Introducing Kittens to Cat
Posted: Sat May 07, 2016 9:16 pm
Hi everyone
Looking for some advice here.
We have a cat, Gizzy, who is almost 5 years-old and she has always been very happy, loving, sweet, playful, etc.
Our oldest cat died at the end of February and after a mourning period we decided to get two kittens so that Gizzy wouldn't feel too alone.
The kittens are a brother and sister, 3 months old. We began introducing them about a week ago and initially it seemed...okay. But now we can't seem to get things any better and I'm worried.
We began by feeding them close but with the wooden door between them closed. Then we began having the door open a little, then opening it a little more.
Two nights ago, we had the door fully open. Gizzy refused to eat anything while she could see them. We moved the bowl away a bit and she ate a little but she was still freaked out. We put them back in the cat carrier so she could get close enough to sniff well but without being able to hurt them. That went okay.
We've done the fully-open door thing again tonight and as I type, they're all in the same room, wandering around. They are beguiled. She has moments where she follows them, sniffing, but her pupils are widely dilated. She's not aggressive to them - she hasn't fluffed up, her ears aren't flat and so far she hasn't made any swipes at them. She growls at them when they get too close but generally, she just runs away a lot.
While I was typing that, the girl kitten (Pepsi) ran upstairs, and Gizzy rn up behind her but my husband insists it wasn't aggression, it was just curiosity.
Anyway, I'm just worried this isn't working!!!! Gizzy is so freaked out by the kittens and I'm worried she's not coping well. She's normally so confident. I don't know what else we can do! Have we done this the right way? Is there anything more we can do?! HELP!!
Looking for some advice here.
We have a cat, Gizzy, who is almost 5 years-old and she has always been very happy, loving, sweet, playful, etc.
Our oldest cat died at the end of February and after a mourning period we decided to get two kittens so that Gizzy wouldn't feel too alone.
The kittens are a brother and sister, 3 months old. We began introducing them about a week ago and initially it seemed...okay. But now we can't seem to get things any better and I'm worried.
We began by feeding them close but with the wooden door between them closed. Then we began having the door open a little, then opening it a little more.
Two nights ago, we had the door fully open. Gizzy refused to eat anything while she could see them. We moved the bowl away a bit and she ate a little but she was still freaked out. We put them back in the cat carrier so she could get close enough to sniff well but without being able to hurt them. That went okay.
We've done the fully-open door thing again tonight and as I type, they're all in the same room, wandering around. They are beguiled. She has moments where she follows them, sniffing, but her pupils are widely dilated. She's not aggressive to them - she hasn't fluffed up, her ears aren't flat and so far she hasn't made any swipes at them. She growls at them when they get too close but generally, she just runs away a lot.
While I was typing that, the girl kitten (Pepsi) ran upstairs, and Gizzy rn up behind her but my husband insists it wasn't aggression, it was just curiosity.
Anyway, I'm just worried this isn't working!!!! Gizzy is so freaked out by the kittens and I'm worried she's not coping well. She's normally so confident. I don't know what else we can do! Have we done this the right way? Is there anything more we can do?! HELP!!