Introducing kittens.

Question
Hello,
    Two weeks ago I adopted a 12 week old ragdoll (Sanjaya). He is extremely friendly towards me and my partner and was introduced to my mothers cat without a problem. Sanjaya seemed to really enjoy having a feline friend. For this reason I decided to adopt a second cat, a maine coon (Rumpole) of similar age.

I sought advice from the breeder on how I should introduce the pair, she told me to leave Rumpole in the carry case and let Sanjaya have a good sniff before letting Rumpole out. After the initial sniffing Sanjaya began hissing and growling, which has yet to cease, 24hrs later. They have been together in the same room and Sanjaya appears to be agitated and never takes his eyes off Rumploe. Rumpole just ignores Sanjaya and plays with us, constantly purring. This evening, on three or four occasions, Sanjaya has waited until Rumpole has had his back turned and pounced on him in what appears to be an aggressive manner. Sanjaya has also distanced himself from us.

It has only been 24hrs since the first meeting but my partner are I are concerned. Is this type of behaviour expected? If you could give us any information, tips and general advice we would be very very thankful.

Thank you for your time.

Bruce (proud dad of two gorgeous cats).

Answer
Bruce,

Cats, like people, have differences in how they get along with each other.  It sounds to me as if all is going normally.  Cats tend to play extremely aggressively with each other.  What may appear to be "attack" may just be rough play.  Cats have incredibly tough skin, so it is highly unlikely either will hurt the other.  There may be hissing, spitting, posturing, etc accompanied by lots of noise.  This is all normal and usually will subside in a few days to a couple of weeks.

Another thing that must be done is when a new cat or kitten is introduced, make sure the existing pets are lavished with extra treats and affection so they think of the new arrival as a good thing.  Cats do get jealous!!!!!

I have two rules of how cats behave towards each other: (1) Humans should never interfere (all interference will be counter productive and elongate the "getting to know each other" process). (2) Humans do not understand the rules by which cats learn to inter-relate.

So, you need to sit back and ignore any "discussions" between them and not separate them.  Given how young they are, they should do fine in a few days to a couple of weeks.  If they are beginning to play chase, even if it ends up in a "fight", this is a good thing.

Please let me know how it goes.

Best regards... Norm.