Hi everyone,

Hoping for a bit of advice.

Last year, my partner passed away and I had to rehome most of my animals.  One of my cats went to live with my brother, but unfortunately he's just had to give up his flat and move back in with our parents.  So the cat (Tasha, who's a 7 year old) has come back to me. 
The problem, is that as Tasha was happy with my brother and we had no idea he'd lose his flat, I got another kitten (Sally)  Both cats are lovely, but they detest each other. 
At the moment, I'm rotating them, one in a crate and one wandering around so the other can see her. 
Tasha has only come back today, and silly me thought things would be ok, but it's all been hissing, snarling and growling so far.
I know it's very soon - but does anybody have any ideas on introducing them properly?
Tash is a lot bigger than Sal, so I'm naturally concerned about her doing damage.

What's the likelihood of them getting along eventually, and what's the best way of going about it all?

Thanks in advance,

Lisa

Edited to add - Tash is obviously very stressed as well.  She's had a four hour journey to get here, and then there's the change of home as well.

Sorry, I re-read my post for the umpteenth time and realised I hadn't mentioned that Sally is just 5 months old.
Also would like to add, that Tasha was great with my old boy Saffron, who died during a fit, but they'd been brought up together.  We had another cat as well, Mikki, and Tasha never got used to her.

Trying to give as much info as possible, in the hope that I'll get some advice!

Cheers
Lisa

Hi Lisa

I'm speaking only from my experience, it's very common for an older cat established in a household to dislike any new arrival.  Chances are they're never going to be the best of friends, it's not unusual for even littermates to take exception to one another, sometimes for no apparent reason after living together for years!  As I'm sure you know, cats aren't natural pack animals.  It can take a while for social rank to be established and Tash might feel very threatened at first.  However I think in 99% of cases cats learn to tolerate each other over time and it's rare for one to seriously injure another (excepting uncastrated toms - I'm assuming that Tash is a spayed female and that Sally will be spayed fairly soon?)  More often than not they will simply stay out of each other's way most of the time.

A few suggestions you might find helpful

If the crate method works for you then that's great but it wouldn't be my first course of action.  While a dog might view a crate as a den or a safe haven, a cat is more likely to feel trapped and react accordingly.  It might help to put the crate above floor level, maybe on a table or sofa.  I know it sounds ridiculous but cats are far less stressed when they're higher up - I suppose they must feel safer.  If you're feeling brave I would try having both cats free (obviously under supervision) ensuring they each have somewhere to retreat.  I suspect there will be a lot of hissing and spitting but no real fighting.  Sally's still more or less a kitten and will probably back down rather than fight.  Just to be on the safe side, you could keep a loaded water pistol handy!  It's the only thing I've ever found which influences a cat's behaviour!

Ask your vet about Feliway.  It's a synthetic compound which mimics feline pheronomes and might help in this case.  I always tell clients that it's not a miracle product.  With a few cats the results are incredible, upon a small number it has absolutely no effect, and most are somewhere in the middle.  It comes in a spray and a plug in - the latter would be indicated in this situation.  It looks rather like those plug in air fresheners and if you have a big house you'll need more than one. (I think one covers about 70 square ft but I don't have the product info to hand so don't take that as gospel!)

Don't make a fuss of the kitten in front of the older cat; instead make sure Tash gets lots of attention.  I don't believe that cats get "jealous" in the way dogs can but nonetheless Tash will feel more secure if given lots of reassurance.

Dinner time!  This is almost certainly your optimum window when they're getting used to each other.  Most cats are interested in food more than anything else, and don't pay much attention to anything other than their food bowl when eating!  Try feeding them at the same time with the bowls initially about 10 ft apart, and gradually move them closer together.  If you tend to feed ad lib, leaving biscuits down all day for them to nibble on, it might be worth changing that routine for a while, feeding them twice a day, so they're hungry at mealtimes.

I hope some of this helps and I'm sure other people will have more suggestions.  If all else fails, pour yourself a glass of wine, grab a good book, listen to some relaxing music on your MP3 player and shut yourself in the crate while they sort it out themselves!

 

I agree with Mary-Caroline, I'd never use crates for cats as it can have the opposite effect, and the older cat should get extra attention. Then it's just a question about time -and do expect it to take weeks. But let them mix freely and basically sort things out themeselves.

I forgot to say, if the cats use a litter tray it would be wise to provide them with one each.  A lot of cats refuse to share a litter tray and if one starts toileting in the house it can be very hard to break the habit.

Thanks everyone.

Took your advice and neither of them are going in the crate now.  They are still hissing and snarling, but pretty much staying away from each other.

Just keeping fingers crossed.

Lisa