Any Hints Of Successfully Introducing New Kitten To Older Pets

[ravenwoodglass]

When I went downtown Monday I heard a kitten crying in a local downtown parking lot. She was under a bush scared and cold. I tracked her footprints in the snow, or tried to, but the only place I saw them was in the parking lot. I put an ad in the paper that got no response so I guess she was a drop off. I had kept her in my bedroom for the last 3 days or so but since I do still have mild allergies I need to get her into the 'fold' as soon as possible. Plus her little 'stinkies' in the litter box are enough to wake me up out of a sound sleep-ewww.

I have two 'older' kitties, 14 and 16. The 14 year old weighs in at about 25 lbs, read a barrel with legs, and boy you should have seen her eyes the first time she saw him yesterday. While my kitties don't seem very aggressive toward her she is terrified of them. They, of course, react to her little growls and spits in kind but don't seem to want to hurt her.

Anyone have any hints to getting her integrated as quickly as possible into my household? She has been sleeping wrapped around my head and the stuffiness and red eyes are getting old fast plus since the older guys would love to be allowed to sleep with me I am afraid I am building jealosy by having her in my room.

[Jestgar]

Give them a few days of seeing and smelling each other, then, as long as there's no actual violence, let them growl out the pecking order.

[ravenwoodglass]

  On 1/14/2011 at 4:43 PM, Jestgar said:

Give them a few days of seeing and smelling each other, then, as long as there's no actual violence, let them growl out the pecking order.

That's what I was thinking also. I have had the little one downstairs all day today and things seem to have been pretty calm. I caught the big guy sitting on a chair and letting the little one play with his tail but if he looks at her she hisses. I think she will settle in soon but I will let her sleep with me for another night or two.

Thanks for the response.

[Jestgar]

  On 1/14/2011 at 9:03 PM, ravenwoodglass said:

I caught the big guy sitting on a chair and letting the little one play with his tail ....

How cute is that! Like a big scary uncle.

[GFinDC]

It might help to keep her food separate from the older cats at first too. Less competition that way.

[ravenwoodglass]

  On 1/14/2011 at 11:28 PM, GFinDC said:

It might help to keep her food separate from the older cats at first too. Less competition that way.

We are, I fed her last night in the same area but on the other end of the 'kitty only' counter. She waited until the other kitties were done and down before she approached and finished off their food. With as much as she is eating she may end up as big as Big Boy. We also have seperate litter boxes.

She slept with the other kitties last night. I had her in my room with the door closed and then saw a huge white paw 'scooping' under the door. The kitten was on the my side patting at it and then she and the big guy did a back and forth under the door for a bit. Since her whole leg fit under there and she didn't loose it I opened the door and let her go out. All was peaceful for the couple more hours I was awake although I could hear scampering and bizzy balls flying. Everyone had all body parts this morning. Since the 'old lady' passed away last summer the big guy had been the odd man out in the household. Looks like it is now 2 and 2 again. My Pom and Manx are well bonded and best friends and now the big guy has a best buddy again also. Looks like I was worried when I didn't need to be.

[mushroom]

Glad that harmony reigns Sounds like it went pretty smoothly, all in all. I had a new kitty who lived under the refrigerator for the first four days and only came out to eat and do her business when no one was looking.

[GFinDC]

Sounds like they are going to be purrfectly pfine then! Cat are pretty socialable critters usually. Except for the old toms. Congrats on the new kitty!

[aeraen]

No real advice, since it sounds like you already have it under control. But you reminded me of when we brought our little kitty home over 10 years ago. She was barely the size of a beany baby, our pup was over 100 lbs. He was a gentle pup, but no bunny or mouse in our back yard was safe from him, so we were concerned about the tiny kitten and put her in a box in my daughters room at night. Of course, daughter got up in the night to go to the bathroom and left her door open.

Next morning, my husband got up before the rest of us and found our big dog laying in his usual spot, but our pup didn't get up to run to the back door like he usually did. Instead he stayed where he was, looking plaintively at my husband. That's when my husband noticed, curled up against our dog's fluffy white fur, was a teeny, tiny calico kitten, fast asleep and purring between massive paws. When the kitten settled in there, we'll never know, but whenever it was, our big old dog would not move a muscle to disturb her sleep.

[ravenwoodglass]

  On 2/22/2011 at 3:16 AM, aeraen said:

No real advice, since it sounds like you already have it under control. But you reminded me of when we brought our little kitty home over 10 years ago. She was barely the size of a beany baby, our pup was over 100 lbs. He was a gentle pup, but no bunny or mouse in our back yard was safe from him, so we were concerned about the tiny kitten and put her in a box in my daughters room at night. Of course, daughter got up in the night to go to the bathroom and left her door open.

Next morning, my husband got up before the rest of us and found our big dog laying in his usual spot, but our pup didn't get up to run to the back door like he usually did. Instead he stayed where he was, looking plaintively at my husband. That's when my husband noticed, curled up against our dog's fluffy white fur, was a teeny, tiny calico kitten, fast asleep and purring between massive paws. When the kitten settled in there, we'll never know, but whenever it was, our big old dog would not move a muscle to disturb her sleep.

How sweet our big guys can be. In my own personal experience it is the huge dogs that tend to be the most gentle and loving when it comes to accepting new little fur balls. Thanks for sharing a sweet story that brought back memories of my own big ole LD.