New Kitten - Tips on getting others to play nice?

[Gail]

Howdy,
To make a long story short, my neighbor works with an animal rescue place called Tiger Ranch. It's mostly cat rescues. She brought home a pregnant female cat and I helped her with the kittens a few times and fell in love with the runt - an orange and white tiger male. He was 12 weeks old today, passed his feline luke and feline aids tests, got all his initial shots and came home with me. Problem is I have two neutered male cats already - half brothers, about four years old. The one is so angry and terrified that he won't come anywhere near the new fella and the other gets to hissing and growling so violently that he even went after me and he is a 'mamma's boy'. He is also a HUGE cat and could probably break the kittens neck if he wanted to. The kitten is a little tough guy and hisses right back which makes it worse. I'm keeping him seperate for now but could use some hints on getting them all to play nice with each other as this is the first time that I have had to bring a new cat into a house with two old timers already intrenched.
Gail

 

[Gillian]

Gail,
First off, don't seperate them. Of course, there will be the normal amounts of hissing, spitting, what have you. Point being, they need to work out their hierarchy.
Also, try to not show preference to the wee one. They will adjust. The fights will happen, but just be there, when they get carried away. Cats are notorious hissers and posturers.


Peace, light & eternal love..
Gillian
)0(

 

[The_Phantom]

Sometimes no matter what you do you wont be able to get them to get along. Mind you, Im not saying thats going to happen to you, but it could. COmet and Lacey hated eachoter to the end, but COmet and Kes get along pretty good.

 

[Bry]

I'm with the others here. Give them time to adjust. The fact that you brought a kitten puts the odds a bit more in your favor. Most adult cats are generally more accepting of kittens coming into their territory rather than other adult cats. When my ex brought home a new kitten, Odie did quite a bit of posturing, and wasn't too sure how to handle the new kitten. But within a week or two, they got along and became pretty good buddies. Then, when I came out here, a friend asked me to babysit her cat, an adult male Maine Coon, I was a bit worried about what would happen. Of course, there was a bit of hair-raising and crab-walking and a little bit of hissing. But, after a little while, these two have become good friends as well. Although I do feel bad for the Maine Coon when Odie decides to fly across the room and tackle him out of the blue, playfully that is. It's funny though, he's got a few pounds advantage over Odie, that sometimes he can't be knocked over without a fair bit of wrestling.

Bry

 

[Gail]

I have let the little dude out for today since Ken and I will both be here in case things get too rough. There is a lot of hissing and spitting going on, but it seems like a bunch of posturing as no one is getting any closer than 5 feet. I'm going to just let them work it out today but I'll have to put him in the bathroom tonight because my husband is such a sound sleeper that he wouldn't have a clue anything was happening even if Loki was killing the kitten on the bed... man, I wish I could sleep that good...

Gail

 

[Bagan]

Originally posted by Gail
I have let the little dude out for today since Ken and I will both be here in case things get too rough. There is a lot of hissing and spitting going on, but it seems like a bunch of posturing as no one is getting any closer than 5 feet. I'm going to just let them work it out today but I'll have to put him in the bathroom tonight because my husband is such a sound sleeper that he wouldn't have a clue anything was happening even if Loki was killing the kitten on the bed... man, I wish I could sleep that good...

Gail

I don't think you have to worry about the cats trying to kill the poor kitten. I myself have had kittens infringe upon my older cats' territory. They hissed at them fir awhile, but eventually the older cats became used to the younger ones. It will take awhile, sometimes even a whole year, but getting acclimated to a new cat in the house does happen.

 

[Gail]

Well, this has gone much better than I would have ever expected considering their initial reaction. As of this morning the little one is eating out of the same bowl as the larger of my two cats and the only reaction Loki had was at one point for no apparent reason, he decided to hiss at the kitten. He happened to have a mouth full of half chewed food at the time and spit it all over the kitten's face - I was laughing so hard I almost choked
My other cat, Master Po, has decided that the kitten would be a great pal to run and play with but the kitten isn't so sure yet. Po calls to him and tries to intice him with toys and crazy antics.
I work third shift and when I woke up this afternoon Loki and Samwise were both sleeping on the bed and Po was at the foot of it so I think that all will be fine with them.

Gail

 

[Gillian]

Originally posted by Gail
Well, this has gone much better than I would have ever expected considering their initial reaction. As of this morning the little one is eating out of the same bowl as the larger of my two cats and the only reaction Loki had was at one point for no apparent reason, he decided to hiss at the kitten. He happened to have a mouth full of half chewed food at the time and spit it all over the kitten's face - I was laughing so hard I almost choked
My other cat, Master Po, has decided that the kitten would be a great pal to run and play with but the kitten isn't so sure yet. Po calls to him and tries to intice him with toys and crazy antics.
I work third shift and when I woke up this afternoon Loki and Samwise were both sleeping on the bed and Po was at the foot of it so I think that all will be fine with them.

Gail

LMAO!
See! It'll be ok... You may never get total interaction from the other one, but, as long as they tolerate each other, it'll be fine.
Peace, light & eternal love..
Gillian
)0(

 

[Inuleki]

now, that's one of the things... you named the cat Loki. EVERY cat I've ever met named Loki had dominance/territory issues beyond and above most cats i've seen....

I kinda believe that the cat/dog wil take on a few of the traits of the given name.... unless it's Fluffy or Mr. Cuddles... they tend to have rabies...

 

[Bagan]

Originally posted by Inuleki
now, that's one of the things... you named the cat Loki. EVERY cat I've ever met named Loki had dominance/territory issues beyond and above most cats i've seen....

I kinda believe that the cat/dog wil take on a few of the traits of the given name.... unless it's Fluffy or Mr. Cuddles... they tend to have rabies...

My cat Fluffy does not have rabies.