How to Welcome a New Kitten

How to Welcome a New Kitten

Blog post by Iris Carden

A couple of years ago, I purchased a kitten, and being a dutiful pet owner, I researched from websites, including the RSPCA’s, how to introduce a new kitten into the household.

Feeling very confident, I brought my kitten home to a household with existing pets.

That’s when I discovered that neither the kitten nor the other pets had read the same websites I had.

After all the research, and the lived experience, I can tell you the right way to introduce a new pet into your household, and give you examples of how each point worked in real life.

My new kitten was a seal point rag doll. Imagine a handful of cream-coloured fluff with darker paws, nose, tail and ears.  If a cappuccino came to life, it would look very much like her.  Her name’s Princess.  My daughter keep suggested I change her name, so she could call her “The Kitten Formerly Known as Princess.” 

One of the most important things to do with a new kitten is to keep it on the same food it’s been eating, and only gradually introduce it to new things. 

Kittens don’t adapt to sudden changes in their I dutifully bought a bag of the food Princess had been eating.  She happily ate that.  She also the the bigger cat’s food, the dog’s food, and anything else she could get hold of, including paper.  A photo frame in our hallway had seashells and other bits and pieces attached to it – she pulled off one of the shells and tried to eat that. 

An older cat will readily accept a kitten of the opposite sex, so, If you are introducing a new cat into a household which already has a cat, it’s best to bring in a new kitten of the opposite sex.

Princess is female.  Our 14 year old cat, Bumpy, is male.  Theoretically, he should have accpted Princess. Bumpy is a black and white mixed breed cat, whose personality is akin to Horse from Footrot Flats, or Scarface Claw from Hairy McLary.  He was not impressed with the new kitten. He hisses every time he sees her.  It doesn’t help that she helps herself to his food.

Princess was adorable and was at the very mischievous stage of kittenhood.  She had just discovered pouncing, and she pounced everyone, humans, the dog, Bumpy cat.  The humans and dog were quite indulgent and didn’t worry about a kitten flying out from any one of a number of hiding places, to grab us with all four paws, and then suddenly let go and run off. Bumpy Cat was not so tolerant.  He did his best to stay out of the kitten’s way, but would hiss, or swipe her with a paw if she didn’t show him due respect.  Far from accepting a kitten of the opposite sex, our old cat barely tolerated her.

Bumpy started spraying all kinds of surfaces in the house, and starting fights with the possums that lived in our yard in protest.  He was covered in bites and scratches, and refused to come inside during daylight hours. (He had to come in at night – in our house, that’s not optional.)

Three years later, Bumpy, now 17, has learned to tolerate Princess, and she has calmed down a little as she’s grown up.

To make your older cat more comfortable with the new kitten, use artificial cat pheromone spray to help keep your older cat calm.

 This stuff cost a truckload of money, smelled worse than all the disinfectant used to clean up the older cat spraying, and made absolutely no difference whatsoever.

Don’t let bigger dogs play with the new kitten.  Especially don’t let a dog chase the kitten. They could get carried away and hurt the kitten by accident. 

When I saw Princess and my four-year-old Staffie, Fanta chasing each other up and down the hallway, I put a stop to it.  I told them this was dangerous and Princess could get hurt.  They both sat and looked at me while I told them this.  Then Princess tapped Fanta with her paw and ran off up the hallway.  Fanta ran after her full pelt.  When they ran back to me, Fanta picked up one of her toys and shook it violently.  Her point was clear, she could tell the difference between a kitten and a toy. 

Far from being a threat to the kitten, Fanta went out of her way to be friends, and would put herself between Princess and Bumpy to stop any nastiness.

Your kitten will feel safer and more secure, if you shut it in a room by itself during the night.  Make sure it has food, water and a comfortable bed and toys. In fact, keep the kitten in the one room all the time at first, then slowly introduce it to other rooms of the house.

I tried shutting Princess in a room by herself for her first night in the house. She yowled as if she were being tortured, and her paws reached under the door as far as they would reach.  The room was, apparently kitty Guantanamo Bay. After ten minutes I let her out, and she slept in my room with the other animals. 

Keep your kitten inside the house at least until it has finished its first course of vaccinations. 

Even now, Princess stays inside all the time. She’s all grown up, but she is the most naive animal I have ever met. Recently, she woke me crying over her pink fluffy mouse. I asked her what was wrong with her mouse, gave it a shake to make it rattle, and skittered it along the floor for her to chase. I left her playing happily and went back to bed. Shortly after the pitiful crying started again. It seemed her mouse had stopped moving again. Once I skittered it along the floor, she happily went back to patting it around the floor – until it stayed still again and she started crying. This is not an animal equipped for the wilds of the back yard.

So what I’ve learned about introducing a new kitten into the home is that, no matter how careful you are to follow all the guidelines, anything at all can happen. 

If you are thinking of getting a new kitten, the things you will most need are a sense of humour and the ability to cope with the unexpected.

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