introducing kittens

Question
Hello.

About a week ago we introduced a pair of kittens to our cat of three years old as companions, since he seemed unhappy, and would frequently hide in the basement. Now he rarely comes out. Will this behavior go away, or will removing the new cats be best...?

Answer
Hi Natasha,

The best way to bring new kitties into the house with the existing kitty is to introduce them gradually. Let your original cat have his usual spaces, but keep one area (with separate food/litter)for the new kittens. Take a towel (or two, since it sounds like you've got two new kittens) and rub the new kitties with it to pick up their scents, then leave the towel around original kitty, he'll get used to the idea that there are other cats in the house. Do the same to original kitty and put it in with the kittens so they'll get used to him as well.

It is really important that original kitty knows that he is the boss of the house (after you of course :)). If he reacts to the new kitties do not scold him or punish him, he is asserting his dominance over them and trying to create a 'pecking order' for the house. Make sure he gets a lot of extra petting and praise when he is good around the kittens.

He'll get used to the new little ones eventually I'm sure, it just takes a bit of time for the house order to be established, and he might be a bit stressed. I'd suggest if you can maybe getting a Feliway diffuser - it is like a plug in scent that you put in a wall socket and it calms kitties down a bit (breeders use it to keep multi cat houses calm)

Good luck to you guys, I hope it all goes well and everyone is cuddling soon :)