kitty playdate

Question
I was wondering if it was ok for a friend and I to bring our kittens together for playdates. Both kittens are the same age and are vaccinated. His kitten lives in a multi cat house, but mine is an only. Both came home from the pet store about a month ago. I ask because someone else told me that letting the kittens play together would make one or both of them sick.

Answer
Hi Sarah,
I don't know if this is a good idea. It would depend on the age of the kittens. And not for the reason of them getting sick. If they are both up to date on their vaccines you should have no worries there.
What I am worried about is that cats are territorial. And a new cat coming to it's territory will cause a lot of hissing and fluffy tails. If they are very young you should not have those problems but if they are older than 5-6 months you might have a problem.
The multi cat household kitten is accepted in that "family". If your kitten comes over there it is a stranger and the older cats might beat up on her.

You would want to bring them together over your house. And if all goes well you should make sure you keep up the playdates about every two to three weeks so as to keep up the familiarity. Just make sure that when you introduce them together that it should be done in steps.

You should make sure you can control the introduction. Don't do it in the main section of the house. If your friend's cat take exception to the meeting he could take off and hide. Try the bathroom first. Make sure one is in a cat carrier when the first introduction takes place. If there are any signs of aggression, (hissing, fluffed tail, backing up in the cat carrier), I would scrap the meeting.

The kittens will let you know how they feel about this. If they are accepting of each other then let them have fun. I still would limit the meeting area for them to a bedroom or such for the first few visits until you are sure they will be okay together.

Good luck and let me know how things go.

Cheers, Karen