Apparently, a stray cat had a litter of kittens under our deck about a month ago. We discovered it this morning when our deck was all of a sudden full of roly-poly little kitties. They're so cute that the declaration that we were going to remain a 2 cat household was defeated within about 10 minutes. Now we're seeking advice on how to integrate a little kitten with our existing 1.5 year old cats.
Our existing indoor-only cats are brother and sister. While they had been abandoned by their mother at birth, and were sickly kittens full of giardia and mites and respiratory infections when we rescued them from their barn, the deck kitties appear healthy and happy, their mother is fiercely protective of them, and seems to be still nursing. For now, we're just letting them live under the deck, where the mom has made a little safe cave, and we've put out kitten food and water for them. We figure, though, that in about 2-3 weeks the kitties will need homes, and that's where we need help.
The two cats we have now are the first ones I've ever had, and so I'm in new territory, here. I just don't know what's the best way to introduce our cats to their new buddy. Does the fact that they're a pair make it easier or harder to introduce a newcomer to their lives? They've never been around other cats before, and I am not entirely sure they even recognize the little guys outside being the same as them. What's the best way to acclimate the new guy to his new inside life? We figure we'll take it to the vet before we bring it into the house, although our cats are all current on their immunizations and flea/worm/etc medicine. We're also trying to find good homes for the other kittens*, and we're planning on trapping and spaying the mother before letting her roam again.
And, as there's no point to a kitty thread without pictures, I give you kitties!
kitties eating! kitties looking befuddled!
*
anyone who lives nearby want a little kitty?
The main thing about introducing cats is that it can take time, and if you rush the cats to like each other, it may very well backfire. Sure, some cats are just totally groovy with other animals, but you can't just assume everyone will get along. (It was a bit horrifying when my sweet, loving, kind-as-a-bug kitty hissed and shrieked and swatted at the ittybitty fluffball we'd just brought home. Cats just have different relationships to stranger cats than they do to familiar cats and people.)
When you're ready to take one of the fluffballs inside, have a room prepared for it where it'll be alone -- this will be an area it'll start to think of as its territory, and it may very well think of that room as it's specialsafeplace for the rest of its life. The most important thing for it is to have someplace quiet and alone that it can think of as its own. Let your kitties sniff at it under the door, let it sniff at your kitties under the door, but keep them separated so they can get used to there being another cat in my territory before they have to get used to there being another cat right there in front of me! It's best to keep them separated for at least a few days, and probably a lot of sites you'll see will suggest up to a month.
A lot of it really depends on your specific kitties. I've seen some cats, introduced to new kitties for the first time, just sniff at each other like it's no big deal... But, like I said, my own cat (like most cats) will FREAK. OUT. if there's an intruder in their territory, and that initial FREAK. OUT. can doom inter-cat relations for the rest of time. Take it slow, just to be careful.
Also: Feliway!
posted by meese at 2:30 PM on June 7, 2010