Adopting a new kitten today - will our 12 year old cat cope?

[BeckyBendyLegs]

Hi there

We have had a very easy-going female tortoise shell cat for 8 years (she was 5 when we got her) and today we are adopting a new kitten who is in desperate need of a loving home. Will our older cat cope? Does anyone have any advice for easing the transition? Is there anything we can do to help the older cat? She really is very laid back but is very set in her ways...not sure what she is going to do.

I would leave the kitten in whatever you bring it home in for a while and let the other cat go to it when she feels ready. Don't change anything that the older cat already does or has and make sure she has somewhere to go where the kitten can't get her, when she has had enough.

Our cat is 14 and the vet advised against us taking in 2 kittens. We were disappointed but my cat is ill and it would have been too much for her.

I hope your cat and new kitten are soon firm friends.

She will accept the kitten eventually as most cats do accept things they just strop about it for a while

Best thing is to keep kitten to one room (that your older cat doesn't use much) for a week to allow kitten to settle (make sure you visit kitten) then let your kitten out to wander but make sure that they can both retreat to somewhere they feel safe if it all gets too much.

They will hiss at each other to begin with but its important not to shout at them when they hiss otherwise it makes them think that meeting each other is what they're getting shouted at IYKWIM.

This is a tried and tested routine as i've had numourous foster kittens here that my cats hated when they first arrived but 2 weeks later and my latest foster is curled up with my cats in front of the fire.

Thanks so much for the advice. DH has gone to fetch the new kitten and will be back in about 1/2 an hour. Our cat is lying totally unsuspecting about how her life is about to change on our bed, fast asleep... my two DSs are also clueless about what is about to happen to their home! We've just been to a pet shop to get a few things and they still haven't twigged. I hope everyone settles in to the new arrival well. When I had DS1 our cat was really quite put out for a couple of months after he arrived but now she is very fond of the DSs and is extremely tolerant of their attention. I know it's not quite the same as having a new cat in your house but I hope she will adjust equally as well.

I am so

Would love new kittens.

i got dk1 when my older cat was about 16, and when dk1 got run over , i got dk2 - with both of them the older cat used to let the little'uns suckle her and she used to groom them and snuggle up to them. seemed to love it.

then, when she died, aged 18, we got dk3 and had dd1. dk2, now 2 years, moved next door in a right strop for 4 months. but he's back now and they all live happily together

good luck. kittens are GREAT

So far so good, the new kitten (at the moment known only as 'new cat') is settling in well. She's five months old so not too little. Liquorice, our existing cat, has only hissed once but she has been sitting watching the new cat like a hawk. It's almost as if she is saying 'I am the boss, you can stay, but remember, I am the boss'. The DSs are in seventh heaven at the moment. DS1 wants to call her Jenny and DS2 wants to call her 'the bat cat'.

We did this last 18 months ago when our existing Siamese was 16 yrs old. Apart from a few spits and hisses the first week, they are fine together. The little two play fight constantly and old cat just watches/sleeps/generally isn't at all arsed (until he smells his favourite foods and then he forgets he is at death's door ). Its been a good move all round.

How are the cats getting on?