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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

New kitten and existing cat

12 replies

brizzlewizzle · 27/10/2021 12:13

Hi All

Have a new male kittten (10 weeks old) and a 6 year old female cat.

She does not like him. We have kept them apart, but when we show him to her she hisses and then leaves.

We have Feliway, separate food/sleeping areas, have been scent swapping and are introducing them slowly, but she doesn't seem to be mellowing. We have had him for almost a week now.

Any tips? They are both tabby rescues

Thanks

OP posts:
Original poster
brizzlewizzle · 27/10/2021 12:16

Should also say I posted before we got the kitten for advice and that advice has been extremely useful!

OP posts:
Monsterpumpkins · 27/10/2021 12:18

We got a dkitten(girl 8 weeks) when dcat(neutered Tom) was 8..
Dcat slept in dd's room. Added another bed,tray and food bowls and left them to it. Hissed a few times. Dcat turned his back!!
Besties within a fortnight..

Prestel · 27/10/2021 12:44

A week isn't that long. Has the 6 yr old lived with other cats before? If a cat hasn't lived with another cat by the time they're around 2 yrs old it can be a bit of a lottery as to whether they'll accept company and it will certainly take longer than if they're used to sharing with other cats. If she's happily lived with other cats before, though, I'm sure things will settle down soon, just keep introducing them to each other and make sure she has her own, kitten free space she can retreat to.

needmetime · 27/10/2021 13:52

Hi! I just wanted to give you some hope. I was in a similar situation. It took 3 weeks & to be honest it was like a switch flicked & suddenly they were grooming each other & just getting along! I too was trawling the internet for ideas and I was even thinking I had made a big mistake. All we did was keep them separate when couldn't supervise them & basically give them limited time together every day. It was the 3rd weekend everything changed.

Kittekats · 27/10/2021 14:32

We had the same scenario when we introduced a male 10 weeks old to our five year old female cat. It took several weeks of introductions and was still wobbly for a while. After we had had him a few months we had to put them both in a cattery for a week. The very experienced cattery owner advised putting them in together unless they really hated each other, so we put them together on her advice. (She said that they bond by being the only familiar thing in a strange place).

When we picked them up after a week they were a lot better together. They still didn't love each other but they could tolerate each other at least.

Sadly he got run over six months later. When we introduced a new kitten again, it went far better. This time it was a female kitten, she is a lot more chilled than he was but she is also a lot less cuddly unfortunately.

A week is not long, give it time. I wouldn't rule out a brief cattery stay either if you need it.

Original poster
brizzlewizzle · 27/10/2021 19:32

Thanks all. Feel really sorry for the existing cat - she is refusing to go upstairs as that's where he is! But the kitten is doing a great job of charming the rest of us!

OP posts:
Shmithecat2 · 27/10/2021 19:35

It's just time and patience. They may never like each other, but a truce will be called at some point. I've got 6 cats. 3 of them hate all the others - I've had them all for nearly 8 years. It's just how it is. They maintain their distances from each other and its mostly peaceful.

AwkwardPaws27 · 27/10/2021 20:01

It takes time. We've had younger cat over a year now - he adores older cat, she tolerates him. Sometimes she washes his head, sometimes she slaps him; just depends how she is feeling that day. He sneaks up when she's sleeping to cuddle up together.

Fluffycloudland77 · 27/10/2021 20:55

A weeks nothing to a cat. Have you looked at slow introductions?.

It is a bit like your dh bringing a younger woman home because he loves you so much he wants another one just like you.

Snailhaterz2 · 28/10/2021 11:46

I'm two months down the road with mine. I've got a four year old cat who'd lived with another cat, but was slightly bullied by her. So, I thought a kitten would be a good fit. Hasn't been easy, as the kitten doesn't know when to stop, but (most of the time) the cat is now tolerating the kitten. They're asleep on the same bed at the moment, but the cat has got one eye open, just in case the kitten decides to pounce! My top tip is to keep some method of segregating them, even if its only for overnight, so the cat doesn't feel too pushed out. I'm still locking my kitten in the dining room overnight so big cat can come in/out of the catflap and curl up on my bed in peace!

Beamur · 28/10/2021 16:45

More time.
My long suffering resident took months to tolerate our new kittens. It was a good six months before the hissing and chasing stopped. Two years later we have a sort of truce. Cat and kitten 1 sleep in the same room overnight (out of choice) now

Original poster
brizzlewizzle · 28/10/2021 19:28

These are encouraging stories - thank you!

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