Introducing a kitten to an adult cat

[LadyFlumpalot]

Hi all, we have been thinking about getting a kitten friend for our adult cat, but a massive sticking point is worrying about they will get on.

Our existing cat is a large female Maine Coon and the kitten we are hoping to get is a common-or-garden male moggy so there will be a noticeable size difference, therefore hoping DCat won't be too threatened by the tiny scrap. DCat is neutered and the male kitten will be as well.

DCat has not taken well to being around other cats in the past, she's been to a cattery twice, first time she was fine, second time she came home with a cut nose and stress cystitis so had likely gotten into a scrap, but we are hoping that if we introduce gently and DCat is in her own safe environment that this shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Can I ask how others have gone about introducing kittens to cats? What has been your experience and how long it take for them to be settled together? Pictures included for cat tax.

Question I'd ask first is :
Does your adult cat want a kitten friend ?
Or is it just you want a kitten?

Nothing wrong with wanting a kitten but if you're doing this for your Resident Feline and she's sounding like she's not on board with other cats , I'd think she has the Status Quo here ........

And that, therein, is the question.

We would like a kitten, but obviously existing cats well-being takes priority. It's a tricky one, she seems like she is lonely sometimes, but how much of that is me projecting human emotions onto a cat? She has a habit of shredding carpets and furniture and I wonder if having a companion to interact with would help entertain her? We play with her a lot, but are out of the house during the week days for work and school.

The potential kitten is coming from a friend who took in a pregnant stray, she has offered to take potential kitten back after a week or so of it's an unmitigated disaster.

We have two cats (bro/sis) who get on as well as 2 cats would . They tend to occupy different rooms and dont trespass into each others territory .

Male Cat tootles off to play with the younger female cat next door , goes out and calls to her .
Our Female Cat has no truck with next doors cat and fights through the window with any cat innocently walking down the street

Your new kitten (see , I;ve already moved him in there ) will likely shred your furniture with his needle like kitten claws !

How old is your female cat ?

Oh and our Male , even with company ( DH is WFH and we have two adult DC at home ) and has his sister , still saunters past the TWO Cat Towers to have a quick scrape of the sofa <sigh>
Or any stray feet .

Female cat is 4 years, and a sweet, placid soul. She tends to spend most of her time on her cat tree snoozing or sitting with whoever is on the sofa.

Was her upset att the Cattery because she was outside her familiar surroundings ? Rather than the other cats being there ?

Both cats are gorgeous in the photos

I successfully introduced a male kitten to our 1 year old female, but I took it super slow.
2 weeks of kitten in own room, 1 week scent swapping by allowing them to take turns in the hall with the other one shut elsewhere, 1 week of going into each others territory while other cat elsewhere. So there's a month before they even laid eyes on each other! We watched for hissing/aggression and would move back a step if so.
Feliway, lots of litter trays, separate feeding places (even now) and sitting with them feeding treats to one then the other so they knew there were plenty to go round!
They've never had a serious fight, but will play chase, and now will sleep about 1 meter apart, so I think they are fairly relaxed in each others company.

We had a pair of dcats. 1 died. 1 left bereft.. (both boys). Got a dkitten (girl).
Tbh I shoved both in dd's bedroom with an extra tray, bowls and a few blankets.... Left them to it.
Within a fortnight we had this...

If your friend is saying you can take it back within a week you've got nothing to lose really. I'd definitely give it a try. Wish we could get another kitten but my boy would just get off

My older cat still hates the kitten three years on. They will sit together and tolerate each other but last week they had a massive scrap. The older cat ran into our bedroom and shat on the bed.

I think it depends on the nature of your cat. Look out for signs. Our adult female cat is v territorial, rubs her scent everywhere. That should have been our sign! Hated new kitten. She was very distressed for a long time. One year on things are miles better but they are not friends. New kitten (male) on the other hand shows no territorial signs and I’m sure would be happy with any new introduction to the family.

Unsure. She was fine at the cattery the first time she went and the owner said she was out and sniffing noses with the other cats, but the second time she came home looking like she'd been in a fight. She is an indoor cat (as she's a valuable breed with no road sense) and she jumps up at the window to see other cats, but doesn't hiss or seem aggressive.

Just been to pick up DD from a play date at friend with stray cats house. Took the opportunity to take a couple more pics.

