Hi! I'm new here, have a 5-ish year old cat we took in almost 2 years ago. She was a stray, was starving, and we took her in, got her eating, groomed, and she's healthy now. Big kitty is Bella. We just brought home a 6 week old kitten last night as well. Baby is Luna.
The plan was to keep them in separate areas, let the kitten adjust slowly and find places to hide and feel safe, then slowly alternate which place each cat is in, let them smell each other out and after a few days... do a face to face with one kitty in a closed carrier... then do a face to face in person once that goes well.
BUT my persistent older cat pushed her way into the room as I was closing the door. Saw the kitten eating, sniffed her butt and became downright VIOLENT. Now, I've done this once before with cats I no longer have... and the reaction this time is like tomcats fighting outside, nothing like the irritated noises, batting to show who's boss, etc. The baby had no idea what to do, and I ended up having to grab and hold the older one when she was rearing back to swipe at the little one. I held her and talked calmly, let her watch the baby for a minute, then removed her from the room.
Even though we've been limiting Bella's outside time (she came home covered in burrs just a few days ago and I don't relish the thought of removing those again!) we let her have an outside break this morning. Been sure to give her plenty of love, we'd even brought home a couple new toys just for her (not letting them be down when the kitten roams), etc.
Anyway, so our older cat is usually the sweetest thing, took to the new house immediately, loves all the new people. We're sure she's had a litter as well, due to her pronounced nipples, so I was really hoping she'd mommy-up and love on the little one. I did expect a period of adjustment but this really is throwing me for a loop.
The slow SLOW SLOW integration is still the idea here, let her know she's not being replaced, keep them away from each other until we are sure they're alright, etc. Any tips for what to do to help her be more calm? Someone recommended rescue remedy to calm Bella (stressed!) but I'm not sure where to go to pick it up and don't have all night to run around looking for it tonight.
And the other thing.. the baby has fleas. Another reason we're keeping them away from each other for now. The girl whose cat had the babies bathed them with Dawn 24 hours before we picked up the baby. I bathed Luna in Johnson & Johnson baby bath last night: water and a little soap around the head first, held body under the baby-temp water for a few minutes to drown what I could, soaped up and let sit with that for a while... flea combed and put those I combed out into HOT water in a bowl... rinsed off really well and dried her and combed a few more out here and there. I combed her again this morning (dry) and got about 6-8 more off her.
My question is should I continue bathing and removing that way or should I comb dry for the next few days and bathe again after a few days if I'm still getting fleas off her? I know the general drill for how to do this with a small baby that can't have meds yet... but not sure how often to do everything. I know baths aren't good for the skin so I hesitate to do it too often... I just didn't think the kitty-mama used a comb and wanted to do that. And it really was necessary.
Anyway, if you made it this far, AWESOME! ANY tips you can offer on the older meanie (usually sweetie!) or how to get rid of these fleas forever without spreading them to the other one would be awesome! :D
