Inroducing new kitten to older cat and a 1 year old

[mustsleep]

I am adopting a 6 week old tom kitten later on this afternoon that was born in someone's shed

I already have a lovely female cat who is very placid and great with the kids, she doesn't use a litter tray and goes outside, she has been spayed

Right I just need some advice on how to go about introducing the two cats, I am planning to get the tom neutured as soon as I can (6 months?), but can he go out before this (after he's had his vaccinations?) how old do they have to be before they can go out

When we got our current cat we were advised to keep her in one room for a bit which worked and she settled in quickly, but due to ds having his hands into everything I want to put the litter tray in the hallway and shut the safety gate so he can;t play in it, is this just going to confuse the kitten?

sorry it's a bit long winded

TIA

When we introduced a new kitten to the other 2 cats we made sure they were seperate unless we were there. We'd bring the kitten out and let them get used to each other, then when any of them got overly stressed we put the kitten back in it's room for a bit. We did this until we felt comfortable that there would be no major issues in our absence.

Cats can go out straight away (although I'm not sure vets agree) remember they are naturally outdoor animals..having said this it can take a few weeks to get all the vaccinations sorted anyway, during that time they should stay in as they are not protected.

I've never had any litter tray confusion and I move them around the house...just make sure you show them the new tray position, also don't clean it just before moving wait til they've used it in the new place first.

thanks! That's really reassuring, we only have one main room and a tiny kitchen so someone would be with both cats most of the time , although our older cat now spends most of the day on our bed lol

The kitten we are getting is outdoors anyway I've been told, the mum nested in the shed so they have left her there

Just a couple of points...

6 weeks is young for a kitten to be separated from it's mum - 9-12 weeks is more usual.

Be prepared for the older cat to be very aggressive and territorial to the kitten, no matter how placid she is with people. Ideally, keep them separate for up to a week as the kitten gets to know his new space, and the older cat gets used to there being another cat about the house.

As for the outdoors thing, well I'd wait until your kitten is at least 3 months, ideally 4 or 5. It's one thing to be outside when you're with your mum, very much when you're alone, in a strange place, and with another cat that may not be particularly pleasant. We think our latest cat was rehomed because he got lost at an early age - he turned up with a bunch of feral cats aged 5 months, but was obviously well looked after - he just couldn't find his way back.

If you have any aggression/territory issues between the two cats that last more than a couple of days, there's a great product called Feliway that is a calming pheromone. I've used it for both of my recent(ish) new cat introductions.

HTH

thanks

the PDSA had advised my friends grandma that 6 weeks was fine apparently as they were coming to collect mum cat and have her spayed

anyway he arrived and has been fine so far, he is fine with the older cat, but to start with she just hissed at him and ran off, now they have started sniffing each other etc so I think things will be fine, but won't leave them alone together for some time

I'm going to take him to the vets and have his injections and ask about getting him neutured. I won't let him out until we've had him neutured anyway now and that's at about 6 months?