Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Cats & Kittens

1. 

   I've just become a member, it looks like there is a lot of interesting cat chat going on here so thought I would share my problem...

   Last week I introduced a kitten (10 week old Dilly) to my two older cats (Cleo,2 and Trigger 2 and a half). Trigger has accepted her well which was what I expected cos he is a laid back boy. Cleo on the other hand has spent the week hissing at her.
   I am willing to accept that Cleo will probably never like Dilly but I am worried about my relationship with her. She usually spends every evening on my lap, very content, dribbling and "making puddings". However, since the arrival of Dilly she has kept her distance. She is a timid cat and doesn't get on well with any humans except me. I am worried that I have ruined her trust in me and I won't ever gain it back.

   I have followed all the advice about introducing a kitten. I was just wondering if anyone has experienced a similar thing? Will she eventually venture back on to my lap? Is there anything I can do to help things? Would be grateful to hear what other cat lovers think!

   Jen

   Posted 3 months ago by chairsontheroof #

2. 

   Hi Jen and welcome to TDK! I wouldn't worry too much about Cleo, I seriously doubt she'll stay mad forever. I have 4 sibblings who are 2 yrs. old and though I haven't brought in a newbie for them to contend with...on a day to day basis they can find plenty of other things to get their furry tails in a bunch over. I can sometimes lose my cuddlers just for simply opening the wrong flavor of cat food on any given night. Hahaha! It's so early yet to expect Cleo to warm up to the new kitten but I understand there's a product called Feliway that can produce a calming for cats under stress that you could possibly look into. I recently read that it can be purchased in the form of towel wipes though may be a little pricey. Good luck and keep us posted on how things go. Would love to see pics of your kits!!!!! =)

   Posted 3 months ago by Karenopa #

3. 

   Welcome to the Daily Kitten, Jen! There are a number of other Brits on TDK. They sometimes get together in real life. They are a fun bunch to chat with as are our other family members. Feel free to join in the fun. :)

   Posted 3 months ago by Kitten Whisperer #

4. 

   Hi Jen! I'm a UK TDK'er too. I don't have any advice really on your question since I haven't been in that situation, but just wanted to say hello. My sister also has a Cleo, she's all black and a sweet little thing, apparently she loves to sit on knees but she's rarely done it with me. I also see that you like hamsters too - have you got any of those at the moment? Good luck with Cleo!

   Posted 3 months ago by metsa #

5. 

   Hi
   Thanks for your replies.
   I'm starting to feel a bit more confident that she'll eventually come back to my lap. Tonight she has been up on the sofa rubbing round me, she must still love me :-).
   Unfortunatly the kitten has had to go to the vets today as she was lame in alternating front legs. Turns out she has a virus, not two broken front legs like we feared!
   Jen
   PS Cats can be seen on my pic, Trigger big black and white fluffy boy, Cleo, tiny tortoiseshell female. Cant get all 3 in one photo just yet but I'll work on it.

   Posted 3 months ago by chairsontheroof #

6. 

   Hello Jen - from another Jen (more commonly known here as MCW), and another UK TDKer! Welcome to TDK Chat!

   Ask your vet about Feliway plug in diffusers - Feliway is a synthetic feline hormone, which helps calm cats in stressful situations. We used it introducing Eric to Pickle and Button (Pickle absolutely hated Eric at first, they're best buddies now!) and also when bringing my Mum's elderly cat Bones (no longer with us) in to live with three young furry terrors. It's very, very effective, and should help your situation.

   Also, make sure you give Cleo lots of extra attention (and treats help too) - you'll naturally be spending a bit more time with Dilly, and Cleo's just feeling a little unsettled. She will come round! Keep us posted :o)

   Posted 3 months ago by MadcatwomanintheUK #

7. 

   Jen: I had been living for nearly ten years with only one cat Scooter, who just about lived in my lap and never wanted to leave. When I say NEVER I mean NEVER; Whenever I sat down for more than a couple of seconds, swoop, there he was. Unfortunately for him, recently my neighbors abandoned a mama cat and 4 newborn babies. I brought the cat family into my house since no-one would take them and Scooter HATED them. He absolutely refused to even come in my apartment for around two months. I live in an apartment complex with security gates, so I knew my cat was safe, but it was up to him to forgive the intrusion and learn to live with the new cat family. Eventually he came around and I even saw Scooter and one of the kittens sleeping together recently. I only have two of the kittens left, one I gave away and the other died tragically, but Scooter now totally accepts the remainder completely. He has even deigned to come back into my apartment and is a lap-cat once again. It took a while, but things are the way they were once again. I didn't leave the decision completely to him; I constantly tried to have them make friends. If he was upset, I didn't respond in kind, I comforted him in the middle of his fits, petting him profusely and making him at ease with the new cats. It worked a treat and now things are fine.

   Posted 3 months ago by Kitty poet #

8. 

   Jen, welcome to TDK, and, don't worry, Cleo will come around soon enough. I had a meezer who was an 'only child' for almost two years; he was a total 'mamma's boy ~ cuddled all the time and slept every night in the crook of my neck, nursing on my earlobe whenever he could get away with it.

   When Killer (my meezer, don't ask about the name, he was anything but...) was two years old, my mother's cat had a litter of four. We found homes easily for three of the kits, but, when we ran out of 'friends who need cats', there was still one left... I decided to take him home to live with me.

