How to prepare for new kittens and introduce them to my older cat?

Congratulations on adding the cats to your family!!!! It's very important to ask questions about what kind of food, litter box and litter are they currently using. Try to use the same products. Also make sure to get a vaccine history and a thorough medical history (including Felv/FIV testing, deworming medication and any flea products that have been applied). That way you will be caught up on everything and can make arrangements to keep them on schedule with the preventive care if needed. Since the cats are already use to each other, it's likely they will get along fine in the new place. Here is a helpful link about new cats: https://www.petcoach.co/article/bringing-your-cat-home-how-to-prepare-for-an-easy-transition/ I hope this helps and best of luck.

Adding a new cat to your home can be a lot of fun, but can be stressful both for you and for your current cat. Unfortunately, there is never a guarantee that both cats will become best buds or even tolerate one another very well. However, you can take some steps to slowly introduce a new cat to your home to ease the transition and make it as low-stress as possible for both cats. Prior to bringing home your new cat, consider using calming pheromones such as the [Comfort Zone® Calming Diffuser](). Also, be sure that both cats have been spayed or neutered to eliminate hormone-influenced aggression issues. Initially, keep the new cat isolated in a separate room (oftentimes a spare bedroom or the bathroom works well), allowing the cats to smell and paw at one another under the door. After a few days of this introduction, allow the cats to explore each other’s space for a few hours. In another day or so, allow them to see one another with an exposed barrier between them (i.e. a crate, screen door, etc.). If all seems to be going well introducing both cats, allow them to meet in an open room with plenty of supervision. Be sure that both cats have a way to leave the room should they feel stressed or threatened. Continue supervising all contact for at least a few days, possibly a few weeks, to assure that all goes well.

Hi. The gender of the kitten probably doesn't matter but many think male cats are sometimes friendlier. Be sure the kitten has been tested negative for Felv and FIV before coming home as you don't want to expose your older kitty. I would also make sure she has been treated for internal and external parasites for the same reasons. When you bring the kitten home I would recommend giving the kitten its own room for a bit to allow the other pets time to get used to it through a door. Make sure that it's not someplace your older cat loves to be though! Adult cats can take a while to get used to a new kitten. So be prepared to weeks to months of her not getting along. If it happens more quickly, GREAT! Also- to prevent future litter box issues. A good rule of thumb is one litter box for each cat plus 1. So if there is room in your house for 3 litter boxes that is ideal. Here are some articles that may help on introductions. Good luck. Hope this helps! http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1384 http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=46&S=1&SourceID=18

Hello, congratulations on your kitten. It looks like Loki may be some form of siamese mix. Here s some further information on how to introduce your cats adequately. Hope this helps and best of luck. ntroduction The new cat introduction process is extremely important in determining the success of having a multi-cat household. First impressions can be lasting impressions when it comes to cats. Cats’ territorial nature means that the time required for the introduction process varies greatly depending on the cats involved. Before bringing a new cat into your home, it is important to recognize that this will probably take a little bit of time and effort to make everything happen smoothly. With a little patience and commitment, your new cat could wind up being good friends with, or at the very least peacefully cohabitating with your current family cat. Introducing cats who are strangers to each other should be done in a gradual fashion. Owners should make sure to associate enjoyable things such as food, attention, or play with the other cat(s). Patience is extremely important in this process, and it is important to know that you may be required to repeat steps in the introduction process multiple times. Cats are naturally territorial in the wild, and will defend their home range and its associated resources, such as food, resting areas, and litter boxes from other cats. In the case of the house cat, this territorialism may manifest in your cat becoming apparently aggressive in an attempt to “defend” his place in the household, as well as his “home range”. While this can pose quite a challenge, with some time and commitment, most cats can learn to cope with the new housemate and put major aggression issues aside. A settling in period is generally recommended before introductions are made, since the initial stress of moving into your home can cause fear or aggressive behavior to begin with. Make sure to speak quietly and calmly to the cats and make no sudden moves. When the cats are tolerant of each other’s presence, give lots of positive reinforcement in the form of words, toys, and food. It is best not to scold or use harsh tones with the cats while they are in each other’s presence. This may cause them to associate unpleasantness with being near each other. Give special attention to the resident cat(s) to reassure them of your loyalty and love and help minimize jealousy. Give the new cat loving attention only during the resident cat's absence until such time as they become true friends. In addition, it is recommended that you temporarily assign the new cat its own room (preferably one that is not heavily trafficked). The door to this room should be kept closed, and the room should contain a litter box, dry food and water, as well as comforting objects such as a scratching post, comfortable bed, and cat toys. It is also smart to leave the cat’s carrier open on the floor so the cat can retreat there if he/she feels threatened.

I'm glad you are doing your homework before bringing new fur babies into the situation. Most shelters will routinely deworm their pets and test for leukemia and FIV. So you definitely want to make sure these treatments/tests are run prior to adopting the new kittens. Its not unusual for new cats and kittens to break with upper respiratory infections within the first 2 weeks of being adopted. Herpes virus is very common in cats (some estimate 80% of cats carry the virus) and it comes out in the stress related to being in a shelter and being rehomed. Now, this is not going to happen to every cat/kitten but its not unusual. Therefore, your best chance to avoid this would be to get a cat/kitten that has been kept in a foster home. It will likely still have herpes but the environment should be less stressful, therefore less risk of the virus becoming active. Keep the new pet separated for 2 weeks. That way if it does have an outbreak, you will at least have it contained. You could also put your cats on 500mg of lysine twice daily to help booster their immune system. Kittens get 250mg twice daily. Please post again if you have any further questions!

Good question! You do the introductions slowly, yes. The ideal way is to put the kitten in one room and the other cats in the rest of the house. Once the kitten is cleared by the vet, you will want to put the kitten in the rest of the house and all the other cats in his room. Do this for 30-60 minutes a couple times a day. That way they can get each other's scents. Also, at this stage you will want to feed the cats by the door of the kittens room; feed the kitten on the other side of the door too. So they can smell the kitten and get a reward at the same time. Once that is going well you can use a baby gate to separate them at the door for feeding. After a few days if that is going well (no hissing etc) you can let them all out together. When I say feed them at the door I mean something really good that they will consider a treat like canned cat food, canned chicken or canned tuna. Make it a really pleasurable experience! I also strongly recommend you get some Feliway diffusers. It is "happy cat pheromones" that really works to calm cats down. Use it for at least 2 or 3 months time. Hope this helps. I know it's a long process but it is much better to do it slowly than to cause issues by just throwing him in!

If your older cats have been together for several years, they probably have their "territories" picked out. It is quite possible that they just don't like each other. Having more than one pet is often like being placed with a roommate that you didn't choose - sometimes it is a great fit and sometimes you can't wait to move out! It is hard for me to tell you if getting new kittens will help or hurt the current situation, as it would just depend on how happy your current cats would be with new, and very young roommates. Kittens like to play, a lot, and often need to be taught the rules of the house. There will likely be a lot of fighting at the start until the kittens grow up a little. There is a possibility that kittens will help the other cats mellow out together, but my gut feeling is that this may not happen. If you do decide to get new kittens, remember that you will need a drastic increase in litter boxes (and feeding stations and water bowls). Veterinary behaviorists recommend 1 more litter box than you have cats, so that means 6 boxes! And they all need to be in different areas of the house to give a sense of privacy. You will also need additional quiet space so that everybody can feel safe in their own area.