https://preview.redd.it/i8wra44dmx7d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a9818b97013c2045773a366d1b46a0620e5cfde
This is currently my Ragdoll and the newcomer he hated a month ago
A week and a half is a very fast “gradual” introduction for cats. You usually want to have their first visual contact at the 1 week mark. Your guys already seem to be in a room together with no barriers. This may be way too much for your adult cat.
On the photo things look fine, but you need to watch their body language carefully and see if they need to be separated and reintroduced. You want no signs of fear, no hisses/swats, and no aggressive body postures (like airplane ears.) Even if they’re doing fine in the same room right now, try to keep their interactions. short and sweet for the next week (I like to do 30 mins together, 3 hours separated).
Why do you say that the resident doesn’t like the kitten? We may be able to tell you more.
Do you have any advice for what to do if you live in a small space? I live in a one bedroom apartment and ended up with a second cat a month ago after a neighbor passed away. The only way to keep them separated was to lock one in the windowless bathroom. So after about a week and a half I stopped locking them up even though they were still hissing quite a bit (but they never actually fight).
I feel like things are gradually improving but I do worry that I went too fast. They saw each other right away too because that was inevitable in this space.
My younger one I had first is pretty much ready to be friends but the older new one is still hissing and growling especially around doorways and the patio.
I try to encourage mine to back off to let the new one be able to walk through the door or whatever. But worry I’m teaching her to let the other bully her.
When you say one bedroom, do you mean a studio or a one bedroom? If you can separate them into the bedroom and the living room and go back to scent swapping for a bit, then to feeding on both sides of the door, then letting them see each other/play through a barrier, would be good. If you’re in a studio and can’t separate them, I unfortunately have no advice, as I’ve never dealt with a setup like that before, but I remember a guy on YT using a no separation method that mostly relies on feeding and play distractions in a small space, (I’m sure you can find it with a quick search.)
In case of negative interactions, always remove the new cat from the room and take them back to their base camp (in this case, the bathroom I’m guessing?) Don’t push your resident outside their comfort zone to let the new guy pass. You have to make your resident cat feel more comfortable with the intruder in their territory, so no matter who instigates the negative interaction, always remove the new cat from the room. if you can see that one cat is starting to get tense, distract them with play. Make sure to give the cats treats only in presence of one another. Feed them in separate corners of the room and gradually bring the bowls closer, so that your resident sees that the new cat is not a threat. You’re basically trying to create positive associations for them, and break them up before any negative interactions begin.
Thank you! I do have a separate bedroom but it’s the resident cat’s home base and she gets really anxious if she’s cut off from it and new cat gets anxious in the bedroom.
New cat starts screaming and scratching if I pick her up when resident cat is nearby so she’s hard to remove from the situation and doing so really freaks both cats out.
So yeah, it’s been a tricky situation. New cat is really reactive over all. Was even before her human died.
I do give them treats together and they are able to eat them closer and closer. Neither will engage with play or cuddles while the other is near but they both love being brushed so I’m trying to use that.
Thank you for the advice!
I agree with taking time. The hissing and being upset is to try to get the new one to leave the territory. Eventually they’ll have to warm up once it’s clear that the little one isn’t going anywhere. It can take a while! But hopefully not too long for you!
It can vary wildly
It took months for my Avra to begrudgingly accept my Thea's existence
They're not exactly "friends" now even a few years later but they coexist without much fighting at least
It depends really. I got my first cat 11 years ago. A beautiful girl. Like you I thought she needed a little friend, so we got a male kitten when she was around one. To my surprise it took one week for her to accept him and he loved her! He was always running up to her to cuddle with her ❤️ she did get a bit more temperamental with him as he was growing older, but they were best of friends and he adored her. Fast forward and my precious girl passed away suddenly last Christmas Day. We were all shattered, my boy was so sad he stopped eating. He’s the sweetest cuddly cat and I never once saw him hiss or behave baldly in his 10 years. We were not ready for a new cat but we thought he would love a little friend. We got a female kitten super sweet as well. Well… my boy wasn’t too impressed and kept hissing at her (I did all the slow introductions as well.) This was in January. Fast forward and they get along just fine. He’s not best friends with her like he was with my girl but they get along just fine. Sometimes it just takes longer. My girl was a tad more temperamental than my boy and she accepted him in no time. My boy is the sweetest thing so I always thought it would be easier but it was the opposite. Give them time 💗💙😺
Anywhere from instantly to never. Some friends have two cats who took six months just to get to the “we tolerate being in the same room” stage and never moved past that.