   Well, you would have thought the world was coming to an end for Killer ~ he wanted absolutely nothing to do with the little upstart newcomer; he spent most of his time on top of the refrigerator staring down at the new arrival and growling quietly. Reminded me of Snoopy in the comics when he lurked on top of his doghouse ;-)

   Eventually, after about two weeks, Bixby (the new kitten) completely won him over; from then on they played together, chased each other all over the house, ate together, slept together, and became best friends for almost twenty years... And, Killer was still a Mamma's boy for the rest of his life.

   Just give Cleo and Dilly a little time, and they will bond, especially since you have Trigger to 'mediate'.

   Posted 3 months ago by kittymom #

9. 

   It's great to hear all of your stories, I am confident now that Cleo will come round to him and back to my lap. I am going to order a new bottle for my feliway defuser I think, normally Trigger is the stressed one who we put it on for, but as he seems to be fine so far I haven't ordered one. It's definitely worth a try though.

   Lastnight all three cats had dinner in the same room, Dilly a couple of meters away from the other two. Also, Cleo came onto my lap for a short cuddle which is better than a few days ago. I have been careful to fuss her lots and have always chosen to fuss her instead of Dilly when they are both around. I am sure she is also piling on the pounds with all of the treats she has been having! I've just got to persevere now.

   Jen
   PS: Dilly is showing no signs now of ever suffering from her virus, all 4 legs are back to how they should be!

   Posted 3 months ago by chairsontheroof #

10. 

    That's really good news, I'm sure your household will be back to normal (normal? what's normal when you've got three cats??!!) in next to no time. And I'm pleased to hear little Dilly is showing no after effects from the virus.

    I hope you continue to post here, it's a great site not just for advice, but for support and downright silliness :o) I also want to know the story behind your screename, I'm intrigued!

    Posted 3 months ago by MadcatwomanintheUK #

11. 

    Welcome to TDK Jen!

    Posted 3 months ago by 2bpurring #

12. 

    Welcome to TDK Jen. I am SOM, Sammy&OliversMama and they are both in my avatar, Oliver the tuxie and Sammy the orangie! Your kits are beautiful and I am sure Cleo will come around too.

    Posted 3 months ago by SammyandOliversmama #

13. 

    Hi jen and welcome to TDK! I'm sure things will get back to normal over time. Cleo is most likely just a little shaken at first. Think about human children. Usually when a new baby comes into the house, a toddler will regress, throw tantrums, and may get mad. However, after the weeks start to pass, they start to love the baby, want to help, and stop being mad. Kitties can be similar and throw a tantrum when a new kitten comes. After they get used to each other I think things will start to slow down a bit. Just make sure to still make a lot of time for Cleo. Maybe take some time out of the day away from the new kitten to play one on one with her so she knows she's not being pushed to the side. Good luck!

    Posted 3 months ago by ginirosaru #

14. 

    Welcome! Glad to hear that things are working out...! keep up the good work!

    Posted 3 months ago by nawlins catmom #

15. 

    A Warm Welcome to TDK! I had a similar experience when I introduced my 13 year old Dottie to the new-to-be member of our family, Crockey! Dottie was hiding out for about 2 weeks. She gradually became back to normal as my velcro
    cat...she still trys to pop Crockey in the nose though, 'cause she rules this house as the princess!

    Posted 3 months ago by jeankit #

16. 

    Welcome to TDK, Chairsontheroof aka Jen. Your picture of your kitties is very sweet. I too have a black and white cat - a tuxedo named Sylvester. I had originally adopted him with a black kitty but had to take the black kitty back as it was a 24/7 cat who was literally destroying things and attacked my face one night for no reason. Sylvester was an only kitty from April 2005 to Sept 2007. I knew that I didn't want Sylvester to be lonely so I decided to adopt another kitty. I found Mia via the internet and is a small grey tabby. Mia and Sylvester are complete opposites. When I first got Mia, she was agressive with the toys and eating wet food and At times Sylvester seems a bit bent our of sorts with having Mia around but after a bit of time, he now bosses her around and pushes her out of the way for the food and the toys at times. I feel badly for Mia as I think Mia's personality and showing of love and affection would bloom even more if Sylvester didn't boss her around so much. Sometimes I feel that Sylvester would love to be an only cat and that Mia would like to be in a household where the other cat is close to her in size and doesn't try to boss her around so much. Some days Sylvester and Mia are very loving and some days I seemed to be ignored by them. I just take the loving when it comes and give them space on the days they don't want much attention.

    Posted 3 months ago by SylvesterMiasMomma #

17. 

    Just bought a Feliway refill. Fingers crossed it helps the situation for all of the cats!
    Jen

    Posted 3 months ago by chairsontheroof #

18. 

    Welcome and hope all works out well. Love your avatar pic! Very good looking kits! and I'm curious about your name too...?

    Posted 3 months ago by linda #

19. 

    I wish I had an interesting story to tell about my name, but I haven't! I thought of it when I was a teenager and have used it ever since. I probably should change it to something more grown up, but everyone knows it now!
    Jen

    Posted 3 months ago by chairsontheroof #

20. 

    Ooh, don't go changing it, it's a great screen name! You'll find it gets abbreiviated here though, we're acronym crazy, so you'll soon become COTR (or Jen of course!).

    How's it going with Dilly & Cleo?

    Posted 3 months ago by MadcatwomanintheUK #

21. 

    Hi Jen! I missed this thread at first. I had my RT for a year before I took in Jerrie. Jerrie of course immediately wanted to be Alpha Cat. RT was so upset that she just went behind the curtains downstairs and sulked - wouldn't have anything to do with me. She held out for a whole week (well, she WAS the most stubborn cat I ever knew). After that she was fine, and they became good buddies. I hope things settle down for you soon.

    Posted 3 months ago by NNGM #

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