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Pet Talk - Pet Health

The New Kitten/Established Resident First Encounter
by Dr. Fran Good, DVM
Ketchikan, Alaska

October 19, 2002
Saturday

Last week, we had just gotten a new kitten. We'd introduced her to the house with the established residents ensconced in a room of their own. Their scent was there, so she knew she was on someone else's turf, but no one was beating her up, and you were being absolutely divine, feeding her, playing with her, letting her sleep with you. What a rough job you have, you poor thing, you.

Cat In The Woods
photo by Rick Grams

The next day, the situation is reversed. Simba gets the room of her own, Rover and Tuna get the rest of the house. Just as Simba knew they were there, Rover and Tuna will know there's an intruder, especially if you wear the same clothes from the day before, steeped in Eau de Simba. But the key is that there's no new critter jumping out and crowning them. So they relax a little.

Once they're both relaxed back to normal, you'll give one of them a room of their own as well. Make the intro a one-on-one experience, and it'll be easier all the way around. Pick the one least likely to be aggressive. If Rover was around when Tuna came in as a kitten, he's your best bet. If Tuna survived Rover's puppyhood, take him. Young is young in Animal Land, so take the one experienced with youth first.

Bring the kitten in, and hold her on her lap while the other critter, let's say Tuna watches. Pet the kitten, letting both of them know Simba belongs here, and that she's under your protection. At some point in time, Simba will get down to the floor to investigate Tuna. The odds are that Tuna, on his own turf, will display some hissing and growling at a newcomer. A lot of it depends on Tuna's age. I don't like to introduce a kitten to a cat over the age of 10, just because his modus operendi at that age is sleeping 20 hours a day, and they're pretty serious about that job. On the other hand, my cat Bug is thirteen, and regularly chases, and is chased around the house, several times a day, by three year-old Rufus, and has been since the third month they met. But that's how long it took her to get used to him.

Next: Cat Meets Kitten

franimaldoc@sitnews.org

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