Congrats on your new addition to your family! Getting a new kitten is exciting, however bringing your new fur baby home to meet your other fur baby is a little daunting. Cats are solitary creatures, regardless of them coming into the world with other siblings, once adopted as a single cat they get accustom to being the only cat in the household and the apple of your eye. A new kitty will pose as a threat as they smell very unfamiliar. Good thing there are a few easy steps you can take to help ease the introductions.
1. Keep the new kitten in a separate room
Set up a separate room for the new kitten. Make sure the room has all the essentials, such as litter box, food and water bowls, bed, and lots of toys. You want to keep your two cats apart and have them slowly get use to each other’s presence.
2. Feed your cats on opposite sides of the door
Have all feeding times occur for each cat on opposite sides of the door. Although your cats may be in separate rooms and have a chance to smell one another through the crack beneath the door, they might not do it on their own. Therefore, it is very important to have feeding time on opposite side of the door to encourage them to get close enough to one another to smell each other. This will also serve as positive reinforcement as it will associate each other’s scent with a pleasant activity (food!).
3. Let them get use to each other’s scent
Encourage both cats to sniff one another through the door. You can try playing with each one next to the door or laying down treats at the base of the door. They may hiss from time to time, but keep at it! You can even crack the door open a little so they can see each other.
4. Open the door and let the new kitten explore!
Let the new kitten go out and explore the rest of the house, but remember to supervise. If your house is big, it may be best to let them explore one section at the time (i.e. upstairs then downstairs). Have playtime with both cats so they can bond.
5. BEST FRIENDS FUREVER
Takes about a week for this whole process, but the transition for both cats will be less stressful if you follow these steps. Soon your kitties will be best friends until the end. (:
Sven and Robbie 