If you have a cat and you bring home a new kitten how will your cat react?

Jared T: If you have a cat and you bring home a new kitten how will your cat react?
I have a 9month old cat that has never been around another cat,she is very spoiled.We are getting a new baby kitten to bring home and I was wondering if cats in nature will be mean to the kitten.

Answers and Views:

Answer by rebelicious66
The cat is going to be pissed and hiss and blow and wanna be mean to it but this will pass in a few days just watch your older cat with the kitten.

Answer by emma l
I suggest you put the kitten inside her cage, just temporarily for them to get familiar, then if they are used to each other, let the kitten out, for them to play.

Answer by Francis L
Well,, from my observation… when i bought a new kitten the older cat left the home for some days 🙁
but luckily it came back.
The cat I had was of a wilder breed. I heard such behavior is common in these breeds.
This happens not only with kitten and a older cat. but, whenever you bring a new cat, the older cat tends to quit.
The above explanation is solely based on my observation I don’t have any theory to back it.

Answer by sag_kat2chat
Cats do not like sharing their territory including their big human cats and at 9 months you cat is not going to be happy with another cat invading its territory etc. When you bring little kitten home keep them seperated by way of cat carrier in the first few hours so they get used to each other. And the new one adjusts to its new environment. Take kitten out and pat it let it walk around while you pick up big cat and pat it, if it will let you. Give big cat a treat so it knows you still love it.
If they seem to be okay let them be in the same room with you so you can watch them. You need to pat and pet both of them, have some treats for the older cat so they continue to feel loved. It is more about how you are as the ‘Mother’ cat that will influence how the two kittens settle in together.
I just don’t expect any problems and if there are I lock them in seperate rooms until they recognise they are missing out on everything.
Enjoy your 4 footed furry friends.

Answer by Hippo Lady
When I bought home my new cat and introduced it to the other one, at the time my older cat was VERY shy and timid, so she didn’t take to the other cat very well. But now a couple years on the get along great! The younger cat gets into fights with some other cats around the neigbourhood and the older cat even defends the younger one. They are good companions. Your older cat might be a little but weary of the younger one and might not spend alot of time with you, but eventually I reckon they will get along well.

Answer by iszee01
It depends. From my experience, normally i would put the kitten in a cge first but visible to the other cat. Normally, if it is a male cat, it would just leave the house but later it will try to ‘sniff’ the new cat. Slowly, you allow them to play but you must ensure that you observe them. If your older cat feels that you are treating him/her the same as before, it would feel that the new kitten is not a threat & slowly accept it.Bootomline is, do not negelect any of them…

Answer by squirrelflight
well, she might at first start hissing and spitting and get overeacted. if u give too much attention to the kitten, the 9 month old cat might grow jealous and run away or fight the kitten. that happened once to my cats.

Answer by muscamalia
Every cat is different, you can’t predict how the intrduction will proceed until you are living it. Every new cat I have had, there have been different problems with the already in residence cat or cats and issues to work through.
You could use a large fold down cage set up where you can put the kitten and know it will be safe and out of trouble, the cage should have the kittens bed, food, water and litter tray in it. Don’t rush the introduction of new kitten to older cat, a big cage will take the stress out of the process. As the kitten grows the cat will accept that he or she is no longer alone and will be better for not being on their own when you are out.
I bought one of these cages last year and store it in my wardrobe, it came in handy at Christmas when one of my cats had an injured eye and had to have an elizabethan collar for two weeks, we put the cat to bed each night in the cage knowing the other cats couldn’t pester her.
The night before last a stray kitten arrived on our doorstep, he spent the night in the big cage, safe from our three very upset cats. I knocked on doors yesterday morning and found the owners, they were visiting from out of town and forgot to put the kitten to bed in the cat cage they brought with them for the weekend while visiting family.

Answer by Chris W
The cat will react on how it was taught to react. Not being used to other cats in the house, chances are it won’t like it. The best way to introduce a new cat (or kitten) is to keep it in the same house, but in different rooms. As you move around the rooms, you will spread the scents from both cats to both cats. The kitten will relax more as it gets used to the other cat’s smell and vice versa. It is because kittens don’t have a strong scent, they more easily accepted by other cats when you introduce them into a household. The older cat will be used to the kitten before they meet. This will relax both and make the meeting less problematic.

Make sure both animals are praised and stroked a lot, kittens draw lots of attention and will make older cats jealous. So make sure you give equal attention. Be patient, and watch the cats, give it a week for the scent to mingle and make sure you are with both cats when they meet and have time to stay.

That is really all you can do, some cats will like each other, some won’t. That’s up to the cat.

Answer by mom of girls
Each cat is different and you may have to be around for awhile to make sure that one does not hurt the other. But check with your vet to see if they have any ideas for you to integrate the two into your home. If I were to bring a new kitten into this house, my girls would kill it with affection and the older two males from jealousy. So it is not something I want to do yet.

Answer by Cheerleading Queen XoX
Well if you bring home a new kitten it will need alot of extra love and care because it in in a new environment so you will be with the kitten alot and you said your other cat was very spoiled so your cat will probably be a little jealous of the kitten if you are not paying much attention to her/him. I have had this problem and the older cat was really mean to the kitten and she was always trying to get attention so we had to be sure to say hi to both cats when we came home and made sure to play with both and love both equally. If you do that it should work out fine.

Answer by flutter
I have two experiences in this situation. First we had a white female names Kibbles for a few years, then we added a black and white male KC. As soon as KC got in the door Kibbles ran and hid and she would not even let us touch her. Even after years they did not get along. They fought so bad we eventually had to get rid of one because we were afraid they would hurt each other. So Kibbles went. After a few years we decided to try and add another female kitten, Petal. We brought her in a cat carrier and set her on the floor. We were hoping they would get used to each other. When we set her cage on the floor, right away KC came up to her and sniffed the cage. In minutes he was rolling on his back crying and wanted her out. As soon as we let her out they started playing immediatley. Love at first sight. We even added another older black cat, a male, later. Petal and KC did not like him but they grew to tolerate him. There was no fighting after a while.

Answer by Vic
We recently (as in last week) introduced an 8 week old kitten to our 15 month old male (also very spoiled) cat. For the first 2 days we kept them in separate rooms (the kitten stayed in the bathroom while the older cat had his usual run of the house). He hissed and growled at the door the entire time (he wasn’t happy about having another cat in the house). When we first let the kitten out Jinx (our older cat) hissed and growled at her and pouted at us (he wouldn’t let my husband touch him for a couple of days). Since than though the two are inseparable. They love playing together. Jinx even sits at the bathroom door in the mornings meowing because he wants us to let Gypsy out so that they can play. Although it will be a while before we leave them alone together (she’s very young and we want to make sure she doesn’t get hurt accidentally) this technique has worked well for us.