Now what, older cat still upset

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Registered: 03-19-2004
Now what, older cat still upset
11
Thu, 03-24-2005 - 2:56pm
OK, so I have kept the kitten away from the older cat. update: I live in large two story home. Upstairs are my daughter her husband and son. Husband and I have bedroom down stairs and we all share the living space. It works fine. love it...my grandson who is four has his cat. Teeney is three. My kitten is now three mths old and the two are not,...NOT getting along. We keep the kitten in an area that is not open to the other cat. He has all his food and his litter box in my room. When I take him to the older cat, I hold him and talk nice to teeney and the older cat licks him and seems to like him. If I put the kitten on the floor and watch them well it gets like "Oh no the cats going to kill the kitten. Kitten wants to play, older cat plays to hard and then look out. Last time we tried to get the cats together the bigger one picked the kitten up by his neck and was high tailing it fast to the upstairs. Teeney had to go to the vets as he has had upset stomach. We are not sure if its because grandson gave him something to eat or if the kitten thing is getting to him. He is still ill, eats well, drinks well seems to be fine but I worry. Any ideas here...should I just start to let the cats duke it out am I worry to much...my kitten is still very small next to teeney and I am thinking wait until he is a bit bigger. Plus he has claws and teeney has none, but teeney has size and teeth...oh dear. Is this what I get for becoming a cat lover and giving up my huge love of dogs...lol...I still love my dogs but my kitten has become my best friend and I need to know that I can have a home where all the cats and dogs can be friends. the dogs love the kitten and cat, even the bird is gentle with the kitten. Help. any ideas will be taken and used. Diann.

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Avatar for sabrina53
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2003
Sun, 03-27-2005 - 8:24pm

I have posted a bit on my own attempt to introduce a new kitten into our home. Our male cat is 3 and when we first got him, I had a white cat beanie baby and for months he dragged it around as if it was his baby.

He is a health 12 pound tuxedo with loads of personality and energy and we didn't know if he would accept a kitten. The one we got is a female, somewhere between 6-9 months and a bit small for her age. SHE is the one who is hissing. He's been a real gentleman.

We put him on his leash when we first showed them to each other. I have heard about the "space under the door" thing and "cracking the door open an inch" thing when the new kitty is in a special room. We did those things too. We also took him outside on his leash and let him look into the room with her, and we held them both up to the window so they could sniff. The very first meetings were him in the carrier, with her loose, then her in the carrier with him loose. All of that was the first week.

Friday, we let them loose. She growls when he comes near her but she isn't hiding. She has even played near him, groomed herself, and eaten near him, even those she growls. You should her the funny sound of her eating or grooming and growling at the same time!

We will put her back into "her" room while we're at work, but we are letting them loose most of the rest of the time.

They've eaten each other's food, used each other's litterboxes, and so far the worse they've done is slapped at each other for a minute or so, to times total.

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