Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[C woodgett]

This is going to be a long story and I hope you can help me….it is so depressing!!
We have a 5 year old (mixed breed part Siamese) female cat, last year we had a stray male cat living in our front yard for a few months and we tried to integrate the two with no success. 
During Christmas time I walked past the pet shop and saw this little female kitty in a tiny cage for sale and felt so sorry for it, she was sleeping in the litter box and had so many worms they crawled out everywhere…so obviously I bought her and took her to the vet for de-worming and injections. 
Only afterwards did I read the site where it said not to integrate a kitten with an adult cat. 
I got this far, scent, room swapping (our adult cat has little to no interest in food or treats, I tried every thing).  The first few times i had the kitten in a cage and the adult cat would sit far away staring at it, scared. So I thought maybe she doesn’t know “what” it is.  I then put the adult cat in a carry cage and left it on the table where the kitten did not even see it, the adult cat seemed to be more happy with that and did not make any noises),  and played with the kitten so she could understand that it was just a cat.  After I did that for 5 min for 2 days I put the kitten back in the cage for the adult cat to see (only for 5 min each time).  The adult cat was staring at it and making those deep throat noises.  I decided to give each a turn in the cage for 5 min a day.  The adult cat hated being in the cage and hissed and spat at the kitten when she came to close.  After a bad session I’ll leave it for a day or two before trying again. We have being doing this for 5 weeks now.

Here is my problem, the last few times I had the little kitten in the cage the big cat walked up to the cage, pressed her face against the cage, made those deep throat noises, spat and tried to claw at the kitten.  Why is this getting worse?  Our adult cat is one of those types that allow you to pat her once when ever, and only once. I did not change my daily routine (besides to slip away for a few minutes every hour to play with the kitten and ensure she is still ok)  Please help

Cecilia

[galensgranny]

Welcome to the forum, Cecilia! 

How terrible that while in a pet shop, the owners didn't get the kitten treated for the worms (or was it in a very, very poor town?)  Bless you for adopting the kitten and getting her vet care.  Do you have an idea how many weeks old the kitten is?

Only afterwards did I read the site where it said not to integrate a kitten with an adult cat.

It's not that one would never try to integrate a kitten with an adult cat.  It is just that most adult cats don't like little kittens so most adult cats don't act like playmates or "mothers" to little kittens.  Little kittens tend to be annoying to adult cats.  So if one decides to get a young kitten, one needs to realize that the adult cat isn't going to be happy about it for a while- many months, until the kitten grows into a cat and out of the annoying always wanting to play stage. If one is getting a new cat on purpose wanting it to be a playmate for an adult cat, that is where the caution about not getting a young kitten comes in. 

Certainly, if one finds a kitten in need of help, one would take it in, even if the adult cat or cats won't be happy at first. You just keep them separate a lot and for a long time, understanding that it might take months for the adult cat and kitten to at least "live and let live". 

Do read my article about integrating kittens with cats at http://wvcats.com/integrating_kittens_with_cats.htm.  Even if you read it, read it again as you move along in the introduction steps.

Here is my problem, the last few times I had the little kitten in the cage the big cat walked up to the cage, pressed her face against the cage, made those deep throat noises, spat and tried to claw at the kitten.  Why is this getting worse? 

It seems for your adult cat, she needs a lot more time to accept the kitten even being in a cage. 

I would stop the cage viewings for 2 weeks, and just do the room swapping.  I would maybe once a day for 3 or 4 minutes put the kitten in a carrier, and sit with the carrier on my lap, to allow the kitten to see the adult cat, but not be possible for the adult cat to get near the carrier. 

Keep in mind that it can take 6 or 7 months for the cats to accept each other.  So take each step very slowly.  If the adult cat growls, then back up for a few days.

