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introducing a new kitten

Sasha

About three months ago, I introduced a new kitten into my household of two five-year-old cats. The male accepted the kitten immediately, but the female is very stressed out. She spends her time on the kitchen table, where we have placed her food, water, cat bed, padded box, and some toys. She sneaks downstairs to the litter box when the kitten is out of sight. I have placed him on the table, and although she occasionally seems to just ignore him most of the time she hisses, growls, and swats. He will be able to reach the table soon, which will take away her place of refuge. He has demonstrated no aggression towards her as yet. He is also due to be neutered in two months. We pet her when we can, but she used to sit on our laps and sleep with us and I hate that she won't do any of that now. Is there any help for this sad state of affairs?

• Veteran Advisor Helen Fines says:

  January 29th, 2008 at 10:40 AM

  Sorry to hear you are having these problems. It's always difficult when things turn out this way- a new kitten should be a happy event! You've done the right thing in providing her with a safe place of her own. It might be worth giving her her own litter box in a place she feels comfortable also. Time often solves the problem but it has already been 3 months. It's better to not try to force them to be introduced to one another, and as the kitten grows up the situation might improve. In the meantime there are some cat pheromone diffusers that can help. Some cats never accept one another though, so this is a possibility you may have to think about in the long term. To re-introduce her to sitting on your laps etc, could you exclude the kitten for an evening/night to see how that goes?

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• Sue says:

  January 29th, 2008 at 02:57 PM

  Thank you! This is pretty much what I expected/feared, but I hadn't thought about the pheromone diffusers. The weird thing about that is that she appears to have almost no sense of scent--I have to touch even the smelliest food to her nose or mouth before she will eat it. I have also tried locking the kitten away, but can't make Sasha realize that it's safe to come down! I am worried that we have unwittingly turned her into a one-cat-house cat because she even swats at my older male on occasion. Her safe place won't be safe for long, and then we will be at a decision point. I had wondered if we would be better off pushing the issue by allowing the kitten access to the table, but I suspect that will happen soon enough anyway. My long-term plan is to give her to my son, who enjoys her and will give her plenty of attention. But I'm not ready to give up yet!!! Her level of misery will help me decide, which begs the question--is she unhappy? She eats and drinks well, purrs when we pet her, and plays now and then (she was always lazy). I have tried to console myself that she isn't miserable but maybe I'm deluding myself. What do you think? I know this problem is pretty small in the scheme of things, but I want to do the best thing for this sweet little cat!

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• Veteran Advisor Helen Fines says:

  January 30th, 2008 at 04:22 PM

  It's hard to know really if they are happy or not, they don't have an ability to think in the abstract like humans do, so she'd probably not sitting thinking about how she preferred life pre-kitten! They just react in the moment, so there may be more moments of stress, but i wouldn't say you were deluding yourself at all! No problem is small if it's a problem by the way..

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• erin suggests:

  February 17th, 2009 at 10:27 AM

  it also sounds like the cat is very dominating. like she's owning her own space.

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• User suggests:

  April 08th, 2009 at 09:48 AM

  When my first cat Polly was a year old I got a kitten as I thought it would be company for her when I was out. I really regretted it to start with as Polly did not like it at all. I really thought i'd made a mistake and, like you I didn't know what to do. It must have taken about a year, but eventually she accepted Suki. Nearly 3 years on, she is still jealous of her at times but i'm glad I persevered as it's so good to see them chasing each other up and down the stairs, play fighting and laying on the bed together. I hope Sasha eventually comes round as I know how upsetting it can be. I'm sure its a female thing!! Rita, Bedford

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• User suggests:

  July 05th, 2009 at 07:25 AM

  i am worried sick about my new kitten,my older cat charlie has only seen him once and reacted badly i have no idea what my next move should be.......any surgesions?

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