Introducing kitten to older cat

[Ynwa8923]

Hi everyone. Hope someone can give me a little advice!

Yesterday evening, my partner and I adopted an 8 week old female kitten from a large litter. We already have a 3 year old female cat, so took the advice offered by countless websites, and kept the two separate to help them to get used to the situation.

The kitten settled in very well. She used her litter tray perfectly for both poos and wees, and ate and drank. She was affectionate and adventurous, rather than shy or afraid. As much as I wanted her to sleep by me (I’m a bit of a soft touch) I didn’t want to run the risk of causing any friction with our older cat, so I kept the kitten in her bedroom with everything she needs (a little bed house, open bed, food, water, scratching post, litter tray etc). I checked on her frequently through the night but she seemed absolutely fine, and wasn’t crying or seeming in any way distressed.

Today, however, she’s been a little different. I’ve booked time off work to help ease her into her new life, and as such have been in and out of her bedroom all day to keep an eye on her and give her some love and care. Her confidence has massively grown, and it’s gotten to the point where I can’t enter or exit the room without her darting out of the door to sniff around and explore the house. This confidence would of course be great, were it not for our other fur baby!

The two did meet, though I tried to prevent it, and the older cat hissed. I managed to get the kitten straight upstairs and attempted to comfort them both. Even now, though, hours later, the older cat still seems to be on guard and will not allow me to stroke her. In addition to this, the kitten is crying loudly and repeatedly in her bedroom and I do not know what on earth to do!

Our older cat has lived with dogs and other cats in previous households, and even gave birth to a litter herself. She goes outside regularly and interacts with other cats, therefore I have every confidence that she will get used to the kitten with time and patience.

I guess my question is... what do I do until then?! I can’t stand to hear the kitten crying, but our older cat normally sleeps by me too - so I’m totally at a loss. Any help or advice at all will be hugely appreciated!

Two tricks I've used are to put the kitten in a carrier and let the older cat "inspect" them that way, and feeding them some really lovely wet food in closer and closer proximity with each other. Use a cardboard barrier at first if you need to so the older cat can smell and hear the kitten while they eat.

The older cat will come to associate the kitten with something really good happening. They should be able to both sleep with you (or at least in the same room) once you get them to a certain comfort level with each other. It can take a while for full acceptance, depending on their personalities.

I’m reading with interest. I’m thinking of getting another cat too, but not sure how my own cat will react. He’s a lovely gentle 1 year old neutered male, and his brother recently died sadly. I’m happy to get an older rescue cat, though I’m not sure if a kitten would be easier to settle.

We did this last year and we followed the advice on the Cats Protection website. Keep them in separate rooms at the beginning (which I know you're already doing) so the older cat can't kill or attack the kitten, and put an old towel in each of their beds and every morning swap them over. Cat's primary sense is smell, so it's very important they get used to the smell of the other animal.

We introduced them every morning, and they would sniff each other and start circling, and then when the older cat started hissing and growling we would separate them. After 8 days (I was expecting 3 weeks) the older cat licked the kitten's face. They now sleep in the same bed and are really good friends.