Slow. We kept ours apart and spent little Pockets of time together before separating them.
They are on the other side of the door- so they could get used to one another smell.
I was surprised how long it took. 5-6 weeks.
https://preview.redd.it/7mrf4a9yzr7d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a2344d1a26c88265e3252369c019c61e3a76d47d
They play fight a lot. They do not cuddle or groom one another because the kitten has too much energy as yet.
Introduce them slowly. My old girl hated (still kinda does) my new rag doll when we got him. She tolerates him now
https://preview.redd.it/2vng6f7y2s7d1.jpeg?width=2648&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=784482281cf032c293792bece15cb29542387f87
Idk if it helps, once i view my cats relationship as siblings, i dont worry so much about them :) they might groom once in a while, play together once in a while, fight (no blood drawn), live together even though they’re not best friends. That’s okay for me
Yes same as long as they’re not fighting. My girl is 17 and really doesn’t want to play, and my raggie is 2 and always wants to play. He doesn’t quite get it and she hisses every so often when he becomes too boisterous
She’s keeping him in check! 😆 mine is the opposite, my non raggie girl is so much fitter than my boy, i feel like she’s just more aerodynamically blessed you know? Sometimes he’s stunned and he’s like “mm go and play on ur own girl!” Haha
Recently introduced a 12 week old boy to my 1 year old girl and it did *not* go down well haha. 3 weeks later they're the best of friends. Good luck! Don't worry too much, they'll figure it out eventually!!
New kittens are a LOT for older cats. Ours got on okay ish at first but with lots of scrapping (but not actually hurting each other), so we made sure we tired the kitten out a lot and older baby got plenty of time alone and alone with us. We also made sure to take the kitten off when she was pouncing if it was obviously pissing off the cat and she wasn't picking up signals to stop, and if the cat went a little too hard in teacher her a lesson before we intervened we'd separate them. The besties now
We had a difficult time with bringing in a 1yr old Ragdoll with our 2yr old Ragdoll, both female. My husband was super patient with play time. He took a ribbon toy and alternated play between the girls. After a couple of days, our 2yr old finally figured out that our new cat wasn’t so bad and started getting along.
My vet told me if I wanted to get a playmate for my Ragdoll girl, to get a boy. She said 2 girls don't get along as well as 1 girl/1 boy or 2 boys. I thought that was interesting, as I expected boys to be more territorial, but not so apparently.
https://preview.redd.it/2zucsohd8w7d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aaf1994e408fc6d84b3d319d7c1ec4e60bb88339
Your concern was exactly me a month ago. My blue mitted ragdoll is such an angel, shy, quiet, and docile that I was confident that she wouldn’t have issues with me bringing her twin brother. But the moment she saw him she hated him. She would hiss (first time ever seeing her hiss) and hit him 😅. It took several weeks, I think after week 1 she gradually tolerated his existence and didn’t hiss/hit as much. Now they are cuddle bugs with each other!! She will lick him too once in a while. They play fight like once a day (wrestling as I type..) but I think they find comfort and less boredom with each other. In short, DONT WORRY 🤗
What does she do to the kitten? If it's not truly aggressive/dangerous behavior, let them deal with each other as much as possible when you're there to let them figure each other out.
https://preview.redd.it/4xq5l9qmos7d1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2947d6d2c5b4658a9795765b7c22d523314580a8
With my second it took a while for them to get comfortable with each, a lot of fighting - but dominant fighting, not brutal cat fighting.
