Introducing cat to new kitten - any tips??

[teenyweenytadpole]

Hi, our cat is a year old and we are intending to get another cat, it is actually a sibling although I doubt that makes any difference (from a different litter but same parents). I am a bit worried as last time we got a kitten our older cat ran away from home and never came back. DD's are desperate for another cat though and these kittens are unbearably cute. Anyway, any tips on how best to introduce them? We don't have a catflap, first cat comes and goes but at the moment spends a lot of time outside or asleep on the bed. Kitten is only 5 weeks old at the moment, it only lives across the road for us so we are planning a few short visits before it moves in permanently (so my DD can play with it!). Thanks.

So last time you did this, you lost a cat, but you're doing it again?

Personally I'd use it as an opportunity to teach DDs that one cat can be enough, and not to be swayed by the novelty and cuteness of kittens (who will not be kittens forever).

I've had several bad experiences - my childhood cat, middle aged when we acquired a new kitten, was very unhappy for months. PILs had to rehome a second cat after several months as it was making the older one so upset. Given that, I wouldn't repeat the experience for anything.

I know, it seems a bit odd but lots of people have more than one cat and I can't believe that the first cat will always run away when a kitten is introduced! The first cat is still a much loved pet, she hasn't gone out of favour or anything, it's just that one DD pretty much monopolises her in terms of cuddles etc so I thought it would be nice for the other DD to have her "own" cat. The first cat is only just a year old, in fact not even quite that, she is actually 10 months old, so I was hoping she wouldn't be too fixed in her ways. Anyone else got any thoughts?

hi ive got four cats all different ages and no not all cats run away , the best thing to do is scroll through the threads on here there are loads of ones to do with intrducing a kitten into resi cat house theres loads of good tips

I would suggest short, frequent introductions, gradually increasing over time.

We're still working on this. Cat is now 4, kitten 15 weeks and there is a fair bit of fighting still. What I've learned recently:
Make sure the cat has somewhere in the house it can get away from the kitten; lock kitten in kitchen etc.
Don't overprotect kitten from cat. The big cat needs to be the boss to start with.
It can look a bit brutal when the cat is clobbering the kitten, but in our experience claws seem to be sheathed so it isn't as bad as it looks.
Do not leave the kitten alone with the cat- I have heard of someone who did this and came home to a dead kitten. She hasn't had a cat since.

Of course it might be fine- Our old male cat adopted our cat when it arrrived as if it was his own baby!

Thanks, we have a reasonably large house so should be able to keep them separate for a while, and when I go back to work the older cat will most likely be outside, I definitely won't leave them alone together for quite some time.

Good luck! Really hope it works out well

We've just introduced a kitten to our cat. Get a Feliway diffuser and plug it in about five days before bringing the new kitten home. It really helps.

This is what we did:

Kitten brought in, let out of the carrier and locked in the kitchen straightaway with a litter tray and food. Cat fed elsewhere. Full kitty stomachs = a good chance they will be a bit dozy.

Once both had eaten, we brought the kitten into the living room locked in the carrier again and left it in there for an hour while the existing cat got the chance to have a good sniff without feeling too threatened.

Kitten released, close supervision for the rest of the day. Kitten not allowed upstairs for a good week and a half so our first cat had somewhere safe to escape to that was still inside the house.

We had no fights until about four days in and we don't intervene. Our first cat is very, very chilled out. He is totally not bothered about the new kitten, except when the kitten attacks him. If it wasn't for that, he'd leave it alone completely. First cat is nearly 4 and kitten was 9 weeks when we introduced them.

Good luck!

Oh, and get separate feeding bowls and don't expect them to share a litter tray, if your first cat uses one. The feeding bowls shouldn't be near one another. We have ours at opposite ends of the kitchen and they are now comfortable enough with one another to eat from the same bowl at the same time, but we still keep separate bowls as it minimises fighting.