Bringing home a kitten when you have another cat

[proud_canadian]

Hi, when we got our cat 5 years ago, he was a kitten, and we didn't really have to do anything to introduce him to our home. When we brought him home, we opened his carrier, and let him come out when he was ready (about 30 seconds), and we just sat on the floor and let him do his own thing, but he was naturally curious and was crawling all over us purring! After about 20 minutes we showed him where the litter box was and that was that, he was a part of our family and seemed very comfortable right from the start. He is extremely social and never hides, and is naturally curious of everything.

In a few weeks we are bringing home a kitten. I am wondering if we should introduce them right away, or keep them separated etc. for a bit, since I don't want the kitten, or my existing cat to be uncomfortable.

What have you done?

BTW, I also have two kids, but they are older 13 and 10.

 

[Hikergirl]

I am in the same position as you, except I'm bringing home 2 kittens.
I have an older cat, who is not the only pet we have, and had grown up with another cat who passed away a few years ago.
My cat is a *****, there is just no other way to say it. She will not take kindly to two new babies coming here.
I struggled with the decision, I didn't want to make my cat uncomfortable but these 2 needed a home, and we are able to take care of them.
She is older, a part of me is hoping she will have some motherly instinct kick in but that is really just wishful thinking on my part.

My plan is to keep them separated as much as I can at first. I will not let the kittens go into the kid's bedrooms where my cat spends most of her time. I will keep them from going downstairs where my cat's litter box is because they will have their own up here.
I have purchased some things for the kittens that I have in my car, I am not bringing them into the house until they get here because I don't want my cat to think they are hers and then have issues with the kittens using them.
Other than that I'm not sure what else I can do, I can't keep them totally apart, I have an open floor plan home, and no one room I can dedicate to just the kittens, they will be roaming everywhere other than the places I mentioned.

Good luck to you!

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

The experts say put the kitten in a room with a litter box for about a day. We tried this twice when getting a kitten when we already had a cat. The second time was fine after the first day let the kitten out and the two pretty much ignored each other with an occasional swipe or tackle. The first time we tried the kitten turned out to be an alpha cat ant wouldn't let the older cat alone. The kitten would hide or wait on a chair and jump on the older cat. Got to the point were the kitten would chase the cat when she was eating or sleeping on the bed. After two weeks we had to get rid of the kitten. My poor cat ended up in the ER totally dehydrated.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Have the kitten spend a few days in a room by itself. Then open the door and us a baby gate to keep the two cats separated. this allows them to meet one another with out feeling threatened. Then if after a few days they seem to be ok with one another let them mingle together and see how it goes.

 

[Hisgirl]

Best of luck in this. Everything I have read described how tough it can be. Cats love to live by themselves many times, and will see a new kitten or cat, as encroaching on their territory. We had two sisters and except for their early kitten days, they fought for sixteen years.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Has your current cat ever been exposed to other cats?

Our cat has only seen another cat through our patio door. She attacked the glass door! She hissed and paced. Made all kinds of crazy vocalizations. We are definitely suited to be a one cat house!
She's normally such a sweet girl....It was kinda scary.

Weird thing...she's totally fine with our dogs,lol!

 

[proud_canadian]

Our cat has seen other cats as we have some that roam the neighborhood and he sees them through our back door. He is interested but not agitated. One time I opened the front door and one of those other cats darted in (and ran upstairs!!!) and our cat didn't even seem to care. He didn't follow that cat or anything.

May be different if a cat is here to stay though!

 

[cmarsh31]

We do the separate room for a few days, baby gate at door (supervised) for a few days, general population (supervised - back to the separate room when we're sleeping or not home), etc. We generally spend a couple weeks on integration.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Hi, when we got our cat 5 years ago, he was a kitten, and we didn't really have to do anything to introduce him to our home. When we brought him home, we opened his carrier, and let him come out when he was ready (about 30 seconds), and we just sat on the floor and let him do his own thing, but he was naturally curious and was crawling all over us purring! After about 20 minutes we showed him where the litter box was and that was that, he was a part of our family and seemed very comfortable right from the start. He is extremely social and never hides, and is naturally curious of everything.

In a few weeks we are bringing home a kitten. I am wondering if we should introduce them right away, or keep them separated etc. for a bit, since I don't want the kitten, or my existing cat to be uncomfortable.

What have you done?

BTW, I also have two kids, but they are older 13 and 10.