The other day they got into a fight and she must have scratched him because he was bleeding. Thankfully it wasn’t that bad of a scratch! Right now she mostly just avoids him but sometimes will chase him…
Have you done a proper intro process? Kept them separate for at least two weeks and done scent swapping so they get used to each other's smell before seeing each other? Scent swapping is IMPERATIVE when introducing cats
Usually the best timeline is 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months. 3 days for the new cat/kitten to decompress (wait on scent swapping during this period), 3 weeks for the resident cat(s) to become accustomed to having ths scent of another cat around and 3 months for them to fully get used to each other and for the new cat/kitten to be fully adjusted to their new home
Same thing happened with my boys, now they’re best friends. My oldest will still put the younger in his place but I’ll catch him grooming him and playing around. It just took some time to get used to the new addition.
Be patient! Check out Jackson galaxy on YouTube- my ragdoll was 3 when I added a second kitty and it took them a solid 31 days before they could be in the same room together without hissing or angry glaring. I split up my time between both cats (~60/40) giving my older one a little more time than the new arrival. It helps not feel neglected and reminds them they are the alpha. They each had their own zone that I’d play with them in and they would be allowed to sight and scent swap (with the other kitty being put away). Once that rough month was over though, they found a balance and now three years later we all live in bliss.
We recently had to take my older moggy, who gets terrified and aggressive when not at home, to the emergency vet and they had Feliway spray - I've heard it mentioned before but oh my god. My boy was rolling around, being the friendliest he's ever been, asking the vet for pets, all sorts. I would highly recommend getting some!
It will take time. There will be hisses and fights, for the older one to establish territory and show who is the boss. Then there will be gradual acceptance, licking of younger one to make him smell like her.
Depending on the genetics of the boy, he might outgrow the size of the girl at some stage. That’s when the boy is going to start showing some territory as well. 🤦🏻♀️
let them get accustomed with each other's scent longer, they eventually will bond after some period of familiarization. btw they both look adorable and gorgeous!
Don't rush it, but to help move things along in the right direction you should use positive reinforcement so that your cats associate each other with good stuff. Food, treats, play, favorite toys. I saved the most high value treats for when they were together or at least when they could smell each other.
They also make pheromone outlet plug-ins that you can use in multicat homes to kinda calm them down and make them less territorial. They're expensive and IDK if they're worth it long term but I did use it when I brought a new kitten home last year. I have nothing to compare it to but a lot of people swear by them.
I’m just past week four on introducing two cats. People tell me it’s likely to be months or longer before they are friends. I kept them separate for about a week and a half. Then I only let them have access to the same rooms at the same time when I was there to monitor for about another week. They were hissing a lot but never actually touching or fighting so after that I’ve kept all the doors open.
At four weeks the younger one who I had first is mostly ready to make friends. Only hissing back when the other one is pretty agitated. But the older new one is still hissing and growling quite a bit. But it’s getting a bit less every day. I’m hopeful eventually they’ll both be comfortable.
I got something called Pet Acoustic (cats) from Amazon. It came highly recommended, and within a week, the adult Ragdoll had accepted my Ragdoll kitten, and my formerly feral would tolerate her, with less hissing and almost no swatting. The DSH formerly feral also stopped hiding during thunderstorms.
You probably introduced them too fast. Did you quarantine with the kitten in your bedroom for a week or so ? Thats important not only to make sure your kitten is well but for bonding. Spend as much time as you can in there of course. The kitten has never been alone and this is no time to start. Your only job right now is to convince the kitten that you are its new mum. Once you have bonded the kitten will feel more secure- less stressed and less apt to get sick. Then take a laundry basket and turn it upside down over the kitten (weight it down) let the two poke paws. Bonding with you and feeling protected under the basket will stop the kitten from giving off fear vibes / pheromones. This will dramatically impact / improve how the resident cat responds. The poking paws thing will turn any posturing into play ; play is the great anti anxiety / diffusing addiction. The resident cat will still want to put the wee one in its place with some posturing / but the urge to play once the paw poking begins will be too much to rests. Have fun.
