Hi, I emailed you before about...

Question
Hi, I emailed you before about wanting to get a kitten, anwyays there are tons of kitten free ads in the locale papers so I will get one from there either in the end of july or beggining of august. I was wondering however how to introduce the kitten to my dogs? also what do I do with the kitten when I first bring him home?

Answer
Hi,

O.K. here is a technique we have used when introducing a new kitten to a home with established pets:


Start out your new cat or kitten in one room with a litter pan and water dish. Ideally, the one room should be a bedroom with yourself or another human resident. This accomplishes a couple of things. Your new cat or kitten will not be overwhelmed by its new surroundings and get "lost", and thusly will have no problem finding the litter pan (often kittens or shelter cats have been confined and are somewhat daunted by wide open spaces!). You will feed the new cat or kitten in this room and keep the established pets out. It allows the new cat or kitten to bond with you or another human being and also build up some self assurance in its new surroundings since it will not have to compete for food or attention right away. Finally, it allows the new cat or kitten and the established pets to sniff each other under the door and get familiar with each others' scents.

After 3-5 days of being in its one room, it is time to let them meet each other. Be prepared for some posturing, some spitting and hissing, and the like. IGNORE IT! After a while, the kitten should begin to get used to the established pets and, maybe, begin chasing about and still have the occasional hiss or spit as they get acustomed to each other. It could also happen that the kitten is totally freaked and will run and hide. Usually, its curiosity will overcome its fear. Once they are introduced, there are a couple of things you must remember. Do not separate them again, they will, eventually, get along! Do not interfere in their "discussions" as they need to sort it out amongst themselves!

It does not hurt to give the established pets treats and extra attention after the new cat or kitten is introduced (yes, dogs do get jealous!).

A couple of things you will have to do are to feed them separately so the kitten will be able to eat in peace.  Do not be surprised if the kitten decides to eat the dogs' food!

Provide the litter pan somewhere the dogs cannot easily get to.  Dogs think cat poop is candy and can really hassle the kitten as it is trying to do itd business. Cats do not like being harasssed as they pee or poop and could find somewhere other than an exposed litter pan to do its business. The good news is that if there areas of the house the dogs cannot get to, but the kitten can, this could resolve the litter pan issue. NOTE: cats can be very territorial about litter pans.

All, in all, this method seems to have had great success in the past and makes for a fairly smooth introduction. Please remember that the kitten and dogs may make up immediately, or it may take a few weeks.


Good luck & best regards... Norm.