Introducing new kitten

[tootiredtobeinspired]

Weve just got a new kitten (female, 4 months) and looking for tips on introducing her to my resident cat (male, 9 years). They are currently separated (we brought her home at the weekend and shes contained to one room at the moment). My male has lived with other cats before (we recently lost a female cat that he was very close to) but he doesnt seem overly impressed with the new kitten so far. I let them meet this morning and there was a fair bit of growling and hissing and I separated them again. Any tips for making the introduction go well?

Take it very slowly and just let the older cat get used to the smell of the kitten. I would stroke our kittens and then stroke our older cat while feeding him dreamies. It took about 3 months before they were amicable but they now get on well (unless the youngsters are being very very irritating)

I'd suggest letting them play with a few toys for a few days then swap the toys with each other to help them get used to each others scent, and maybe separate litter trays/eating areas if you're able to prevent any territorial issues. Good luck!

I know it goes against all the advice, but we've always just introduced kittens straight away (under strict supervision) and it's genuinely never taken longer than 48 hours for the resident cats to accept them.

We always separate the kitten overnight and when we're out though, so all interactions are 100% supervised and we can intervene if necessary, though we've never had to.

Any progress @tootiredtobeinspired ?
Cat tax would be appreciated too!😸

Hello, well they've met and its been ok! The first few days I just let them meet under close supervision for short periods, and my big boy hissed a fair bit and looked cheesed off. After a few days though he stopped the hissing and started being interested in what kitten was doing and started trying to sniff her up close (and a bit personal 😂). Now Im just keeping them apart when I am not around but its actually gone a lot better than I hoped. They are obviously not best of friends yet but hopefully one day they will be.
Obligatory cat tax of new girl 😺