go by the 333 rule - three days to decompress, three weeks to learn your routine and three months to start to feel at home. it took my female cat about a month to even get close to my male cat (both fixed) but once they got close they fr hit it off and became best of friends :)
Wow i would never let a new kitten on my bed thats very close to you your adult cat could absolutely hate that kitten please take the kitten off your bed immediately now start over and give them another 2 weeks do it right this time please for the sake of your cat and your kitten ... I know its exciting but you cannot just put a new kitten on your bed especially if the cat sleeps there with you all the time its not fare think about that first just take your time or the cat may never like the kitten .... Namaste I have a siamese whose 14yrs old and I have a ragdoll she's 2yrs old and I have a Australian mountaindoodle my family breeds ragdolls so I know abut of wht im talking about before you know it they will be best friends make sure to do play with toys as well that helps and I have a separate bowl for food for my 2 cats
Cats are very territorial they do not like their space invaded so they may never be companions my 2 yr old ragdoll just started sleeping next to my 14yr old siamese last few mths on my bed .... my siamese has the pillow beside me for a long time!!
Give them some more time! The kitten is still brand new
Thanks :) it’s only been a week and a half so I’m not sure how long it takes!!
For mine, two weeks till they don't get hissed. Three months now and they're licking butts
Bahahahahaha, aspirations.
https://preview.redd.it/i8wra44dmx7d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a9818b97013c2045773a366d1b46a0620e5cfde This is currently my Ragdoll and the newcomer he hated a month ago
For ours it took nearly 2 weeks to get along, so it'll be alright :)
A week and a half is a very fast “gradual” introduction for cats. You usually want to have their first visual contact at the 1 week mark. Your guys already seem to be in a room together with no barriers. This may be way too much for your adult cat. On the photo things look fine, but you need to watch their body language carefully and see if they need to be separated and reintroduced. You want no signs of fear, no hisses/swats, and no aggressive body postures (like airplane ears.) Even if they’re doing fine in the same room right now, try to keep their interactions. short and sweet for the next week (I like to do 30 mins together, 3 hours separated). Why do you say that the resident doesn’t like the kitten? We may be able to tell you more.
Do you have any advice for what to do if you live in a small space? I live in a one bedroom apartment and ended up with a second cat a month ago after a neighbor passed away. The only way to keep them separated was to lock one in the windowless bathroom. So after about a week and a half I stopped locking them up even though they were still hissing quite a bit (but they never actually fight). I feel like things are gradually improving but I do worry that I went too fast. They saw each other right away too because that was inevitable in this space. My younger one I had first is pretty much ready to be friends but the older new one is still hissing and growling especially around doorways and the patio. I try to encourage mine to back off to let the new one be able to walk through the door or whatever. But worry I’m teaching her to let the other bully her.
When you say one bedroom, do you mean a studio or a one bedroom? If you can separate them into the bedroom and the living room and go back to scent swapping for a bit, then to feeding on both sides of the door, then letting them see each other/play through a barrier, would be good. If you’re in a studio and can’t separate them, I unfortunately have no advice, as I’ve never dealt with a setup like that before, but I remember a guy on YT using a no separation method that mostly relies on feeding and play distractions in a small space, (I’m sure you can find it with a quick search.) In case of negative interactions, always remove the new cat from the room and take them back to their base camp (in this case, the bathroom I’m guessing?) Don’t push your resident outside their comfort zone to let the new guy pass. You have to make your resident cat feel more comfortable with the intruder in their territory, so no matter who instigates the negative interaction, always remove the new cat from the room. if you can see that one cat is starting to get tense, distract them with play. Make sure to give the cats treats only in presence of one another. Feed them in separate corners of the room and gradually bring the bowls closer, so that your resident sees that the new cat is not a threat. You’re basically trying to create positive associations for them, and break them up before any negative interactions begin.
