell each other, but not see or touch each other, Lee explains. A few ways to get them used to each others presence is by setting up a dinner date for the two of them, feeding them at the same time on either side of the closed door. This helps them associate tasty food with the presence of the other cat, Lee notes. Pet owners can also play with the cats on either side of the closed door, encouraging them to paw at the space underneath the door .
After a few days have passed, pet owners can switch the cats rooms so they can become accustomed to each others scent and belongings, while exploring a new territory. Cats gather an astounding amount of information about the world and each other with a single sniff. Cats have glands in their cheeks that produce pheromones, Segurson says, chemical substances that can help relieve anxiety and provide information about the cat who is producing the pheromones.
Lee encourages pet owners to gently rub a towel on their resident cats cheek and then bring it into the other room, and rub it on their kitten. Afterward, bring the towel back to the resident cat as another way to introduce them.
How To Get Your Cat To Like Your New Kitten
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How To Train Your Older Cat To Accept A Kitten
Adrienne Kruzer, BS, RVT, LVT, has worked with a variety of animals for over 15 years, including birds of prey, reptiles, and small mammals.
Many cat owners do not realize their friendly, single adult cats may have trouble getting along with a new kitten. A new kitten is typically eager to make friends, but the older cats in the household may want nothing to do with the younger one. Often times the older cats will appear sad, reclusive, hiss a lot, and sometimes even stop eating if it isn’t adjusting well to the new member of the family. These behaviors are because cats do not like change, especially when it involves their established territory. Introducing a kitten to an adult cat can cause a lot of stress in your household, but there are some things you can do to help make the introduction go more smoothly.
Preparation is the key to a successful introduction of a new kitten to your older cat. If you prepare your cat for the new arrival and make the changes seem less drastic, then it is;more likely to adapt to its new roommate. Give yourself plenty of time to prepare for this adjustment with these steps.