Expert: Ali - 9/2/2008

Question
we've had our 1st cat for 2 years...4 days ago we got a 2month old kitten...the older cat hisses and growls at the kitten whenever she sees him...we dont let the kitten roam the house when th older cat is free for fear that the older cat will hurt him...what can we do for the older cat to accept the kitten? when will they get along? will they ever get along? how long will it take for them to get along?

Answer
Myra,

Congratulations on your new family member. The nice thing about new cat introductions is that you can do things over with great success. This will take a bit of time and patience, but it will be well worth it in the end. My recommendation would be to try a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy which is a blend of flower essences that works well to calm cats and other animals down. I would suggest that you give your older cat about 8 drops in fresh water each morning. You can generally find Rescue Remedy in natural health/health food stores. This remedy is very safe and has been used to treat anxiety and fear by some vets & some pet owners throughout the world.

Starting over with the introductions is  a good plan. The nice thing about starting over with proper introductions is that this is at a fairly early stage. If your older cat isn't spayed then I would highly recommend having her sterilized as sex hormones can certainly increase the potential for more territorial behavior. Cats are quite territorial so they will often become anxious, fearful or aggressive with one another when meeting for the first time. I would also recommend that you place the new cat into a room behind a closed door for a period of 2-3 weeks with all of the usual kitty necessities (food, water, comfy place to sleep, litter box and a few toys). It's important that both cats get attention, isolation for the new cat shouldn't mean total lack of attention, affection, or stimulation. You can feed the cats on opposite sides of the door from one another as this will help to gradually introduce the new cat to your resident cat. It's not a bad idea to use a hand towel and rub your new kitty down, then your resident cat and to the new kitty again daily. The whole point of doing this is that it allows each cat to become accustomed to the scent of the other. It is very important that the resident cat is given lots of attention and reassurance by the human family members while the new kitty is isolated. Isolation of a new cat/kitten provides a few other benefits beyond a means to gradually introduce a new cat to a resident cat. The isolation period allows you to get to know your new friend and what his personality is like. Once the first few days have gone by and your new little one has become more confident in his new surroundings you will be able to get an accurate idea of essentials like eating & litter box habits. Getting to know a new cat is always tons of fun and you should be quite aware of how energetic and playful your little boy is by the time that he is comfortable enough with his new surroundings and integrating him into the household is happening. The isolation period also allows you to place the new kitty in quarantine if you will. There are a number of very serious chronic health issues like feline leukemia and FIV which resemble HIV and AIDS in people. Unfortunately there is no way to know whether or not a new cat has been exposed to or tested for these serious conditions. These illnesses can be passed from cat to cat so sharing common food and water bowls or litter boxes and bedding shouldn't really be done prior to having new feline family members testing for these serious chronic health problems. Cats can also have other health issues like conjunctivitis or an upper respiratory infection, which are contagious and require proper vet care. Conjunctivitis can be passed on to people if they are giving a cat antibiotics to fight the infection or cleaning the eye discharge which is why it's so important to wash your hands thoroughly in hot, soapy water after handling the discharge commonly found in conjunctivitis. With a 2-3 week period of isolation, interactive play time geared towards both your new kitten and the resident cat and positive reinforcement for calm behavior I am sure that the introductions will be much better next time. Questions regarding proper new cat introductions are quite common, if you would like further details or tips, please feel free to check out my past answers on the subject.