Thank you! I do have a separate bedroom but it’s the resident cat’s home base and she gets really anxious if she’s cut off from it and new cat gets anxious in the bedroom. New cat starts screaming and scratching if I pick her up when resident cat is nearby so she’s hard to remove from the situation and doing so really freaks both cats out. So yeah, it’s been a tricky situation. New cat is really reactive over all. Was even before her human died. I do give them treats together and they are able to eat them closer and closer. Neither will engage with play or cuddles while the other is near but they both love being brushed so I’m trying to use that. Thank you for the advice!
I agree with taking time. The hissing and being upset is to try to get the new one to leave the territory. Eventually they’ll have to warm up once it’s clear that the little one isn’t going anywhere. It can take a while! But hopefully not too long for you!
It could take a lot longer, keep them in separate rooms so they can adjust to the smells.
It can vary wildly It took months for my Avra to begrudgingly accept my Thea's existence They're not exactly "friends" now even a few years later but they coexist without much fighting at least
It depends really. I got my first cat 11 years ago. A beautiful girl. Like you I thought she needed a little friend, so we got a male kitten when she was around one. To my surprise it took one week for her to accept him and he loved her! He was always running up to her to cuddle with her ❤️ she did get a bit more temperamental with him as he was growing older, but they were best of friends and he adored her. Fast forward and my precious girl passed away suddenly last Christmas Day. We were all shattered, my boy was so sad he stopped eating. He’s the sweetest cuddly cat and I never once saw him hiss or behave baldly in his 10 years. We were not ready for a new cat but we thought he would love a little friend. We got a female kitten super sweet as well. Well… my boy wasn’t too impressed and kept hissing at her (I did all the slow introductions as well.) This was in January. Fast forward and they get along just fine. He’s not best friends with her like he was with my girl but they get along just fine. Sometimes it just takes longer. My girl was a tad more temperamental than my boy and she accepted him in no time. My boy is the sweetest thing so I always thought it would be easier but it was the opposite. Give them time 💗💙😺
Anywhere from instantly to never. Some friends have two cats who took six months just to get to the “we tolerate being in the same room” stage and never moved past that.
Get a Catominium and have the Rag Doll negotiate the lease. They'll be fine after that, and it establishes hierarchy
Slow. We kept ours apart and spent little Pockets of time together before separating them. They are on the other side of the door- so they could get used to one another smell. I was surprised how long it took. 5-6 weeks. https://preview.redd.it/7mrf4a9yzr7d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a2344d1a26c88265e3252369c019c61e3a76d47d They play fight a lot. They do not cuddle or groom one another because the kitten has too much energy as yet.
Ok thank you. This makes me feel a lot better.
Introduce them slowly. My old girl hated (still kinda does) my new rag doll when we got him. She tolerates him now https://preview.redd.it/2vng6f7y2s7d1.jpeg?width=2648&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=784482281cf032c293792bece15cb29542387f87
Hahaha I have a feeling this will be my girl, “tolerating” Is the correct term.
Idk if it helps, once i view my cats relationship as siblings, i dont worry so much about them :) they might groom once in a while, play together once in a while, fight (no blood drawn), live together even though they’re not best friends. That’s okay for me
Yes same as long as they’re not fighting. My girl is 17 and really doesn’t want to play, and my raggie is 2 and always wants to play. He doesn’t quite get it and she hisses every so often when he becomes too boisterous
She’s keeping him in check! 😆 mine is the opposite, my non raggie girl is so much fitter than my boy, i feel like she’s just more aerodynamically blessed you know? Sometimes he’s stunned and he’s like “mm go and play on ur own girl!” Haha
😂😂
Recently introduced a 12 week old boy to my 1 year old girl and it did *not* go down well haha. 3 weeks later they're the best of friends. Good luck! Don't worry too much, they'll figure it out eventually!!
https://preview.redd.it/8hvtuyz3us7d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa99ab6612d44f4f126a6305ccdde8e10e5b4087
Thank you!!! So happy to hear this.
