Old resident is stressed by new kitten

[Hannah]

Yesterday we adopted an 8 week old female kitten.

 

We have two resident cats, Our older cat is around 14 years old. We have a second cat of around 7. They are both neutered males. The kitten is very feisty and adventurous with loads of gumption and goes up to the older cats without any fear.

 

The 7yo has the kitten on 'ignore' and does not seem too bothered. He looks at her and when she comes too close he shows some hostility with raised hair on the back and a puffed-out tail, but generally just lets her be.

 

The 14yo is a different story. He seems to be extremely stressed by the new arrival. He hisses, growls and runs away when she comes closer. He has a cat flap and just came in for food. When he saw the kitten he ran straight out again. My older daughter took his bowl of food outside and he hissed and swatted at her (the first time ever). We live rurally and the 14yo was a stray who 'chose' us and dd is very concerned that he may decide to run away again. Its winter here and really cold at night and we're quite worried about him. She has left a bowl of food outside.

 

We have taken the kitten and his litterbox and food upstairs. The older cats' food is downstairs in the kitchen.

 

What can we expect to happen between the cats? Will the older cat settle with the kitten around?

[nmoira]

I am assuming that the 7yo the dominant cat? If so, you're older cat is probably stressed by the prospect of a new ring in the hierarchy. Our now 17yo cat was in a similar about four years ago and took almost two months to adapt.

[Hannah]

The older cat (14yo) is the dominant one. He and the 7yo fought for about 2 months as well five years ago, but now get on really well. Both were strays who came to us (we live rurally). We actually thought both would fight with the new kitten, so this reaction is quite unexpected.

[nmoira]

The older cat (14yo) is the dominant one. He and the 7yo fought for about 2 months as well five years ago. Both were strays who came to us (we live rurally). We actually expected both to fight with the new kitten, so this reaction is quite unexpected.

 

Poor thing (I'm a sucker for cats). I hope he settles down down.

 

:grouphug:

[Pegasus]

We've had pretty good luck over the years with established cats eventually accepting new cats/kittens. However, we did have one adult cat run off and disappear when we brought home 2 new kittens. He was also an adult stray who chose us as his home and my DH is convinced he just decided that the 2 kittens were an indignity that he didn't have to tolerate. I hope it works out at your house.

[QueenCat]

Ugh... our cat never adapted to our dog. The cat (female) was around 9 years old when we brought the puppy home. She lived to be 15. So 6 years of hissing, screaching, etc at the dog, who never seemed phased. He kept trying to be her friend.

[Pawz4me]

You tried to make the introduction way, way too fast.

 

Kitten needs to go in a room of her own for at least a few days, and ideally for a couple of weeks. It can be a spare room or a bathroom or laundry room, just make sure you kitten-proof it.

 

The first reason for isolating kitten is that you want to make sure she isn't carrying anything contagious that could infect you other cats. Things take time to incubate, so there's no way anyone can be sure she isn't contagious with something just by looking at her. My last cat that I adopted seemed to be the picture of health when I brought him home, and a few days later ringworm lesions started appearing. I was very, very glad I'd isolated him from the other pets.

 

Secondly, isolating her gives your resident cats time to get used to the idea of a newcomer w/o a direct confrontation. They'll know she's there. Ideally, after a few days when you can start to feel a little confident that she's not contagious, your older cats will be allowed to smell her underneath the door. You can then start wiping all of them down with the same old towel so they get used to each others' smell. If your older cat doesn't begin to seem a little more accepting, you might try sprinkling the towel with some vanilla and wiping them all down with it. The theory is that if they all smell alike they'll be more accepting of each other.

 

You also need to make sure to give the older guy plenty of quiet time away from the kitten, and of course make sure you give him as much attention as ever. I'm sure he'll eventually come around, but sometimes the older ones just don't have much patience for rowdy kittens.

[J-rap]

I was going to suggest that you make sure they each have their own litter box, but it looks like you've done that already.

 

I don't know cats as well as dogs, and if the same tricks can work. With dogs, I work hard at making sure good things are happening to him when a new dog or new person or whatever is in his presence, and over time he begins associating the good things -- a food reward, extra petting, etc. -- with that new presence.

[Hannah]

Thanks for the advise so far!

 

We met the kitten a few hours after she was born and have seen her (and all the animals in her family of origin) a few times a week, so I'm not too concerned about diseases since the other animals are all healthy.

 

For the next couple of days we'll keep her in dd's room upstairs. She has a litter box, but the older cats do their business outside (as they were 'bush cats' before living with us). Her food is also upstairs.

 

We'll start rubbing them all down with the same towel. The old cat did come back into the house and at least he's eaten. He allowed my older dd to stroke him after her bath, but as soon as she put on a shirt with the smell of the kitten on it he was shunning her again.