New kitten, my 8 year old gone psycho.. help!

Colonel_Klinck · 14 Oct 2020 at 21:38

We had to have one of our cats put down 3 weeks ago. He was only 8 so completely unexpected, just suddenly went down hill and it turned out to be kidney failure

He was my mates cat, we got one each at the same time. My mate was obviously gutted

He wanted to get another kitten and this beautiful half Maine **** half Norwegian Forest came up. Now mine is a little territorial, he had a terrible relationship 3 years ago with a local tom who has moved away now but they would fight when ever they saw each other. There are 2 9 month old cats 3 doors up and he isn't too bad with them, tolerates them as long as they don't get too close, which they are always trying to do lol, if they come within 3 or 4 feet he'll just hiss or swear a bit as a warning and wander off. He doesn't act like he wants to fight them at all.

So we bought the kitten home and he was getting settled in in the living room. Mine was asleep on my bed but then wandered downstairs. Thought we put him in the kitchen and he'd be able to see the kitten through the glass door. Well lets just say he wasn't impressed when he spotted him. Lots of screaming and hissing, like proper howling. I thought he might not be happy but his reaction was far more ott than I expecting. Had to take him outside but he could see the kitten through the window and just kept swearing.

He's back in now and asleep on my bed with the door closed but how the hell are we going to introduce them? He's a massive softy with me but I was honestly worried he'd attack the kitten. Any suggestions? Anyone been through this with their cats?

Quartz · 14 Oct 2020 at 21:51

Keep the new kitten in a separate room. Let the older cat sniff him through the door for a few days. Then gradually introduce them. Plenty of Feliway too. And make sure you lavish attention on him.

SideWinder · 14 Oct 2020 at 21:55

Checked YouTube? Should be a lot of demos.

wesimmo · 14 Oct 2020 at 22:01

IME, limited though it is, animals tend to settle down in a short while, they may never be friends but they learn to ignore each other at least.

We once bought a cat home from the rescue centre, the dog went mental for the first few days.

Turned out the cat was pregnant, by the time she had the kittens the dog would look after them while she went to eat!

As above, look at how to introduce them where they can't get at each other physically at first and then take advice from there.

We had quite a high turnover of pets as kids, I can't remember once where it didn't resolve itself, even when we adopted half feral cats from the farm across the road.

Colonel_Klinck · 14 Oct 2020 at 22:07

Quartz said:
Keep the new kitten in a separate room. Let the older cat sniff him through the door for a few days. Then gradually introduce them. Plenty of Feliway too. And make sure you lavish attention on him.

Yeah thats the plan. Mate is going to keep kitten in his room over night with the door closed so mine can come and go as he pleases. Have a fishing rod with lures toy and he does play with it with the 2 cats from next door. Play seems to chill him out around them. Might try that out on the lawn in a couple of days time. I'm giving him lots of love.

Colonel_Klinck · 14 Oct 2020 at 22:10

SideWinder said:
Checked YouTube? Should be a lot of demos.

Yeah watched a couple. Good job I can take a couple of days off work as it could be a long few days.

Colonel_Klinck · 14 Oct 2020 at 22:25

He's super cute though

JRS · 14 Oct 2020 at 22:27

You're gonna have to rehost the pic somewhere @Colonel_Klinck. Imgur or similar.

Colonel_Klinck · 14 Oct 2020 at 23:20

JRS said:
You're gonna have to rehost the pic somewhere @Colonel_Klinck. Imgur or similar.

Yeah have done now.

Just read the title and it reads like a psycho 8 years kid not cat lol

sigma · 14 Oct 2020 at 23:23

Swap cat for dog (had to be said, apologies).

pp111 · 15 Oct 2020 at 01:23

Make sure they have their own space and their own safe area where they can sleep and they will gradually get used to each other. It's a bit of a myth that cats in the same house play together and love each other, they probably never will, and may always hate each other, but over time they at least come to respect each other and tolerate each others presence.

Pho · 15 Oct 2020 at 01:48

I had a stray move in about 1.5 years ago and had a load of hassle with my cat and it getting along, I don't envy you

I did try some Feliway Friends diffuser and a refill pack and it seemed to help, but obviously I can't be 100% sure. I stuck it on a timer plug so it was only activate when they were both in the house at night so it lasts a lot longer than 30 days. Worth a shot for the price anyway.

^TANK^ · 15 Oct 2020 at 08:29

I hope you like the scent of cat **** because you're in for a treat.

[FnG]magnolia · 15 Oct 2020 at 08:52

Just LMAO if you don't set this up as a Pay Per View Battle of the Felines.

You'll need some money to pay for the vets bills, new furniture, and de-stencher.

e: I thought this thread was going to be about your 8 year old son/daughter not getting on with a new kitten :confused:

Xyclops · 15 Oct 2020 at 08:56

When we introduced a new cat we kept the new cat in its own room for the first month or so (spare tiny bedroom), but every feeding time we would feed the old cats on the other side of a glass door to the new one. Eventually they ignored each other whilst eating. We would also move bedding that the other cat had slept on into the room where the other cats slept (and vice versa) to get them used to each others smells.

dirtychinchilla · 15 Oct 2020 at 09:10

I don't think I've any good advice for you, but our older cat hated the "new" one for its entire life. I think the newer one was relieved when the older one died. As far as I could tell, it was a territorial thing. The older cat didn't want this interloper in the house. Now the older one is gone, the newer one is like a new cat.

Lopéz · 15 Oct 2020 at 09:40

I skim read this and thought that your 8 year old child had had an issue with the kitten, especially when you said he swears at him through the window. I was thinking "Damn, dude has an 8 year old son who hisses at cats and has Tourette's"

Roar87 · 15 Oct 2020 at 12:33

To clarify an adult male is referring to a cat as "my 8 year old"

Colonel_Klinck · 15 Oct 2020 at 20:24

Roar87 said:
To clarify an adult male is referring to a cat as "my 8 year old"

Colonel_Klinck said:
Yeah have done now.

Just read the title and it reads like a psycho 8 years kid not cat lol

If only you'd read the thread you'd see it was a mistake. No surprise though really, just jump in with a snarky remark.