The New Kitten

Question
QUESTION: I have a 14 week old male kitten, he is sweet as pie and my husband and I love him so much. He used to cry a lot and seem bored while playing with his toys so we thought getting a new kitten would cheer him up. We brought home a 10 week old male kitten who is considerably smaller, but Murphy [the older cat] was not happy at all. He hissed constantly and even hissed at us when he smelled the kitten on us. I kept the kitten in a separate room with his own litter box and food and brought him out for brief visits. This has been going on for a few days now. Mac and Murphy now share a food dish and are fine with this, they still use separate litter boxes...and last night Murphy was licking Mac while he napped. I thought they were getting along. However, Murphy still chases Mac all over the house and he will pin him down and bite and scratch at him. I don't want Mac to feel like he has to be scared and hide all the time. I don't know what to do. We want to have 2 cats, but if Murphy is going to continue acting this way...we're considering giving him up. What should we do?

ANSWER: Sarah,

Getting a 2nd cat is wonderful. Cats need a kitty friend to play with, snuggle with, and comfort them when you aren't there. AND keep them from being bored! Don't give Murphy up! He is reacting normally.

Things are progressing just fine. It takes at least 2 weeks or more for things to settle down.

It sounds like Murphy is playing (roughly) and Mac isn't ready for it. Supervise their time together. Short times at first, then increase it the time. Mac will grow bigger soon and will be an even match for Murphy. Just keep Murphy's claws trimmed.

Cat do play rough (to us, not to them). As long as there is not major screams, blood being shed, or major fur flying then they are doing fine.

A good thing to help introductions is to have the cats play interactively. A pet laser light is great for that. They both chase the 'little red bug' and forget that they are together. That helps build their acceptance of one another. Or pull a rope or twine for them to chase.

It just takes time and patience. All will work out.

Here is a link to a good article that may be of interest to you:
http://www.messybeast.com/first-impressions.htm

I hope this helped.

Tabbi




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I read the article and it did clear up some questions...however, they do groom each other and will settle down when they  need to but they do chase one another around and bite and such. No one screams or yells (usually) and I have seen no wounds. I have separated them for it, but they just cry to get back down with each other. Is this playing? Or Should I be worried? Murphy gets his nails trimmed every week and he is going to be neutered this weekend. Will this held to calm things down?

Answer
Sarah,

If Murphy is not neutered yet then that may be most of the problem. He may be becoming sexually aware (even if he's not sure what to do yet) and is chasing and biting Mac because of sexual feelings he has but doesn't know what to with them. Mac doesn't understand what is going on and the intenseness probably frightens him. The other times are just play. But getting Murphy fixed will help a great deal...until Mac starts getting those feelings too!

When you bring Murphy back from being fixed Mac will probably hiss and not have anything to do with Murphy for a few days because of the new smells the cat will have on him from surgery and from the vet's office. Cats go by smell of another cat and not by sight (just like they go by voices and not by sight with humans) so Mac may think he is another cat at first. It may not happen, but it is very a very common reaction with other cats in the family, so don't be surprised.

Tabbi