Always fun bringing home a new kitty and introducing them to the rest of the
kitty household :). Kaya, a 10wk old female DLH came home with us yesterday
from our local shelter. We were hoping she'd get along with our 7 year old
female who is always being picked on by our two boys (and had mothering
tendencies). Hopefully they will form a bond eventually, we'll see.
The cat I was most worried about is our spoiled 3 year old male DSH (Warren,
12lbs), and I was right. He's spitting, hissing, yowling and putting up an
enormous stink. He's tried to pound down the door to the bathroom where
Kaya is living when we can't keep an eye on her. He's usually so docile and
sweet, but he has a wild streak in him. He's more of a people cat, he loves
to greet strangers at the door.
His brother (Brak), a 20lb DLH we thought would also be trouble, but so far
he's been pretty laid back. He's hissed a couple of times but doesn't seem
too upset. He's our scardy cat, he's bothered by every little thing, so
this was a surprise. I hope they DON'T become to good of friends, because
this guy is the one who always picks on the female. Last thing we need is
her being ganged up on, poor thing! Brak and Kaya are both black DLHs, Kaya
looks like a mini version of him.
Kaya has been a really good sport about these guys all going nuts, she's not
intimidated much, so that's a great start. She is just LOUD when she's not
near myself or my wife. My god, hard to believe such a little kitten can
make so much noise. She's already far louder than any of our other cats.
zuzu22@webtv.net - 02 Sep 2004 14:22 GMT
You shouldn't be exposing her to the cats AT ALL right now and it's no
surprise "all hell has broken loose." This is not fair to the newcomer
or your cats. Let her settle in for a few days and get used to her new
surroundings, and let the cats get used to the "idea' of her before you
start any face to face introductions. That's standard introduction
procedure and will increase the chances of the cats becoming friends.
You're moving way too fast, putting unnecessary stress on the cats, and
creating an environment where you could ruin the chances of good
relationships developing. You need to start over and give the cats some
time to settle down. Read this link which details why a *slow*
introduction is the *right* way to do this:
http://www.catsinternational.org/articles/getting_a_cat/good_introduction.html
Megan

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Rob - 02 Sep 2004 15:08 GMT
Thanks for the pointer. We were following some of the tips, swapping rooms,
kitten in bathroom during the day, boys in the bathroom at night (our female
cat doesn't seem to care one way or the other and the boys beat the crap out
of her, so we didn't want to put her in there with the other two). But good
points on not letting the old cats see us pet the new one. We are showing
the old ones with attention, I guess we need to step back and not let the
old ones see the new one for a little while.
> You shouldn't be exposing her to the cats AT ALL right now and it's no
> surprise "all hell has broken loose." This is not fair to the newcomer
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
>
> - W.H. Murray
Rob - 08 Sep 2004 19:11 GMT
Well, everyone is more or less coexisting somewhat peacefully now. Warren
is still kind of pissed
but his personality returning. He was a jerk around company the other night
still, and doesn't
have patience for the new girl, but has calmed down a lot. We hoped Zena
would make
friends with her, but Zena more or less ignores her existance. Brak, the
giant version of Kaya
outweighs her by 8x and is actually playing... it's sort of scary, it would
be very easy for him
to accidentally hurt her, but he's been pretty gentle. Just have to watch
the laser pointer
when they're both around though :).
> Always fun bringing home a new kitty and introducing them to the rest of
> the kitty household :). Kaya, a 10wk old female DLH came home with us
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> kitten can make so much noise. She's already far louder than any of our
> other cats.
Karen - 08 Sep 2004 20:37 GMT
See! Just takes time.
> Well, everyone is more or less coexisting somewhat peacefully now. Warren
> is still kind of pissed
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
> > kitten can make so much noise. She's already far louder than any of our
> > other cats.