It's been about 6 months since we adopted a Kitten. That kitten is now a year old this month. We had an existing cat, who is about 6 years old.
We believe we have done everything right. We did a slow introduction with feeding at the door and scent swapping for about 3-4 weeks. The kitten loves other cats so the behaviorist that the shelter provided gave us the go ahead to introduce them.
Since then (so, roughly 5 months) things have not been perfect. The kitten always wants to play, the adult cat growls and gets frustrated. They ARE capable of being in the same room without fighting, but we have to keep the kitten entertained or he will jump on the older cat which will result in a pretty rough scramble for the older cat to get away. They never show affection for one another. Best case is indifference.
We have to feed them separately because the kitten always runs to eat the older cat's food, and always succeeds as the older cat won't stand up for herself.
At this point we are feeling defeated. We found a big scratch on the older cat's ear. The older cat is licking a spot on her tail bald from stress (according to the vet). They can coexist for periods of time, but we're starting to feel awful. The only reason we got the kitten was to be a buddy for the older cat as we're going to have a baby soon.
Is 6 months too soon to call off the experiment? We've been hemming and hawing over this for the past month but it's feeling like we lost this battle and it's time to re-home the kitten so both animals are really happy. It just sucks! Unfortunately we are REALLY attached to the kitten now also because he is very sweet (although he cries too much for my taste).
Both cats have had recent check ups.. So it's not likely that something is wrong with either one.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/bom6sf/looking_for_success_stories_or_advice_about/
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