Cat People

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sunburntgalaxy

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SueSueDio

MsAmandaNJ wrote: »

Just found out hubs' friend's cat had kittens and we might end up with one. Our fellas are 4 & 5 - is there a "window" for bringing a kitten into the mix? I only have four years of cat experience and I don't know if it'd be the right choice to do it now or wait.

Our boys were about 5 and 3 when we brought two little girls home - we kept the kittens in a separate room for the first few days and let the boys sniff at the door, then after a while they had closely-supervised access to each other for a few minutes at a time. Bandit, our oldest boy, really took to the kittens after a few days of hissing and sulking, and started grooming and mothering them. I think he regrets it now, because Dash is as big as him but still tries to sleep on top of him like she did as a baby!

I think if you take it slowly and don't try to force them to get along, and make sure to give the older ones lots of individual attention, then it shouldn't be too bad. There are bound to be some fights and hissing sessions - between the older ones as well as with the new arrivals - but in a lot of cases it settles quickly and they end up at least tolerating each other if not best friends. The major issue we had is that Smokey reverted to his "pooping on the carpet" ways for a while until he got used to the fact that the girls were staying... he seems to do that whenever he's upset about something, but luckily it didn't last for long!

Oh, and if you're able to take two kittens then at least they'd have each other to play with if the older ones don't take to them, although that's no guarantee of harmony either! Dot and Dash fight as much with each other as with the boys, if not more! But four cats can be too much for some people, so it depends on your circumstances and how much you can put up with...


(Dot went full-on "witches cat" arched back when she met Smokey, and he just sat and looked at her. It was so funny to watch her trying to act all big and scary toward a far bigger cat!)

TypingToaster

SueSueDio wrote: »

That is adorable!

ejbronte

My Smokey (passed since last spring, rip baby) and Sancho were raised in a house full of animals, but here in our new home, they were the only two for a while. In 2011, I acquired Luna and Essie, feral kitten sisters, who were weak and sick. For this reason and for security, they lived in our basement for about two weeks. Scared, suspicious, and wild-ish, they hid whenever I came downstairs, but I hit on a silly idea:

I brought my crochet hook and some yarn downstairs and sat on the floor. Started a chain and directed it toward the scaredy-kits. They started to play with it. Every day the chain got longer and they played more. I brought the chain upstairs and played with the older cats. Everyone's scent got all over the yarn. When I opened the basement door and hesitant physical encounters started, the chain was in play, and they were all so happy to play with it, they forgot to hiss at each other. So it was a long, indirect, gentle introduction that took care of a couple problems.

Moral of the story: crafts are good!