Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So we got a new kitten, yay! He's 3 months old and we've named him Link. He's feisty and playful and affectionate... just an all-around good little guy.

We also have a 4 year old female cat named Merry, who has been living with us since May and has been an only cat. She lived with other cats in her previous life, but not since she came to live with us. She has a pretty dominant personality.

Link has been living in our home office for the last week while Merry has the run of the rest of the house. We've allowed some supervised interaction, but given the chance Merry will go after him. Not just "I will swipe at you and prove I am the bigger kitty," but "I will bite you and make you bleed." We had one such incident and have taken a few steps backwards to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Does anyone have any advice for easing the transition and helping Merry accept Link? I feel really horrible that such a sociable little kitten is stuck in our little office alone for so much of the day, but I don't know what else to do. All the websites in all the land keep telling me to give it time, but I'm not seeing any progress and I guess I need some encouragement.

Help me, PPK!

It took us well over a year with 2 adult cats. They are both dominant in their own ways though, it creates some pretty interesting interactions but I'll say the first 6 months wasn't exactly pleasant. We kept their nails trimmed so they wouldn't hurt eachother but our first cat did decide that she would mark her territory which was the worst part of it. She'd also do 'litter box attacks'. They don't really like to admit they are friends but they are. I think it would've been easier with a kitten and an adult cat but it eventually worked out.

Do you have a Feliway plug-in? That can help a lot.

If Link was bigger I'd be more inclined to let them work things out for themselves, but he's 3lbs and she's 11lbs so it's not a very even fight. The Feliway plug-in is a good idea... I've heard good things about them but haven't ever used one. Do you usually see pretty immediate results with the Feliway, or does it normally take a while? If it's pretty immediate I'll put it in a neutral zone and bring the cats together after it's percolated for a while, but if it takes a while I'm not 100% sure where to put it.

And linanil, I really hope it doesn't take these two 6 months to work it out! We got a kitten rather than an adult cat to try and reduce the risk of this happening. I'm really committed to making it work so it's good to hear from someone who managed to get there in the end.

A water bottle helps too in 'supervised' situations. I know there may be some that disagree but we did use a water bottle at some points to discourage any fights.

Actually, linanil, the water bottle is a good idea too and didn't even occur to me. If things go awry it'll let me break it up without getting ripped to shreds.

You can try swapping out their bedding. It may help if they get used to each other's scents.

So Link has been in the office and Merry everywhere else? Now it is the time to switch that up. Maybe change the litter completely, though. This will help with them getting used to scents. Then, a week later, switch again. Switching the bedding is great and lots of pets and treats when they are around each other is best. Gradually, every other day, show them to each other more and more. I think this will take about 4-6 months. They might not ever be best friends but they should eventually get along.

I highly suggest buying this book ASAP it really has great suggestions you may wish to compare it to another book she has call Cat vs Cat:


http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Vs-Keeping-Pe ... +household


Great help and suggestions.

I second the swapping the bedding suggestion, or swapping anything with their scents. Another small thing to try is to allow the established cat to see the new cat in a non-threatening way, like through a carrier or upturned laundry basket (new cat goes in the carrier).

Good luck!