Help with two kittens.

[pinkfreckles 10]

I have a 10month old Norwegian Tom cat and a 4 month old mixed breed female.

 

Hardy (Male) Is a calm, relaxed kitty and loves to lounge about and some cuddles. When we got him he hadn't been handled much by his owners as they didn't want to get too attached.

 

Ridley (Our new little lady) was from a family home with kittys and she loves to be handled and cuddled.

 

The thing is, they don't really get on. Now they've only been together about a week but she hisses at him and he just wants to play.

 

Any ideas of how we can make them play nice so to speak? Hardy is our baby and we got Ridley as a friend/sister etc.

 

If Ridley doesn't settle with Hardy and vise versa, then we may need to re-home Ridley as we don't want either to be unhappy.

 

Any ideas?? We've fallen in love with Ridley and just want them to get on.

 

Thanks Guys

 

Alex.

[kitty katt 10]

Give them time, all the cats I have had, have been like this at first, but have settled in the end.

 

I have a 6 year old Norwegian Forest cat he is the most relaxed and loving cat I have ever known, we have just taken in another cat 4 year old female, and at first they did not get on, but now they sit in window together our daft cat sits and lets her eat her food first, and has his when she has finished.

[pinkfreckles 10]

Awww ok. She's not eating much but I'm putting down to that stress and a new environment and another cat.

 

If she hasn't eaten properly by Monday then may have to try something else. x

[HarthillLass 10]

Our Maine Coon looked at me like I was a traitor and fled upstairs when we first introduced Bella-the-mog, but after a week or so the relationship began to be built. Just make sure they each have their own eating area and toilet to begin with and then move them closer together before finally combining them. We restricted Bella's movement in the first week to certain rooms in the house so George knew he still was the top-cat. He is certainly in charge in the relationship but he will wash her from time to time!

[midgecat 10]

http://www.fabcats.org/behaviour/introducing/index.php

 

like other people say - it takes time. there's some useful info here though which might give you a few ideas.

[spats 10]

Have you tried a Feliway Diffuser? They work very well on stressed out cats. You haven't said if the cats are neutered and spayed. If they're not done, it could be sexual tension getting in the way of normal play.

[mc55 10]

a week is really not much time - I'm sure she will come round in time. We have a norwegian forest cat and he is the softest thing - he's been very accepting of the two cats that joined our family after him.

 

10 month old kittens can be quite boisterous and playful at times, so the new kitten is probably a little intimidated ... try to get them both playing with toys so they are interacting without realising it

[medusa 16]

Dog introductions take minutes, cat introductions take months

 

Give it time, make sure that both are neutered or you'll be delivering kittens in about 10 weeks' time (yes, she may well be old enough to conceive already!) and let them get on with working it all out for themselves as long as you aren't finding ears and blood on the floor after interactions.

 

Cats and kittens play very rough and hissing is a perfectly normal part of cat language. Growling and spitting are swear words, but hissing is just a mild disagreement

[irenewilde 10]

It takes a long time for cats to get used to each other. I'm quite surprised if you put them together straight away. Cats Protection recommends not even putting them in the same room for 6 weeks. It was hard work with endless patience needed when we brought a kitten into the house where our older cat was. There were times in the first couple of months when I was in tears, thinking the kitten would have to go back to rescue as our older cat turned into a more aggressive personality. So don't even consider that yet! My husband and I didn't eat a meal in the same room for weeks. Eventually we introduced them and 2 years later our older cat still doesn't like the younger one! All she wants to do is play and offers the older one no aggression at all but elder mog still thinks the younger one is out to kill her! Hissing, spitting and half hearted swipes are the order of the day. They've just learned to tolerate each other's existence and sleep in different rooms. Once in a blue moon they'll chase each other round the house for fun and once in every 2 blue moons our elder one will lick the younger one or they'll touch noses!

 

Oh, and although I've heard lots of good stuff about Feliway from other people, it didn't work at all for our cats.

Edited March 2, 2013 by irenewilde

[vwkittie 10]

Took about 4 years for ours. Caught them sleeping together the other day, and the girl licking the boy's head! Shocking!

[pinkfreckles 10]

Okay thank you for all your advise. It really is appreciated.

 

I just want them to be happy. I love Hardy millions and got another kitty as some "company" for him. Love Ridley loads now as well and can't imagine her not being there!

 

Again, thanks for all the help x

[irenewilde 10]

Took about 4 years for ours. Caught them sleeping together the other day, and the girl licking the boy's head! Shocking!

 

I'd dance round the room if I ever saw that!