Introducing newbies

[Just1moreq]

We have just adopted a 10 week old kitten, have a 2 year old cat already. We've followed all the guidance to bring him home, separately feeding, safe places for both, no direct contact between the two, lots of attention to the older cat, but he is not happy at all. What else can we do to make him more comfortable? Any suggestions? Thanks

What kind of behaviour did he show on those first views? How Long did you let them spend together?

What kind of behaviour did he show on those first views?

First time: Hissing yowling throwing himself at the window claws out. We quickly removed him to get him to calm down. and probably was next day before he got to eyeball kittens again (for similarly brief period). Cats can get used to each other. Just needs time knowing there isn't actually a threat. he had to be calm ish eyeballing thru window before we went to next stage.

How Long did you let them spend together?
In terms of first time not thru a window, we must have carried one cat into the room & out again quickly. Old Cat had already prowled around somewhere full of kitten scent well before first sighting. They're creatures of habit, so it's just a series of hurdles until they feel like the other animal has always been there. Lots of fuss, petting too.

lljkk
Doesnt sound too dissimilar to ours then. Did yours change in their attitude towards you at all?

You mean did the cat personality change? Only in the most marginal thing, how much he meows.

We had 2 cats; big fluffy one died & remaining cat (old tom cat) turned very vocal. He just meowed all the time just in a kind of greeting commentary way. For months. this was out of character compared to previous 9 years.

Kittens arrived... he shut up. Relatively. So was he abnormally vocal with no cat housemate?

I've fostered / looked after dogs a bit lately & they are more fussy, harder to placate, can't handle being out of their routine, slower to warm up to new people, etc.. Cats just are so much easier even if their starting position is mutual hate to stranger cats, ultimately cat just wants comforts & once they are used to each other, they don't care about each other. Cats want simple things like warmth, litter trays, water, cuddles, lots of food. The only thing our tom cat kept resentment about the kittens was encroaching on his sleep space. He'd easily share a food bowl with them but woe betide they got on a bed where he was napping. Bed-sharing has slowly improved over months, too, though.

Maybe I just lucked out with these current cats. I also got them used to 2 dogs coming & going, too.

We've moved to them being fed on either side of a glass door now. Big cat gives a hiss when he sees him through the door then ignores him, we're gonna go like this for another week then move on.

sounds like good plan. x

Sounds really positive. Big cat is just sending the message, hey I'm in charge!

We graduated to a crochet blanket pinned in the door frame so they could sniff each other if they wanted. Then obviously close the door if anything bad happens. Sounds positive though!

Big cat has hissed at the humans in the house a few times in the last few days, do you think it's a stress reaction or something we need to worry about?

Probably stress. I stroked mine when she was watching the cat over the road and she hissed.

Back for more help...
Big cat is not getting any more comfortable with the newbie. He is hissing and grumbling alot still. Will not go near him at all. He bit and scratched my OH this morning which is something he has never done before...
Any ideas what I can try?

You can go back a step in the introduction, it’s only been 3 weeks which isn’t long to a sensitive animal like a cat.

Have you tried showing original cat the pic of the kitten on its back? Pretty sure that would work to make him just want to bury his nose in kitten's floof and wiggle the toe beans?

Is going back OK? We're not forcing any physical contact with them or allowing the kitten to run at or towards the cat.

Yes I saw Jackson galaxy recommend it on YouTube.