Thinking that if we say yes (which is about 95% likely at the moment) then we'll do a blanket swap before new kitten comes home so they get a head start with each others scents.

We are just going through this now.

We have had our kitten for 4 weeks and my cat was very very stressed at first. I contemplated giving her back after 2 weeks because I hated seeing him in such a state and not himself. He has now calmed down and isn't stressed out, however he doesn't like her.

He will tolerate her if she pays him no attention. So if she's sleepy and juay sat there, he will happily be in the same room and even go over to her to sniff her. But as soon as she tries to play with him he hisses, growls, slaps her about. None of this bothers her and she just carried on jumping on him. So we have to keep them separate most of the time as she's just too much for him. I'm hoping once she's older and calmer they will be fine.

I would say try it if your friend is willing to take the kitten back, but you'd need to give it more than a week I'd say

@Eggseggseverywhere

The black kitten is plotting to drop-kick the tabby out of the bed and make it look like a Terrible Accident .

That’s a spectacular kitten. Our strays round here are all variations on black and white.

We have three unrelated adult indoor cats of various ages and we've never had any issues with introducing a newbie.

We also, against all the standard MN advice, never scent-swapped or did massively slow introductions - the newbie always got plonked down to just get on with it under our supervision, though we did separate our latest kitten at night for a week or so as he was a tiny nervous scrap of a thing.

Within a week they were cuddling together and we never had any issues sharing food or litter or beds.

oh dear!! Interesting thread as similar situation. I have a 5 years old female and would like a younger cat (maybe 1 and female) as i think my cat would love the company, she loves to play! However she does hiss at other cats and chase them off. I thought having a kitten rather than an adult size cat would be the best option so she does not see the kitten as a threat…

@Haveallthesongsbeenwritten yes we thought the same! Our thinking was that we would get a kitten so that our cat would see her as less of a threat, but really I think that was a mistake for us. I think that a calm adult cat who is cat friendly would've been much better. I think it's important to get a personality match. If you have a very laid back cat that just likes to chill and isn't very playful, then its safe to assume that they are going to be annoyed with a cat always wanting to play with them. If they are very playful and energetic then maybe a kitten would be great. I do wish we had got a 1 year old from a rescue so that we could know about it's personality and make the decision based on that rather than age, but it's done now and we love the kitten so we will just have to hope they are fine once she calms down

you never know, they may end up getting along. Fingers crossed for you!!

Oh my God, that is a beautiful kitten.

I don't think cats really get lonely for other cats the way dogs do for other dogs. What I mean to say is, I don't think I'd get a kitten specifically for an older cat, but I think most cats can at least learn to get on if not bond. My two are bonded, they cuddle and mutually groom, but that's just luck, and the fact I got the one with the bolshy personality second, so timid cat was already established in the home. My friend's cat did not like the new kitten one bit. In fact she splatted him with a paw (he was fine). Now they just sort of co-exist. I think the key is to manage the space. Make sure existing cat has plenty of escape routes and dens the kitten can't get to. Do plenty of games with the kitten to get the kitten madness out before it can harass the cat too much. Then introduce them gradually in shared spaces. It can also help to switch their blankets and things around so they get used to each other's scent.

Our kitten was an unexpected joy to our spectacularly dim four-year-old cat. She (older cat) had been bullied by her own litter mates and neglected by her mother, so she’d never really learned to cat properly.

After an initial day of fascinated horror, they galumphed together like kittens of the same age, and it seemed to make life ‘click’ for the older one.

I wouldn't do it. But that's after our own recent experience. We thought our cat would enjoy the stimulation of a kitten and she's always been so gentle we thought she would accept one. We also fell for a stunning kitten. So we bought him home and introduced them. We kept them together a bit then apart. At first it seemed ok and I thought they were sharing space but I became increasingly stressed by how tense our old lady was. And then they started to fight. By which time I was pretty beside myself. So we made the sad choice to put our big cat first. We returned the kitten who will find a great home but defo not with an old cat. Our cat is now thankfully back to normal. I would never disrupt an existing arrangement again. Cats really are solitary creatures.

So, update. Tiny kitten came home on Friday evening, a bit of initial upset but we've managed introductions carefully and they seem to have settled down. Even went so far as to have a play together last night.