New Kitten

[chinatheressa]

Hi all! I have not been on the forum in some time since we have gotten in the routine of taking care of our diabetic cat Piper. For the last 10 months since we adopted Piper, she has been our only cat.. but yesterday, we adopted a new 8 week old kitten named Nova. When I first brought her in, wrapped in a towel, I let Piper sniff her a bit and let the kitten walk around. Piper started hissing and growling. I then ended up seperating them (Nova is now staying in our bedroom and Piper is in the rest of the house). I read online I shouldn’t have let them walk around each other first thing.. Did I mess up the chance of them getting along? I am also wondering if this is stress is going to effect her diabetes. I plan on calling our vet today to speak to them, but would love some advice in both the diabetic aspect and also if anybody has advice on them getting along. Thanks!!

 

[Dyana]

I've always put the new kitten in a large cage in the center of the living room, and let the two cats get to know each other that way. I don't know if it's the best way, but I could watch them, and they couldn't get into trouble that way.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Piper started hissing and growling.

That is normal. It seems best is to start with them separated like a baby gates stacked up so one can't jump over them and let them be able to see and smell each other before being allowed in same room under supervision. You can also have a door partially open to allow seeing and smelling w/o being about to be together.With such a young kitten I would expect them to get along in little time. With two adults it can take some time. If Piper spends a lot of time in your bedroom I wouod keep the new cat out of the bedroom at first.

 

[Librarianista]

New introductions definitely take time! But you didn't ruin anything. Take it slow, and you can start over if you need to.

This is a decent article on the subject: https://spca.bc.ca/faqs/​how-introduce-new-cat-old-cat/

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

I have used both the crate and baby gate methods to introduce new cats and kittens. Both work. Piper may continue to hiss some but as long as there is no fighting you will be fine.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Pam Johnson-Bennett is a cat behaviorist. She has a website and Facebook page. She also has a book available (Cat vs Cat) on bringing a new kitty into an established cat's territory.