We kept them separated; one in the bathroom (and no one used that bathroom during this time) with a litter box and some food/water. The older ones would sniff at the door and hiss for a few days, then would start to calm down. Then we'd open the door during the day when we were up and home (and putting the kittens back in the bathroom at night or if we had to leave). After a few days of that, we moved the litter box out of the bathroom, moved the kittens into the room with the litter boxes, and moved their food to the other food dishes. We also gave the older cats new toys and treats, as the new kittens came with some as well.

 

[proud_canadian]

Thanks for all the advice.

For those of you with multiple cats, did you get a 2nd litterbox, water dish, food dish, etc or do they just share?

 

[BLAZEY]

We have a 4 year old cat(male) and brought home a 6 year old female Maine Coon. They get along OK for the most part. The new kitty is a bit aloof compared to the resident cat and he bugs her trying to get her to play with him and will pounce on her. No fighting over food or litter boxes however we did get extras 3 Litter boxes and each have their own food dishes. We did get Feliway Friends diffuser to help with the transition. https://www.feliway.com/ca_en/New-Feliway-Friends
We did separate them and slowly introduce them over a period of about 4 days. We kept the new kitty in the kitchen which has glass doors so the could see and smell each other under the door, but couldn't fight. We rewarded our resident kitty with treats for positive interactions with the new kitty.

 

[BrianL]

Thanks for all the advice.

For those of you with multiple cats, did you get a 2nd litterbox, water dish, food dish, etc or do they just share?

Actually, the rule I was told about litter boxes is that you should have "one more than you have cats." I have a single cat and two boxes and it seems to work well. Of course, my friends joke that by the letter of that rule, if you have zero cats you still need to have one litter box. I mean, of course, right? In all seriousness, I would definitely add a second box for the new cat so they can each have their own should they want it that way.

 

[BLAZEY]

Actually, the rule I was told about litter boxes is that you should have "one more than you have cats." I have a single cat and two boxes and it seems to work well. Of course, my friends joke that by the letter of that rule, if you have zero cats you still need to have one litter box. I mean, of course, right? In all seriousness, I would definitely add a second box for the new cat so they can each have their own should they want it that way.

Yep we had 2 boxes for our resident cat and got another one when the kew kitty joined our family. 3 boxes 2 kitties.

 

[Squirlz]

We've always just turned them loose and let them work it out. The 2 we have now became best buds in about a week. They share the bowl of dry food and get wet food in separate bowls.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Actually, the rule I was told about litter boxes is that you should have "one more than you have cats." I have a single cat and two boxes and it seems to work well. Of course, my friends joke that by the letter of that rule, if you have zero cats you still need to have one litter box. I mean, of course, right? In all seriousness, I would definitely add a second box for the new cat so they can each have their own should they want it that way.

We have 3 food bowls and 3 litter boxes for 4 cats. I should have more boxes, but I just don't have the room. I clean them and top with fresh litter daily. They share the water bowl with DD#2's dog for now; when it leaves, I'm going to get them a moving water bowl/fountain.

 

[Hikergirl]

I will have 2 litter boxes for 3 cats. The cat I have now has been using one forever. The two kittens will have to share one since I really don't have the room for more than 2 in the house. As long as you keep them clean it shouldn't be an issue.
The kittens will have separate food and water than the other cat, as they get older we will see what happens.

 

[Bilberry]

I wish you luck. I hope it goes well. We did that, had an older cat and introduced a young kitten. The older cat would never accept the kitten. The kitten wanted to play and wanted to enjoy her older housemate. He would put up with a short about of play, but it always turned out bad with the older cat attacking the younger one. We just learned a system on keeping the two separated.

 

[tvguy]

I have never had any luck getting two cats to get along. We got two kittens at the same time, from the same shelter, boy and a girl, and they fought for the entire time we had them, 10 years, until we had to finally get rid of the boy to behavior issues (he started biting people)
Then when my MIL passed away, we had to have her 16 year old female cat live with our 16 year old female cat. Our house is U shaped, one cat lived in one half of the U, and the other in the other half, and they hissed and fought when they saw each other.
My wife's best friend has the same issue, so she has an upstairs cat and a downstairs cat, and they fight every day.

 

[Spencer Wright]

I would TRY the separate room thing, but not force it. A kitten is not going to want to be confined to one room. However, if two cats meet, and fight (as in howl, claw, hiss ect) the first time around, the chances of them ever getting along is minimal. Depending on how friendly the adult is, it will probably show interest in the kitten anyway. Those squeaks kittens make are designed by nature to get an adults cat attention.

So I would recommenced start by isolating the kitten, and crack the door open with your supervision and let nature take its course. I did this twice in the past couple of years with positive results.