how do i introduce a kitten to another at home for the first time pls pls help thanx?

[Bakar]

i have a 8 month old female tabby she seems happy with me but i just feel something is missing like a playmate so i wanna get another young kitten to keep her company when i do go out this this a good idea? and can anyone give me some advice on house to intro them others have said to keep one in the bathroom but my door don't shut also will i have to buy another litter tray and other things for the new cat or can they share thanks community. bakar
omg!!! so sorry i ment 8 weeks old not 8 months sorry for the misprint
thanx, im new on here how do i reply to your answers?

 

[rhonda]

put it in a nother room, it will meow, and your other cat will investigate,they can smell each other under he door, give that a day.or you can put your old cat in a room and let the new one investigate the house, then let them change places, for a day,if you leave make sure they are seperated. then let them out together, but watch them, it will take a few day3/5 but they should be fine

 

[Thebringeroftruth]

Rub your old cats hair into your new cat, then the smell wont be so unformiliar when they meet.

This is a serious answer and it really works.

 

[Joyce]

An 8-month old isn't considered a kitten, so bringing a 'baby' into the house as a companion to her would probably not work out the way you want. It would be my suggestion to try finding another cat closer to her age BUT you need to really handle the possible new friend & investigate her background as much as you can to make sure she generally gets along with other cats.
I think it's always a good idea for cats to have other cat company.
I don't think it's necessary to keep the cats apart that way - they'll check each other out, hiss a bit, then finally calm down & probably/hopefully get along. It'll take a few days though, so don't panic if there's a lot of hissing & spitting. Mine have always shared cat box. There's no need to have a separate one, just make sure the box is always clean & full of litter. Oh - make sure you show the new cat where the box is several times during the first few days or until he/she uses it a few times.
One more thing - obviously if you bring in a male with a female ... please make sure one of them has been 'fixed'. We have plenty of kittens already without homes! : )

 

[Bob N]

Cats will share litter boxes and food bowls, with dry food, if you serve meals of canned food, you should have two bowls for that.

We have serveral cats and they all share two fairly large litter boxes. We have three bowls of dry food out at all times.

When we feed them canned food, we use inexpensive paper plates. We just throw the used plates away - there is no need to wash bowls and if a plate of food gets pushed under something, like our kitchen cart which rarely moves from where it is "parked" against a wall, the paper plate will dry up the food and the food will not start to smell.

That happened to us one time. The food was in a bowl and we were catching a hint of decayed food smell but could not find the source for a while.

As to introducing the new kitten to your cat-

Cats need to be properly introduced to the new home, the new humans, and the existing cats if they are to get along well and not have problems.

Your first goal is to get the kitten used to you and the new environment - the smells and sounds of their new home. Then you work at getting the two of them to get along.

Here's how we introduce new comers to our gang:

Cats need to be introduced very slowly.

First of all, we do not allow a new cat to have any contact with our other cats until a vet has given the new cat a clean bill of health. This includes tests for such things as FIP and Feline Leukemia.

Cats can be successfully introduced to each other regardless of their ages or sexes.

We have successfully added adult cats to our family containing both young and old cats as well as introducing very young kittens to the other cats.

It has to be done slowly. If you simply put them together, you will fail the vast majority of the time.

The new cat has to be given time to get used to you and the new environment.

The existing cat has to get used to the smell of the new cat.

We introduce cats by keeping the new cat in the back room for up to a month. My office is there as is my wife's sewing table. There is a sofa and bookshelves.

We spend a lot of time with the new cat to get them used to us, the new environment and the new smells.

After they accept us with no problems, we put a screen door on the back room door frame and let everyone see each other for a week or so.

It may take a lot less time than a month to get to this point but we just take it slow and easy.

Once we judge it safe to do so, we let the new cats out into the house and chaperon the first encounters.

We've only ever had one problem introducing cats like this and that problem was resolved in a couple of weeks.

We've had 26 cats over the past 22 years and many of them were adults - 12 and older - when they joined our family.

We've also introduced several kittens, ranging from ages of 7 weeks to 4 or 5 months, to the rest of the crew with no problems.

You have to take it slow.

If you can't put up a screen door, perhaps two baby gates, stacked one on top of the other, will close off the door but still allow the cats to see each other.

If you can't use a screen door or baby gates, try letting the existing cat into the room with the new cat for a few minutes while you chaperon.

If things get bad, take the cat out of the room.

You just have to introduce cats slowly

There are cats who could be thrown together and become pals but they are few and far between.