Hi, I adopted a new kitten (6 months old) about two weeks ago. I set him up in the bathroom with a cat tree, toys (which I rotate), food, water, cat grass and a litter box. Unfortunately, he managed to escape a couple of times in the first few days. My other cat (female, about 1.5 years) sort of attacked him both times (hissing, charging), though it didn't devolve into a full on fight, and there were no injuries. Since then, I've tried to take it slow in introducing them. They got to the point where they would happily eat on opposite sides of the door, then even on opposite sides of a barrier within a foot of each other. I've also been giving them treats in 'introduction sessions' on either side of the barrier - whenever they look away away from each other/have a nose sniff, they get a treat. I've also 'swapped' their territories a few times. And whenever they're going to meet each other, I rub them both with the same sock to try to share their scents. I thought this was going well and they seemed relatively relaxed during these sessions, so today I took away the barrier for the introduction session. It was going fine until my new cat turned his back to walk into a different room. The resident cat immediately charged him, and it ended up in a hissing stand off. I take it from this that I need to go even more slowly, but I'm just a bit worried about my new cat and the safe room. I try to spend lots of time with him in there, and I often bring him to a different room (that my other cat doesn't really like) to play in. Despite this, he spends a lot of time crying at the door. I feel sorry for him being locked up in the bathroom, and wonder if it's depressing/stressful for him. On the other hand, my resident cat doesn't like it when I spend time with him. Whenever I come out of the safe room, she'll be waiting right on the other side. If it's been too long, she'll start meowing at the door. I'm worried that she gets jealous, and that it creates more resentment. So my questions are: 1. Am I right that I should just go more slowly with the cat introductions? 2. Should I stop taking the new cat to a different 'play' room (it's just more spacious so gives him a chance to properly chase around the wand toy)? 3. Is it bad for my new kitten to be confined to the small bathroom for, possibly, weeks/months? Thanks in advance for any responses.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/gbuhle/new_kitten_safe_room_and_aggressive_resident_cat/
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