Introducing kitten to established 1+ yr old cat
Discussion
I've read as much as I can on the web about how to introduce etc etc. After a minute amount of intial hissing from Ryu (the established boy) there seems to be getting along ok. Isy the girl kitten is quite tiny though at 1kg whilst Ryu must be 5kgs by now.
No spraying, no excess grooming, both eating fine etc BUT what is a 'normal' amount of chasing and play fighting? Do I need to train this out?
Most of it is instigated by the kitten as she seems more curious and quite fearless. She will jump at Ryu, slap him in the face and go for his tail. He gets a bit annoyed as generally he is quite chilled out and will pounce on her after a while. Teeth out, claws out on top of her but looks like no harm done. She will meow and squeal on the odd occasion. This will happen every time they are together, maybe not instantly but certainly after a 10 mins.
Ryu has the run of the house and Isy has her own room (which was Ryu's when he was a kitten). They are kept separate when there is nobody in.
Any advice?
No spraying, no excess grooming, both eating fine etc BUT what is a 'normal' amount of chasing and play fighting? Do I need to train this out?
Most of it is instigated by the kitten as she seems more curious and quite fearless. She will jump at Ryu, slap him in the face and go for his tail. He gets a bit annoyed as generally he is quite chilled out and will pounce on her after a while. Teeth out, claws out on top of her but looks like no harm done. She will meow and squeal on the odd occasion. This will happen every time they are together, maybe not instantly but certainly after a 10 mins.
Ryu has the run of the house and Isy has her own room (which was Ryu's when he was a kitten). They are kept separate when there is nobody in.
Any advice?
moosepig said:
Pics please! 
Page 238 here http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...I've got more since then. One cool one of them 'synchronised' eating next to each other.
When my (now old boy) was 18 months I took on a 5 week old kitten Ren (now 14yrs!) After a day of hissing, they became the best of friends, they would play, pretend scrap, be chasing each other A LOT, I left them alone together after just a few days (my old boy is not very big 3.3kg) Never had a problem. Ren would sometimes cry out but then always go back for more! and Fitz never hurt her.
This has been their favourite sleeping position for 14 yrs
I think your two will be fine and if so far she has come away with no injuries and is not afraid to go back for more they will be ok alone together, try jsut for an hr to start if you want to be cautious.
RE: food only way is to train them to eat twice a day and not leave food down all day, has worked for mine, kept them slim due to avoiding over feeding.
This has been their favourite sleeping position for 14 yrs
I think your two will be fine and if so far she has come away with no injuries and is not afraid to go back for more they will be ok alone together, try jsut for an hr to start if you want to be cautious.
RE: food only way is to train them to eat twice a day and not leave food down all day, has worked for mine, kept them slim due to avoiding over feeding.
They have been together just over 2 weeks now. We did the blanket thing and swapping rooms thing for the first day but on the second day we supervised introduction. We did this initially for short bursts but now they get up to circa 2 hours time with each other at any one time. Most of that time is probably spent breaking them up!
As for food they both get one wet puch in the morning and one in the evening with biscuits left down for the day and are fed at the ame times. Initially Isy was given a 1/4 packet in the morning another 1/4 mid-late morning a 1/4 mid afternoon and a 1/4 evening. I've just moved to 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening. I feed them in separate rooms too but every now and again put their bowls down in the kitchen together.
I think Ryu will actually grow to quite like Isy as he will often camp outside her room and sometimes does a sympathy cry when he hears her meowing when in her room. I think Isy wants to get out and play but Ryu is more of a loner and just gets fed up of being harassed.
As for food they both get one wet puch in the morning and one in the evening with biscuits left down for the day and are fed at the ame times. Initially Isy was given a 1/4 packet in the morning another 1/4 mid-late morning a 1/4 mid afternoon and a 1/4 evening. I've just moved to 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening. I feed them in separate rooms too but every now and again put their bowls down in the kitchen together.
I think Ryu will actually grow to quite like Isy as he will often camp outside her room and sometimes does a sympathy cry when he hears her meowing when in her room. I think Isy wants to get out and play but Ryu is more of a loner and just gets fed up of being harassed.
Personally I'd probably stop the separate rooms, just make sure there are plenty of spots they have as their own. Don't worry if your older cat really has enough he will tell her in no uncertain terms and even then he prob won't do any proper damage, it's always a gamble but the signs are good so far.
edc said:
What would you more experienced cat owners say would be a sensible time to let them loose together unsupervised?
Related to that how do I stop them eating each others food (1 is kitten food the other cat) if left alone?
Well, we did it within about two days BUT that was because the older cat would hiss and run rather than attack. Bear in mind even the mother of a kitten will smack them one to stop them attacking her - that's why two kittens can be a good idea... Related to that how do I stop them eating each others food (1 is kitten food the other cat) if left alone?
Your other cat is still a kitten himself, I don't think it's going to be long before they are playing happily, he seems to be controlling himself already (not using claws etc I suspect when smacking her either) which is good IMHO.
Thanks for the tips.
The hissing was only from the older cat Ryu and lasted only a day. Similarly, he is more'afraid' as his natural tendency is to stay put or run away rather than instigate anything. If anything Isy the kitten's constant movement and badgering un-nerves Ryu and he then sets up to watch. It is only then that Ryu will have a go really.
Whilst the fightng may sometimes looks aggressive I don't think it is as there is no real damage done, no fur coming off etc.
The hissing was only from the older cat Ryu and lasted only a day. Similarly, he is more'afraid' as his natural tendency is to stay put or run away rather than instigate anything. If anything Isy the kitten's constant movement and badgering un-nerves Ryu and he then sets up to watch. It is only then that Ryu will have a go really.
Whilst the fightng may sometimes looks aggressive I don't think it is as there is no real damage done, no fur coming off etc.
bexVN said:
Personally I'd probably stop the separate rooms, just make sure there are plenty of spots they have as their own. Don't worry if your older cat really has enough he will tell her in no uncertain terms and even then he prob won't do any proper damage, it's always a gamble but the signs are good so far.
After how long do you stop separate rooms? I have same problem. Been keeping Lewis (Hamilton), kitten in spare bedroom sincE Sat (and its impossible to use keyboard because he keeps walking all over it). Anyway keep bringing in existing one year old cat 2/3 times day and she watches him, swears and then keeps swiping at him. Sometimes she chases after him. He is just so sweet and submissive and lays in front of her. Wish she wouldn't be so mean. No way could I leave them alone and have to supervise all time to make sure she doesnt hurt himbexVN said:
In your case for a bit longer yet. I took on a third cat and had to keep her in a separate room when we weren't around for about 4 months! We got there in the end but as you can tell it took a while!
Basically it varies from case to case.
This is exhausting! It's not fair on him to keep him in one room and I can't even leave them together when I'm here!! Just tried to let him see downstairs and she just won't leave him alone - keeps attacking him. I don't want him to be scared and intimidated. What can I do to make her accept him Bex?Basically it varies from case to case.
We had this with Guzzi our first cat when Black Cat came in from the cold. We're pretty sure Black Cat used to "look after" Guzzi before he came to us, as Guz would growl and spit at every other cat except Black Cat. I had to laugh after Black Cat had been in the house for about two weeks, when Guz was winding him up. Black Cat just sat there, then gave Guz the biggest left hook since Henry Cooper hit Clay. Guz never saw it coming, and his head flipped from side to side. He had this "what was that?" expression on his face, then walked off. It was ages before he tried winding Black Cat up again.
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