No, we're not crazy cat people who are going to get a new kitten every Spring but Hazel needed a pal and our friend's cat just happened to have kittens. What can you do? Here's our newest cutie. Name suggestions welcome! Also introducing cats to each advice welcome. We've had new kitten sequestered in our bedroom for 2 days now. Hazel has worked up to sitting at the door hissing at her. And that's how that's going.
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OMG! She is adorable. I suggest Mabel, if that’s not too close to Hazel. She just looks like a Mabel to me. All I can suggest with introducing kitties to each other, is little bits at a time, and definitely with supervision. We Put our kitten in a cat carrier, and let the big kitty smell him, and look at him, and be around him, before we ever let him out around her. There was hissing, and some little scuffles, but eventually they “tolerated” each other. I’m not sure if they were friends though. LOL. Good Luck, she is bootiful.
She looks like a Mavis to me.
As for introductions, go slow. And remember, cats can be very territorial so the older cat may have areas of the house that it feels are more “mine” then others.
she is so cute! She reminds me of a cat we once had named Scout.
I agree – introduce them a little bit at a time. It might take 2 weeks. Make sure Hazel gets lots of attention.
Batgirl! Love her mask.
Try a Feliway diffuser to calm Hazel down.
She looks like a Minnie to me. She’s adorable.
So so cuuuuute!!
Big cuddles,
Veronica
Having done this multiple times, I suggest after a couple days, switch the two cats. Take Hazel and put her in the room with all the new kittens smells, and sit in there with Hazel and show her lots of love and treats while she investigates the room. While doing this, allow the new kitten to hang out in Hazel’s spots in the rest of the house. Do this for increasing amounts of time until you feel comfortable to let them in the same room together. Start the actual introduction off in the kitten’s room with the door closed. Give them both lots of love and treats, but as soon as things get violent, move Hazel out, then do that for increasing amounts of time each day.
Other than that, lots and lots of patience, and understand that there is a chance they might not ever be friends, and might just be the kind of cats who deal with being in the same room as each other. You never know.
Back in the day there was a sitcom called “Hazel” wherein Shirley Booth played a maid who worked for the Baxter family, and hilarity ensued as Hazel kind of ran the place. With Hazel already in place and in charge, how about naming the new kitty, Baxter?
I agree with the suggestion of alternating spaces and eventually bringing them together. Also if Hazel has been a mommy kitty, she may hiss, but once she sees and interacts with the kitten her mommy instincts may kick in. That has been our experience.
Good luck! The new little kitten is adorable!
so sweet! When I saw the R2D2 picture all I could think of was Gizmo! Her coloring is marvelous!
Obviously you have big Star Wars fans there….how about Leia?!?!
Hazel will learn to deal- or kitten will learn to deal quickly with Hazel. It is all a matter of their personalities.
Good luck!
Aww! So sweet. When I first moved into a house with my honey, we both had cats that needed to be integrated with one another. We took about a month switching the 2 sets of cats between the upstairs and downstairs (separated by a door) so that they could get used to each others scents. It seems kind of excessive but it worked out in the end. These guys are all full grown, though. it might be different integrating a kitten into your household. Your vet might have some answers, too. Good luck :O)
I had a friend who’s two cats had some kind of incident that caused them to break trust. To reintroduce them, a pet therapist recommended stacking two baby gates in a doorway, high enough that neither can jump over. Then they can see and smell each other, but not actually get at each other. Once they got used to each other again she removed one gate, and finally both gates. It worked pretty well, I don’t know how this would work for a first introduction.
Iris.
A bit of cat advice straight from my step-mother, who is some sort of crazy cat whisperer (she’s a vet and has tamed a bunch of feral cats), in addition to the separate, but allowed to see each other baby gate suggestion, give each cat a blanket or towel to lie on and introduce that to the other cat. It will help them get to know the sense of smell, as will switching their respective rooms. After about two weeks of separate (but sharing smells, switching spaces), you can do the babygate and encourage them to check each other out. Continue to switch back and forth with the smells/spaces and then let them in supervised and for increasing amounts of time to actually interact until they’re doing OK together.
PS – adorable!
I vote you call her Miss Pickle Pants.
Binx……from Hocus Pocus
Fritz. Even though she’s a girl.
I’m pretty sure that there is a rule that calico cats must be named Callie. Or maybe that’s just in my head. I still like Callie.
I can’t remember the last time I had to introduce cats, mine are brothers. But, to get my cat hating dogs use to them, we brought in the wire dog kennel and put it in the living room. When the dogs were in the house we put the kittens in the kennel. It took a couple of weeks before the dog hackles settled, but they get along great now. It helped that the cats loved the dogs and never showed any sign of fear or aggression toward them.
Ivy! She’s just beautiful.
For introductions, I’ll second the towel/blanket swapping suggestions. It’s great you’re giving it time. Hopefully they’ll be the best of friends soon enough.
All calico cats *must* be named Simone, after Simone de Beauvoir.
I’ve introduced kittens to adult cats twice and never had any problems with hissing or anything like it, so I can’t offer any advice. Good luck!
Lucía
My 1st thought was Mildred…Hazel & Mildred 🙂 She’s very cute!
Mae
Pepper.
Cute Kitty! 🙂