Cat and Kitten introduction

Question
Hello Kate,
About 1 month ago I brought home 2 kittens (Dora and Charlie)but I already had 2 older cats Smoky (4 years old) and Tigre (6 years old), when I first brought the kittens home I got a safe room for them and let them stay there for one week, did scent swapping, etc. Smoky does not like them yet, he goes outside in the evening and when he comes back in the morning he goes into his bedroom and does not walk around the house like he used to, he doesn't even want to go in my bedroom and when I pick him up and walk him around the house he stars hissing even when he doesn't see the kittens. On the other hand Tigre does not want to come inside the house at all, ever since he got a smell of the little ones inside the house he stays in the garage or back yard all the time, so I started bringing food to him because I was worried about him not eating, but he is still lovable, when I go to pet him he purrs and seems happy outside. What can I do for all my cats to get along and act normal like they used to? Its been over a month, how much longer can it take for them to accept the little ones. Please help!!!Thank you!!!!

Answer
Hi
well unfortunately there are no guarantees that they will ever get along. cats are not pack animals like dogs and because they like their own territory generally do not like too many cats on the same patch.

often the best you can hope for is a sort of happy medium where they tolerate each other and just keep themselves to themselves.

i don't know if you tried introducing the cats to each other using the secure confinement method or not. this is often a good way to let the cats at least build up some confidence in each other without the fear of attack etc.

the method is described on my web page here

/introducing-cats.html

best wishes Kate
http;//www.our-happy-cat.com