Older cats and a new kitten

[TootsieBootsie]

We've got 2 cats aged 10ish and just recently got a kitten. We've kept them separate, done the smelling thing and food in different areas.
The big girls are getting a bit better and can tolerate being in the same room as long as they're not close but they do still.hiss and make that awful growling noise. They used to just go back outside at sight of kitten but they spend most of the day outside as its warm and they always are out this time of year but they are slowly coming in more. I'm worried We've made a huge mistake and they'll never accept the kitten.

Has anyone had this? It's been nearly 3 weeks and I know these things take time but any reassurance that it will be OK would be welcomed!! I love them all and still give loads of fuss to big cats!
Thanks 😊

Three weeks is still very early days.

Though saying that, whenever we've introduced a new cat we've just let them get on with it (supervised) and have never had any issues. We only kept the kitten separate at night for a while to give the older cats some space.

They're now 7, 6 and 2 and all get along famously.

I was hoping that would be the case. I don't trust my big 2 unsupervised yet I just had very idealistic views of it all!
Fingers crossed with time it will get better. How long did it take for yours to be friends?

We can't possibly answer your question without a picture of all the cats... possibly several of the kitten please....those are the rules.

We left them unsupervised together after about 7-10 days I think?

I'd say maybe friendship started between the female and the kitten after a few days, but it took our older boy a bit longer - maybe a few weeks?

Mine’s been two years and there is occasional tolerance but more often lots of hissing and dabby paws.

We’ve done this several times (we have a few cats, as I’m a sucker for a rescue kitten than needs rescuing). Older cats that haven’t had to accept a kitten into their home before will usually take longer. Some cats love a kitten and mother them but most don’t. We usually let the kitten(s) roam freely when we’re around to watch and put kitten(s) in a large dog crate (with food, litter tray, bed area and toys) when we were out or in bed. The crate starts off in a spare room and then moves into the living room after a couple of weeks so the cats got used to the kitten(s) always being around without being able to get to them. It will be harder in some ways if you’ve only got 1 kitten, as they’ll be keen for feline attention without another kitten to play with. But we’ve settled single kittens into our household too. It will take a longer than you think and we have sometimes found the cats have settled once kitten(s) were able to go outside too. But one day you’ll realise they all get on or tolerate each other. Cats are considered the most adaptable mammal and they’ll all be find so enjoy those kitten and big cat cuddles without worry.
if you haven’t got felloway defusers those will definitely help too.

This is the kitten 😸
I really appreciate the advice. Maybe with winter coming the big girls will be in more so I the divide will seem less 🤷‍♀️
The diffuser things, do they work? X

Aw totally gorgeous!

the diffusers do work in my experience. We got a couple as a freebie and I had no expect they would work but they really did. If we forget to check them, we know they’ve run out because one of our cats gets grumpier with the others! Then when we put the refill on, he’s back in the middle of the pile of cats on the bed. With multi-cat dynamics, it is the actions of the more nervous cat that has the biggest impact so pheromones that relax all the cats do have a big impact apparently.

Sorry! A few typos!!

I'm going to order one now! Fingers crossed for a more relaxed atmosphere in my kitchen 😌