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Introducing a kitten to a kitten

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Introducting a kitten to a kitten might take a while to become a friendship

Introducting a kitten to a kitten might take a while to become a friendship

In general, felines aren’t too keen on meeting other felines. If you’ve ever brought a new cat into your home and already had another, you likely saw growling and hissing and maybe even fighting. After a few weeks, however, they probably became good friends or at least started tolerating each other.

The difficulty with introducing cats to each other often has to do with dominance and territory. The cat you already have likely feels threatened that its spot in your home ? and its food ? are being infringed upon and may change things for the worse. Introducing a kitten to a kitten may be a bit stressful, but you can do so in a gentle, untraumatic way by following a few simple techniques.

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Before you introduce the kittens to each other, you have to make sure that both are healthy.

Kittens can carry a variety of diseases, including FIV ? the feline equivalent of the HIV virus ? and feline leukemia. To prevent the kittens from getting each other sick, make sure to have each tested before they interact with each other. This might mean leaving each kitten in a separate room until each is tested and has received the results. You’ll have to take the kittens to a veterinarian to get these tests done and you can often find out the results before you leave, or by the next day.

You’ll also need to make sure that neither has fleas or intestinal worms. Depending on where the kittens are obtained, they may or may not have fleas. Most kittens, however, are born with worms and can pass them along to others if not treated. Ask your veterinarian about worming treatments that will work best for your kittens. Purchase and use a safe flea medication for your feline, as well.

Once each kitten is healthy and free of fleas and worms, the rendezvous can take place.

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Meeting

Allowing the two kittens to meet gradually is your best bet. Release one kitten from the room and let the two sniff and hear each other from under the door of the room in which the other kitten is staying.

Depending on the tolerance levels of the kittens, you may witness some hissing and growling. However, they may also get along fine right from the start ? it all depends on them. After a few days, they’ll likely start getting used to each other and this is the time to bring them together.

Have a spray bottle in your hands that is ready to use. This device can help to break up any quarrels that may occur between the two kittens. Leaving the two alone is not advisable in the beginning; supervise all interaction until it seems as though they can be together without causing each other harm.

Until they are totally comfortable with each other, you’ll likely want to feed them separately out of their own cat food bowls. Once they become friendly, however, they’ll likely eat out of the same bowl at the same time.

Introducing two kittens to each other is often easier than introducing two grown cats, particularly if the kitten you already have hasn’t been in your home for very long. Don’t give up, no matter how much it seems like they hate each other, because they’ll likely become best friends before long. Introducing a kitten to a kitten takes patience and finesse, but is typically worth the work.

References:

The Humane Society of the United States: Introducing a New Cat to Other Pets

 

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