[animalangel1]

Hi Cecilia and welcome to our forum!!  Go here to read how to properly integrate a kitten with an adult cat:  http://wvcats.com/integrating_kittens_with_cats.htm

You will need to completely separate the two cats for a few days (without them seeing each other) so that both get calmed down (the kitten is likely afraid but you may not be noticing that).  Keep the kitten in a room of her own and let her get used to that.  Do not let the other cat in for any reason.  The problem is you are going WAY too fast.

Cats have different time frames than we humans do.  One day to us is about an hour to them (roughly speaking) so when you think it's been a "long time" it really hasn't been to them.  You need to work on their schedule, not yours. 

A proper integration can take MANY MONTHS and this is normal.  I have a cat that I am working on integrating right now that has been here 5 MONTHS and I have one cat who is still not accepting her (the other 4 are fine).  I have had to take up to a year to integrate a cat.  This too, can be quite normal. 

I suggest that for the best outcome, you start all over again after a few days of complete separation.  Do LOTS of scent swapping.  Do not put the towel (or whatever you use to wipe the kitten with) under the older cats nose.  Just put it on the floor where she can see it and let her come to it and sniff it at will.  Never force anything.  Do this several times per day if you are able to.  The more you do it, the better it will work. 

To completely separate them for a few days will help them calm down, get their heads back in a "good place" and without that "stress" they will be more accepting of each other when you finally do start (very slowly) re-introducing them. 

Think of it this way:  If you were nervous and scared and upset, how clearly would you be thinking?  How well would you be able to raise your child or do your work if you couldn't think straight?  After say, a vacation - where you get to calm down and separate yourself from stress, you would be more stable and clear about your thoughts and actions.  This would help you to perform your job or raise your child better.  Same with cats.  They need to start with clear heads and not be stressed for integration processes.  Also, stress is not good for cats as it can lead to other health problems.  So... you want to avoid that.  The only way to do that is to work with them very, very slowly.  When you think they are ready to move to the next step - wait a couple of more days before doing so just to be on the safe side. 

Hope this helps.... keep in touch!  Do post pictures of the furry ones too!  We LOVE pictures! 

Edited to add:  I see that Margaret just posted.  I would follow her integration advice (as mine will take you back a bit further in the process and she has done this more than I have so what she stated might be far enough back) but do keep in mind the need to keep the cats stress free as much as possible, ok? 

[C woodgett]

Hi thank you all so much for the help, the pet shop i got the kitty from was in our mall and looked respectable. 
I'll leave it for a week or two, the whole process is stressing us all out, due to the fact that the rest of my family think it will be fine to just put the poor 10 week old kitten with the big furry one, so we argue a lot.... i even made them all read your site to understand the process.  Once i found where to post the photo's I'll do so.

Thanks I'll keep you posted.
Cecilia

[galensgranny]

You're welcome!

So, are you saying that the kitten is just now only 10 weeks old?  If you got it a few weeks ago, it was too soon for it to be away from it's mother.  Kittens need to stay with their mothers for 12 weeks, 8 at the minimum.  But, of course, there are cases where the mother died so it was not possible for the kitten to stay with it's mother longer.

Remind your family that kittens are considered as fragile infants until 12 weeks.  Just because they can walk and eat on their own does not mean their bodies and minds are ready to deal with an adult cat that is not their mother when that adult cat makes it clear it doesn't want anything to do with the kitten.

One would not dump a weak, helpless infant in with an adult cat that does not accept it yet.  It will not only upset the adult cat, but it will upset the infant.  Your family might think the kitten will be happy with the adult, but ask them how happy any baby would be if when it approached an adult, the adult made threatening and aggressive moves towards it.   Also, an adult cat can hurt a tiny kitten.

It is hard when family members don't understand.  I hope you can get them to for the safety and emotional well being of the kitten.  If you go very slow at these next few weeks, things won't take so long at the later integration steps.  One main thing is that the infant simply needs a few more weeks to grow more and get stronger.

[galensgranny]

To post an image, when you either reply to a post, or start a new one, above the box where you type, you will see the words, "Add image to post".  Click on it and then you get to how you can upload an image from your computer.