cat not liking new kitten

[IRayne27]

here's the scenario:

I have a 3 year old boy and my b/f has a 2 year old girl that are going to meet up for a few days out of the week before we all move in together.

does anyone have ideas of coping with two cats living together?the boy has already warmed up to my b/f (thank god) but the girl is spunky and thinks she runs everything.

how did anyone integrate two cats who were raised separately to co-exist WITHOUT killing each other?

we're gearing up for a kitty bloodbath

[latergatorj]

Hello:

I'm currently going through this process with my cats. I have a 19 year old American Shorthair... other than for 6 years of his life, Ranger has been an only cat.

My sister has recently moved and has given me her 8 year old kitty to babysit for the next 6 months. Her kitty has always been an only cat.

The best way to integrate is to do it very slowly.

The kindest way to do this is by giving both kitties a place of their own that they can retreat to if they feel threatened. The way I've done this is by putting a litter box, food dishes, and bed in 2 different rooms on opposite ends of the house. Each room is for a specific cat. I've locked each kitty up into "their" room when I let the other one out. If you do this, do it for at least a week. The kitties then get used to having their own space and get used to having the smell of another kitty in the house.

After a week- let the cats out at the same time for increasing amounts of time. Do not force them to interact. :-)

It is now week 4 that i've had both kitties in my house... and the two of them still haven't gotten any closer than 4 feet of each other before retreating to their "room" to feel safe again. At this point in time, I am only letting them both out at the same time when I'm home.

However, they are improving and are getting used to having another kitty in the house because they are able to spend more time around each other in a closer proximity each time. And, they each still run to "their" room, when they feel uncomfortable.

Something that is important to remember as well... is that your kitty "owns you" and will feel threatened if s/he sees you touching the other kitty. Make sure that when the other kitty is around that you don't touch the other cat, but pet your kitty to reassure your cat that you are still his/hers. Your boyfriend should do the same with his kitty.

I hope you find this information helpful. This is only my experience with introducing cats to each other, it is my 4th time of doing so, and of all the methods I've tried, this method has worked the best.

I'm sure other readers will have other opinions and advice. :-)

Good luck with your kitties.