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Is it a bad idea to introduce a new kitten to a house where there is already an older cat? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by NONE_dc@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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In recent days we have been giving home to a black kitten less than a month old yet to be named, the thing is that we already have a cat at home. My cat "Rubia" has been with us for 13 years now, beyond having lost her eyesight due to age, she is very healthy. But since the new kitty arrived I have seen her very stressed. She can't smell or hear the new kitten without snorting, she eats very little and hasn't gone to the bathroom for a couple of days. I've seen videos on YouTube and read several articles where they say this is normal, but I can't help but worry. I'm worried that forcing her to accept a new cat will affect her health at the age she is, but I also don't want to just abandon the new kitten, although if it turns out that things aren't going to improve, I would be forced to look for someone who can adopt her....

Update: Thank you all so much for your advice, I will do my best to follow them 💜. Recently Rubia has returned to use her litter box normally, and although she still doesn't like Morena (tentative name of the new kitten), I feel more optimistic, we just have to take things slowly.

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[–] FauxPseudo@lemmy.world 12 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

I'd avoid coddling too much. One tool I found that helps cats get along is the laser pointer. They both get so focused on that that they kind of forget that they're in each other's space trying to get it at the same time. Once they realize that they can be in the same space at the same time, without that hostility they tend to get along a lot better.†

It may not work in this situation because of the older cats health issues. But generally the closer you can keep them without any risk of attack, the faster they adopt each other or at least tolerate each other.

† sometimes I wonder if cats are soothed by hunting and exude some kind of smell that disarms other cats.

[–] orcrist@lemm.ee 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Right. The older cat is blind. No laser pointer.

[–] FauxPseudo@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

When offering up advice in public places I sometimes include options that won't work in a specific situation but might apply to the few dozen or thousand that might read it. That's why I specifically mentioned that that probably won't work in this case. And I stress "probably" because I had a "blind" cat that could see a laser. The first time I lured her into the bedroom with a laser my then girlfriend, now wife, started crying because this cat had previously only detected sun vs shadow and she wasn't even entirely sure that was not at sensing heat thing.

[–] FauxPseudo@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

By the way. That's Harper. She moved in a year before my girlfriend. I made sure to ask "if I have to do I have medical permission to have that eye removed." We eventually did remove that eye. It almost killed her. But when she did finally recover she was a 14 year old kitten with lots of bounce because that cranial pressure was no longer there. The other eye was mostly bad too. Never saw anything other than a laser pointer. She was this way from birth.

[–] XTL@sopuli.xyz 1 points 7 months ago

sometimes I wonder if cats are soothed by hunting and exude some kind of smell that disarms other cats.

Well, both of those are true separately. Not sure if that would be amplified when combined. It's an interesting question.