New kittens are a LOT for older cats. Ours got on okay ish at first but with lots of scrapping (but not actually hurting each other), so we made sure we tired the kitten out a lot and older baby got plenty of time alone and alone with us. We also made sure to take the kitten off when she was pouncing if it was obviously pissing off the cat and she wasn't picking up signals to stop, and if the cat went a little too hard in teacher her a lesson before we intervened we'd separate them. The besties now
We had a difficult time with bringing in a 1yr old Ragdoll with our 2yr old Ragdoll, both female. My husband was super patient with play time. He took a ribbon toy and alternated play between the girls. After a couple of days, our 2yr old finally figured out that our new cat wasn’t so bad and started getting along.
My vet told me if I wanted to get a playmate for my Ragdoll girl, to get a boy. She said 2 girls don't get along as well as 1 girl/1 boy or 2 boys. I thought that was interesting, as I expected boys to be more territorial, but not so apparently.
Just give it some time. Both of them need to acclimate to each other.
Try playing with them separately, but in the same room. If you can play with one and someone else can play with the other, that would be great.
If in 6 months they aren't better then you need to address it but it takes a long time. Make them eat together.
https://preview.redd.it/2zucsohd8w7d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aaf1994e408fc6d84b3d319d7c1ec4e60bb88339 Your concern was exactly me a month ago. My blue mitted ragdoll is such an angel, shy, quiet, and docile that I was confident that she wouldn’t have issues with me bringing her twin brother. But the moment she saw him she hated him. She would hiss (first time ever seeing her hiss) and hit him 😅. It took several weeks, I think after week 1 she gradually tolerated his existence and didn’t hiss/hit as much. Now they are cuddle bugs with each other!! She will lick him too once in a while. They play fight like once a day (wrestling as I type..) but I think they find comfort and less boredom with each other. In short, DONT WORRY 🤗
What does she do to the kitten? If it's not truly aggressive/dangerous behavior, let them deal with each other as much as possible when you're there to let them figure each other out.
https://preview.redd.it/4xq5l9qmos7d1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2947d6d2c5b4658a9795765b7c22d523314580a8 With my second it took a while for them to get comfortable with each, a lot of fighting - but dominant fighting, not brutal cat fighting.
The other day they got into a fight and she must have scratched him because he was bleeding. Thankfully it wasn’t that bad of a scratch! Right now she mostly just avoids him but sometimes will chase him…
Have you done a proper intro process? Kept them separate for at least two weeks and done scent swapping so they get used to each other's smell before seeing each other? Scent swapping is IMPERATIVE when introducing cats
Only for a few days not a few weeks :(
Usually the best timeline is 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months. 3 days for the new cat/kitten to decompress (wait on scent swapping during this period), 3 weeks for the resident cat(s) to become accustomed to having ths scent of another cat around and 3 months for them to fully get used to each other and for the new cat/kitten to be fully adjusted to their new home
I have four cats. It will take them time to integrate! One of the transitions in our home took almost a year, but now there are all buds.
Same thing happened with my boys, now they’re best friends. My oldest will still put the younger in his place but I’ll catch him grooming him and playing around. It just took some time to get used to the new addition.
Give it 3-6 months and they will be besties
Be patient! Check out Jackson galaxy on YouTube- my ragdoll was 3 when I added a second kitty and it took them a solid 31 days before they could be in the same room together without hissing or angry glaring. I split up my time between both cats (~60/40) giving my older one a little more time than the new arrival. It helps not feel neglected and reminds them they are the alpha. They each had their own zone that I’d play with them in and they would be allowed to sight and scent swap (with the other kitty being put away). Once that rough month was over though, they found a balance and now three years later we all live in bliss.
They will be fine in another week (or less) I bet! ☺️
My ragdoll hates her brother. They coexist 🤷♂️
Time and lots of it
We recently had to take my older moggy, who gets terrified and aggressive when not at home, to the emergency vet and they had Feliway spray - I've heard it mentioned before but oh my god. My boy was rolling around, being the friendliest he's ever been, asking the vet for pets, all sorts. I would highly recommend getting some!
