Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions. It's been many years since I've had more than 1 cat in the house. I adopted a 3 month old female rescue and have a 4 year old female cat. I brought the new one home yesterday, put her in our master bathroom with food, water, bed and litter box. She's doing great and also has no issue with our 15 year old dog (and vise versa) and our 4 very excited kids. She was used to her litter mates (5 of them) and her mama and about 7 other cats in the house she's from - she's very social and wants to be around us. However, my 4 year old cat, won't even go near the room to "sniff her out" under the door and hisses and growls and hides under one of the end tables giving me the stink eye once I've been in there and handled the newbie and then come out with her scent on me. She favors me out of the six of us and I think she's got her knickers in a twist about another fur baby in the house that I am giving my attention to. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas about how long I need to keep them apart or ideas to make the transition easier on our oldest cat? When I did have multiple cats before, our older cat was 3 when I brought a kitten home and while she pounced on her the first time she saw her, they bonded almost immediately after and loved each other so much. They both had no issues when I brought home another kitten a year or so later. They all got along fine with each other and the dog... Thanks!
YAY for adoptions of homeless pets !! :hurray: Frankly - I cannot give good input as I always just brought the newbie in the house and let everyone work it out. I know that my older cat took awhile to get use to the kitten .. avoided in her own way and hissed/grumbled but that eventually dwindled away. Kitty will learn that big cat is a bit uncomfortable and not thoroughly enjoying the moment so will leave alone (or be taught to leave big cat alone). The only time I'd be sure to keep seperate for awhile is when no person is around to keep supervised. Just wanted to give you a KUDOs for adopting! Thanks alot.
There's going to be ruffled feathers (fur) for awhile. You might move the new kitten to somewhere ... like a bathroom ... and put the older cat in the bedroom so it can sniff around and get a 'feel' for the new kitty. Swap them for awhile so their scents start to inter-mingle. Put the older cat in the bedroom while the new kitty explores the house (just don't let new kitty use older kitty's litter box ... insult!) Eventually, you're going to have to let them 'see' each other. Are you able to control your older cat, if one person is holding one and another person is holding another ... or is that too dangerous (tooth and claw)? Keep the younger kids away .. do it at a time when everyone can be quiet and calm and relaxed. The cats will work it out ... but they won't need exuberant humans stirring up excitement for them. The older cat will hiss and spit and teach the younger kitty that this is HER domain, that little kitty needs to learn to respect her elders. You'll have to let her teach that lesson.
I've wanted to get our older cat, Mazey, a kitten to love on and play with for some time now - she had had a litter before I adopted her when she was about a year and half. She is SO needy, craves attention and "talks" all the time. I thought bringing her a kitten would be better than an older cat since I think she has a that "Mama" gene in her. We had thought we were going to have to put our dog to sleep and bringing in a new fur baby for the kids to love on seemed like the right thing to do to soften the blow. Our dog perked up and doesn't seem to be in such dire straights at this point (she has quite a few inoperable tumors) and I was so happy to cancel that appointment She's used to cats having had them in the house all her life, so she's not even fazed. I have to admit, Mazey scares me a little when she growls and hisses (and grumbles - perfect description of what she sounds like!!!) because I've only seen her do it a couple of times like when the dog came home from a vet appointment, for example. I am a little afraid she might try to bite me if I held her while little one was around. I will do the room swap idea, though. She got her nose unbent pretty quickly after I took Reeses-Pieces a.k.a Reesey (HA! Little orange striped ball of fluff) back to our bathroom this morning. I brought her out to test the waters....hopefully, that's a good sign and she'll start getting used to having her here soon. I guess I am just afraid of her hurting the little one, that's my biggest concern. My husband says I would be one of those crazy cat ladies if I didn't have kids - he's probably right Thanks for your advice
My cat started making that noise and hiding when my husband moved in after we got married. The noise freaks me out!! She still does it and does the hiding thing when he is home too. When he is not there she is perfectly fine! I can't break her out of this pattern. She is and older cat and mostly lived with me by myself.
Another question: Anyone know of any vets that will bill me or hold a check? My vet office will not do that. I had the money set aside to take her for her first appointment and then my van died, had to be towed and the tow and mechanics diagnostic took that money. There isn't any extra and I won't be able to take her until at least August 10th. I think she has ear mites and maybe an intestinal issue, judging by what she's leaving in her litter box. Plus, I had been assured she didn't have fleas and found some on her yesterday that I treated her for, but still. I am keeping her separated from the dog and cat and kids......anyone know of any vets that would be open to holding a check or letting me pay them on the 10th? I am worried about her getting dehydrated or sicker before I can take her :-( Thanks.
Worth a try ... not sure if they will but the staff is great so probably a bit understanding & willing if at all can do.. Carolina Crossings Vet Clinic (CCVC) ph# 934-7729