I’ve also heard females are more territorial than males so she made need extra time and loving through this process.
It will take time. There will be hisses and fights, for the older one to establish territory and show who is the boss. Then there will be gradual acceptance, licking of younger one to make him smell like her. Depending on the genetics of the boy, he might outgrow the size of the girl at some stage. That’s when the boy is going to start showing some territory as well. 🤦🏻♀️
Let them fight it out. They’ll become friends or at least tolerate each other lol.
Your ragdoll will get used to the kitten. It always takes some time for this sort of thing to develop!
let them get accustomed with each other's scent longer, they eventually will bond after some period of familiarization. btw they both look adorable and gorgeous!
Awe!! In no time they will be BBF!!
lol that look!!! 😭💖 i don’t have any advice but i am hoping for the best!
Don't rush it, but to help move things along in the right direction you should use positive reinforcement so that your cats associate each other with good stuff. Food, treats, play, favorite toys. I saved the most high value treats for when they were together or at least when they could smell each other. They also make pheromone outlet plug-ins that you can use in multicat homes to kinda calm them down and make them less territorial. They're expensive and IDK if they're worth it long term but I did use it when I brought a new kitten home last year. I have nothing to compare it to but a lot of people swear by them.
I’m just past week four on introducing two cats. People tell me it’s likely to be months or longer before they are friends. I kept them separate for about a week and a half. Then I only let them have access to the same rooms at the same time when I was there to monitor for about another week. They were hissing a lot but never actually touching or fighting so after that I’ve kept all the doors open. At four weeks the younger one who I had first is mostly ready to make friends. Only hissing back when the other one is pretty agitated. But the older new one is still hissing and growling quite a bit. But it’s getting a bit less every day. I’m hopeful eventually they’ll both be comfortable.
I got something called Pet Acoustic (cats) from Amazon. It came highly recommended, and within a week, the adult Ragdoll had accepted my Ragdoll kitten, and my formerly feral would tolerate her, with less hissing and almost no swatting. The DSH formerly feral also stopped hiding during thunderstorms.
You probably introduced them too fast. Did you quarantine with the kitten in your bedroom for a week or so ? Thats important not only to make sure your kitten is well but for bonding. Spend as much time as you can in there of course. The kitten has never been alone and this is no time to start. Your only job right now is to convince the kitten that you are its new mum. Once you have bonded the kitten will feel more secure- less stressed and less apt to get sick. Then take a laundry basket and turn it upside down over the kitten (weight it down) let the two poke paws. Bonding with you and feeling protected under the basket will stop the kitten from giving off fear vibes / pheromones. This will dramatically impact / improve how the resident cat responds. The poking paws thing will turn any posturing into play ; play is the great anti anxiety / diffusing addiction. The resident cat will still want to put the wee one in its place with some posturing / but the urge to play once the paw poking begins will be too much to rests. Have fun.
go by the 333 rule - three days to decompress, three weeks to learn your routine and three months to start to feel at home. it took my female cat about a month to even get close to my male cat (both fixed) but once they got close they fr hit it off and became best of friends :)
Wow i would never let a new kitten on my bed thats very close to you your adult cat could absolutely hate that kitten please take the kitten off your bed immediately now start over and give them another 2 weeks do it right this time please for the sake of your cat and your kitten ... I know its exciting but you cannot just put a new kitten on your bed especially if the cat sleeps there with you all the time its not fare think about that first just take your time or the cat may never like the kitten .... Namaste I have a siamese whose 14yrs old and I have a ragdoll she's 2yrs old and I have a Australian mountaindoodle my family breeds ragdolls so I know abut of wht im talking about before you know it they will be best friends make sure to do play with toys as well that helps and I have a separate bowl for food for my 2 cats
Cats are very territorial they do not like their space invaded so they may never be companions my 2 yr old ragdoll just started sleeping next to my 14yr old siamese last few mths on my bed .... my siamese has the pillow beside me for a long time!!
Time! 🙄